morning of Saturday, 9 September, A Company’s ration truck was stopped at the Lufira Bridge on its resupply run to Élisabethville and returned empty. Commandant Quinlan ordered Lieutenant Carey to go into Jadotville and see what was happening. Taking the Land Rover and an escort of three NCOs, they were stopped at the closed railway gates. Going forward on foot, Lieutenant Carey was confronted by a large number of armed Katangan troops and a Belgian mercenary officer who refused him entry to the town. Insisting that the UN enjoyed freedom of movement, Carey nonetheless continued to be denied access and was not allowed through. He returned to Commandant Quinlan to inform him of what had occurred and in turn Quinlan reported the matter to Battalion HQ in Élisabethville. In reply, Commandant Quinlan was assured all was well and to stay in situ – A Company were not to withdraw.
The following day, remaining very concerned overnight about the deterioration in the circumstances at Jadotville, Commandant Quinlan sent Captain Liam Donnelly and Medical Officer Commandant Joe Clune to Battalion HQ in Élisabethville to give a first-hand account of A Company’s situation. Although they were stopped at Lufira Bridge, they were eventually allowed through when Captain Donnelly pretended to be sick. In Élisabethville, the Officer Commanding 35th Irish Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Hugh McNamee, and his staff were hosting a dinner for Conor Cruise O’Brien, UN Special Representative in Katanga. On completion of the dinner, Captain Donnelly reported on the up-to-date scenario playing out in Jadotville and of Commandant Quinlan’s concern regarding this new situation; most especially that the stated reason for A Company’s deployment there no longer held sway. Instead of the need to protect the white population against any threat, they were now threatening the UN Irish troops. Furthermore, they reported that A Company were surrounded by a large formation of mercenary-led Katangan troops, being added to daily, and that Lufira Bridge was effectively blocked. Commandant Quinlan’s recommendation was that A Company be withdrawn or substantially reinforced. He was assured that all would be well, that matters were under control and there was no need to worry. With this assurance, Captain Donnelly and Commandant Clune returned across the Lufira Bridge to Jadotville.
The tension continued to mount in Jadotville and the prevailing atmosphere was becoming more pointed by the day as the stand-off continued. A Company’s dug-in platoons were well dispersed, perhaps too spread out, but they had to deny tactical advantage to the Katangans, who were continually attempting to encroach into the Irish-occupied area. Rumours of possible attacks by mobs from the surrounding villages heightened the already fraught nerves of the Irish. Neither withdrawn nor reinforced, an encircled A Company waited anxiously for the next development. It would not be long in coming.
The Battle Begins
At 0700 hours on Wednesday 13 September, Lieutenant Carey received a message from Battalion HQ stating, ‘Operation Morthor had taken place in Élisabethville. All installations taken over by UN Forces and all quiet. Inform Commandant Quinlan.’ The Operation had been organised to remove, once again, all mercenaries from Katanga. This time, however, the Katangans were well informed of UN intentions and several Indian troops were killed while occupying the post office. Nevertheless they captured their objective, having killed a large number of Katanganese, and gunfire was to be heard all over Élisabethville as the Katangan forces and mercenaries resisted fiercely. The UN took casualties, including two members of the Irish Cavalry Corps who were killed after their armoured car was ambushed in the city.
This was the first A Company had known of Operation Morthor, leaving them completely exposed and very vulnerable. Lieutenant Carey informed Commandant Quinlan, who told him to immediately alert all of the platoons. Given the urgency and the distance, Lieutenant Carey drove the Company ambulance to Support Platoon’s location. As he arrived he could see a number of trucks at the bus station near Support Platoon and fully armed Katangan troops dismounting. He alerted Support Platoon and moved swiftly on to the immediately adjacent No. 1 Platoon, whose members were going to daily mass, and shouted at them to get to their trenches. While returning in quick order to Company HQ he heard a burst of gunfire, and with his heart pounding inside his chest his natural instinct made him crouch inside the ambulance, believing he was the target. Commandant Quinlan set up his Orders Group (O Group) on the road and gave orders to his platoon commanders to go forward into their respective platoon positions. No. 3 Platoon, Lieutenant Carey’s, was tasked with setting up a roadblock at his location and they placed a Land Rover and some oil barrels across the road, covered by an 84mm anti-tank gun. As he was completing the task he thought he heard the unexpected but unmistakable ‘pop’ of a mortar bomb leaving a mortar barrel. Suddenly, there was a succession of such ‘pops’ followed by the ‘crump’ of the initial mortar bomb impacting, followed by several more explosions, all falling into Support Platoon’s area. It was not totally unexpected that something would happen, but what did happen was certainly not anticipated! Small arms fire, perhaps, but not this, not mortars, and not so many of them for so long. Worse was to come, with 75mm artillery shells fired from the golf course followed by heavy machine gun fire. There was an unpredicted suddenness about the situation, events were not meant to unfold like this. Yet this is exactly how matters materialised, and they had only just begun.
Action – Reaction
The pounding continued for over an hour. With no inter-platoon communications, a check three days previously having found all the batteries for the No. 88 radio-sets to be dead, it was difficult to gain information concerning possible casualties, or indeed of the general situation prevailing. As suddenly as the bombardment occurred, it stopped. Suddenly, a shout from the forward trench of Lieutenant Carey’s Platoon signalled they were under attack from the front.
Lieutenant Carey described the situation:
I immediately rushed to the forward trench, jumped in and my Section Corporal there was Corporal Sean Foley, who pointed at a scrub area in front of Lieutenant Tom Quinlan’s No. 2 Platoon area. I could make out figures coming through the bush in approximately Company strength. Eventually they approached to within 400 yards of us, coming on to No. 2 Platoon who commenced firing directly at the Katangans and mercenaries. We were firing from an enfilade position [at a sideways angle of approximately forty-five degrees] onto them, due to our platoon’s relative position to No. 2 Platoon, and my Bren gunner was engaging the targets, as they were now within range and exposed in the open. I found my Gustav sub-machine gun of little use due to its limited range and took over firing the Bren gun, directed by Corporal Foley. Both Companies fired into them as they advanced. The Katangans still came forward. We continued firing, our sustained unfaltering direct volume of fire having its effect. Their attack stuttered, next stalled a little, then completely stopped and they broke back into the bush retreating towards Jadotville.
We were elated with our success. The adrenalin flowed, the various emotions competing for expression: firstly shock, at being under the bombardment, next fear and uncertainty, at a human level, then scared – as you were – of being aware of the challenge of the responsibility of having to lead, of people looking to you, for your reaction to guide their reaction. Once there was a requirement to act I was focussed, because I was part of a team and wanted to be involved in the action. Once I grabbed the Bren gun those around me engaged. I have since often asked myself; did I kill anyone? I honestly do not know, but I’ve answered it this way: Would I do it again? Absolutely, automatically, without question. We were under attack [so] we were going to fight back. A determination comes out. They had fired on us, tried to kill us, and we were going to respond. The heat and the dust in the trench was stifling and we needed to consume large quantities of water.
Their first time under fire, they all felt that they had acquitted themselves well. However, the company had suffered its first casualty when Private Bill Reidy, forward in No. 1 Platoon position, was wounded in the stomach, a ricochet via his thigh, but overall he had been fortunate as a second bullet struck his ammunition pouch, glancing off a spare magazine contained inside. The bullet was a tracer round, which ignites in flight guiding its firer to the direction of its target, and when it struck Private Reidy it caused his webbing to catch fire. The flames had to be doused before the medic could attend to the bleeding wound, after which Private Reidy was removed to
