Hollywood always takes license. I've already seen criticism of the "shooting the bell" scene, that it just didn't happen. The Fouga pilot did acknowledge later that the vigourous fire compelled him to go higher.
Announcement
Collapse
No announcement yet.
jadotVille
Collapse
X
-
"To Katanga and Back by Dr. Conor Cruise O'Brien.
Publisher: London : Faber and Faber, 2015.
Summary - "July 1960: The newly independent Congo is hit by secession in its province Katanga. June 1961: Dr Conor Cruise O'Brien arrives in Katanga as Special Representative of UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold, his task to arrest and repatriate the mercenaries and foreign interests propping up Tshombe. This book is about his experiences in Katanga."
Comment
-
." today is a very emotional day for me....exactly 55 years ago, in the Congo, I was involved in a massive bloody battle, which was later to be called The Siege of Jadotville......I was part of a small Irish UN unit of approx 154 who were attacked by a force of 3,000 Katangese,led by French & British mercenaries......
....I can still hear the long,loud bursts of deadly machine gun fire and the whoosh of exploding mortars and the absolute fear that gripped each & every one of us.....death was all round us......
..we had been attending 07.30 Mass when they launched the first wave of attack.......within seconds, we were fighting for our very lives, which is a horrible situation.....
....luckily our superb officer commanding Comdt Pat Quinlan had made us dig trenches......otherwise, without a shadow of a doubt, we'd have been overrun and massacred........
....for 5 long, torturous, sweaty days and cold , fearful nights they attacked us non stop....they even used a Fouga Magister jet fighter which continually bombed and strafed us ( first and only time Irish troops were so attacked ).......during the day the heat was unbearable, by night it was extremely cold....the smell of fear and tension hung over us all the time ......
...as the hours slowly ticked past our water and food rations became depleted .....the thirst was maybe the worst....and we were quickly running out of ammunition.....
....a multi national reinforcement task force tried to break through but failed with a heavy loss of life.....
...a Swedish air force UN helicopter attempted to resupply us and managed to land under a massive barrage of fire....but the fresh water it was carrying for us was contaminated.... and then the helicopter was destroyed by the jet fighter......can you just imagine how we felt ......
....morale at this stage was rock bottom, no toilets either and the smell was just stomach churning.... and all the time we were under constant fire. you couldn't relax for even a second... after 5 days we simply had nothing left and then too there was the real threat of cannibalism.......
.....after those 5 days & nights of sheer,utter hell,our commanding officer negotiated a cease fire and we were taken prisoner of war ...
..though we suffered casualties, we had no fatalities thankfully....must have been the prayers !.....it also transpired that our attackers had lost 300 men.......
.....we were held hostage or prisoner of war for about a month....that was an other frightening, tense time but that story'd take about an other hour........
....even after release, I was involved in 4 major actions ....some of which resulted in huge loss of life.......
....altogether, I served 3 tours of duty in the Congo in the early 1960s......
......returning home to Ireland we were badly treated, we were taunted and called cowards ( because they didn't fight to the death, seemingly )..... the bravery of the men was never recognised until some words by the then Taoiseach Brian Cowan at an event in Baldonnel on the 50th anniversary......
....sadly, at least 40 of the unit are since deceased....some tragically and in dire circumstances.....there was never any support offered for post traumatic stress......
....this Saturday, the Government is making a late,late effort at recognition but, I suspect that's only because of the film The Siege of Jadotville is being released on Monday September 19th.....
......really, I'm one of the lucky ones......I survived to tell the tale & am very fortunate now to be surrounded by a loving wife and family, great old comrades and friends............
.....but the siege of Jadotville still haunts me, the real thing, not the movie..... "
( Apart from Michael Tighe, above, the following is the list of Longford men who fought at Jadotville 55 years ago this week : John Broderick, Michael Broderick, Charles Cooley,John Devine, Patrick Donnelly, John Dowler,John Flynn, Michael Greene, William Hughes, Patrick Monaghan, James Mc Ardle, Anthony Mc Nerney, Christopher Powell, John Purtell and Martin Quinlan ).For now, everything hangs on implementation of the CoDF report.
- Likes 7
Comment
-
From Facebook
Here's a list of cinemas that Jadotville will be showing at from September 19. So keep a close eye out on your local listings if you are hoping to catch it on the big screen
Light House Cinema
IMC Athlone
IMC Carlow
IMC Santry
IMC Dun Laoghaire
IMC Savoy
EYE Galway
GATE Cork
Movies @ Dundrum
Movies @ Swords
Movie House Dublin Road Belfast
ARC Drogheda
Movies @ Gorey
Century Letterkenny
Derry Brunswick
Eclipse Downpatrick
IMC Ballymena
IMC Enniskillen
IMC Banbridge
IMC OmaghFor now, everything hangs on implementation of the CoDF report.
- Likes 6
Comment
-
Originally posted by GoneToTheCanner View PostIt appears to be easier to see this film outside the Republic. It's not listed for Newbridge, right beside the Curragh.
Here's a list of cinemas that Jadotville will be showing at from September 19. So keep a close eye out on your local listings if you are hoping to catch it on the big screen
Light House Cinema
IMC Athlone
IMC Carlow
IMC Santry
IMC Dun Laoghaire
IMC Savoy
EYE Galway
GATE Cork
Movies @ Dundrum
Movies @ Swords
Movie House Dublin Road Belfast
ARC Drogheda
Movies @ Gorey
Century Letterkenny
Derry Brunswick
Eclipse Downpatrick
IMC Ballymena
IMC Enniskillen
IMC Banbridge
IMC OmaghFor now, everything hangs on implementation of the CoDF report.
- Likes 1
Comment
Comment