History: Niemba. It's a place-name that still has the capacity to chill. The remote Congolese village was the site of Ireland's greatest military disaster since the foundation of the State. This book delves into the episode once again and raises a fundamental question: how many Irish soldiers actually died in the massacre?
The shorthand version of events is that there were nine Irish fatalities at the scene - the highest toll from a single incident in the history of the Defence Forces - after Baluba tribesmen attacked Lieut Kevin Gleeson's patrol with poisoned arrows on November 8th, 1960. But a secret Army report, published for the first time in this book, confirms that the remains of one of the victims, Trooper Anthony Browne, were found two years after the ambush, some four kilometres away, indicating that he had managed to escape. It seems he was killed afterwards by robbers.
Less than a year after the massacre, in September 1961, Browne became the first recipient of An Bonn Míleata Calmachta (Military Medal for Gallantry), the Army's highest honour. It was not until 1998 - nearly 40 years later - that the other eight victims were decorated and, even then, as part of a general award to all Irish soldiers who died on UN duty overseas.
It would be ungenerous to begrudge Browne, a single man from Dublin's Fatima Mansions, his posthumous decoration. But the official account of the massacre has been challenged. This newspaper reported last Tuesday that a special Defence Forces investigation had upheld the Army version of events, which is that Browne died in order to save the life of a colleague, Pte Thomas Kenny, who was married with a child, and that his body was borne from the scene by the Baluba tribesmen as a tribute to his courage.
Pte Kenny and the other survivor, Pte Joseph Fitzpatrick, dispute this account. Kenny also denies having told the late Brigadier-General P.D. Hogan that Browne held off the attackers while Kenny made good his escape. Captain Donal Crowley was also quoted as follows in The Irish Times of November 21st, 1960: "Kenny said that Browne gave him covering fire with his Bren-gun." But neither Kenny nor Fitzpatrick signed the statements attributed to them in the official Army account. Meanwhile, Kenny and Fitzpatrick have never been honoured for their role at Niemba, except for the general UN service medal awarded to all peacekeepers.
O'Donoghue, who has written a well-regarded book on Nazi propaganda broadcasts to Ireland during the second World War entitled Hitler's Irish Voices, also questions the official version, as implied in the citation for Browne's medal which states: "He had a reasonable opportunity to escape because he was not wounded but chose to remain with a wounded comrade."
Interviewed for this book, Brig-Gen Hogan, commander of the search party that rescued Kenny and Fitzpatrick, confirms Browne was still alive after the Niemba ambush and was killed by tribesmen "some days later", having "travelled some miles through the bush".
O'Donoghue's book has already moved independent TDs Finian McGrath and Tony Gregory to raise the issue of recognition for Kenny and Fitzpatrick in the Dáil with Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea. It is due to come up again on February 15th.
There is considerable support for awarding a suitable Niemba decoration to the two survivors, not to mention a special Niemba medal for all those who died.
O'Donoghue covers other aspects of the Congolese venture, with reminiscences from journalists such as Cathal O'Shannon, who went there on behalf of The Irish Times, and Alan Bestic, a Dubliner working for the Fleet Street press in London; several Army veterans; UN special representative Conor Cruise O'Brien; a fascinating Belgian ex-colonial, Henriette Cardon-Sips; and numerous others.
It's a worthy contribution to the history of modern Ireland. Joseph Conrad memorably characterised the Congo as the "heart of darkness". There is something particularly moving about the pictures of the Irish contingent heading into the tropical unknown with totally-unsuitable bull's wool uniforms and hobnail boots. It was one of Ireland's first UN missions and a lot of hard lessons have been learnt since then.
Deaglán de Bréadún is Foreign Affairs Correspondent of The Irish Times
The Irish Army in the Congo 1960-1964: The Far Battalions Edited by David O'Donoghue Irish Academic Press, 228pp. €25pk/55.50hk