Siege of Jadotville

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Siege of Jadotville
Part of the Congo Crisis
Date September 1961 Location 10°59′S 26°44′E / -10.983, 26.733 (Battle of Jadotville)Coordinates: 10°59′S 26°44′E / -10.983, 26.733 (Battle of Jadotville) Likasi, Katanga province, Congo Result Katangese victory
Belligerents
Irish Army troops serving in the UNOC	Katangese fighters, Belgian colonists and mercenaries
Commanders
Pat Quinlan	Unknown
Strength
155[1] to 158[2]	Estimates vary widely, from some 500[3][4] to up to 4,000 or even 5,000[5][6]
Casualties and losses
5-7 wounded, at least 150 prisoners	Perhaps 150[6] to over 300[5] casualties

In September 1961, during the United Nations intervention in the Katanga conflict in the Congo, central Africa, a company of Irish UN troops was attacked by and eventually forced to surrender to troops loyal to the Katangese Prime Minister Moise Tshombe.

Contents 1 Position at Jadotville 2 The attack 3 Surrender 4 Aftermath 5 References 6 Further reading

[edit] Position at Jadotville

Having had problems with transportation, the Irish UN troops were forced to deploy to Jadotville without their full complement of support weaponry. However, their commanding officer, Commandant Pat Quinlan, had the foresight to order digging of defensive positions before the attacks thus saving them from being quickly overrun.

On September 9, 1961, Dag Hammarskjöld's United Nations forces launched the offensive against the State of Katanga in order to end its secession and restore it as a province of Congo. Soon after, the Katangans attacked the base of UN forces at Jadotville.^[7] The contingent of Irish UN troops was sent to protect the Belgian colonists and local population in Jadotville (now called Likasi), where they were attacked by those they were originally sent to protect.

[edit] The attack

The initial attack by the Katangese occurred while many of the Irish troops were attending Mass. Expecting that the men would be unarmed during Mass, the first attackers moved in rapidly. They were spotted and a warning shot by Sgt Billy Ready alerted the entire company to the threat (Ready was soon wounded in the following exchange of fire).^[3] This set the stage for a five-day battle.

A combined force of European mercenaries, Belgian settlers and local tribesmen attacked the Irish. The Irish UN soldiers had, for the most part, just light personal weapons and they held off a force in excess of 500 or more, mostly tribal bands of Baluba warriors but also many regular troops armed with a mix of light and heavy armament and even supported by a Fouga Magister jet, for several days. The besieged Irish radioed to their headquarters: "We will hold out until our last bullet is spent. Could do with some whiskey".^[7] Among the most effective weapons employed by the Irish combatants was a small number of antiquated water-cooled Vickers machine guns.

Several attempts were made to relieve the besieged Irish by the 500 Swedish and Irish UN troops from the base in Kamina and even by the Gurkhas,^[5] but they were beaten back by a supporting force of mercenaries who were brought in by the Belgians and Moise Tschombe, the premier of Katanga. A feature of the failed attempts to relieve the siege was a series of battles at a bridge where the UN force were bombed by a Katangese Fouga Magister. Attempt to resupply water to the troops by a Swedish helicopter succeeded, but the water was undrinkable because of contamination.

[edit] Surrender

The A Company, 35th Battalion, suffered five to seven wounded in action during the six days of the siege. The Katangan forces, on the other hand, reportedly suffered heavy losses of up to several hundred men. In the end the Irish troops, having run out of ammunition and food and low on water accepted the second offer to surrender to the Katangese.^[3] They were held as hostages for almost a month in an effort to extort terms of ceasefire that were embarrasing to the UN,^[8] while the Katangese and their mercenary allies bartered them for prisoners in the custody of the Congolese government of Joseph Kasa-Vubu.

[edit] Aftermath

False reports of the deaths of several Irish soldiers circulated in the media at the time of the attacks. One theory suggests that the Belgian Fouga pilot mistook bed rolls for body bags as he overflew the battlefield.

The battle of Jadotville was not, until recently, given much recognition by the Irish state. A commemorative stone honoring the soldiers of A Company was erected in the grounds of Custume Barracks in Athlone in 2005.

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Siege at Jadotville, Declan Power. Maverick House, Dublin, 2004. ISBN 0-9548707-1-9
  
• Heroes of Jadotville (The Soldiers' Story), Rose Doyle with Leo Quinlan. New Island, Dublin, 2006. ISBN 1-905494-31-9