Deaths Overseas

ByPRO IUNVA In this article we remember Coy Sgt Felix Grant (43), B Coy 33 Inf Bn, he was the first member of the DF to die on UN service. He deployed to the Congo on 19 Aug 1960 and during the last few days of Sep, he  was ill but he remained on duty. …

ByPRO IUNVA This month, on his thirtieth anniversary, we remember Cpl Peter Ward (29) who was killed while he was serving with C Coy, 71 Inf Bn. On 29 Sep 1992, a confrontation developed at Al Journ Checkpoint 6–10A between Irish personnel from A Coy and approximately twenty armed elements from Hizbullah who attempted to…

by PRO IUNVA In this article, we remember Comdt Thomas Malachy McMahon (47) who died from natural causes while serving on his third tour of UN duty in the Congo in Sep 1963.Comdt Thomas Malachy McMahon was born in Rosses Point Co Sligo in Jul 1916 and he was educated at Summerhill College, Castleknock College…

By PRO IUNVA In this article we remember the sacrifice of  Comdt Michael Nestor on the 40th anniversary of his death near Beirut in Sep 1982. In 1982, Comdt Michael Ambrose Nestor was a military observer with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), based at Naqoura in South Lebanon and working with Observer Group…

By Pro IUNVA This article recalls the death of Francis Eivers in Sep 1961, he was a former Garda Sgt and was the first Irishman to die while serving in a UN civilian appointment. On 13 Sep 1961, the UN Secretary General, Dag Hammarskjöld made his fourth visit to the Congo since the start of…

By PRO IUNVA In Aug 1998, Pte Michael Dowling (31) was serving with B Coy, 83 Inf Bn UNIFIL, and he contracted an infectious illness. Initially it was suspected that he had diphtheria and he was treated with a wide range of antibiotics and other medicines. It appeared that his treatment was successful and he…

By PRO IUNVA In this article we remember the killing of two members of Armd Car Gp, 35 Inf Bn in Elisabethville in Sep 1961.  At approximately 2045 hours on 14 Sep 1961, a four-vehicle patrol departed from the Bn HQ Camp at Prince Leopold Farm.  The patrol commander was Comdt Patrick Cahalane, Gp Comd…

By PRO IUNVA This article recalls the death on 13 Sep 1961 of Tpr Edward (Eddie) Gaffney (22), C Coy, 35 Inf Bn ONUC in Elisabethville, capital of the breakaway province of Katanga in the Republic of the Congo. This was the first day of a weeklong offensive operation in Katanga Province – Operation Morthor….

by PRO IUNVA On Sunday 5 Sep 1999 Tpr Jonathan Campbell (29), Battalion Mobile Reserve (BMR), 85 Inf Bn waskilled in a motorcycle accident in Beirut while he was staying overnight before travelling on to Cypruson leave on the following day. He was from Corneddan, Ballinalee, Co Longford, his parent unit was 4Cav Sqn, Connolly…

By PRO IUNVA On 2 Sep 2005, Comdt Michael Paul O’Donnell (Retd) (he was known as Paul) died from natural causes while serving in a civilian appointment with Mission de l’Organisation des Nations Unies en République démocratique du Congo (MONUC) [the United Nations Organisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo]. He had served in…