An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 35 Belgian paratroopers were in the Congo to protect and defend Belgian citizens and probably Belgian interests as well. It was into this fray that the young soldiers of Ireland and Sweden were thrown. Not properly equipped and with little or no experience, these young men were mustered on the red African soil to fight an enemy that was sometimes elusive and vague. Very soon, they had their baptism of fire when an Irish patrol was ambushed in Niemba on November 8th 1960. Stig von Bayer, a Swedish interpreter assigned to assist the Irish troops with translations, had warned them about the danger posed by the indigenous Baluba population. A few days later the Irish patrol was ambushed and nine soldiers out of 11 were slain. Meanwhile, the Swedish soldiers were tasked with guard- ing train routes out of Elisabethville, and ended up in fierce fighting with the indigenous tribes allied with the Katangese. In August 1960, the Swedish and the Irish battalions were both transferred to Elisabethville in Katanga province, where the real conflict was about to erupt. It was here that the early bonds of friendship formed, as the Swedish and the Irish camps were situated not far apart. From early on, operations were conducted in unison and training was also conducted together. At the beginning of 1961, both forces received armoured cars to facilitate safer and more heavily armed transportation. The Swedes got five Swedish KP-cars with twin-mounted, water- cooled, 8mm, M36 Browning machine guns, while the Irish side received old but sturdy Ford Mk IV armoured cars armed with single-mounted, water-cooled, .303, British Vickers machine guns. In 1961 the UN stepped up its efforts to bring peace to the country. Several peace talks were conducted during spring and by summer the only big obstacle left was Katanga and Moise Tshombe, who refused peace. The decision was taken to enforce the UN resolutions by force and on August 28th Operation Rum Punch saw the arrest of many of Tshombe's white mercenar- ies and officers. This operation was not as successful as hoped and another operation, Morthor, was planned and carried out on September 13th. The Irish and Swedish worked together to carry out a number of tasks in Operation Morthor. One of these was the attempted apprehension of Minister Munongo, where two Irish armoured cars aided a company of Swedish soldiers. Early in the morning of September 13th the combined force of Swedes and Irish arrived in their vehicles under fire outside Munongo's villa. Hastily the Swedish soldiers entered the com- pound aided by machine-gun fire from the Irish armoured cars. The mission failed, however, as the minister had abandoned the house earlier. As the raiders withdrew under protection from the armoured cars, several gendarmerie soldiers opened fire on the column, and in the ensuing gun battle Swedish soldier Kenneth Irish soldiers being instructed by Swedish officer Captain Kjessler. Photo: Swedish Army Museum/Photographer Göran Landelius. Irish armoured transport in the Congo, the Ford Mk IV. UN Photo. Swedish armoured transport the KP-car in the Congo, evacuating wounded Indian soldiers. UN Photo.

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