ADAM'S - THE HISTORY SALE - APRIL 26TH 2017 (Click Lot title for more images and to Place Bid)

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The History Sale
A comprehensive collection of internal Army documents, chronicling the day-to-day
operations of the Irish Army units which served under United Nations command in
the (formerly Belgian) Congo, 1960-61, including the Jadotville siege, as follows:
A: Unit History. 32 Bn. InThe Congo. Cyclostyled, circa 150 pp foolscap, in a mil-
itary issue loose-leaf binder. Foreword and summary by Col. M. O Buachalla [Col.
Mort Buckley]. Covers events involving the 32nd Batt., which established the Irish
mission in the Congo, in minute daily detail from 22 July 1960 to 20 January 1961,
various reports and appendices, personnel lists etc., map at end. [The 32nd was not
the unit involved in the Niemba ambush].
B: Stair 35 Cathlán Coisithe sa Chongo [Unit History of 35 Bn. Infantry], [June-
Dec.] 1961 (includes the Jadotville siege and associated events). Circa 70 pp, with a
further 80 pp appendices, cyclostyled typescript, in a plastic binder.
C: Stair Aonaid 2ú Grúpa Coisithe [Unit History, 2nd Infantry Group], Náisiúin
Aontaithe,An Congo, D. Fhóir 1963 - Bealtaine 1964 [October 1963 - May 1964,
the last Irish Army unit to serve in the Congo], 54 pp, with annexes, cyclostyled
typescript, foolscap, tie-bound.
D: Record of Award for Service in the Congo. Ordaithe Gnathaimh Ginearál-
ta, 1967, cyclostyled typescript, 12 pp, stapled.
Items A to C, drawn directly from the military record, include the greatest possible
detail of every aspect of operations, including personnel, logistics, equipment, food,
medicine and health, tasks, orders, relations with the local and expatriate commu-
nity, the political background, and a daily narrative of events as seen on the ground.
Various pages are marked‘Restricted’ or ‘Rúnda’ [‘Secret’].
For the crucial episode of the Battle of Jadotville (13-17 Sept. 1961), item‘B’
includes at Appx. B a very detailed 11-page report of events (marked‘Secret’) by
Comdt. Patk Quinlan, O/C of ‘A’ Co., the unit which was besieged and taken
prisoner by Katangan forces under Belgian direction; at Appx. C the report of the
unsuccessful attempts by ‘Force Kane’ to relieve‘A’ Co. during the siege;Appx. D
reports on Operation ‘Morthor’,Appx. G gives Comdt. Cahalane’s report of his
detention and questioning by white (i.e. Belgian) personnel, etc.
The experience of the Jadotville siege has recently been highlighted in the acclaimed
film,‘The Heroes of Jadotville’.
An important collection, of compelling interest to anyone wishing to study the Irish
Army’s contribution to U.N. peacekeeping operations in the 1960s and later.
€ 300 - 500
FIANNA FAIL (The Irish Army).A Journal for Militant Ireland.
Nos. 1-11 (all published).
Cork, 19 September - 5 December 1914, various printers.
Folio, mostly 4 pp, one double number. Fine copies.
This short-lived periodical was edited, financed and mainly written by
Terence MacSwiney, later Lord Mayor of Cork, whose death on hunger
strike in 1920 was a turning point in the independence struggle. Its
main purpose was to support the IrishVolunteers, and to oppose Irish
recruitment to the British Army at the outset of the FirstWorldWar. It
reports in detail the attempt to expel a leadingVolunteer officer, Sean
O’Hegarty from Cork, and the controversy with Redmond over the
future of theVolunteers.
It was suppressed after the eleventh issue, which reports in large type a
promise of German support for Irish freedom given to Roger Casement
in Berlin.The printer’s name is cut from the final page of this issue, as in
all copies we have seen, presumably for fear of reprisals.
It did not circulate outside Cork, and complete sets are extremely rare.
€ 300 - 400