Bjorn Hovden and co-piloted by Swedish Warrant Officer Eric Thors. They had volunteered, at extreme risk to themselves and with the possibility of being shot out of the sky by the Fouga jet, to fly a supply of water to the besieged Irish company. Despite having developed engine problems en route they persisted, and on arrival needed assistance to find a suitable landing place. Aware of the situation, Company Quartermaster Sergeant Pat Neville and Corporal Bob Allen broke cover and laid down bedsheets as markers on some even ground in No. 3 Platoon’s area for them to land safely. As they did so they drew a huge volume of fire from the Katangan and mercenary troops. Doing so, however, revealed the position of the newly placed support weapons and with most of what ammunition they had left, the Irish laid down a hail of accurate fire that lasted nearly two hours. Many of the native Katangans fled into the bush, but in the exchange the helicopter was damaged and rendered unfit to fly.
It was soon discovered, cruelly, that the UN pilots had risked their lives in vain as the much-needed water was useless. It had been poured into petrol jerry-cans which had not been sufficiently washed out and the water was undrinkable. The attack faltered and a lull occurred. At this point, Lieutenant Carey’s radio operator, Private Myler, asked: ‘Sir, would real war be anything like this?’ Carey’s mood lightened and it was further lifted when, along with the water supply, some mail was delivered and he was one of the lucky ones. Eagerly opening it he found it was a bill for two pounds from a book club back home!
The Irish decided to hit the Katangans and mercenaries again, this time for a full hour with sustained small arms and support weapon fire, and the resolve of the Katangans was broken. It had become a rout, and in order to dissuade others from taking flight into the scrub the white officers were seen shooting their own men, native Katangans, in an attempt to stem the situation. The Irish had won the fire fight but now what? The Burgermeister, similarly unaware of the outcome yet to be reached at Lufira Bridge, contacted Commandant Quinlan asking for a cease fire. From Quinlan’s perspective, at that time, he knew that a UN Relief Column had reached Lufira Bridge; a UN helicopter had successfully landed with supplies; A Company were continuing to hold out; and a breakthrough at the Lufira Bridge was imminent.
In reply, from a position of perceived strength, Commandant Quinlan laid down the following conditions; all firing was to cease; a cordon should be set up and a no man’s land area, to be patrolled by Katangan Police and A Company; the Fouga jet should be grounded; all Katangan troops to be returned to barracks; water and power supply restored; and, finally, casualties to be evacuated. All these demands were agreed by the Burgermeister and Battalion HQ notified. All A Company wanted to happen now was to greet the Relief Column on their arrival in Jadotville. For the first time in three days they could safely leave their trenches and greet each other, tell of their experiences and take photographs. Some of No. 3 Platoon actually played football with the Katangan police on the roadway beside the Purfina garage.
Late that night Commandant Quinlan called a hurried conference for all officers and Company Sergeant Prendergast. He congratulated them all on their actions over the past few days then to their shock and disbelief he announced that ‘Force Keane 2’ had returned to Élisabethville. Battalion HQ had sent a message to hold on since UN jets would arrive in Élisabethville soon (in fact it was to take two months for them to arrive). The platoon commanders were not to give this news to their platoons that night as they were fully sure they had won the battle. The platoon commanders spent a sleepless night because they realised their position was now precarious. The initiative had swung to the Katangans, still with a large force disproportionately outnumbering A Company. Their position was indeed hazardous, to say the least.
The Irish had held their ground, fought the Katangans and the mercenaries to a standstill and acceded to a cease fire, which so far was holding. However, the Irish situation was perilous. They were starved, parched and exhausted, without ammunition or reinforcements, unable to resupply and without air cover. Despite the previously agreed arrangements, the Fouga jet reappeared and flew over the Irish positions but did not attack them.
At around 1400 hours on Sunday 17 September, Commandant Quinlan decided to go into Jadotville, with the Swedish co-pilot, Warrant Officer Eric Thors acting as interpreter, 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
