An Cosantóir

www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE | 25 fight for peace on the battlefield as they took up positions. They remained a further three days on the ground with my father in the sweltering heat trying to calm the situation. If they had got to take over the camp it would have been a great massacre. All the while my father sent Morse code under his great leader Lt Col Pierce Barry. They had set up a plan of execution for when they could send in the planes. His amazing plan of execution was sent through in as gaeilge as he was fluent in the Irish language. He had to get the planes in to rescue the men, women and children. The planes couldn't use their headlights so they had to land in the dark. His Morse code was sent over the airwaves and his execu- tion was again in Irish, which was genius. The Balubas and Katangese were very good themselves at Morse code so they could intercept his messages so this was why the plan was to include his native tongue. He would send "one flew over the cuckoo's nest'' in Irish ("eitil duine amháin thar nead na cuach") each time he needed a plane to come in and land and get them out. The troops from 'B' Company would turn on the headlights of the patrol cars on the runway for when the planes landed so that each plane didn't crash. This all had to be done with strategic military planning. His timings on this had to be perfect. On that morning at 10:00 hours he sent the message to Battalion Headquarters reporting on the situation and re- questing any available aircraft from Albertville to fly out the Belgians and the police and families including 60-70 Belgians in protective custody at Geomines Club. He then contacted Kamina and Elizabethville for aircraft. A total of five aircraft including three Sabena DC3 commercial type landed dur- ing that day and took away all those who desired to leave. There were over 200 in all. The last plane landed and took off in darkness with the aid of headlights from a number of cars channelled down the airstrip. One plane evacuated the police. This would let you see the uncertainty in the area and the pace of which things were moving. One plane a 28-seater DC3, took out 83 women and children. All those evacuated on that day were so glad to be on their way from Manono. Later on, in their trip on the 8th November 1960 there was the devastation of the Niemba ambush. This was another devastating blow for everyone who served on that mission. But again, as my father would say at the time, Lt Col Patrick Pierce Barry led this operation along with Comdt Beckett who was able to monitor and report on the casualties in the hospital - so the plan was hatched, Operation Shamrock for the injured Balubas who found their way to a hospital in nearby Manono after their attack on our Irish peacekeepers. It came apparent once discharged they would have no remorse and be free to roam the bush and kill again. They were behind enemy lines so they needed to lead this opera- tion with military precision in order to get them sentenced accordingly. Lt Col Barry's party had to come up with a great plan so these injured Balubas would not be aroused by suspicion if they entered to see their own. They sent in Capt Condron as a casualty with bandages around his head in fake blood. I can recall my father chuckle when told this bit of the story because he knew it was a master plan and everyone wanted a piece of it. So large tracts of Comdt Beckett's correspondence were done by my father in Irish back to headquarters about what the way the situation was on a daily basis in the hospital. On the day these Balubas were being supposedly dis- charged Comdt Beckett sent a message through my father via Morse code in Irish stating "Ta na hein ulliamh an nead a fhagaint", which reads "the birds are ready to leave the nest". For this reason, none of the Balubas could intercept what was happening. On the morning of 2nd December Congo's radio Brazzaville broadcasts a recording of the funeral of the Niemba funeral from Dublin and as they listened. This it spurred everyone on to make sure these murderers not were leaving that hospital and getting away with it. As the Irish convoy approached the hospital the gates were unarmed to their surprise so the operation was carried out successfully and they got to leave with seven of the Balubas. These men were escorted back and handed over to the authorities for sentencing. I am at the very least proud of my father who they now call a hero. He along with so many others were hero's, those who set foot on the Congo soil. I felt compelled to write after he was placed on the walls of the Museum in Collins Barracks called the 'Hall of Hero's' because he isn't just my hero but many peoples hero... Anthony retired in his IUNVA uniform and DSM medal on his shoulder CQMS Anthony Connolly DSM performing morse code CQMS Anthony Connolly DSM being honoured in a commemoration in the North Monastery Secondary School with the EO 1 Bde

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