Footnote: The Leader of the Mercenaries was Roger Faulques. was a French Army Colonel, a graduate of the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr, a paratrooper officer of the French Foreign Legion, and a mercenary. Grand officier de la Légion d'honneur (Decree of 16 April 2004. Commandeur, 19 July 1960) Croix de guerre 1939-1945 with 1 citation (bronze star) Battle hardened soldier against 150 Irish soldiers with no battle experience of any kind. They did their Country Proud
Don't think it was in the movie, but when commandant Quinlan went into a bar in Jadotville during the ceasefire to buy non-alcoholic drinks for his men ( their water was still cut off) someone shouted "Le majeur Irlandais" and Falques plus all the othe mercenaries stood to attention and saluted.
I recall from my history classes that a British general was quoted as saying we lost America through the Irish , every single war America has been involved in an Irish American regiment has been involved . Remember Audie Murphy ? Anyways folks think the Irish in Ireland are not battle ready because we don't invade anywhere or instigate wars that we are soft big mistake . We are a very disciplined army please check out the Irish ranger wing . I loved this vid btw very interesting
I've always loved hearing about the Irish Americans who fought in virtually all of our wars! Also I checked out the Irish Rangers, phenomenal soldiers! I'll be sure to put out a reaction video about them soon!
@@natas8256 You should also check out the figures for Victoria Cross awards to Irish troops in the Second World War, as well as the over-representation of Irish volunteers in terms of NCOs and officers in the British armed forces during that war.
@@Halestone_ Here is another bit of Irish American History. American Civil War and Conflict Stories From Irish America. ruclips.net/video/Hho9Dh1XPrY/видео.html
The siege of Jadotville were the 35th Battalion and when they were released after captivity for a month they were rearmed and finished their tour in December, it's a 6 months tour. My dad was with the 34th Battalion between Jan and June 61. They also saw combat on a few occasions, under fire at a railway station when the driver took of, Tshombes men dropping mortars on them and a firefight and Balooba Kats firing bows and arrows at them. My dad was on top of a train with a bren gun firing back. There was only about 20 Irish, my father said they left 90 to a 100 dead behind them. The Irish boys were well trained as soldiers. When my dad got home he suffered with nightmares. He left the army and went working in England. He came home and met my mother. Stayed at home. He's 82 in September. There were a few more encounters in the Congo.
My father served with the 36th Bn and took over from the 35th. He remembers the whitle Belgin colonial settlers shooting a child for stealing an apple. Can you just imagine that an apple ?. He was 40 years old when he was there and was wounded on his second last day there. It was a sniper round through his hand. He was fine after and served in Cyprus in 1964 with the UN. He passed away in 2011 aged 90
I'm Irish and it was our government that treated these soldiers like cowards. They abandoned them to their fate avd still won't award them medals for their part in this action.
Old phuqqing deValera didn't want new young Irish heroes in the years leading up to the 50th Anniversary of the 1916 Rising to compete with his faded glory. He was a useless bardsteward!
The reason they did not ever the recognition they deserved was because certain Irish politicos and civil servants would be shown up in a bad light, CCOB anyone.
On the topic of water I was once sent out to inspect a building site during a heatwave, the problem was that the the wrong project brief was sent to me by head office so instead of inspecting a new apartment block I was inspecting a public walking trail being built on a 8 mile stretch of disused railway line. In addition to the site compound there were 5 work site spread across the 8 miles so I wound up walking 16 miles carrying my survey gear in the midday heat with only half litre of water to sip on. It is definitely not something I ever want to repeat
To answer a question you asked in the video, Commandant Quinlan or any of his troops didn't have any combat experience, you see we are a peaceful country apart from the War of Independence & the Civil War the Army has never fought anyone, yes we do take part in UN missions but that is about it, having said that though you will find Irish regiments and divisions in nearly every conflict in the world for the past 1,000 years. Go back to Roman times and wonder why the mighty Romans never dared to attack us. We are a peaceful country.
Thanks for the info! I enjoyed learning more about this bit of Irish history. Him having had no previous combat experience makes his leadership all the more incredible!
