It's incredible that no Irish died during the siege. And not satisfied with simply surviving, it seems like they managed to kill a lot of attackers. I wonder if someone somewhere knows an estimate.
shareIt is estimated that they killed 300-400 and injured 700-800
shareI'm curious about this too. Obviously the way the film portrayed Jadotville it was highly unlikely no Irishmen died.
I mentioned this film to my dad as one he'd be interested in. Immediately I mentioned Jadotville he told me his brother was there. He said they were attacked with everything from bow and arrows up and that 8 Irishmen died. I guess that's what his brother told him.My dad is NOT one to EVER exaggerate or lie about anything, especially his military service or family.
My Dad (underage) and his brother were both in the Irish army at the time. My dad volunteered for the Congo but they just took his unit's landrovers instead of the men. The reason he then left and joined the British army.
People have to realise the world was very different then. My dad was on active service in Aden in the Irish guards shortly after. When British soldiers were killed overseas then their bodies weren't even returned.Politics and the cold war also were as bad as now with fake news reports.
Your father obviously mixed up the events portrayed in this movie with the Niemba Ambush where 9 Irish peacekeepers were killed. It's actually referenced at the start of the film.
shareThats interesting but A. Your dad could be mistaken about his Brother having actually been there. Maybe his brother just heard the story and all these years later he forgot if his brother was "there" or just was telling him about it. and then B. even if his brother was there, he could be mistaken about the dead. C. if there were really 8 dead it means someone on the Irish side is lying or mistaken, which casts doubt on everything else including the strength of the force they faced and anything else, and D if there were NOT 8 dead then again it casts doubt on what your Dad/Brother /story is saying because that is not the official thing being said today.
Basically while I want to believe all that, I think its pretty dubious. My guess is they fought but since they had never been in combat before they probably felt everything was worse than it really was as the soldiers they faced must have been pretty bad to not even be able to kill 1 guy if there were really 3,000 of them. It does not add up.
If you're replying to me.
Of course my Dad only has his Brother's word he was there, I'll ask further. We are not talking about senile people here. My Dad is very politically active and was a volunteer in the Eireann army from the age of about 14 along with his older brother. As mentioned he specifically volunteered for the Congo but only his landrovers were taken while his older brother DID go. Both these men are very much alive after long careers in both the Irish and British army.
B. Yes of course.
C. Agreed. There seems some confusion. It's been mentioned there was more than one battle in different locations?
D. Going in a circle here.
I thought it odd that my Dad had such a specific instant response to me mentioning Jadotville. Both he and his brother were also in active service in the British army afterwards and both had long careers in the British army after their Irish service.
When British soldiers were killed overseas then their bodies weren't even returned.
That's because the policy - dating back to the First World War - was always that they should be buried close to where they fell, usually alongside their fallen comrades. Repatriation after death is very much a modern thing. Most people think of the huge WW1 Commonwealth cemeteries, but you can also find smaller and even tiny ones across France and Belgium, some with less than ten or twenty graves, often men from the same unit who died together in the same action. Better that they lie together in a meticulously maintained plot, than if they had all been returned "home" to be scattered and neglected in cemeteries and churchyards far apart.
I'm going to guess events in the battle were highly exaggerated if no one died. There's no way any military could be that incompetent, especially with French Foreign Legion assisting. My guess is, they were surrounded until they surrendered without a shot fired. You can't throw mortars and assault with men like that and not kill anyone. Impossible.
shareYou may guess that, but you would be wrong. They fought and killed 300, and suffered no fatalities due to the strategic accumen of their commander Commandant Quinlan and the over confidence of the mercenaries who basically just threw men at them.
http://time.com/4408017/the-siege-of-jadotville-the-true-story-netflix-film/
Can they even prove any of this happened? Strategic acumen? LMAO. Either the Irish hid their dead or the details of the battle/siege were wildly exaggerated.
My gut is telling me that this never happened and that the Irish just surrendered without a fight. They were outnumbered, it wasn't to defend Ireland or its territory, they made up the story so their military wouldn't look weak.
[deleted]
Do you understand anything about military strategy? This is a force of 3,000 men, supposedly under the command of the French Foreign legion, with air power. That Irish Force was dead. They would have been pinned down and flanked. The mortars alone probably would have done them in.
My opinion? This battle never happened. Something just doesn't smell right.
[deleted]
This is how sheep get manipulated. I'm sorry.
share[deleted]
Value of entrenchments shown for the Irish in having no fatalities. Even the brief Wiki article indicates their lone 60mm mortar successfully silenced the attackers' mortars.
shareThe true story is available with lots of citations on Wikipedia, you can follow all the citations if you want.
Its a historic fact. You are wrong.
"Don't you hear that horrible screaming all around you? That screaming men call silence."
You keep posting your opinion that "this never happened" and it "just doesn't seem right" in every post on this board. Why don't you give it a rest. I know it must be hard to believe that people were brave and fought a futile battle against all odds, but it happened. Get over it.
shareWell Mr Bricks I would say you have no military experience and are just a keyboard warrior, I on the other hand have 22 yrs experience and served with some of these fine me, who never spoke about their experiences in Jadotville. JUST because they are not British or Yanks in your pea sized brain this battle could not possibly have happened, here's the reality check..... It did, there may be some inaccuracies and Hollywoodisim in the movie but 155 Irish men fought for their lives in Jadotville against superior forces and survived.
shareA mortician?