United Nations Operation in the Congo

United Nations Operation in the Congo (ONUC) was a peacekeeping mission involving Canadians between 1960 and 1964. ONUC comes from the French translation of the name, Opération des Nations Unies au Congo. Thirty-four countries participated in the mission, with a peak strength of over 20,000 personnel, and the four-year mission had cost $ 400,000,000.1

UN Mandate

After gaining independence from Belgium, the native army and police in the Congo mutinied against its white officers resulting in the breakdown of law and order. Belgium moved in 10,000 troops to restore order, and the United Nations was asked to provide a force to help the Congolese authorities restore order and deal with the separatist threat of the Province of Katanga. The operation saw several bloody battles, as well as rescue operations, take place and 126 UN soldiers were killed with 109 other soldiers (including 2 Canadians) dying accidentally or from natural causes.

Force Commanders

  • General von Horn, Sweden, Jul 1960 – Dec 1960
  • General MacEoin, Ireland, Janu 1961 – Mar 1962
  • General Guebre, Ethiopia, Apr 1962 – Jul 1963
  • General Christian Kaldager, Norway, Aug 1963 – Dec 1963
  • General Ironsi, Nigeria, Jan 1964 – Jun 1964

Canadian Military Involvement

  • 57 Signal Squadron (later redesignated 57 Signal Unit, and assembled at Kingston from members of various Royal Canadian Corps of Signals units)
  • 436 (RCAF) Squadron (two C-119 Flying Boxcars)
  • Royal 22e Regiment (officers and men)
  • Canadian Provost Corps

History

After Canada "invented" the concept of peacekeeping, the Government found their hands tied by public opinion when UN headquarters requested Canadian forces to intervene in the Congo. The request asked specifically for 280 French-speaking and bilingual signallers, not a common commodity in the Canadian Army who in 1960 felt its true purpose was training to fight the Red Army in central Europe. According to Dr. Jack Granatstein, the Prime Minister felt that public perception would be "How could Canada, the creator of peacekeeping, decline a UN request?"

The duty turned out to be hazardous. Unruly Congolese soldiers roughed up Canadian soldiers, scattered in penny packets across the vast Congo, because they automatically assumed that any French-speaking white was a Belgian. At Stanleyville, Congolese troops beat and jailed the signals detachment. Released, Captain J.B. Pariseau, the detachment commander, invited the local Congolese commander to dinner, told him that bygones would be bygones, and agreed that it was all a mistake. If there was a repetition, he added, then his men would fight, and the Congolese would be answerable to the Canadian Army.

 

The Congo crisis gradually turned into an area of Cold War confrontation and developed into a war over the resources in Katanga province. It was the first peacekeeping war, and the Pearson government eagerly pulled its last fifty-six servicemen from this commitment in June 1964.2

 

The total force amounted to about 500 soldiers, including 200 signallers.

They...served in Leopoldville and in many small detachments spread over the length and breadth of the Congo in support of UN forces attempting to reestablish order. Some of the Canadian officers also filled key positions (Chief Signals Officer and Chief Operations Officer, to give two examples) at ONUC headquarters, and one of these, Lieutenant Colonel J.A. Berthiaume, became the first Canadian since the Korean War to become an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. He was congratulated for his impressive organizational skills, but also for his bravery and for his "initiative, linguistic ability, and special aptitude for negotiating.3

Insignia

 Ninety days service with ONUC entitled a Canadian soldier to the ONUC Medal, between 14 Jul 1960 and 30 Jun 1964. The ribbon had dark blue edge stripes 5 mm wide separated from a dark green centre by white 2mm stripes.

Approximately 1,900 ONUC medals were issued to Canadians of 93,000 total. The force had a peak strength of 20,000 members, including more than 300 Canadians.

Fatalities

Two Canadians died while serving on this mission, both from disease.

  • Staff Sergeant J.P.C. Marquis (Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps)
  • Sergeant R.H. Moore (Royal Canadian Corps of Signals)

Awards

Several soldiers received decorations for their part in this mission.

  • Brigadier J.A. Dextraze, the UN Chief of Staff in the Congo, was made a Commander in the Order of the British Empire for leading a rescue operation in Jan 1964.
  • Lieutenant Colonel J.A. Berthiaume, as mentioned above, received an OBE.
  • Lieutenant J.F.T.A. Liston of the Royal 22e Régiment was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire for rescuing a wounded Congolese from a minefield
  • Lieutenant Colonel Paul Mayer and Sergeant J.A. Léonce received the George Medal for rescuing priests and nuns from a hazardous situation, the latter holding off 15 armed enemy soldiers single-handedly while doing so.

Notes

  1. Marteinson, John. We Stand on Guard: An Illustrated History of the Canadian Army (Ovale Publications, Montreal, PQ, 1992) ISBN 2894290438 p.466
  2. Granatstein, Jack Canada's Army: Waging War and Keeping the Peace (University of Toronto Press, Toronto, ON, 2002) ISBN 0802046916 pp.392-393
  3. Marteinson, Ibid, p.464

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