Veterans recall their days in the Congo
Cpl Patrick Clancy Youghal, Co Cork
‘None of us had ever been near an airport, not to mind an airplane’
“I just remember the excitement before we left. None of us had ever been near an airport, not to mind an airplane. I was part of the engineering corps and did carpentry, but I did a lot of duties like patrolling the border between the Congo and Rwanda.
“Our main task was to keep the airport open over there – it was the only way in and out of the country. I look back on it now as a fantastic achievement.”
Sgt Noel McGivern Montpelier, Dublin
‘It was our first time under fire. I was scared – who wouldn’t be?’
“The most dramatic moment was winning the battle of ‘the tunnel’ on the outskirts of Elizabethville. We were being fired on from all sides – it was our first time under fire. I was scared – who wouldn’t be?
“I think I appreciated life much more after that. We learned a lot from the other international troops there.”
Airman Archie Raeside, Mountrath, Co Laois
‘We didn’t know if they were going to greet us or attack us’
“We arrived in the ‘bull’s wool’ uniforms in the stifling heat. It took us a while to get some tropical gear. I’ll never forget that.
“We landed early one morning in the Congo and there were hundreds of people there. We didn’t know if they were going to greet us or attack us. So, we sent the band with bagpipes out and then everyone started clapping and dancing, and they marched along with us.”
Cpl Seán Maher Finglas, Dublin
‘We’d do anything for the other fella in good times and bad’
“The comradeship was incredible. We were like a family, we were all very close to each other; we’d do anything for the other fella, in good times and bad. I still have friends from those days. We had a football team between ourselves out in the Congo and we still meet up.
“A day like this is special – it give you a chance to meet up with all the other lads you might have fallen out of contact with.”
Cpl Richard Kelly Athy, Co Kildare
‘The Baluba tribesman were fierce as well: big, lean men’
“The ordinary Congolese people were very decent, hard-working people.
“Tshombe’s [leader of the break-away province of Katanga] troops were another story: they were responsible for a lot of destruction. They’d be boozed up on Simba [the local beer] and start chanting and dancing; they were liable to do anything.
“The Baluba tribesman were fierce as well: big, lean men . . . In the end, I think we helped a lot. Many more people might have been killed if we weren’t there to protect the population.”