An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 29 indication of the ferocity of the fighting. Before entering Kipushi, he told the town's mayor that mercenaries and armed civilians had to lay down their arms or they risked being shot on sight, and he later joked that he was the first Irish officer to accept a town's surrender since the 1920s. It was during this operation that he won his Distinguished Service Medal, with Distinc- tion, for leadership and bravery. The citation reads: "For distinguished service with the United Nations Force in the Republic of the Congo, for leadership and courage. During the operations of December 1962, Capt Lavery led the advance of the Irish troops on Kipushi, and displayed courage and leadership in the handling of his armoured cars, disregarding his own safety to di- rect and control their fire. His handling of a team charged with attending to the problem of 15,000 refugees, solved the problem in a matter of days, mainly through his efficient leadership." At one stage a bridge was blown up just as his Ford armoured car was about to cross it and he suffered back injuries. Most soldiers didn't talk about their experi- ences of the savagery of the Congo, but my dad told me about the horrific effects of the Vickers machine gun on human bodies, after a couple of decades of using it only against targets on the range. Towards the end of his life he also re- called one incident that had stayed with him. To- gether with his sergeant he had searched a house at night and they found three white women raped and butchered with machetes. As they continued their search he saw movement in the corner of a darkened room. His finger was just about to press the trigger of his Gustaf when he saw it was a young woman and a baby who had escaped the butchery. He said he had been only a second or two from killing them. His last overseas tour was with Armoured Car Group, 18 Infantry Group, in Cyprus in 1970 from where he wrote to tell us of Vulcan bombers flying overhead from RAF Akrotiri, and of putting on a Panhard armoured car display for a visiting British royal. He was promoted to comman- dant in 1971. During his career he also served with 11 Motor Squadron FCÁ; com- manded 5 Motor Squadron FCÁ; was PSO to the chief of staff; and served as an intelligence officer at the outbreak of the Troubles. Comdt Jim Lavery retired in 1974 to become National Organiser with the Irish Red Cross. He died in 1995. Escorting JFK in O'Connell St, Dublin, 1963. After leading a patrol in the Congo to rescue a Belgian priest whose mission was about to be overrun by Balubas

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