My great uncle was there they fought there heart out were left abandoned and then called cowards because they were left with no ammunition or water true warriors
That was a very interesting reaction from someone who actually knows what they are talking about. Although I have to roll my eyes over the comments from armchair warriors with beer guts and desicated brains who make stupid and pointless remarks about being carried out of pubs. The Republic of Ireland was a still very young small neutral and poor country at that time and these missions with the UN were for both the military and political leadership a first chance for Ireland to step out onto the world stage in a military peace keeping role. With the reflected glory of a successful participation in a major UN operation falling at their feet rather than an ordinary soldier of course. Instead of seeing the truth of the situation that these soldiers had against overwhelming odds performed an amazing act of military defensive strategy and bravery until they had literally used every bullet twice, they instead were only personally feeling shamed without either understanding or wanting to understand anything other that the men of A Company had embarrassed THEM and made THEM look bad on the international stage. Pat Quinlan was finally left with no other option that could possibly have saved his men's lives. He had no other option left and thankfully the surrender was respected. But it's tragic when instead of being hailed as the heroes that they were, they had to deal with the consequences of the dented hubris of their various Irish and UN leaders who it seems would have been happier to have seen them sacrificed needlessly, than the embarrassment of their surrender and the details of the failures that led to that surrender. And another little bit of information. That Irish UN representative in the Netflix movie was called Conor Cruise-O'Brien and after he left the UN he had a successful political career in Ireland and became a government minister. When political leaders are looking at the "bigger picture", soldiers lives become cheap currency. You probably have dipped into this as much as it's practical but incase you or anyone else wants to read more, look up this book..... Siege At Jadotville: The Irish Army's Forgotten Battle by Declan Power.
Very good reaction video from an experienced soldier. It is true the Irish contingent had no previous combat experience. Political backstory is that the UN politicians were seeking to make a name for themselves and the UN. Completlely neglected Comdt. Quinlan and his men.
Typical of Irish politicians. I did 21 years in the Irish Army and there is still no greater enemy to Irish troops than Irish politicians. Sadly this situation is not only restricted to Irish troops - look whats happening to Col Scheller USMC.
Ha!!! If there were no Irish involved during the American Civil War it would have been over in months instead of years!!! The performance of the Irish brigades on both sides were legendary and told by the people who disliked them the most !!! Don
Irish officers are well educated, while not battled hardened, having a good educated does make the difference, for example to be accepted into cadet school you need a Masters Degree for the engineering unit or Hons degree in Science for an officer in the regular army
Halestone my Dad was in the Congo a few weeks after the boys came home also here is part one The Irish Troops in the Congo some is in Irish as it was on the TG4 the Irish TV Channel ruclips.net/video/4aGtK07bTwA/видео.html This tells the story from the Troops in Jadotville it is in 4 parts it is well worth a watch.
Ireland's Rourkes Drift... Interesting fact.... Bromhead, played by Michael Caine in the film Did not collect his VC.... He remained on a fishing holiday.... In Ireland...
Wee tip know how Ur Gona get a lot more subscribers ? Chat about Ireland put Ireland in the title ok god bless . I'm retired now I was in the irw just saying your Gona be a captain good luck on that I will sending this vid to my American cousin's and Irish cousin's cause your a good guy
@@Halestone_ thank you you are so kind and thoughtful that's what makes the person you are ok . Ur a wee brave fella I would say . I don't want to go through the stuff I seen ok it's worthless love your heritage, family and always be kind to others . Love America love Europe ok
Yeah you’re totally right about the no combat experience. Ireland is officially neutral, like Switzerland, so our troops really only ever serve in UN peacekeeping forces. Even at that, it’s insanely rare for the UN forces to be involved in conflict beyond defending themselves, so to see a situation like this where the UN even launched an offensive is particularly rare. Fun fact though, Ireland does have its own special forces which very little people actually know, called the Ranger Wing. They’ve primarily been used for rescues of Irish citizens in dangerous situations like the fall of Baghdad, the Libyan civil war, citizens in ISIS territory and most recently during the fall of Kabul a few months ago, might be something for you to do a video about in the future. Keep up the cool content bro ✌🏻
The Irish/English band the Pogues on their 1985 album "rum,sodomy,and the lash'..sing a song called Billy's bones.. about a yn Irishmen soldier in doing a stint if peace keeping in Lebanon...he gets killed .
