Obituary: James Scally (1933-2023), hero of Jadotville

James ‘Lubo’ Scally, who died on June 7, was a veteran of one of the most extraordinary battles in Irish military history. In September 1961, then aged 28, he was serving in ‘A’ Company, 35th Infantry Battalion, on UN Service in the Congo. For five dramatic days, Gunner Scally and his comrades fought against overwhelming odds in a mining town called Jadotville. Three months later, he would be severely wounded in another battle, in the city of Elizabethville.

James Scally arrived in the Congo in June 1961. The Irish troops were deployed as peacekeepers in the mineral-rich province of Katanga, which had broken away from the Congo. In early September, ‘A’ Company was sent to Jadotville, a place largely run by a Belgian mining company. The Irish troops were supposed to be protecting the Belgians. But two other UN companies had just been withdrawn due to local hostility and it was clear that the Belgians did not need protection, and hated the UN troops.

The commanding officer of ‘A’ Company, Commandant Pat Quinlan, feared an attack and began preparing defences. James Scally and his comrades were ordered to dig deep diagonal trenches, and those five-foot-deep trenches would save their lives.

On the morning of September 13, while ‘A’ Company was at Mass, Katangese gendarmerie (‘gends’ as the Irish called them) and a force of Belgian, French and other European mercenaries attacked the Irish compound. Alerted by the quick action of sentries, the soldiers ran to their positions and repelled the attackers.

A few hours later, the Katangese returned and James Scally and his comrades were subjected to a storm of bullets and mortars.

The men and teenage boys of ‘A’ Company had no experience of armed combat. They were lightly armed in comparison with the battle experienced troops attacking them. But they were well trained and superbly led, and they returned disciplined and deadly fire.

For the next four days, the men of ‘A’ Company fought relentlessly and repeatedly beat back attacking forces which outnumbered them 20 to 1. (The Company numbered 157 men and the Katangese around 3,000. Armed with rifles, a few machine guns and a small number of mortars used to maximum effect, they inflicted heavy casualties on the Katangese. The Irish suffered no fatalities and only five lightly wounded. At one point, ‘A’ Company were even bombed and strafed from the air by a jet fighter. And still they fought on. As food ran short, they lived off a mix of ingredients they called ‘Jadotville Stew’, and endured a lack of water and ferocious heat.

Gunner James Scally was serving with the 2nd Platoon of the Company. His comrades remember his courage, steadfastness and integrity under fire in the trenches. He was always in good humour. Armed with an FN rifle, he fought for his comrades as they fought for him.

After five days of fighting, Commandant Quinlan agreed to a ceasefire. By then, ‘A ‘ Company had run out of food, water and ammunition. Attempts to get reinforcements to them had failed. Quinlan had the highest respect for his men. He would describe James Scally and his colleagues as “Ireland’s finest sons”. The Company had been let down by the UN. He was not prepared to see his “brave boys” killed for no purpose.

The Katangese broke the ceasefire terms and James Scally and the rest of ‘A’ Company were illegally taken prisoner, and held as bargaining chips in negotiations between the UN and the Katangese president, Moise Tshombe. The Irishmen were reasonably treated most of the time, but there were occasions when they were subjected to psychological, physical and verbal abuse and they had reason to fear for their lives. Throughout their captivity, however, they kept up their discipline and morale.

Eventually, after five weeks, they were released on October 26. (They had planned to seize control of the buses taking them from their prison if they were not released.)

James Scally and his comrades then returned to the Katangese capital Elizabethville and continued their tour of duty. About half the company returned to Ireland at the end of November. But the rest of the men, including James Scally, stayed on to assist the Swedish and Indian UN troops and the incoming Irish 36th Battalion in a military operation that would become known as the Second Battle of Katanga. The UN called it Operation UNOKAT.

This would be the first time that the Irish Army would be involved in a military offensive. The men of the 35th and 36th Battalions were no longer peacekeepers. They were part of a UN attack on the Katangese and their mercenary allies From December 5 to December 18, ‘A’ Company, the 35th battalion, helped spearhead attacks on Katangese roadblocks close to Elizabethville airport. The Katangese attempted to cut off the road linking the UN HQ and bases occupied by UN troops.

Despite meeting fierce mortar and gunfire attack, the men of ‘A’ Company cleared the roadblocks, and helped to keep open a vital secondary road and launched an attack on a major fuel depot controlled by the Katangese. They fought their way into the depot and set fire to the fuel tanks. The flames could be seen from 25 miles away.

