The Siege of Jadotville is a 2016 action-war film directed by Richie Smyth and written by Kevin Brodbin. An Irish-South African production, the film is based on Declan Power’s book, The Siege at Jadotville: The Irish Army’s Forgotten Battle (2005), about an Irish Army unit’s role in the titular Siege of Jadotville during the United Nations Operation in the Congo in September 1961.
In the Siege of Jadotville in September 1961, a small contingent of Irish troops serving as part of the United Nations Operation in the Congo (Opération des Nations Unies au Congo, ONUC) were besieged in the mining town of Jadotville (modern-day Likasi) by Katangese forces loyal to the secessionist State of Katanga. The siege took place during the seven-day escalation of a stand-off between ONUC and Katangese forces during Operation Morthor. Although the Irish soldiers resisted Katangese attacks for five days while a relief force of Irish, Indian and Swedish troops attempted to reach them, they were eventually forced to surrender having run out of water and ammunition. They were subsequently held as prisoners of war for approximately one month.
Many of the names and places are highly evocative for me - I was a naive and impressionable schoolboy at the time:
Congo, Katanga, Patrice Lumumba, Elisabethville, Moïse Tshombé, Dag Hammarskjöld, Joseph Desire Mobutu, Léopoldville, Conor Cruise O’Brien
The portrayal of the soldiers and the use of weapons in the film seemed accurate to me, as did the machinations of the politicians in those early days of the UN during the very real Cold War fought in Third World states.
The actors playing the soldiers were particularly convincing, those playing the politicians less so.
For what I assume was a low-budget Irish film, the special effects were outstanding, with no obvious CGI.
Quite accurately, the film has been described as ‘“Zulu” with machine-guns’ but the events took place - 155 Irish “battle-virgins” in an exposed outpost with outdated weapons and limited stores withstood the repeated attacks of thousands of “rebels” and mercenaries armed with the latest weapons, including jet planes with bombs - not one Irishman was killed, although many were wounded.
Sadly, thanks to the cowardice of the politicians, the courage of the soldiers was not fully recognised until 2005 but this film does them justice.