Maybe one thought on this. The people who "attacked" the Irish company were, for the most part, a citizen militia of people who actually lived there and wondered why exactly white, European, foreign enemies were machine gunning the local people. What were they doing there in someone else's country? Why were they inserting themselves into someone else's struggle for independence? Is this not just a tiny bit like the kind of thing Irish people complain at the Brits for doing to them? You can compare it to Rorke's Drift. To the Brits a simple tale of heroism, but I suspect the Zulu see it differently. The Congolese had been brutalised by white oppressors for a century. To many of the local people this was just another bunch of white men killing black men.
You're thinking too much into it. Neutral UN nations like Ireland, Sweden and India were called to peace keep in the Congo on the verge of war. The UN's incompetence put them in a bad position. The Irish troops where there under the pretense to protect the Belgian settlers which did not want them there. Indian UN troops killed a number of innocent people in Elizabethville and Katangese surrounded the Irish troops in Jadotville. I don't blame the Irish troops. The UN for trying to stop Katanga's succession from the Congo and not letting the UN troops know the political gravity of the situation.
The locals were led by Belgium mercenaries, Belgium wanted to keep the resources of the Katangan province for themselves, so the UN were actually protecting the country from intervention by Belgium.
Wow, amazing to see such a lengthy but misinformed comment. Particularly when the video you're commenting on actually explains it for you. But just in case you don't actually watch the video. I'll sum it up in a few lines. The Irish were only there due to the UN mandate. They deployed in a peace keeping / enforcement capacity. You've used quotation marks for "attacked" for some reason, so I can only assume that you're implying the Irish were the aggressors? They were attacked in their base while in church. They did not attack anyone just defend themselves. The Congolese people were not attempting to oust colonialists. Belgian & French mercs led and commanded the attack. There is very little political similarity to Rorke's drift in anyway. Besieged peace keepers under attack from mercs vs colonial troops being attacked by indigenous people.
THE IRISH MEN DIDN'T "ATTACK" ANYBODY!!!!...... GOOD GOD, YOU ARE ONE MISINFORMED IDIOT!!! *THE IRISH WERE THE ONES WHO WERE ATTACKED BY THE LOCALS LED BY THE BELGIAN MERCENARIES!!!* - *ENTIRELY THE OTHER WAY ROUND FROM WHAT YOU'RE ATTEMPTING TO ALLEDGE OCCURRED IN YOUR HIGHLY UNEDUCATED, INCORRECT COMMENT!!!* STOP PAINTING THESE IRISH HEROES AS SOME FORM OF RACISTS - THEY HAD NO VESTED INTEREST IN THE CONGO; NEITHER THE PEACEKEEPING COMPANY A MEN, OR THE COUNTRY OF IRELAND EITHER, FOR THAT MATTER!!.... A LOT OF OTHER PREVIOUSLY COLONIALIST COUNTRIES DID HAVE SIGNIFICANT VESTED INTERESTS:- NAMELY THE URANIUM IN THE KATANGA AREA OF THE CONGO, WHICH ALL OF THE SUPERPOWERS WANTED TO MAINTAIN STRATEGIC TIES TO, VIA TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE LOCALS, SO THAT THESE SUPERPOWERS COULD RETAIN ACCESS TO THE URANIUM FOR THEIR WEAPONS PROGRAMS (OF WHICH IRELAND HAS NONE, SINCE IRELAND IS AN ENTIRELY NEUTRAL COUNTRY, WHO ONLY EVER DEPLOY IN DEFENSE OF PEACE, AND ONLY EVER DEFEND THEMSELVES WHEN ATTACKED; AS IS EXACTLY WHAT OCCURRED ON THIS OCCASSION!!!) - THE COUNTRIES WHO HAD THE VESTED INTEREST IN THE URANIUM DEPOSITS (VIA USING AND ABUSING THE NATIVE PEOPLE AND THEIR ASSETS) WERE COMPLETELY AT FAULT FOR WHAT HAPPENED..... AND THE U.N. WASN'T EXACTLY SQUEAKY CLEAN ON THIS OCCASSION EITHER, SINCE THEY WERE WELL PREPARED TO LITERALLY HANG THESE BRAVE, HONOURABLE IRISHMEN OUT TO DRY/TO BE SACRIFICED, JUST TO ATTEMPT TO "SAVE FACE"....!!! *THE IRISH LADS WOULD NEVER HAVE FIRED A SINGLE BULLET HAD THEY NOT BEEN FORCED TO DEFEND THEMSELVES AGAINST AN OVERWHELMINGLY OUTNUMBERING ARMY WHO ATTACKED THEM WHILE THEY WERE AT CHURCH!!!* *TRY GETTING YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT BEFORE MAKING SUCH WOEFULLY MISINFORMED AND ENTIRELY WRONG ASSERTIONS!!!!*
Ireland's Rourkes Drift... Interesting fact.... Bromhead, played by Michael Caine in the film Did not collect his VC.... He remained on a fishing holiday.... In Ireland...
