Programme 5 - The Niemba Ambush
On November 8th 1960, tragedy struck near the village of Niemba, when an eleven-man Irish patrol was ambushed by Baluba tribesmen at a river crossing. Over one hundred Baluba approached the patrol armed with arrows, knives, spears and clubs. Under a shower of arrows the Irish soldiers ran for cover with the Balubas in pursuit. Some were hit by the hail of arrows and some were bludgeoned to death as they lay wounded. There are only two survivors of the ambush; Tom Kenny and Joe Fitzpatrick were found two days later in a search operation.
Nine Irish UN peacekeeping soldiers met their brutal death in the Congo in 1960. From that one incident The Niemba Ambush remains the greatest loss of life in Irish military history.
The programme gives a first hand account of The Niemba Ambush through interviews with one of the survivors other UN veterans and a wealth of archive footage.
