Right, first attempt at posting this vanished into the ether, so here goes. Hadn't heard of this battle, never mind the film, but a mate posted it on FB- "FOR THE SURVIVING members of the UN’s 1961 A Company, last night’s Irish premiere of the film The Siege of Jadotville was not about Hollywood stars, massive budgets, or the backing of one of the movie industry’s most powerful production companies. It was about memories, and justice, and a chance for the world to see what happened when a contingent of 155 Irish troops were sent to the Congo on a peacekeeping mission that could have turned into a bloodbath. Many of the men came to the premiere at the Savoy in Dublin city centre last night with the physical reminder of their past – a soft blue UN hat – clutched in their hand or perched on their head. The film got a standing ovation, with the applause directed at the men, both alive and since passed, whose bravery had been played out for nearly two hours on screen. Afterwards, the men gathered on the Savoy stage to greet Northern Irish actor Jamie Dornan, who played their leader, Commandant Pat Quinlan. Dornan paid tribute to the men in a questions-and-answers session after the film, as did the film’s director Richie Smyth, producer Alan Moloney and screenwriter Kevin Brodbin. The Siege of Jadotville, which gets a cinema release this weekend before moving to Netflix on 7 October, is set in 1961, when the United Nations intervened in the Katanga conflict in the African Congo. You have probably never heard of these men, or of the battle they fought – one which, facing improbable odds, they all survived – but a book by Declan Power first helped to tell their story . It was aptly called The Siege at Jadotville: The Irish Army’s Forgotten Battle. The men were forgotten, and as the film shows, deliberately so. Photos of the men before the siege show them with regulation blue helmets askew, rifles in hand and an air of youthful innocence about them. Just weeks later, they would be fighting for their lives against troops many, many times their size – and facing dwindling supplies of ammunition, food and water. On their return home, their battle would be effectively swept under the carpet until one of the men, John Gorman, launched a campaign for recognition." http://www.thejournal.ie/siege-jadotville-jamie-dornan-interview-2987941-Sep2016/ Here's more on the actual battle- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Jadotville
Will certainly try to catch it. It is hard to imagine a 1st world country, or even more so several of them, sending in troops and then doing such a poor job of supporting them. Politics indeed.
I watched it on Netflix not too long ago. Not bad. It is unfortunate how these brave men were treated upon returning home.
Thread on 2Talk http://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/irish-soldiers-at-siege-of-jadotville-1961.11272/
Thanks for sharing this dbf. I have seen the tile on netflix so it will be on deck. The decisions of tired old politicians continue to confound rational minds. I wish they could just be bigger kids in the room.
A mate of mine just posted this on FB, as his Dad was there. I've nicked it, Jadotville Veterans at the film premiere few months ago in Dublin with that actor bloke my wife likes.
Finally got round to signing up for Netflix & just watched it. Good to see events that chaps like my mate's Dad involved in being made more public attention. Young lads doing their duty getting shit on by the politicians for the sake of the bigger picture.
*bump* for an update- "Survivors of the 1961 siege of Jadotville have been presented with specially commissioned medals in Custume Barracks in Athlone. The medal has been given to the members of A Company and relatives of their late comrades, 56 years after the five-day siege in September 1961. The medal depicts a Celtic warrior, and is inscribed in Irish with the words bravery, defence and calm." Survivors of Jadotville siege presented with medals
A very small but not important version of Bomber Command veterans in their search for respect and recognition.. Took forever for the few remaing to see a monument to them..
I do wonder if the jibe at the French Foreign Legion guy was true-to-life or just part of the movie. I forget the exact words, but basically pointed out that if the French had been any good at Soldiering, they wouldn't have been conquered by the Germans so quickly.