Zulu was a much better film than the siege of jadotville even though it was a fine effort.However i think as regards actual events jadotville was more impressive.Rorkes drift was defended by a unit of the army of the worlds greatest imperial power,whereas jadotville was defended by the poorly equipped irish army.They had to face a much better equipped and commanded enemy than the zulus and much youngerb as the zulu regiment that attacked rorkes drift were primarily made up of 40 year olds.The attack on rourkes drift lasted 2 or 3 days whereas at jadotville it was a week.Of course surrendering to the zulus was not an option but equally retreat was not an option either as the locals in jadotville sided with the enemy.I am biased being irish but all in all i think jadotville was a good deal more impressive though rorkes drift was still impresssive.
Footnote:
The Leader of the Mercenaries was Roger Faulques.
was a French Army Colonel, a graduate of the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr, a paratrooper officer of the French Foreign Legion, and a mercenary.
Grand officier de la Légion d'honneur (Decree of 16 April 2004. Commandeur, 19 July 1960)
Croix de guerre 1939-1945 with 1 citation (bronze star)
Battle hardened soldier against 150 Irish soldiers with no battle experience of any kind.
They did their Country Proud
Don't think it was in the movie, but when commandant Quinlan went into a bar in Jadotville during the ceasefire to buy non-alcoholic drinks for his men ( their water was still cut off) someone shouted "Le majeur Irlandais" and Falques plus all the othe mercenaries stood to attention and saluted.
As someone who has served in the Irish Guards I can only say these men are hero’s and didn’t get the recognition they deserved still to this day
I recall from my history classes that a British general was quoted as saying we lost America through the Irish , every single war America has been involved in an Irish American regiment has been involved . Remember Audie Murphy ? Anyways folks think the Irish in Ireland are not battle ready because we don't invade anywhere or instigate wars that we are soft big mistake . We are a very disciplined army please check out the Irish ranger wing . I loved this vid btw very interesting
I've always loved hearing about the Irish Americans who fought in virtually all of our wars! Also I checked out the Irish Rangers, phenomenal soldiers! I'll be sure to put out a reaction video about them soon!
@@Halestone_ thank you I will be the first to view it can't wait slan abhaile !
Irish Americans make up 58% of all the Medal of Honor recipients ever awarded! So I say that’s an accurate depiction.
@@natas8256
You should also check out the figures for Victoria Cross awards to Irish troops in the Second World War, as well as the over-representation of Irish volunteers in terms of NCOs and officers in the British armed forces during that war.
@@Halestone_ Here is another bit of Irish American History. American Civil War and Conflict Stories From Irish America. ruclips.net/video/Hho9Dh1XPrY/видео.html
The siege of Jadotville were the 35th Battalion and when they were released after captivity for a month they were rearmed and finished their tour in December, it's a 6 months tour. My dad was with the 34th Battalion between Jan and June 61. They also saw combat on a few occasions, under fire at a railway station when the driver took of, Tshombes men dropping mortars on them and a firefight and Balooba Kats firing bows and arrows at them. My dad was on top of a train with a bren gun firing back. There was only about 20 Irish, my father said they left 90 to a 100 dead behind them. The Irish boys were well trained as soldiers. When my dad got home he suffered with nightmares. He left the army and went working in England. He came home and met my mother. Stayed at home. He's 82 in September. There were a few more encounters in the Congo.
My father served with the 36th Bn and took over from the 35th. He remembers the whitle Belgin colonial settlers shooting a child for stealing an apple. Can you just imagine that an apple ?. He was 40 years old when he was there and was wounded on his second last day there. It was a sniper round through his hand. He was fine after and served in Cyprus in 1964 with the UN. He passed away in 2011 aged 90
My dad was with the 34th Battalion, he's 83 now
@@72mossy Well done to him. my dad was 40 in 1961. He passed away in 2011 aged 90.
i am a ex Irish soldier these facts are true ,they had no back up and were left to fend off 4000 troops .
