THERE'S been a lot of jokes made at the expense of the Irish army through the years – maybe you've heard the one about the 'Jadotville Jacks', the disgraced Irish batallion sent to Africa in 1961 as UN peacekeeping soldiers only to surrender just six days after arriving?
Well, if you have, forget it.
As Richie Smyth's gripping new war movie based on this long misrepresented military incident shows, the so-called 'Jadotville Jacks' – which became Irish military slang for 'cowardice' – were actually heroes.
Indeed, it's a miracle that Commandant Pat Quinlan (Jamie Dornan) and the 150 men of 35th Battalion 'A' Company survived their five-day siege in the Republic of Congo at all.
The backdrop to the Siege of Jadotville's titular stand-off involved the UN's intervention in the controversial breakaway State of Katanga, led into secession by the ambitious Moise Tshombe (played by Danny Sapani in the film) in 1960.
The Katangese PM was a 'puppet leader' backed by mercenary firepower supplied by Belgian mining interests keen to gain full control of the province's abundant natural deposits – including the Cold War's key nuclear asset, uranium.
UN peacekeeping troops – including Quinlan and his men – were sent in the following year, ostensibly to protect the local population from mercenary and militia activity.
However, arrogant intellectual and Irish UN 'man on the ground' Conor Cruise O'Brien muddied the waters by instructing some of the ground forces to act agressively against Tshombe loyalists, angering the coup leader into retaliation.
Quinlan's troops bore the brunt of this when their isolated, tactically disadvantaged outpost at Jadotville was attacked by 3,000-strong Katangese forces.
Despite being severely outnumbered, farcically outgunned and with no previous battlefield experience between them, the 35th managed to hold out for five nerve-shredding days without additional UN support before being forced to admit defeat.
The film divides its time between the political machinations of O'Brien (an oddly accented Mark Strong), Tshombe, UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold (Mikael Persbrandt) and other 'suits' and the unfolding, steadily escalating military action in Katanga itself.
The latter scenes are the most compelling, as Dornan's green yet steely Quinlan marshalls his terrified men under constant bombardment from mercs led by scarfaced combat veteran Falquez (Guillaume Canet).
The pair enjoy a spot of pre-siege verbal sparring in a gloomy local saloon, a scene that plays like something out of a Western as Falquez needles the Irishman about his nation's lack of military nous over a bottle of Cognac.
"It only took the Germans less than two months to invade your entire country," counters Quinlan as the pair lock eyes for just long enough to let us know that Very Bad Things are en route.
Indeed, the Jadotville-based troops are given no official warning from their command about the possibility of an imminent attack after O'Brien hushes up a potentially disastrous UN military action elsewhere in Katanga.
Soon the bullets and bombs are ripping through the air as Falquez's troops begin streaming out of the jungle.
Initially, Quinlan's men – including the tough Sargeant Jack Prendergast (an excellent Jason O'Mara) – have their doubts about his tactics, most of which appear to be plucked out of the military history books he's always reading.
However, once Quinlan accepts Rommel's assertion that "no plan survives contact with the enemy" and quite literally casts aside his war library, the Commandant's courage, quick wits and natural cunning help give the disadvantaged Irish an edge over their numerically superior attackers.
Veteran music video director Smyth deftly puts audiences right into the trenches alongside the 35th, crafting an old-fashioned battle film that will have audiences ducking the barrage of shells and shrapnel.
Dornan gives an assured, charismatic performance as a principled, cool-under-pressure military man, ensuring audiences share Quinlan's mounting frustration and anger at the Irish being left hamstrung by O'Brien's stubborn refusal to alter his war game.
By the time the explosions stop and the smoke has cleared, the 35th are bloodied and battered but still alive, having "used every bullet twice" – and even Falquez has come to respect their resolve.
It took until 2005 for the Irish government to finally honour the 'Jadotville Jacks', whose incredible war story is still not widely known.
The Siege of Jadotville – in cinemas now before becoming available on Netflix next month – should put that right with an excitingly tense account of what a few good Irishmen were really made of during the Katanga conflict 55 years ago.
Well worth seeing on the big screen, where the bombs and bullets will feel that much more terrifyingly 'real'.
THE SIEGE OF JADOTVILLE (15, 108mins) War/Action/Drama. Jamie Dornan, Mark Strong, Jason O’Mara, Guillaume Canet, Michael McElhatton, Sam Keeley, Conor MacNeill, Conor Quinlan. Director: Richie Smyth
RATING: THREE STARS
