Jadotville Buildings

 Some pictures of Jadotville, that I would like made as 3D printed buildings.

                                        The Purfina Bus Depot that the Irish used as their HQ.

                                            A map outlying the Irish defenses at Jadotville.

                                            

                                            Lt. Noel Carey painted this map of A Company's positions in Jadotville                                                    while in captivity.

                                        

                                            Lt. Noel Carey and Lt. Joe Leech outside the Purfina garage 

                                            that served as A Company's HQ (this was after the siege has ended).

                                            

                                            Screen shot from the Siege of Jadotville movie on Netflix. 

                                           

                                            Screen shot from the movie set of the outer buildings.

                                            

                                            

                                            A bungalow that will serve as a villa at Jadotville.

                                            

    

                                            Interior shot of the villa (unpainted).

                                            

One platoon of  A Company of the 35th Infantry Brigade ready to wargame.  Three rifle sections, a heavy weapons section, and a HQ section.  

Four Rifle Sections and HQ.  In the background is a heavy weapons platoon.

A heavy weapons section.

(L to R) Officer, Sergeant armed with 9mm Carl Gustav, Private with SLR, Private with Bren Gun and Radio operator.

(L to R) Radio Op, SLR kneeling, next three figures with SLRs and Private with a Carl Gustav ATG.

Section 1

Commandant, Radio Op and CSM.

Three Vickers Machine Guns

Three 60mm Mortars

Bren Gun Team and prone figure with SLR.

                                            

    

                                            Vickers medium machine gun team

                                            

                                            A 60mm mortar team

 As I continue to read about the Irish Army's organization in the early 1960s, I thought I would make some notes in preparing to organize my figures for the Jadotville game.  Most of this information comes from Declan Power's book "Siege at Jadotville The Irish Army's Forgotten War."

Section.  10 soldiers led by a Corporal or a Sergeant (NCO).  Soldiers were armed with the WWII Lee Enfield 303 before receiving the FN (Fabrique Nationale) rifle that fired a 7.62mm round from the UN.  NCOs carried the Carl Gustav SMG firing 9mm rounds.  Each section had a WWII Bren gun (LMG) as the main support weapon, that was later replaced by the General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG).

Platoon.  Three sections made a platoon (32 soldiers) that would be lead by a second Lieutenant  or Lieutenant, and assisted by a Platoon Sergeant (the senior ranking NCO in the platoon).  A weapons platoon (commanded by a Captain) provided support with heavier weapons that included 60mm and 81mm mortars, the Carl Gustaf  8.4 recoilless rifle and heavy machine guns (the WWII air cooled and belt fed Vickers machine gun had an effective range of 1000 yards). A Company's Platoons had three Bren guns.  There were six 60mm mortars (with a maximum range of 800 yards), two 84mm Carl Gustav recoilless guns (effective range of 600 yards) and two Vickers machine guns.  In addition, the two WWII Ford armored cars were equipped with Vickers.

Company.  Consisted of 150 soldiers led by a Commandant (Comdt) that in other armies would be the rank of Major.  The Comdt was assisted by a Captain (2IC) and two senior company NCOs, the Company Quartermaster Sergeant (CQMS) and Company Sergeant (CS) is the senior NCO in a company.

Battalion.  A battalion was made up of four companies (A,B,C and a Headquarter Company).  The battalion was commanded by a Lt. Colonel (Lt. Colonel Hugh McNamee was the battalion Commander) with a staff of officers (Comdt, Captain and Lieutenant) and NCOs including the battalion Sergeant Major.

The officers and senior NCOs of A Company (of the 35th Irish Infantry Battalion) included:

Commandant Pat Quinlan (picture)
Captain Dermot Byrne (A Coy's 2IC)
Captain William Donnelly
Captain Thomas McGuinn
Lt. Joe Leech (commander of 1st Platoon) and Sgt John Monaghan

Lt. Tom Quinlan (commander  of 2nd Platoon) and Sgt Walter Hegarty (2nd platoon platoon Sgt.)

Lt. Noel Carey (commander of 3rd Platoon)
Captain W. G (Liam) Donnelly (Support Platoon commander) and Sgt. Tom Kelly (support Platoon)
Lt. Kevin Knightly (commanded the two Ford Armored Cars attached to A Coy)
Commandant Joe Clune (Medical officer)

Father Thomas Fagan (Chaplin)

Sgt. John Prendergast (Company Sergeant)

Sgt. Patrick Neville (Quartermaster Sgt.)

Noel Carey's 3rd Platoon.

Captain Liam Donnelly, Commander of Support platoon.  

L to R Sgt Walter Hegarty, Lt. Carey, Sgt Kevin McLaughlin and Lt Tom Quinlan

This picture was taken as trenches were being dug before the siege began.

Irish Armoured Car Combat in the Congo

 

Irish Armoured Car Combat in the Congo

A very educational video about the Irish Ford Armored Cars in the Congo.  Commandant  Art Magennis (Distinguished Service Medal, DSM with honors) was a commander of the 35th Infantry battalion's Armored Cars group in Elizabethville in 1960-1961.  His interview in 2012 gives excellent insight into the operations of the Ford, and how they modified the turret allowing the gunner to fire and rotate the turret simultaneously.  Magennis also explains why four of the Fords had their turrets removed and fitted with the Browning .30 caliber MG, and also the game of cat and mouse played between the Fords and the Katangese M8 Greyhounds.

The Jadotville project continues with some additional vehicles.  The Bedford Mk. IVs are from Butler Printed Models, and the Ford Armored Car was a 3 D print by a friend.  

The Land Rover Mk II is a 3D print by CG morph.  The UN and mercenary figures were sculpted by John Murphy.

                                        

                                            

                                            

                                            

                                            

                                            Series 2 Land Rover carrying a Wombat.

Bofors 40mm Anti Aircraft gun with Irish crew.  The two seated crew are not wearing theit tunics to give the impression that they have manned the weapon in haste.  John Murphy sculpted the two figures when I told him my idea, and that then lead to John sculpting additional figures to represent the Irish Army in 1940.

 Army and Marine Service officer and ratings.

The figure in the back is carrying a Thompson smg, and the other two are firing 303 rifles.

Bren Gun Carrier and two cavalry troopers (one armed with a Lewis gun).

Officer and two privates (one armed with a Lewis gun, as there were a shortage of Bren guns initially during the Emergency).

Future Projects

 The  Jadotville Project

In 2019, I decided to start planning for a 28mm scenario based on actual events in 1961, at Jadotville in the Congo.  I asked John Murphy from Dublin Ireland to sculpt a set of Irish Army figures for the project, and John started with some sketches.

I created a 50 man company that included 60mm mortars and Vickers machine guns to represent the Irish UN forces. 

   5 figures for the Land Rovers that will serve as UN or mercenaries.