I'm Irish and it was our government that treated these soldiers like cowards. They abandoned them to their fate avd still won't award them medals for their part in this action.
Old phuqqing deValera didn't want new young Irish heroes in the years leading up to the 50th Anniversary of the 1916 Rising to compete with his faded glory. He was a useless bardsteward!
The reason they did not ever the recognition they deserved was because certain Irish politicos and civil servants would be shown up in a bad light, CCOB anyone.
Major Quintin and his men…..absolute legends👏🏻
On the topic of water I was once sent out to inspect a building site during a heatwave, the problem was that the the wrong project brief was sent to me by head office so instead of inspecting a new apartment block I was inspecting a public walking trail being built on a 8 mile stretch of disused railway line. In addition to the site compound there were 5 work site spread across the 8 miles so I wound up walking 16 miles carrying my survey gear in the midday heat with only half litre of water to sip on. It is definitely not something I ever want to repeat
I challenge anyone to walk into a Irish pub & pick a fight, it's probably you that will be carried out...
To answer a question you asked in the video, Commandant Quinlan or any of his troops didn't have any combat experience, you see we are a peaceful country apart from the War of Independence & the Civil War the Army has never fought anyone, yes we do take part in UN missions but that is about it, having said that though you will find Irish regiments and divisions in nearly every conflict in the world for the past 1,000 years. Go back to Roman times and wonder why the mighty Romans never dared to attack us. We are a peaceful country.
Thanks for the info! I enjoyed learning more about this bit of Irish history. Him having had no previous combat experience makes his leadership all the more incredible!
My great uncle was there they fought there heart out were left abandoned and then called cowards because they were left with no ammunition or water true warriors
That was a very interesting reaction from someone who actually knows what they are talking about.
Although I have to roll my eyes over the comments from armchair warriors with beer guts and desicated brains who make stupid and pointless remarks about being carried out of pubs.
The Republic of Ireland was a still very young small neutral and poor country at that time and these missions with the UN were for both the military and political leadership a first chance for Ireland to step out onto the world stage in a military peace keeping role.
With the reflected glory of a successful participation in a major UN operation falling at their feet rather than an ordinary soldier of course.
Instead of seeing the truth of the situation that these soldiers had against overwhelming odds performed an amazing act of military defensive strategy and bravery until they had literally used every bullet twice, they instead were only personally feeling shamed without either understanding or wanting to understand anything other that the men of A Company had embarrassed THEM and made THEM look bad on the international stage.
Pat Quinlan was finally left with no other option that could possibly have saved his men's lives.
He had no other option left and thankfully the surrender was respected.
But it's tragic when instead of being hailed as the heroes that they were, they had to deal with the consequences of the dented hubris of their various Irish and UN leaders who it seems would have been happier to have seen them sacrificed needlessly, than the embarrassment of their surrender and the details of the failures that led to that surrender.
And another little bit of information.
That Irish UN representative in the Netflix movie was called Conor Cruise-O'Brien and after he left the UN he had a successful political career in Ireland and became a government minister.
When political leaders are looking at the "bigger picture", soldiers lives become cheap currency.
You probably have dipped into this as much as it's practical but incase you or anyone else wants to read more, look up this book.....
Siege At Jadotville: The Irish Army's Forgotten Battle by Declan Power.
Thanks for the info! And I'll be sure to check that book out as well!
Very good reaction video from an experienced soldier. It is true the Irish contingent had no previous combat experience. Political backstory is that the UN politicians were seeking to make a name for themselves and the UN. Completlely neglected Comdt. Quinlan and his men.
Typical of Irish politicians. I did 21 years in the Irish Army and there is still no greater enemy to Irish troops than Irish politicians. Sadly this situation is not only restricted to Irish troops - look whats happening to Col Scheller USMC.
True and the pay was shite
true and the pay was crap
I served in the 70s with some of the hero's who were involved in that engagement and the resulting conflict.
Ha!!! If there were no Irish involved during the American Civil War it would have been over in months instead of years!!! The performance of the Irish brigades on both sides were legendary and told by the people who disliked them the most !!! Don
Watch the movie. It's brilliant.
