An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir March 2020 www.dfmagazine.ie 24 | BY CPL TRACY CONNOLLY, RET'D CQMS Anthony Connolly DSM, was born in Cork in 1938, he enlisted in the Defence Forces in April 1954. He served with the 1 Fld Sig Coy, 3 Grn S&T and the 4 Inf Bn. He served overseas on four occasions. He retired from the Defence Forces in April 1998. Sadly, he passed away on 3rd Decem- ber 2017. Here his daughter, recently retired Cpl Tracey Connolly tells the story of how he was awarded his DSM in 1960. 'For distinguished service with the United Nations Force in the Republic of Congo on the 14th of September 1960, at Manona. He chose to remain in an exposed position isolated from his unit in order to maintain wireless contact with Battalion Headquarters. Fighting was in progress between Ka- tangese forces and Baluba tribesmen around his position, but Private Connolly remained at his post and provided communi- cations for approximately· 24 hours until the situation eased. His conduct was most meritorious and beyond that required by the call of duty.' Citation for Distinguished Service Medal with Distinction (DSM) awarded to 801763 Pte Anthony Connolly, 33 Inf Bn Conversations my father and myself shared were always interesting as we were both served in the Defence Forces. But there was that one story that he found a difficult subject to speak about - which was his time in the Congo in 1960. Nine of his comrades died on an ambush with the United Nations and one can only recall their trip as true cannibalism. I managed to get the story over time of what actually hap- pened for him while on duty that day - he was most heroic on the battlefield. Here is as follows: The UN Secretary General, Mr. Dag Hammarskjold agreed to send in the military as a backup. The Irish Defence Forces Battalions 32nd and 33rd touched down in July 1960 at Kam- ina Air Base north of Katanga and were spread out across the region. The situation was very tense in the town. Their duty was to prevent clashes between the Baluba of North Katanga who favoured the Congo Premier Mr. Lumumba, and President of the State of Katanga Mr. Tshombe's Belgian officered gendarmerie. Even though the troops were there to keep the peace they would always have to be ready to fire, as they didn't know if they were going to be turned upon and at times this did happen. The Irish troops always went in first with their greetings "Jambo...we greet you in peace". So, on 14th September 1960 at Manono, my father said the situation was very uneasy in camp as the Baluba tribesmen and Katangese forces were slaughtering each other. Men were arriving in town in larger numbers than usual, which wasn't normal, women were leaving town. Attempts were made to calm the situation by the UN but to no avail. The Irish UN presence was much resented by the Baluba leaders. Fighting was in progress in around his position between Kan- tagese forces and Baluba tribesmen. The building where my father was with troops men women and children could be attacked at any minute they needed to call for help from the other Company's. To give some idea of the robust nature of these women a pregnant woman just went around the cor- ner of a building accompanied by another woman. In fifteen minutes, they were back with a newly born baby. My father felt he had to do something fast and with team tactics his senior officer Lt Col Pierce Barry and himself came up with a plan of action as communications in camp had gone down and he needed to get the antenna to a higher place to get word back to Battalion Headquarters for assistance. So, my father left the building to try to get comms elsewhere and went out to face the bloody slaughter on the battlefield. He had his rifle, ammunition, cable and radio set. He climbed a tree to its highest point all the while bows and arrows flying at him, people were being slaughtered below him. He was a communications expert through Morse code and his training came from 1st Field Signals in Collins Bks, Cork. He set up his antenna on the top of the tree and got communication back to Battalion Headquarters for help in the first 24 hours, and they sent 'A' Coy to his position. He climbed back down from his tree and took his position in his trench all the while taking up position and using the Morse code. 'A' Company came in tight and were a huge help in not letting the tribesmen take over the camp. Lt Col Barry and his B Coy men joined in the Anthony's DSM Citation Jimmy Connolly (Anthony's father), his brother Raymond Connolly congratulating Anthony on his promotion to Corporal

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