Probably the least known or remembered aspect of the RCASC’s involvement in ONUC  (Operation Mallard/Congo) was that junior corps officers were posted to detachment commander positions – in fact, they were employed as arms officers.  More disconcerting is that, as they were outside the RCASC reporting chain, most of their deeds went unrecorded and remain so today.  Some feeble effort to rectify the situation will be made here.

There is evidence that this rare type of RCASC employment was occasioned by a shortage of infantry officers in 1961 and 1962.  On arrival from Canada , P.J. Knobel was briefed at Leopoldville and proceeded directly to his detachment.  Normally these officers were rotated to at least a second detachment during their six-month tour of duty.  By 1963, there were no RCASC detachment commanders in ONUC.

As intelligence gathering was secondary only to the safety and security of a detachment, the work of Lt. P.J. Knobel in Elisabethville has been singled out for special mention.  Even his “rival” detachment commanders concede that he produced the highest quality and quantity of intelligence gathered by any detachment and, in retrospect, believe that he should have been decorated for the work that he did at great personal risk. (E-mails.  A.F.B Danyluk and J.S. Hugill to the author, 4 June 2000.)  Not a bad endorsement for a twenty-three year old Junior Lieutenant filling a captain’s position!  Judiciously, Lt. Knobel never revealed his linguistic abilities!  Belgians, sitting around the local pool, would use Flemish, not French, to discuss the most clandestine of upcoming operations concerning “secessionist” Katanga , fully believing that no one within hearing understood the language.  Lt. Knobel, fluent in Dutch, Flemish, French, and German, spent a lot of time swimming and sunbathing!

In the tense situation in Elisabethville , Lt. Knobel also handled security problems coolly.  When members of his detachment were arrested, he visited them daily until he secured their release.  The press announced that he, too, had been jailed when insurgents surrounded his detachment but before the news reached Canada , he was able to get a message to his wife denying his arrest and assuring her that all was well.  Eventually, it was!

Another danger in the Congo was the lawless elements of the Armée Nationale Congolaise (ANC) who often roamed the streets in search of “their enemies.” They considered Belgians to be their enemy and anyone with a white skin could be suspected of being Belgian.  Several times, every resident of headquarters, cooks included, took out his locked weapon (There were arms available for emergencies only) and manned his post as an alarm had been given.  On at least one occasion, there was real fear for life and limb as rioting was close at hand.  ANC soldiers, often drunk, wandered the streets looking for likely victims.  There were times when Canadian soldiers were accosted on the streets.  Some were beaten and put in jail for allegedly spitting on Congolese women.  It was a dangerous place to be.