Local veterans celebrate first ever Congo trip

Close to thirty veterans from Mullingar travelled up to attend the 50th anniversary of the first ever Defence Forces peace keeping mission to the Congo, which was held in the Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel, Dublin on Friday last.They joined more than one thousand veterans at the base where the US Air Force airlifted some 6,100 Irish troops for the peace keeping mission 50 years before hand.While Taoiseach Brian Cowen praised the "peace pathfinders" for their bravery, two men from Mullingar, Billy Ready, Clonmore, and Jimmy Coleman, Rathconnell, told the Westmeath Examiner what it was like to meet old friends after 48 years."I met up with Fr. Matthews who was a Chaplain in the 36 Battalion in the Congo in 1962, he was a very funny man, he used to go round on a bicycle" said Jimmy Coleman, who joined up with he was just sixteen years old."You were meant to be 17, but if you had a letter from your daddy with his consent you could join.There were a lot of daddys out there of course that had no idea they had given their consent," he exclaimed.Jimmy, who remembered being on duty sometimes for 24 hours, was involved in the famous Battle of the Tunnel, where he saw three of his colleagues die: "It was difficult enough. I don't think we realised the situation we were heading into because in those days you had no radio or tv," he said. Billy Ready was one of the first to be wounded in another famous siege - the Battle of Jadotville: "I was 20 and I went out as a mechanical fitter in transport, but I ended up fighting along with everyone else. I was the first to be shot in the siege and I was shot in the hand," explained Billy.The siege which lasted five days, erupted because the mineral rich province of Katanga, which was ruled by Belgium, wanted to break free from the rest of the Congo."We were short on weaponry and manpower, compared to their superior numbers of 3,000.There was a lack of food, no water, and we were running low on ammunition after days of fighting." A ceasefire was called, which eventually turned into surrender and Billy was taken captive. However he went on to fight in the Battle of the Tunnel, which was won by the UN, and completed five trips to Cyprus before retiring from service. On the day, twenty six candles were lit at the ceremony in Baldonnel for those who lost their lives in the Congo.