Thomas Cunningham (1939-2021), Jadotville Hero

Tom Cunningham, who died on September 4t, was a veteran of one of the most extraordinary battles in Irish military history. Sixty years ago this month, then aged just 22, he was serving in ‘A’ Company, 35th Infantry Battalion on UN service in the Congo. For five dramatic days Gunner Cunningham and his comrades fought against overwhelming odds in a mining town called Jadotville.

Tom Cunningham 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. After a number of weeks stationed in the Katangese capital, Elizabethville, where they were involved in trying to keep the peace and in arresting foreign mercenary soldiers, ‘A’ Company was sent in early September 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 But two other UN companies had just been withdrawn due to local hostility and it was clear that the Belgians did not need protection.

The Commanding Officer of ‘A’ Company, Commandant Pat Quinlan, feared an attack on his men and began preparing defences. Tom Cunningham and his comrades were ordered to build deep diagonal trenches – what would become known as a perimeter defence. The digging was done at night, while during the day the men were ordered to appear relaxed.

On the morning of September 13, while ‘A’ Company was at Mass, Katangese troops and a force of Belgian, French and other European mercenaries attacked. Alerted by the quick action of sentries, the soldiers ran to their positions and repelled the attackers.

A couple of hours later, the Katangese returned and Tom Cunningham and his comrades were subjected to a storm of bullets and mortars.

It was clear to the Irishmen that their enemy intended to kill or capture them.

The men and teenage boys of ‘A’ Company had no experience of armed conflict. 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 on relentlessly and repeatedly beat back attacking forces which outnumbered them 20 to one (the Company numbered 155 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 were lightly wounded.

At one point, ‘A’ Company were even bombed and strafed from the air by a Belgian jet fighter. And still they fought on.

Tom Cunningham’s comrades remember his steadfastness under fire in the trenches. He fought for them 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 Tom Cunningham and his comrades as being "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 soon broke the ceasefire terms and Tom Cunningham and the rest of ‘A’ Company were illegally taken prisoner, and held as bargaining chips in negotiations between the UN and Katanga. The Irishmen were reasonably well treated most of the time, but there were occasions when they were subjected to verbal and psychological 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).

Tom Cunningham and the other troops then returned to 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 Tom Cunningham, stayed on to assist the Swedish and Indian UN troops and the incoming 36th battalion from Ireland in a military operation that would become known as the Battle of the Tunnel.

That would be the first time that the Irish Army would be involved in a military offensive. The men of ‘A’ Company 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 helped spearhead attacks on Katangese roadblocks close to Elizabethville airport. The Katangese were attempting to cut off the road linking the UN HQ and the bases occupied by the Irish and other UN troops. Despite meeting fierce mortar and gunfire attack, the men of ‘A’ Company cleared out the roadblocks. They also helped to keep open a vital secondary road. That road was little more than a muddy track through the bush, and many of the Irish trucks had to be towed through the mud.

On December 12, ‘A’ Company 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.

Elsewhere in Elizabethville, Irish soldiers were battling to take control of a strategic railway tunnel. The ‘A’ Company men were on the periphery of that battle but still came under attack and one soldier was seriously wounded in a mortar attack on their post. A few days later ‘A’ Company returned to Ireland.

Back home they received a warm reception with cheering crowds in Athlone. Those like Tom Cunningham who returned to Mullingar were treated to dinner in a local restaurant by Dr Trevor Winckworth.

But then attitudes began to change. Few people in Ireland knew about what the men of ‘A’ Company had endured or how bravely they had fought. They were seen as cowards who had surrendered rather than dying heroically. The reputations of senior military men and UN officials had to be protected. So the true story of Jadotville was covered up and not spoken of.

Tom Cunningham and his comrades endured slights and sneers from barroom patriots and other fools.

Tom continued his military career. He went overseas again to serve on UN duty in Cyprus. That was a much less dangerous operation than the Congo. Tom played his part in keeping the peace between the deeply divided Greek and Turkish populations on the island and preventing the political situation from escalating into genocidal conflict – as it had the potential to do.

Tom’s battalion was based in the east Lakonika region, along a dividing line between Turkish and Greek villages.

Tom was considered to be a good soldier and was respected by his officers.

Back in Ireland, Tom served with the 4th Field Artillery Regiment in Columb Barracks. He held the rank of gunner and worked as an artillery driver. He was respected by young recruits and by the men of the FCA, with whom he worked while still in the Permanent Defence Forces.

When he left the army, he worked in farming and forestry. He had a deep love of nature.

Tom joined the Irish United Nations Veterans Association (IUNVA) when it was founded in 1990. He was a member of the Mullingar branch, known as Post 20, and served as its president.

While he spoke little about Jadotville to the younger soldiers, he was involved in the long running campaign to have the heroism of ‘A’ Company recognised, and the name of Commandant Quinlan cleared of any suggestion of military wrongdoing.

He talked about Jadotville to Declan Power for his book ‘The Siege of Jadotville’, which was published in 2005 and told the story of the battle for the first time.

Tom Cunningham 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 able to attend the premier in Dublin of the film drama ‘The Siege of Jadotville’. A month later he was at Collins Barracks in Dublin to receive a unit citation awarded to the Company. 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 officers of ‘A’ Company, Capt Noel Carey, said, a "great day" for the veterans. The honour of Tom Cunningham and his comrades had been restored.

At the time of the siege of Jadotville, a British newspaper had referred to the men of ‘A’ Company as "tigers". Now, finally, their own country was honouring them, after more than half a century.

Many of the national papers showed pictures of Tom receiving his medal from the minister for defence.

Tom Cunningham was laid to rest in Ballyglass cemetery on September 7. He was accorded full military honours by IUNVA comrades from across the country, and by surviving Jadotville veterans. The flags of Ireland and of the United Nations were draped on his coffin at the removal and funeral Mass.

Tom’s funeral took place just one week before the 60th anniversary of the start of the Siege of Jadotville.

Tom Cunningham 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.