Remembering UN peacekeeper Andy
BENEATH bright blue skies and with the U.N. flag flying in the breeze, the 25th annual wreath laying ceremony in memory of Private Andy Wickham, who was killed while on a peacekeeping duty with the UN in the Congo in 1961, took place at St Alphonsus Church, in Barntown.
U.N. Veterans, family members, serving members of the defence forces, members of the Oireachtas, Wexford Mayor Cllr Frank Staples, Barntown’s own Mayor Tom Dempsey, other council members and officials, attended the annual mass and wreath laying.
Wexford Male Voice Choir also took part in the ceremony at which former county councillor Padge Reck delivered a script outlining the history of the event.
Andy Wickham was killed along with his commanding officer, Lieutenant Paddy O’Riordan, in the first burst of gunfire during an engagement with Katangan forces at Elizabethville.
The men were killed during the final assault on a strategic railway tunnel at 6 a.m. on December 16 when they came under heavy fire from the gendarmerie and Katangan forces in railway carriages. Sgt Patrick Mulcahy died on the same day from wounds suffered during the fighting on the previous Thursday. All were members of A Company, 36th Battalion.
Andy Wickham left a widow, Eleanor, who attended the ceremony with sons Andy, Gary and David and daughter Imelda.
His brothers and sister Richard, Martin and Patricia also attended.
‘ This is our 25th year and we had a bigger crowd than before. We were delighted with the turnout,’ said Richard.