Niemba – Sean Norton

Sean Norton
Interviewed for MAOHP - 30/01/2017
Reference Code: IE_MA_MAC_006_MAOHP_003_E
Location(s): Niemba
Length: 2.24

Colonel Seán Norton enlisted in the Irish Army in January 1955 at the age of nineteen. Sixty-two years later, he sat down at Cathal Brugha Barracks to offer his memories to the MAOHP. In this clip, Colonel Norton discusses the Niemba Ambush (08 November 1960) and recalls both his own reaction and the reaction within the army. He speaks about Trooper Browne who was at the ambush. He also remembers Lieutenant Kevin Gleeson who was one of those killed in the Niemba Ambush and notes that the army learned a lot of military lessons from the ambush. Colonel Norton also recalls the subsequent negative use of the word 'Baluba' but states that when he was in the Congo later, he met Baluba tribesmen who he affirmed were good people.

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