Arrival to Congo – 1961


Art Magennis
Interviewed for MAOHP - 24/06/2016
Reference Code: IE_MA_MAC_006_MAOHP_002_D
Location(s): Elizabethville
Length: 2.44

In this clip, extracted from an interview undertaken in June 2016, Commandant Magennis remembers his arrival in the Congo for the first time in 1961 and his witnessing of a plane crash close to their base. In July 1960, Irish troops were sent to the Congo as part of the United Nations force. The Belgian Congo became an independent Republic on 30 June 1960. Soon after, the Congolese government requested military assistance from the United Nations to maintain its territorial integrity. On 28 July 1960 Lt-Col Murt Buckley led the 32nd Irish Battalion to the newly independent central African country. From 1960 to 1964, 26 Irish soldiers lost their lives in the Congo.


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