Heroes of Jadotville: The Soldiers' Story

In 1961, during the United Nations intervention in the Katangan conflict in the Congo, central Africa, a company of Irish peacekeeping troopes was forced to surrender to soldiers loyal to Katanga's prime minister, Moise Tshombe. Originally dispatched to protect Belgian colonists in Jadotville, they were isolated, without water, supplies, or support, when they were attached and forced to defend themselves in a brutal and bloody five day battle. Shamefully neglected by their superiors, they were portrayed as cowards upon their return home.

In Heroes of Jadotville: The Soldiers' Story, Rose Doyle uses interviews, reports, journals, and letters to bring answers and clarity to an episode long ignored. She blows the lid on the real story of what happened in Africa, exposing how Irish peacekeeping soldiers became pawns in an international affair for control of Katanga and its vast mineral wealth. Doyle seeks to grant these soldiers the recognition their bravery deserves.

This is their story.