The men from the 35th Battalion were stationed at a place called Rousseau Farm, close to a strategically important road known as Route Charlie. On December 10, they set up a post known as ‘Shop’. Their main duty was to protect a huge nearby refugee camp that contained civilians and captured mercenaries. James Scally and his comrades from No 2 platoon patrolled the camp to prevent the enemy soldiers from breaking out. Conditions were bad. Commandant Quinlan described ‘Shop’ as, “a most uncomfortable and unpleasant post by any point of view”.

The Irish soldiers were plagued with flies and intense heat and conditions in their trenches were filthy. But Quinlan praised the spirit of his men, who carried out their duties without complaint.

On the morning of December 18, a gun battle took place between the men in the refugee camp and the Swedish and Irish UN troops. At around 10.30hrs, James Scally was hit by a bullet, which passed through his lung and smashed his shoulder. It is possible that the bullet was actually fired by a Swedish soldier returning fire from the Swedish post a short distance away from the Irish post.

Just hours after James was wounded, President Tshombe requested a ceasefire. The Second Battle of Katanga ended the next day. On the evening of December 18, ‘A’ Company, 35th Battalion, left Elizabethville and began their journey home to Ireland. But James Scally would remain behind in a Congolese hospital until after Christmas. He was then flown home on an American military transport plane and taken to St Bricin’s Military hospital in Dublin. He would be in and out of hospital for the next five years. His military career was at an end.

James Scally was born in Mullingar in October 1933. He came from a family with a long history of working at the Royal Canal Harbour.

James was the third eldest in a family of 11. When he was 16, his father died, aged just 42. James’s youngest sister was born just a couple of months later. James went out to work to help support his mother and siblings and his wages were important in sustaining the family during hard economic times. At the age of 25, he enlisted in the Defence Forces, and served with the 4th Field Artillery Regiment in Columb Barracks before his deployment with the 35th battalion to the Congo.

After the end of his army career, James returned to civilian life. He worked hard and continued to support his family. He lived in Lady Aberdeen Cottages beside the Canal Harbour and grew vegetables in his garden. He remained connected to the military through his membership of the Irish UN Veterans Association (IUNVA) and the Organisation of National ex-Service Personnel (ONE). He loved darts and was a champion player. He also enjoyed cowboy films and had a great interest in history.

For the last three years of his life, he lived in the Rose Lodge nursing home in Killucan.

Life was difficult for the Jadotville veterans when they came home. Although they were praised by a British war correspondent as “the Jadotville tigers”, there was little awareness in Ireland about what they had endured or how bravely they had fought. They were seen as cowards who had surrendered rather than dying heroically. The reputation of senior military men and UN officials had to be protected. So the true story of Jadotville was covered up and not spoken of. Not until 2005, when Declan Power’s book, ‘The Siege of Jadotville’ was published, was the full story of the battle told for the first time.

Happily, James Scally lived long enough to see his courage and those of his comrades finally recognised and honoured. In September 2016, he was one of the surviving veterans honoured in Athlone when the men of ‘A’ Company received a special Presidential Unit Citation – the first time such a citation had ever been awarded to a unit in the history of the Irish Defence Forces.

In December 2017, the men of ‘A’ Company received a special medal, the Jadotville medal, at a ceremony in Athlone. It was, as one of the company officers, Noel Carey said, “a great day for the veterans”.

The honour of James Scally and his comrades had been restored. James also lived long enough to see ‘A’ Company honoured with a monument on Assumption Road, Athlone in 2022, on which the names of all the members of ‘A’ Company, 35th Battalion, are inscribed.

The Unit Citation which James Scally and his comrades received reads as follows: ‘This Citation recognises the leadership, courage, bravery and professional performance of ‘A’ Company, 35th Infantry Battalion and its Attachments who, under challenging circumstances at Jadotville, while besieged by overwhelming numbers of Katangese gendarmerie and cut off from support and reinforcements, did valiantly defend their position from the 13th September 1961 to 17th September 1961.’

James was accorded full military honours at his funeral by IUNVA and ONE comrades. The flags of Ireland were draped on his coffin and surviving Jadotville veterans helped to carry the coffin. The funeral took place just a few days before the 62nd anniversary of the deployment of the 35th Battalion to the Congo.

James ‘Lubo’ Scally served Ireland and the United Nations with courage and distinction. He was one of a remarkable ‘band of brothers’ who can be counted among 20th century Ireland’s true military heroes. In the words of their commanding officer, Pat Quinlan, they were, “The pride of all who wish to admire them”.

May he rest in peace. And rise to glory.

James will be sadly missed by his sisters, Jane (Kissane), Kathleen (Shulton) and Rosaleen (Nugent), his good friend Doreen Byrne, nieces, nephews, relatives, friends and former army colleagues.

• By Ruth Illingworth