Congo Mercenary

[dirtdevil]

Is "Mad" Mike Hoare - of "Wild Geese" fame still living?  

[Octavius]

If he is he would be about 85.

In 1981, Hoare, who was living in South Africa, led a madcap attempt to overthrow the government of Seychelles.

Hoare and 43 mercenaries arrived pretending to be rugby players and members of a beer-drinking group called the Ancient Order of Frothblowers. But the coup attempt was foiled when a customs official spotted an AK-47 assault rifle in the luggage of one of the mercenaries.

After a brief gunbattle most of the mercenaries escaped by hijacking an Air India jet. On his return to South Africa Hoare was eventually sentenced to 10 years in prison.

There isn't much news on him since then, but it is likely that he would have been involved in some form of business such as 'contract soldiers' or 'private military companies' (PMC's) which evolved from many his exploits as hired mercenaries.

 

During the first Gulf War, one out of every 50 soldiers on the battlefield was a mercenary. The number rose to one in 10 during the Bosnian war.

But the present-day land of mercenary opportunity is Iraq, where the US government in its eagerness to downsize the numbers of regular troops is handing out big contracts to private security firms.

There are currently thousands of soldiers under contract with private companies serving in Iraq. Their duties range from airport security and guarding oil installations to protecting members of the interim government.

 

The high salaries paid to mercenaries and their favourable terms of employment are said to be affecting the morale of regular troops in Iraq, even relatively well-paid American soldiers.

[Zen]

When they get killed the media refers to them as "civilian contractors" so they get peoples sympathy,.

[Peter Pedant]

hi Dirty!

You know he wrote and published an account of his time in the Congo?

I read it in 1970 and so was printed around 1965.

I was younger then and er it was a good read but not exactly Jane austen.

[dirtdevil]

Yes - the book is 'Congo Mercenary'  which is why I titled the question that way.  I am very well familiar with Hoare's Seychelles debacle - I was inquiring if he was alive and where.  I guess folks just like to talk on this answerbank thing - no one answered the question - not only did we get a thumbnail history of Hoare, but the thread drifted off into the War in Iraq.

Oh well.

[Octavius]

OK sarky. 

Since the Seychelles he has written a book detailing the attempted coup, the trial and his time in prison called 'The Seychelles Affair' (1986) 

I have found something that hints Col. Mike Hoare, IMC (ret.) was the Editor-in-Chief of Le Mercenaire (The Premier Military Magazine for Professional Adventurers) but not when or what has happened to him since.