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 fuel tanks, the stricken aircraft made a remarkable landing. More than spectacular, it was miraculous it had not caught fire whilst airborne, considering the heat of the engines and the flammability of the high octane vapour. There to meet them were those whose own tour of duty had been eventful but was now nearing its end: the men of the 35th Battalion. They were on the apron’s tarmac, in the airport’s buildings, but mostly in slit-trenches, crawl trenches, weapon pits and command posts, defending its perimeter. The aircraft’s American crew, taking in this sight and already shaken by their exposure to incoming fire on final approach, commented on the experience that landing in Élisabethville ‘wasn’t just war, it was suicide’.
Of immediate concern to the aircraft’s loadmaster was the real possibility of the soles of the Irish soldiers’ hobnail boots causing sparks to fly on contact with the tarmac as they formed rank from the rear of the plane and igniting the fuel now gushing from the wings and vaporising in the heat. They were extremely fortunate not to have been engulfed in a flying fireball on landing, as the requirement to apply the brakes to slow the aircraft often causes sparks. On this occasion none arose and there were instead no casualties among the aircraft’s forty-six Irish occupants. The planes took off again during the day, the first on its surviving three engines. The American crew was disinclined to linger in the Congo. For the 120 or so newly arrived members of the 36th Battalion, their first impression was stark, yet this was only a small taste of things to come.
‘Sit Rep’ (Situation Report) – Freedom of Movement
‘A’ Company counted the precise number of bullet holes in the USAF Globemaster’s airframe, forty-eight in all. Still disbelieving their eventful arrival and bonded in the moment of a share of their good fortune, they quickly understood the US aircrew’s collective desire not to remain on the airport’s apron to affect repairs. Leaving Africa if at all possible seemed a far more wise, welcome and attractive avenue to any other alternative suggested. Giving them some boxes of pack rations the Irish bade the air crew good luck and farewell, then steeled themselves for the new reality that faced them. They had hit the ground running and were uncertain where it was leading them. What was certain was the main route out of the airport was considered insecure, as sniping continued around the city. Movement to and from the airport for the UN was through ‘Route Charlie’ (Avenue de Aracarios), a less dangerous alternative.
First reports of new developments in Congo came on 3 and 4 December 1961, two days before their departure from Ireland, as Katangese Gendarmerie, led by mercenaries, became very active in Élisabethville and on roads leading into the city. As a result, all UN and Irish troops were confined to their respective camps. At this stage the intention had been for the 36th Battalion to concentrate in Albertville and the Nyunzu and Niemba areas, but due to the deteriorating circumstances it became necessary to consider a change in plans and to have the 36th take over from the 35th in Élisabethville. The following day, the Katangese Gendarmerie placed a roadblock on one of the city’s main boulevards, blocking access to the airport.
Hardly a random act its significance was to throw down the gauntlet to the UN, in effect saying if you do not control your freedom of movement we are going to do it for you. After some negotiation the Gendarmerie agreed the roadblock would be removed, but it was not and in addition firing commenced in the city. Irish troops around their camp known as ‘Leopold Farm’, were forced to withdraw to positions closer to the camp. A firm decision was taken in light of these new and grave circumstances to redirect the 36th Battalion to effect relief in situ in Élisabethville. The Katangese Gendarmerie, together with their white mercenary leaders, were determined to ratchet up the pressure on the UN forces. If A Company, newly arrived
