In the last article ("The Great Condottiere of the 20th Century"), we began our acquaintance with people who were destined to go down in history as the most famous and successful commanders of mercenary detachments of the 20th century. It causes genuine surprise at how they managed, with such small forces, to have such a serious impact on the modern history of some states. And these were not the heroes of the works of ancient authors, Icelandic sagas or knightly novels, but our contemporaries (the last of these condottieri died quite recently, on February 2, 2020), but some have already become characters in novels and feature films.
In today's article, we will continue our story. And let's start with the appearance in Katanga of "vacationers" Roger Fulk and Robert Denard, who, as we remember, came to defend this rebellious province of the Congo (and the mining and chemical enterprises located on its territory) from the central authorities of this country.
Fighting legionnaires Fulk in Katanga in 1961
After the resource-rich province of Katanga announced its withdrawal from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Belgium, fearing the nationalization of the Upper Katanga Mines, actually supported Moise Tshombe, who led the rebels, the President of this country, Kasavubu, turned to the UN for help (July 12, 1960) … The UN functionaries, as usual, made a half-hearted decision, according to the principle "neither ours, nor yours," which did not satisfy either side. The presence of the Belgian military in Katanga was not recognized as an act of aggression, but the independence of the newly formed state was not recognized either. The conflict, according to the UN officials, should have been transferred to a sluggish phase, and there, perhaps, it will "resolve" itself somehow. Units of peacekeepers began to arrive in the Congo, but relations between them and the armed formations of both sides somehow did not work out right away. So, the Irish battalion, which arrived in the Congo at the end of July 1960, on November 8 was ambushed by the soldiers of the Baluba tribe, who fired at the aliens from … bows. Eight Irishmen were killed immediately, the body of another was found two days later. And in the DRC government there was a life-and-death struggle, which ended with the removal and arrest of Lumumba, his release, repeated capture and, finally, a brutal execution in Katanga, where he was transferred in the hope that this "gift" to Tshombe somehow will contribute to the attenuation of the rebellion. It turned out even worse, and very soon the civil war flared up with renewed vigor, and the Congo actually fell into four parts.
In early September 1961, an Irish battalion of UN peacekeeping forces approached the city of Zhadovil, located in the depths of Katanga. The official purpose of arrival was declared to be the protection of the local white population. Here the Irish were not at all happy, and the whites turned out to be Belgians - employees of the very company that started it all. And therefore the Irish were not even allowed into Jadoville - they had to set up camp outside the city. And on September 13, Roger Fulk's soldiers and local military units arrived to deal with them (the level of which was below any criticism, so it was the mercenaries who became the main striking force). During the 5-day fighting, 7 white mercenaries and 150 blacks were then killed (which is not surprising: many of the Africans fought with bows).
At home, the surrendered Irish (157 people) were initially considered cowards, but then their compatriots changed their minds, and in 2016 they shot the heroic film "The siege of Jadotville" ("Siege of Jadotville"), dedicated to these events.
The script is based on Declan Power's documentary The Siege of Jadoville: The Forgotten Battle of the Irish Army. The main role was played by Jamie Dornan - the idol of masochists, performer of the role of the rich pervert Christian Gray ("Fifty Shades of Gray", "Fifty Shades Darker" and "Fifty Shades of Freedom").
And this is what the real captain looked like - Pat Quinlan, whose role went to Dornan:
And this is Guillaume Canet as Roger Fulk, a shot from the film "The Siege of Jadoville":
And - the real Roger Fulk:
Fulk later developed a plan to defend the rebellious province of Katanga and led its defenses, which the international forces were never able to break through. Katanga was divided into 5 military zones, the main battles unfolded outside the city of Elizabethville (Lubumbashi). Despite the overwhelming advantage of the enemy, who used heavy artillery and aircraft, mercenary detachments with the support of local residents (including Europeans) fiercely resisted. Especially proved himself then Robert Denard, who, commanding a battery of heavy mortars, successfully and quickly changing positions, literally terrorized the detachments of the advancing "peacekeepers".
Elizabethville was nevertheless surrendered, and this aroused the wrath of Fulk, who believed that the city could and should still be defended. He left the Congo, vowing never to obey the orders of the Africans now, and his deputy, Bob Denard, became the commander of the French Merseneurs. But soon he also left the Congo - ahead of him had a "job" in Yemen.
Despite the capture of Elizabethville, it was not possible to subjugate Katanga: on December 21, 1961, a ceasefire was signed (and this province would fall only in January 1963).
