Jadotville

[Erwin]

The Military Star was struck in order to commemorate those soldiers who had died in service overseas & was awarded to their surviving relatives.Obviously it is a posthumous award as such,but it doesn't rank above the MMG.

[roylalor]

Jadotville

I'm researching a book on this engagement by an Irish company under U.N. leadership in the Congo in 1961 and would welcome any information or contacts.
Roy Lalor

[ex pat 007]

try the search function:D ,, heres a good thread:

http://www.irishmilitaryonline.com/board/showthread.php?s=&threadid=964&highlight=jadotville

[Groundhog]

as far as I know, the MMG STILL ranks highest in priority
on the DF medal list. Maybe Groundhog can confirm this ???
Sorry about the delay. MMG it is.

[hptmurphy]

Would somebody like to point out to the guy in the First picture SGT Bob Allen that as he is wearing a DSM it should be above all of his other awards and not below as he wears it. The DSM is the senior award and as with all senior awards it is worn on the extreme right....everthing else is worn to the left of and below the senior award.

Hvaing read some on Jadotville...I don't think it was a military disaster just a well executed deploymnet which failed because of service and supply. The guys who took part in the action have nothing to ashamed of ...but in fairness given that it was the first decent scrap the irish army had since the civil war I don't think it deserves the controversy it has generated...these guys were only doing the job they were paid to do. The were let down by the command structure and eventhough there was a credible support attempt this was also thwarted from above. Yes they did well to get out alive a succeeded in holding of superior numbers.......but it was hardly the Alamo!

[goc132]

Sgt Allens medals have since been mounted properly.:-patriot:

[roylalor]

Jadotville

I'm researching the engagement fought at Jadotville in 1961 by an Irish company under U.N. command. Any information/contacts would be very helpful. I particular I would be interested in unit histories, operational reports, wireless tranmissions, and personal papers of participants. I'm a teacher and writer with no connection to the defence forces and all information would be taken in the strictist confidence.
Roy Lalor

[Goldie fish]

Military archives are your best bet. www.military.ie has a good link to them

[Thorpe]

Found this on a clean out of my files last night. Its a picture of the momerial to Trp. Mullins who was killed in the Congo. The Momerial stone is at the 13 Bn HQ in Fermoy

[sledger]

Ireland clears Congo soldiers of cowardice

Ireland clears Congo soldiers of cowardice
Sunday Times
December 12, 2004
Richard Oakley

A GROUP of Irish soldiers, who were wrongly branded cowards in a largely forgotten battle in the Congo, are to be commemorated by the state after a 44-year-fight to have their bravery recognised.
A report, to be published by the Department of Defence, will exonerate the men of wrongdoing and recommend that their efforts be officially recognised.

The soldiers, members of the 35th battalion of the Western Command, endured a gruelling six-day fight against Belgian-led forces in the Battle of Jadotville while on United Nations duty in 1961. They held out against Katangan fighters despite being outnumbered by at least 20 to 1 and depleted supplies.

Despite their bravery, they were accused of cowardice after Lieutenant-Colonel Pat Quinlan, their commanding officer, eventually took a decision to surrender. He had been given an ultimatum from the Katangan forces, who had breached a ceasefire, and decided to give up to save his men.

For years, members of the 150-strong command have campaigned for their heroism to be acknowledged and for questions to be answered about why they were put in a dangerous position. Despite the odds stacked against them, they managed to kill 300 Katangans without sustaining any casualties themselves. When they returned home, however, they were taunted by fellow soldiers.

Until this year, when Michael Smith, the then minister for defence, agreed to re-examine their role, they had had little success. The review came after the town council in Athlone, where many of soldiers were based, took the unusual step of writing to the minister following submissions from a number of soldiers and an extensive media campaign.

A board of military officers was asked by Lieutenant-General Jim Sreenan, the chief of staff of the defence forces, to investigate the case and produce a report, which has now been passed to Willie O’Dea, the current minister for defence.

“The report exonerates all the men involved. I will be publishing it soon and then we will decide how to commemorate these men,” said the minister.

The outcome has been welcomed by John Gorman, 61, a veteran who has led the campaign to have their reputations restored.

Fighting back tears this weekend, he said he was “thrilled” but upset that many of the men were no longer alive.

“This is the best news I have heard in my lifetime,” he said. “We were badly treated. The record was never put straight, our story was never told properly and the truth about what we did was ignored. A lot of men are now in their graves not knowing that they were supposed to have done wrong.”

Austin Berry, the mayor of Athlone, said: “This goes some way to make up for what happened to these men. It’s what they deserve. A medal should now be struck and each man and the families of those who have died should be publicly presented with it.”

About 150 Irishmen from A company of the Western Command fought the battle against more than 4,000 Belgian-led Katangan forces.

John Gorman was just 17 at the time. He said: “There were two Swedish companies there before us. Their commander pulled them out. The Irish B company was also withdrawn.

“At the same time, A company was put in and there are questions to be answered as to why. We had old second world war guns and we were bombed from the air. Our supplies, including bullets, were running out and we had no water.”

“We had killed 300 of the enemy and were hopelessly outnumbered. If this hadn’t happened, all our lives would have been lost.”

All 150 Irish soldiers were later released. Quinlan has passed away and many of the survivors are now in their eighties and nineties.

Dinny McGinley and Denis Naughten, the two Fine Gael deputies who joined the campaign, welcomed the move.

O’Dea is to release the report on his return from a visit to Irish troops working for the UN in Liberia. The minister is to fly out tomorrow along with President Mary McAleese.

[Truck Driver]

Found this on a clean out of my files last night. Its a picture of the momerial to Trp. Mullins who was killed in the Congo. The Momerial stone is at the 13 Bn HQ in Fermoy

Eh? Fermoy? I thought Fermoy was closed down as a military facility when
1 Cav Sqn moved out to Collins?

[Goldie fish]

All that remains is the 13th HQ. Keep it on topic.

[Joshua]

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/story/1016788.html

was on today.

[parkman]

The main Irish papers of the time had headlines proclaiming a victory.So when it was realised that the company had in fact surrendered it came as a bit of a shock.
And of course that the opposing forces were not regular troops but native gendarme.
Anyway armies do not want to be seen encouraging this sort of practice.

[Cosantor]

Bravery in Congo to be commemorated

From:ireland.com
Thursday, 27th January, 2005

http://home.eircom.net/content/irela...view=Eircomnet


The Government is to commemorate the bravery and heroism of Irish soldiers in a battle in the Congo in 1961 after a report formally exonerated the troops, who were accused of cowardice when they surrendered to rebels.

The Minister for Defence, Mr O'Dea, told the Dáil that the report by a board of army officers, which he received late last year, "fully exonerates the actions of B company" at Jadotville in the Congo. "At the time they surrendered, nothing would have been served by fighting on, except further and unnecessary bloodshed. It is clear from the report that the company and its commanding officer acted appropriately given all the circumstances," he said.

"We are considering some way of commemorating their bravery and I hope to be in a position to make an announcement on that within the next couple of weeks".

A retired army officer who served at Jadotville made a submission to the Defence Forces seeking a review of the events of September 1961, when the troops were under attack from Katanganese soldiers and were apparently outnumbered by 20 to one. They withstood a land and air bombardment, killed 300 soldiers while seven of their own men were injured and surrendered when ammunition, food and water ran out.

"There is certainly a sense among the members of B company that, while there as no official action against any of them nor any official criticism of their actions, there stand in Jadotville was not appropriately recognized by the Defence Forces and there is a definite sense of grievance on the part of those involved, because of that," Mr O'Dea said.