Kilkenny veteran honoured for heroics during Siege of Jadotville

ABOVE: John Dreelan said he was ‘gobsmacked’ to be honoured, he was accompanied by his wife Ann

Stealth Mission
After the siege Pat Quinlan and his men continued their tour of duty in the Congo. They last group flew home just before Christmas. But before they did, Pat Quinlan was tasked with leading several operations in the Congo - including a stealth sabotage mission to destroy the Kantangan forces fuel depot. The action at SOCO petrol, on December 12, 1961, saw Pat Quinlan lead a group of volunteers from A Company on a night-time trek through a swamp to blow up 16 million gallons of petrol.
John Dreelan was one of those 15 volunteers.
Years later Leo Quinlan asked him why, after everything that had happened in Jadotville and during their time as prisoners of war, he had volunteered for such a dangerous mission.
John said: “It’s hard to explain now, but at that time, with your father, we thought we were invincible.”