Siege of Jadotville - 1961

By Bobby Alexander
Background
• In 1961, UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld
asked Irish politician Conor Cruise O'Brien to
organize an Irish UN peacekeeping mission to
preserve peace in the Belgian Congo.
• The Belgian Congo was suffering from the Congo
Crisis, which was a bitter and brutal war that killed
over 100,000 people.
• The town of Jadotville was a mining town famous
for its gold mines and copper and cobalt reserves.
• The siege of Jadotville was a forgotten battle that
involved an Irish UN peacekeeping force, backup
Swedish, Irish and Indian UN forces and a band of
mercenaries from Katanga
• The siege of Jadotville occurred in the 1960's in the
Belgian Congo (now the Democratic Republic of
Congo or DRC).
The Battle
• On the 13th of September 1961, at 7:00 am
local time, a group of Katangese mercenaries
attacked a UN force consisting of 150 Irish
troops while they were at an open-air mass
and attempted to hold them hostage.
• They attacked the UN base to secure
the precious minerals that Jadotville had.
• An Irish UN force that was led by
Commandant Patrick Quinnlan, who
oversaw a rescue operation to free the Irish
that were captured.
• The Irish and the Swedish and Indian forces
fought for 4 days before the mercenaries
asked for a surrender
The Aftermath

• The UN forces and their reinforces surrendered

after 5 days of fighting. 300 soldiers were killed
and over 1000 soldiers were injured.
• The Katangese mercenaries held the 150 Irish
troops hostage for 5 days.
• The Irish unit that initiated the rescue mission
(the "A" company) were not given Irish
recognition until 2016, unfortunately after the
death of Commandant Patrick Quinlan in 1998.
A plaque was unveiled by Enda Kenny in 2017 to
honor him.
• A movie was also released in 2016 about Patrick
Quinlan and the siege.
Thank you for I hope you enjoyed my

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project.