Into Action. Dan Harvey
to see if he could get the water supply restored. On entering the town, with two Katangan Police as escort, he went into a local bar that was crowded with mercenaries. When they saw him the shout went up: ‘Le Majeur Irlandais’, and everyone present stood up and saluted. Some showed him their wounds and asked how many Irish had been killed. They were incredulous when they learned that there were none. He returned shortly with some crates of minerals.
Despite this brief respectful exchange, Commandant Quinlan was becoming increasingly concerned for the safety of A Company, as it was noticeable that Katangan troops were encroaching into no man’s land, a third violation of the agreement. His difficulty was that in any further negotiations Commandant Quinlan was all too aware that he would not be doing so from a position of strength. He did not have long to muse over matters because he received a message from the Burgermeister that Godefroid Munongo, Minister for the Interior, wished to meet him urgently. He departed with the Chaplain and the interpreter and all were concerned for his safety.
At what turned out to be an angry meeting, Munongo first said the Irish had fought well but they must cease fighting and leave their positions and heavy weapons. He stressed they were cut off and surrounded by 2,000 Katangan troops. Commandant Quinlan stated that the UN were there to restore peace in the Congo and they were only defending themselves from an unprovoked attack. Munongo insisted they vacate their positions on Monday morning or they would be annihilated. Commandant Quinlan stated that UN aircraft were on the way and would bomb Jadotville if the Irish forces were attacked. Munongo knew that this was a bluff and it would take months for UN aircraft to reach Katanga. He gave a final ultimatum to Commandant Quinlan to lay down their weapons or be wiped out. Commandant Quinlan had to inform Minister Munongo of his decision within two hours.
Commandant Quinlan returned to A Company HQ and immediately called an officers conference. It turned out to be a highly charged meeting. Commandant Quinlan outlined the details of the meeting and the demands of Munongo. He congratulated all officers, NCOs and men on their action, and then laid out A Company’s precarious position. The troops were exhausted after nearly a weeks’ action, under fire; water had been cut off for days and was almost gone; food was low and they had received no resupply since the previous week. Ammunition was nearly completely expended and the two armoured cars could not use their Vickers machine guns as all the locks were damaged, having fired almost 10,000 rounds. It was essential to have this firepower and to break out they would have to travel ten miles through hostile territory to Lufira Bridge and without support fight their way fifty miles back to Élisabethville. Finally, two abortive efforts had already been made to relieve them and it would take a week or more for another effort. Too late for them to hold out without severe casualties.
All officers were asked to give their opinion. The platoon commanders wanted to fight on, but realised how difficult this was under the circumstances. They also realised there was no hope of an escape and their casualties would only get worse. They went through every possibility but there was no hope of early relief. In the end it was left to Commandant Quinlan to make the critical decision. This was a huge judgement call, one the on-ground commander was best placed to make. He had ‘mission command’ throughout the previous days’ perils and had displayed to one and all, friend and foe, that he was a soldier destined for just such an operation. Now he had to have the strength of mind to make a decisive determination. It was one of the most dreadful decisions for any troop commander to make. He contacted Battalion HQ informing them of their situation, to be told that aircraft were on the way and to hold out for a cease fire that was being organised in Élisabethville. He stated that the situation facing A Company was desperate, they were totally surrounded, cut off, running out of ammunition, water and food and needed to be relieved immediately.
After this communication with Battalion HQ it became apparent to him that he had to agree terms with Munongo, who assured him that A Company would be fully protected from reprisals or attack. Courageous decision made, he ordered the platoon commanders to inform their troops. Lieutenant Carey recalls:
That night I addressed my Platoon with a very heavy heart and I found they did not fully comprehend the seriousness of the situation and were convinced they had won. I ordered them to pack up their kit to be ready to move on Monday morning and we destroyed as many weapons as we could. As I packed my kit with Lieutenant Tom Quinlan that night we were both shocked, shattered and disappointed that after all our fighting and successes it should come down to this. It is indescribable how dreadful was this feeling of uncertainty as to our fate and frustration that we had failed to hold out. Nonetheless, I was still Platoon Commander No. 3 Platoon with responsibility for my men.
This sense of responsibility was shared by all the officers, NCOs and men of A Company, and it would see them through a five and a half week period of captivity that would ultimately bring them all home safely to Ireland, having displayed much bravery and dedication in the cause of peace in the Congo.
CHAPTER 3
The Battle for the Tunnel (Élisabethville)
Baptism of Fire
8 December 1961
‘Crump! Crump! Crump!’ … the incoming mortar rounds slammed into the Irish camp. It took twenty-six seconds for their firing, flight and fall before they smashed into the Irish position, impacting heavily. The ground shook with each blast, the shrapnel scattering, the hot molten metal menacingly seeking its prey, indiscriminately spreading in search of victims. Newly arrived in Congo, A Company, 36th Battalion, was caught on the wrong side of a mortar barrage. It was savage, raw and violent; deliberate, dangerous and deadly. Corporal Michael Fallon was arbitrarily killed outright when an unlikely, rare direct hit impacted on the roof of the outhouse building in which he was located and he died almost immediately. The mortar barrage accounted for a further five injuries; Sergeant Paddy Mulcahy, Privates Marsh and Gilrain, Troopers Kelly and McMullan. So serious were Trooper McMullan’s injuries that he was medically repatriated home to Ireland because of his wounds. Not yet twenty-four hours in Élisabethville, barely two days in the Congo itself, A Company, 36th Battalion had suffered one fatality and five wounded. Their arrival the previous day, though less lethal, had been only slightly less traumatic.
Not Just War But Suicide
7 December 1961
Sustaining over forty hits, with two outboard fuel tanks punctured and the oil system of the starboard inner Pratt & Whitney engine damaged, the United States Air Force (USAF) Douglas C-124 Globemaster II transport aircraft was one of three which received ground fire on approach to landing at Luena Airport, Élisabethville. This was the beginning of the three-week airlift rotation of the main body of the 36th Irish Infantry Battalion to the Congo to replace the 35th Irish Infantry Battalion – the handover duration being extended due to circumstances arising in the region. The 36th Battalion was the sixth Irish unit to deploy in what had already been a year-and-a-half commitment to what altogether became a four-year involvement, comprising twelve Irish units in all. This rotation was to see the scheduled departure and arrival of some twenty Globemaster aircraft, commencing on the 5 December 1961 and ending on Christmas Eve. Originally destined for Albertville, in the Congo’s northeast, the twenty-three hour journey took a route whose flight path went from Dublin, over England, France, Italy, the Mediterranean and a first stop at the US Wheelus Field Airbase in Tripoli, Libya. After refuelling the flight went to RAF-run Kano Airbase in Nigeria before finally arriving at Leopoldville in the Congo. After a day’s rest and a further 1,200 miles to the south – Congo is a vast country – they reached their destination.
While preparations were under way for landing near Élisabethville, two UN Indian Canberra jets suddenly screamed by, discharging their cannons to engage the Katangese Gendarmerie ground positions in the area around the airport. The Globemaster pilots had to carry out landing procedures according to international code, this being when the pilot has not received finalised landing instructions from air traffic control in the airport control tower. The planes turned into the final leg of their approach and so also out over the hostile Katangese, who let loose a hail of fire from their ground positions. Not yet on the ground, hostilities had begun and A Company were already in the thick of it.
Landing with a trail of aviation fuel vapour spewing behind it from the ruptured