The Siege of Jadotville - Netflix movie for October.

[juergen c. olk]

Yes they did get that part wrong ,because it was Mobuto did the overthrow.Leading to decades of Bliss..LoL!

[grant]

I have it on my Netflix watch list, but I'm stuck in Danger 5 season 1 and having too much fun!

[Marine0846]

Well I finally got around to watching the movie.
Over all it was pretty good.
A few points may have been wrong.
Did not stop me from enjoying it.
A good three star movie.
Brave men, even if you do not agree with the politics of the era.

[grant]

Watched it today. Actually rather enjoyed it. Good film, lots of action, limited plot, all the things I want in a war movie. And not one love scene. Perfect. 4.5/6 stars.

[Cubs]

So, you're using an arbitrary 6-star system. Not a perfect 5/7 then?

[NickNascati]

I watched it yesterday and quite enjoyed it.  Te only thing I knew about the mess in the Congo before this, was Mike Hoare and the Simbas.

[gamer Mac]

I watched it and enjoyed it.
The only bit a bonkers was the vickers MG shooting down the jet

[MajorTalon]

So, you're using an arbitrary 6-star system. Not a perfect 5/7 then?

Oh..... Oh no.....

[Arlequín]

The history of events wasn't that flawed... Lumumba had fled to Stanleyville to set up a counter-government to that of Kasa-Vubu, where he was captured and after pressure from Belgium, was subsequently given up to 'moderate' Tshombe; who promptly had him shot in front of Belgian officers.

Katanga was an attempt by a consortium of mostly Belgian corporations to retain access to the Congo's mineral wealth, with Tshombe receiving an appropriate reward for letting them. The creation of Katanga cannot be seen as anything other than an attempt to maintain colonialism by a settler and corporate elite in the most mineral-rich province. Certainly the people of Katanga never got a say in the matter and the Baluba tribes actively fought the largely Lunda tribesmen of the Katangese Gendarmerie from the word go.

We are talking about a whole lot of shades of grey (no pun intended) with regard to the Congo at this time, but a dictator propped up by a white settler elite, former officers of the Force Publique and the departed colonial power Belgium, with South Africa and Portugal running interference in the UN, is definitely on the charcoal grey end of the spectrum.

As for the film, it was okay. That a Belgian woman could live alone with no apparent security, in the middle of a war zone, was a bit incongruous to say the least. For me that was a waste of time that could have been better-used; perhaps to show that 'A Company' was not immediately flown home in disgrace after their release (and still in the same uniforms no less), but carried on serving and fighting for the remainder of their six month tour. They might have gone the 'Bridge Too Far' route and better shown the efforts of the Indians and Swedes trying to fight their way past the Katangans at Lufira Bridge to break the siege.  

In all it was about as historically accurate as 'The Wild Geese' and somewhat less enthralling than 'Tears of the Sun' or 'Blood Diamond'. Top marks to the guy who did the research on the kit though.

They were under siege for 6 days and could have held out for longer if they'd had the ammunition, think it was the Africans and mercs who were crap.

I gather that the plan was to force a surrender and use them to force concessions from the UN, rather than killing them all. It was never a Rorke's Drift type thing. Certainly the Gendarmes' combat record elsewhere would imply that had they meant to wipe them out, they would have.

[foxweasel]

The casualty rate paints a different picture. 300 dead and possibly a 1000 wounded, I think they were really trying and it was probably only the presence of the white mercenaries that stopped the Irish troops being executed when their ammunition ran out. I don't have access to any combat reports of the Katangan Gendarmes, I would imagine they would have been very good at 20th century African tribal warfare, but as soon as they came across western forces they came a bit unstuck.

[Mike Bravo Minis]

Top marks to the guy who did the research on the kit though.

I am turning my mind to figures for Katanga now that our Wild Geese figures are well under way.  Am I reasonably safe to use stills from the film as inspiration for the sculptor?  (Lots of B&W grainy images around but movie stills are helpful)

[Arlequín]

Slip of the tongue (well fingers anyway)... I was referring more to the Irish and the general feel of the movie; although photos of the Irish show helmets being worn (both British 'turtle' and U.S. M1 types). I would be wary of basing a line of figures on the FAK shown in the movie, unless it was a generic 'African' set.

The FAK varied between quite well turned out 'commandos', who look little different to the ANC (which most of them had been part of), more relaxed looking Gendarmes with bush hats, SMLEs, the occasional SAFN 49 (although the FAL was rapidly replacing both of these), Stens, BARs and the like, to semi-civilian clothed militia with bows, spears and lots of old long rifles, with a few in ex-FP uniforms, British-style peaked caps or 'battle-bowlers'. Not an exhaustive guide by any stretch of the imagination, but a starting point.

Certainly the forces grew more 'military' as time went on. Mobile columns sixty or so strong, with a few Gendarmes backed by militia, were normal at the start of the succession, but these evolved into whole columns of Gendarmes as newer weapons, uniforms and kit arrived.  

There is literally a wealth of material out there, just type in 'Katanga Army' and you'll get quite a bit come up. There are even a few news reel vids like this one: and one or two Pintrest boards with a couple of hundred photos each; https://es.pinterest.com/ndmillett/crise-congolaise/ and https://es.pinterest.com/juhwankr/mike-hoare-the-mercenary/

Picking out what is actually Congo-Crisis and not from the later 'Simba Rebellion' can be a bit of a minefield though.

Their main opponents besides the UN were the Balubakat, who were supplied from Stanleyville. Presumably these benefited from Soviet arms supplied to the Lumumbists, but I have no idea what they looked like.

*Edit* - Found this site relating to one of the Luba tribes: http://www.albertville.be/kasongo-nyembo-01.html

[traveller]

I am turning my mind to figures for Katanga now that our Wild Geese figures are well under way.  Am I reasonably safe to use stills from the film as inspiration for the sculptor?  (Lots of B&W grainy images around but movie stills are helpful)

I am sure I can help you with images that would be better than stills if you state you are looking for

[Mike Bravo Minis]

Cheers both - I probably meant the Irish too Arlequin. 

Traveller - will be on touch!

[Sterling Moose]

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I thoroughly enjoyed the film and kudos to the real Company 'A'.  No-one killed, now that is an achievement.

Unfortunately Hollywood being Hollywood:

I know it's only a film but:

1.  You order the troops to dig trenches but let then stop when they are only upper chest deep.

2.  You only leave one guy on guard while everyone else goes to Mass.

3.  At the outset you use the Vickers as an afterthought and don't integrate it into your defence plan.

4.  You know you're short on ammo but don't clear the ground after the first attack to recover the weapons, ammo and the two wrecked jeeps (to use as cover)

5.  You didn't tell the sniper to take out every mother that turns up on a jeep either behind the wheel or behind a heavy weapon or is white and wearing a red beret.

6.  You store all your ammo in one hut.

7.  The attacks continue but during the lull you don't upgrade your defences with the rigley tin and other construction materials from the buildings wrecked by enemy mortar and aircraft fire.

Just sayin...............