Only the officer in charge of those involved in the Siege of Jadotville in the Congo 60 years ago was nominated for a medal.
An independent review group formed last year decided that Colonel Pat Quinlan, the commanding officer of a company, the 35th Battalion, would receive the Distinguished Service Medal (DSM).
However, the group headed by retired Brigadier General Paul Buckenham recommended that the 33 men of the A Company not be given the 35 Batallion DSM as recommended by Colonel Quinlan after the siege of September 1961.
Colonel Quinlan also recommended that of the 33, five should also be awarded the Military Medal for Fiction (MMG), the highest award of the Irish Army.
The review group concluded that awarding DSMs and MMGs would understate the value of the An Bonn Jadotville (Jadotville Medals) awarded in 2017 to all siege veterans.
A total of 158 men of Company A faced an overwhelming force of Katangese rebels supported by French and Belgian mercenaries at Jadotville outside Elizabethville.
After the establishment of the Congo as an independent country in 1960, the mineral-rich southern province of Katanga attempted to secede and UN forces were sent in to maintain order.
One company managed to hold out for four days by adopting a perimeter defense without loss of life while inflicting heavy casualties on the rebels.
After the men surrendered, they were held for a month before being released. When they returned to Ireland, there was no official acknowledgment of their bravery which caused the discontent of the veterans and their families ever since.
Inflation
The news of the review group’s recommendation will be a slap in the face to those who campaigned for years for the Defense Forces to overturn its original decision not to award medals.
The Military Medals Board will be set up to consider the recommendations and will submit a report to the Chief of Staff by the end of August. A recommendation does not necessarily mean that a medal will be awarded.
The review group’s 500-page report on the medal issue for veterans was published in Jadotville on Thursday afternoon.
The report’s authors were of the opinion that there was no advantage in reopening the previous medal boards that dealt with Jadotville.
She said opening individual cases would undermine the integrity and prestige of Anne Boone Gadotville.
Revisiting the matter, she said, would also reduce the actions of other members of A-company in Gadotville who did not recommend a medal in the 1960s.
The report highlights the lack of support provided to Jadotville veterans after they were released from captivity in the Congo and returned home.
«The Jadotville experiment was deliberately ignored, and intentionally silenced, initially in the 1960s, then in later years,» the report states.
Reintegration
Company employees found it difficult in many cases to reintegrate into military and civilian life. They were returning to a society where most of their military comrades had no experience of serving abroad, and their civilian friends had no idea of military service, let alone serving abroad with Unouk.
“Some of the company’s children found themselves jeered and ridiculed that their parents were cowards; some left white feathers on their school bags. Others were humiliated on the streets of their towns.
Family members noticed how distant their sons, brothers, husbands and fathers were when they returned from Katanga.
Gadotville had been «swept away by the higher ranks» of the defense forces. The report concluded that it was anathema to speak of Gadotville, that the surrender of a company was deemed unfortunate, and fellow soldiers ostracized former officers and men of the company.
The report stated that the 2016 Netflix movie The Siege of Jadotville, starring Jamie Dornan, gave a distorted view of the battle and colorful public perceptions of what really happened.
She said there were many misconceptions about what happened in Jadotville with a tendency to inflate the numbers of attacking gendarmes to several thousand, to inflate the number of Katanga casualties that were given without a «verifiable source» and exaggerated claims about international interest in Jadotville.
She concluded, «It is unfortunate that the history and memory of the Battle of Gadotville in 2021 and the courage of the 35th Company’s A Infantry Battalion is tainted by fantasy narratives, populist groupthink, and political agendas. This is not the way to honor this unique group of Defense Force veterans and their families.»
After examining the evidence, the review group felt there was a «prima facie case» for the posthumous award of the DSM to Comdt Quinlan. But based on analysis of the battle, the review group «strongly believes that there is no advantage in reopening the recommendations of the medal boards.»
Independent Senator Gerard Craugwell, who campaigned on behalf of the Gadotville veterans, said he was «completely frustrated by the result.»
«I can’t imagine any other organization anywhere else in the world that has openly set out to destroy itself,» said one defense force veteran.
“I must accept the choice of the board of directors. I make no mistake with the board. They did what they were asked to do. It is the organization, the Defense Forces, that I have a problem with.”
Senator Crawwell said the recommendations «not only respected the men or the wishes of Commandt Quinlan, but they disrespect anyone in uniform in the way the Defense Force has handled this issue for the past 60 years.»
Defense Secretary Simon Coveney is expected to tell Senad later that he agrees with the report’s recommendations, including those that were outside his remit.
He is also expected to apologize, on behalf of the government, to the men of Company A for the lack of support they received upon their return. The minister also apologizes to their families.