An Cosantóir the official magazine of the Irish Defence Forces and Reserve Defence Forces.
Issue link: https://digital.jmpublishing.ie/i/867824
www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 29 By DR JAMES MCCAFFERTy DSM, BA (hONS), PhD T he 38th (Irish) Infantry Battalion was the last Irish unit to engage in combat operations with uN forces in the Republic of the Congo. Formed on 1st November 1962 and commanded by lt Col P J Delaney (Mil Col), the battalion left Ireland on 7th November 1962, transiting through leo- poldville to Elisabethville in Katanga, and by 18th November were on station at Camp Prince leopold Farm. 38 IrBatt arrived at a time when all road and rail routes into Elisabethville had been blockaded by Katangese gendarmerie, although the city and its airport remained under UN control. Freedom of movement was thus denied to UN forces, with air transport being their only means of logistical support. For their part the UN forces also had roadblocks on all routes into the city. Opposing the 650-strong Irish unit and other UN forces in Elisabethville were Katangese Gendarmerie forces estimated at some 3,000. Gendarmerie armour was reckoned at six Staghound armoured cars, each armed with one 37mm cannon, one 0.30-inch and one 0.50-inch Browning machine-gun. The dispositions of Katang- ese armoured vehicles is not given in the 38 IrBatt unit history. The gendarmes were armed mainly with FN 7.62mm rifles and light ma- chine-guns of the same calibre and make. They were also equipped with 60mm and 81mm mortars, and some 57mm anti-tank weapons. The Katang- ese air force was estimated as having between 32 and 38 aircraft, of which eight were Fouga jet-trainers – equipped with machine-guns and capable of car- rying light bombs. The dispositions of | 29 www.military.ie the defence forces magazine 38 Infantry Battalion You must understand therefore, that there are two ways of fighting. By law - or by force. The first way is natural to man, the second to beasts. But as the first way often proves inadequate one needs must have recourse to the second. So a prince must understand how to make nice use of the beast and the man. Niccolo Machiavelli - 'The Prince' Irish UN contingent members at the airport boarding for the journey to Elizabethville. 1st December 1961, Leopoldville. UN Photo/BZ #105774