Jadotville veteran named as Grand Marshal for North Westmeath parade

Castlepollard man John Gorman’s story is about the endurance of a gentle and humble man who has spent many years fighting for friends and colleagues who formed part of ‘A’ Company, 35th Irish Infantry Battalion.

You see pain etched in his face and hear sorrow in his voice when he recalls his memories, but you also hear pride in the journey that life has taken him on since September 1961, when he was wide-eyed, innocent 17-year-old private who was part of an Irish contingent of United Nations Peacekeepers deployment in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

When you sit down with John and he recalls his experiences, you have to remind yourself that it is not a story – it was his truth and subsequent years of gathering information and campaigning for over 20 years in search for the truth to be recognised.

Between 13 and 17 September 1961, 156 members of ‘A’ Company, Irish Infantry Battalion were serving in the newly independent Republic of the Congo as part of a UN mission to keep peace in a country that was descending into civil war. However, what was Ireland’s first ever international military deployment turned into a fight for their lives that was to last beyond the five-day battle in Jadotville, and become a battle of a lifetime, not for their lives, but for their truth to be heard, acknowledged and recorded.

An article in Time Magazine on the Netflix movie, ‘The Siege of Jadotville’, describes it as depicting a little known but astonishing story of heroism and against all odds soldering. The movie tells the true story of how 156 Irishmen led by the tactically astute and brilliant Commandant Patrick ‘Pat’ Quinlan forced their 3000 attackers to fight, which resulted in killing 300 of them and wounding 1000, while in contrast, the Irish, remarkably, suffered no fatalities and only five wounded men.

This year in Castlepollard, John Gorman is the St Patrick’s Day Parade Grand Marshal and we recognise that tireless campaign that he has fought on behalf of his friends, comrades and most importantly Commandant Pat Quinlan – not to rewrite the history of those five days – but to correct it; to clear his and his friends’ names and share a story that went unrecognised for more than 40 years.

Today, thanks to John’s efforts to the siege is now recognised as one of the most heroic and wrongfully forgotten stories in Irish military history.

Recognising Commandant Pat Quinlan has been an important aspect of John’s fight. John recalls how he would often meet him on the street in Athlone and could see that the pain etched in his face. Not only did that weight heavily on John, it drove him on during key times in his campaign and clearing Pat’s name became a priority, for it was Quinlan’s inspiring leadership that saved the lives of all members of A Company. Quinlan promised that every man would get home safe and that was a promise he kept.

John Gorman grew up in Castlepollard in the 1950s. He worked from the age of 14 and was involved in grooming racehorses at a local stable. He always loved horses but he has never backed one. He was encouraged by Major Bonham, his boss in Castlepollard, to go to England, to the famous Major Lionel Holliday stables, to train as a groom or jockey, but John wanted to stay in his own country, and he ran away from home, lied about his age, and joined the army in June 1959.

He was looking for a job, an opportunity, and perhaps a chance to travel.

While he joined the army in Mullingar, John was eventually stationed in Custume Barracks, Athlone. He was a baby faced 17-year-old when he went to the Congo in 1961. He had never been on an airplane; he didn’t even know where they were going. One hundred and four members of his company were young, single men, out of 156, and for most of them it was their first time out of Ireland.

John recalled how the Yanks who flew them out were laughing at their old uniforms and the little bags of food they had to take on the plane with them.

As part of the UN mission, A Company was dispatched to Jadotville, a strategic, mineral-rich town in Katanga.

What appeared on paper as a simple mission ended up in a fight for their lives, putting John and his comrades against a formidable army who consisted of Katanga troops, supported by European mercenaries and settlers who outnumbered them, 20 to one.

Comdt Quinlan, was 42 years of age, loved to smoke a pipe, and knew instinctively that something was wrong, and while most of his men were at Mass said by Fr Joseph Fagan from Finea on September 13, the Katangans attacked, leaving the Irish trapped.

John and the rest of A Company were lightly armed with 60mm mortars, Vickers machine-guns, shoulder fired anti-tank guns and Bren light machine-guns. They had one truck, two Jeeps and intermittent radio communication.

The Katangans had artillery and air support in a single Fouga Magister training jet.

Comdt Quinlan was a master tactician and negotiated a series of ceasefires with the Belgian major of Jadotville, which the Katangans continued to breach. In the trenches, Fr Joseph Fagan gave the men the last rites. After the fifth day the Belgians and Katangans looked for another ceasefire. Quinlan agreed to the ceasefire, and agreements were drawn up, and they were to be joined patrols between the Irish and the Katangans.

An hour later, a man in a hard hat came looking for their company commander and Quinlan was then told that he would have to surrender and that they were being taken prisoner.

On September 17, 1961 they were held in an old hotel in Jadotville until a prison camp was made ready in the nearby town of Kolwezi, where they were transferred on October 11; they remained there for the six weeks, until they were released in a prisoner exchange agreement.

John did not tell his mother he was going to Africa. The first she knew of it was when she got a telegram from the Army saying he was a prisoner of war. She had been praying all night for the boys in Jadotville, but she had no idea that one of those boys was her precious John.

When they returned home, there was no hero’s welcome; in fact, there was deafening silence. The surrender was seen by some as an embarrassment and the treatment of men led to a lifelong fight to recognise the importance of what they and their leader, had achieved.

John said he always had in his mind that he was the person to rectify that injustice; it was meant to be his life’s mission.

All the men returned home but their experiences in Jadotville and on arrival at home destroyed lives and turned some of them into ghosts who disappeared into the wind never to return home again. Over the years the impact on the members of A Company, their loved ones, wives, and children, was tremendous.

John recalls how some of his Jadotville comrades committed suicide, some turned to drink, some ended up in institutions as they couldn’t handle what had happened to them.

John says the families of the deceased members should get an apology from the government. He took it upon himself to fight for justice, always mindful to stay true to the members of A Company and also to the suffering of their families.

When John left the army, he went to England and worked in Coventry, as did many former soldiers. He subsequently returned to the Irish Defence Forces and served 26 years with them. He retired in 1984, and then worked full-time on his campaign to vindicate the men of Jadotville.

For many years, John was involved with Irish United Nations Veterans Association in Mullingar, Athlone and Galway.

Sadly, John’s wife, Mary died after his retirement. He remarried some years later, to Joan. His children Derek, Andrea and Sarah, and his grandchildren, Adam and Daire are very proud of him.

The campaign for justice took John down a long and winding road with lots of highs and lows. One of the low points was trying to get anyone to listen and acknowledge what had happened. A high point came in December 2004 when Minister of Defence Willie O’Dea called him and said as John recalls, ‘John, I am granting you vindication, recognition, and there will be a monument erected in Custume Barracks in Athlone dedicated to you and all members of A Company, 35th Irish Infantry Battalion’.

Despite that, there was sadness, because so many of John’s comrades had passed away. Today, only 42 members of the company of 156 are alive, and over the years he found members of A Company in Australia, Spain, Canada and America.

John recalls how he was sad for the men who were branded cowards but happy that since the foundation of the Defence Forces in 1922, there is no company that has ever received the recognition that their commandant, Pat Quinlan, and his company has received.

The men of Jadotville were presented with scroll of honours, and a memorial was erected in Custume Barracks honouring them.

Asked what would he like his legacy to be, John said that what truly happened be remembered, no award, no pomp or ceremony, just that it not be forgotten.