What fucking way did the narrator pronounce "costume barracks" in Athlone 😂😂
Irish officers are well educated, while not battled hardened, having a good educated does make the difference, for example to be accepted into cadet school you need a Masters Degree for the engineering unit or Hons degree in Science for an officer in the regular army
I always wondered why my father hated Conor cruise o brien
Halestone my Dad was in the Congo a few weeks after the boys came home also here is part one The Irish Troops in the Congo some is in Irish as it was on the TG4 the Irish TV Channel
ruclips.net/video/4aGtK07bTwA/видео.html This tells the story from the Troops in Jadotville it is in 4 parts it is well worth a watch.
I’ll be sure to give it a watch!
Ireland's Rourkes Drift...
Interesting fact....
Bromhead, played by Michael Caine in the film
Did not collect his VC....
He remained on a fishing holiday....
In Ireland...
It was because of strategic tactics and they had no ammo
Wee tip know how Ur Gona get a lot more subscribers ? Chat about Ireland put Ireland in the title ok god bless . I'm retired now I was in the irw just saying your Gona be a captain good luck on that I will sending this vid to my American cousin's and Irish cousin's cause your a good guy
Much appreciated! And thank you for serving, I’ll be sure to put out more videos about Irish history, and military!
@@Halestone_ thank you you are so kind and thoughtful that's what makes the person you are ok . Ur a wee brave fella I would say . I don't want to go through the stuff I seen ok it's worthless love your heritage, family and always be kind to others . Love America love Europe ok
The Irish have been fighting the Brits for 800yrs so we learned a thing or 2
Yeah you’re totally right about the no combat experience. Ireland is officially neutral, like Switzerland, so our troops really only ever serve in UN peacekeeping forces. Even at that, it’s insanely rare for the UN forces to be involved in conflict beyond defending themselves, so to see a situation like this where the UN even launched an offensive is particularly rare. Fun fact though, Ireland does have its own special forces which very little people actually know, called the Ranger Wing. They’ve primarily been used for rescues of Irish citizens in dangerous situations like the fall of Baghdad, the Libyan civil war, citizens in ISIS territory and most recently during the fall of Kabul a few months ago, might be something for you to do a video about in the future. Keep up the cool content bro ✌🏻
The Irish didn't surrender, they were captured during a cease fire.
Sadly treated so badly by the government as usual ex Irish army, keep up the good work men 🇮🇪
The Irish/English band the Pogues on their 1985 album "rum,sodomy,and the lash'..sing a song called Billy's bones.. about a yn Irishmen soldier in doing a stint if peace keeping in Lebanon...he gets killed .
Not called the fighting Irish for nothing
Within the Irish army the rank of Major does not exist. Commandant Quinlan is the correct rank.
It is pronounced....
Cus chum Barracks...
Ath-lone...
Maybe one thought on this. The people who "attacked" the Irish company were, for the most part, a citizen militia of people who actually lived there and wondered why exactly white, European, foreign enemies were machine gunning the local people. What were they doing there in someone else's country? Why were they inserting themselves into someone else's struggle for independence? Is this not just a tiny bit like the kind of thing Irish people complain at the Brits for doing to them? You can compare it to Rorke's Drift. To the Brits a simple tale of heroism, but I suspect the Zulu see it differently. The Congolese had been brutalised by white oppressors for a century. To many of the local people this was just another bunch of white men killing black men.
You're thinking too much into it. Neutral UN nations like Ireland, Sweden and India were called to peace keep in the Congo on the verge of war.
The UN's incompetence put them in a bad position. The Irish troops where there under the pretense to protect the Belgian settlers which did not want them there.
Indian UN troops killed a number of innocent people in Elizabethville and Katangese surrounded the Irish troops in Jadotville.
I don't blame the Irish troops. The UN for trying to stop Katanga's succession from the Congo and not letting the UN troops know the political gravity of the situation.
The locals were led by Belgium mercenaries, Belgium wanted to keep the resources of the Katangan province for themselves, so the UN were actually protecting the country from intervention by Belgium.
