CONGO MERCENARY

1-235540

In July 1964, four years after gaining independence from Belgium, the Democratic Republic of the Congo came under threat from an armed rebellion that spread rapidly through the country. To suppress the rebels and bring the unrest and bloodshed in the country under control, Congolese officials enlisted the help of mercenary leader Mike Hoare. Working alongside military officials, Hoare assembled a band of several hundred men that became known as 5 Commando.

He how this mercenary band was recruited, trained, and how they undertook four campaigns in just 18 months during which they fought rebels, liberated Stanleyville, freed European hostages, and brought order back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Hoare's experiences in the Congo and his involvement in suppressing the Simba rebellion were hugely significant from a political and a military standpoint. His influence, however, did not stop there. His account of his time in the Congo was first published in 1967 and had a huge cultural impact: contributing to the glorification of the mercenary lifestyle in magazines and pulp novels, and even inspiring the 1978 war film The Wild Geese.