Wow, amazing to see such a lengthy but misinformed comment. Particularly when the video you're commenting on actually explains it for you. But just in case you don't actually watch the video. I'll sum it up in a few lines. The Irish were only there due to the UN mandate. They deployed in a peace keeping / enforcement capacity. You've used quotation marks for "attacked" for some reason, so I can only assume that you're implying the Irish were the aggressors? They were attacked in their base while in church. They did not attack anyone just defend themselves. The Congolese people were not attempting to oust colonialists. Belgian & French mercs led and commanded the attack. There is very little political similarity to Rorke's drift in anyway. Besieged peace keepers under attack from mercs vs colonial troops being attacked by indigenous people.
You must have missed the part of the mercs being paid by the Brits?
THE IRISH MEN DIDN'T "ATTACK" ANYBODY!!!!...... GOOD GOD, YOU ARE ONE MISINFORMED IDIOT!!!
*THE IRISH WERE THE ONES WHO WERE ATTACKED BY THE LOCALS LED BY THE BELGIAN MERCENARIES!!!* - *ENTIRELY THE OTHER WAY ROUND FROM WHAT YOU'RE ATTEMPTING TO ALLEDGE OCCURRED IN YOUR HIGHLY UNEDUCATED, INCORRECT COMMENT!!!*
STOP PAINTING THESE IRISH HEROES AS SOME FORM OF RACISTS - THEY HAD NO VESTED INTEREST IN THE CONGO; NEITHER THE PEACEKEEPING COMPANY A MEN, OR THE COUNTRY OF IRELAND EITHER, FOR THAT MATTER!!....
A LOT OF OTHER PREVIOUSLY COLONIALIST COUNTRIES DID HAVE SIGNIFICANT VESTED INTERESTS:- NAMELY THE URANIUM IN THE KATANGA AREA OF THE CONGO, WHICH ALL OF THE SUPERPOWERS WANTED TO MAINTAIN STRATEGIC TIES TO, VIA TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE LOCALS, SO THAT THESE SUPERPOWERS COULD RETAIN ACCESS TO THE URANIUM FOR THEIR WEAPONS PROGRAMS (OF WHICH IRELAND HAS NONE, SINCE IRELAND IS AN ENTIRELY NEUTRAL COUNTRY, WHO ONLY EVER DEPLOY IN DEFENSE OF PEACE, AND ONLY EVER DEFEND THEMSELVES WHEN ATTACKED; AS IS EXACTLY WHAT OCCURRED ON THIS OCCASSION!!!) - THE COUNTRIES WHO HAD THE VESTED INTEREST IN THE URANIUM DEPOSITS (VIA USING AND ABUSING THE NATIVE PEOPLE AND THEIR ASSETS) WERE COMPLETELY AT FAULT FOR WHAT HAPPENED.....
AND THE U.N. WASN'T EXACTLY SQUEAKY CLEAN ON THIS OCCASSION EITHER, SINCE THEY WERE WELL PREPARED TO LITERALLY HANG THESE BRAVE, HONOURABLE IRISHMEN OUT TO DRY/TO BE SACRIFICED, JUST TO ATTEMPT TO "SAVE FACE"....!!!
*THE IRISH LADS WOULD NEVER HAVE FIRED A SINGLE BULLET HAD THEY NOT BEEN FORCED TO DEFEND THEMSELVES AGAINST AN OVERWHELMINGLY OUTNUMBERING ARMY WHO ATTACKED THEM WHILE THEY WERE AT CHURCH!!!*
*TRY GETTING YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT BEFORE MAKING SUCH WOEFULLY MISINFORMED AND ENTIRELY WRONG ASSERTIONS!!!!*
Ireland's Rourkes Drift...
Interesting fact....
Bromhead, played by Michael Caine in the film
Did not collect his VC....
He remained on a fishing holiday....
In Ireland...
Zulu was a much better film than the siege of jadotville even though it was a fine effort.However i think as regards actual events jadotville was more impressive.Rorkes drift was defended by a unit of the army of the worlds greatest imperial power,whereas jadotville was defended by the poorly equipped irish army.They had to face a much better equipped and commanded enemy than the zulus and much youngerb as the zulu regiment that attacked rorkes drift were primarily made up of 40 year olds.The attack on rourkes drift lasted 2 or 3 days whereas at jadotville it was a week.Of course surrendering to the zulus was not an option but equally retreat was not an option either as the locals in jadotville sided with the enemy.I am biased being irish but all in all i think jadotville was a good deal more impressive though rorkes drift was still impresssive.