Mike Hoare vs. Simba and Che Guevara
As we remember from the article "Great Condottieri of the 20th Century", in the summer of 1964, an uprising of the "Simba" movement began in the vast territory of northeastern Congo. So ("lions") the rebels called themselves, and other Congolese called them "fables" - "forest people", which clearly indicates the level of development of these rebels: "civilized" peoples are not called "forest".
On August 4, 1964, the rebels captured the city of Albertville (now Kisangani). They held 1,700 white settlers hostage. When in the fall of 1964, a detachment of Mike Hoare and formations of the Congo government army approached the city, the rebels announced that in the event of an assault, all "whites" would be killed. The situation was resolved after Operation Red Dragon, during which 545 Belgian paratroopers landed at Stanleyville airport on November 24 and freed 1,600 Whites and 300 Congolese. Simba managed to kill 18 hostages and injure 40 people. And on November 26, the Belgians carried out Operation Black Dragon - the capture of the city of Paulis.
After that, the army of the Congo and the battalion of Hoare began to storm the city and drive out the rebels from its surroundings. Until the end of the year, Hoare's fighters took control of several dozen villages and the city of Vatsa, while freeing another 600 Europeans. During these operations, Hoare was wounded in the forehead.
However, Hoare was dissatisfied with this operation and therefore took decisive measures to strengthen the discipline and combat training of his soldiers, he paid special attention to the selection of candidates for sergeant and officer positions.
Despite such successes, the Congolese authorities irregularly supplied Hoare's detachment with ammunition and food, and even allowed pay delays. As a result, at the beginning of 1965 (after the expiration of the contract), almost half of the mercenaries left Commando-4, and Hoare had to recruit new people. After signing a new six-month contract with the government of this country, Mike Hoare has formed his famous "wild goose" battalion - Commando-5.
It was in the Congo that Hoare earned his famous nickname by becoming Mad Mike (original version of Mad Dog). The Africans called him so for his constant desire to destroy those responsible for the massacres of white settlers. The shootings of the murderers, in the opinion of the "fighters against colonialism", were a terrible violation of their rights "to freedom and self-determination," and Hoare, from their point of view, was a real outrage and a scumbag. The well-known principle: "And what for us?" When whites were killed, it was, as the saying goes, "God himself commanded" …
How serious and thorough a man Mike Hoare was can be judged by the fact that, in addition to the infantry, he then had several boats, a gunboat, a helicopter, 34 B-26 bombers, 12 T-28 fighters and a helicopter at his disposal. The pilots of his "squadron" were mercenaries from South Africa, Rhodesia and Cuba (emigrants from among the opponents of Fidel Castro), and there were many Poles among the flight mechanics. Hoare especially singled out the Cubans later:
“These Cubans were the toughest, most loyal and determined soldiers I have ever had the honor to command. Their commander, Rip Robertson, was the most distinguished and selfless soldier I have met. Cuban pilots did things in the air that few people could compete with them. They dived, fired at and dropped bombs with such energy, with such pressure that this determination was transferred to the infantry, which later manifested itself in hand-to-hand combat."
Cuban pilot Gustavo Ponsoa, in turn, "scatters in compliments" to Hoar:
“I am proud that Mad Mike still holds us in high regard. And we, in turn, have a very high opinion of him. This man was a real fighter! But when I remember those African cannibals with whom we fought in the Congo - those who were allegedly commanded by Che, "mighty Tatu" … God, my God!"
Yes, a detachment of black Cubans arrived to the aid of the Simbs in April 1965, commanded by the same “mighty Comandante Tatu” - Che Guevara.
To put it bluntly and bluntly, the Simba were terrible scumbags, but worthless warriors. Abdel Nasser, with whom Che Guevara met on the eve of his "business trip", directly told him about it, but the Cuban decided that with such a commander, even Simba's "jackals" would become real "lions." But it immediately became clear that these rebels had no idea about discipline, and Che Guevara was beside himself with rage when, in response to the order to dig trenches and equip combat positions, the "lions" mockingly replied:
"We are not trucks or Cubans!"
Che Guevara incorrectly called the military units of the rebels "rabble", and this was pure truth.
The Cubans said the following about the method of shooting these rebels: taking the machine gun in hand, the rebel closed his eyes and kept his finger on the trigger until he emptied the entire store.
Victor Kalas, one of the members of Che Guevara's expedition, recalled one of the clashes between Simba's detachment led by him and Hoare's "wild geese":
“Finally I decided to give the signal to retreat, turned around - and found that I was left alone! Apparently I've been alone for quite some time now. They all fled. But I was warned that something like this could happen."
In August 1965, Che Guevara admitted:
“Indiscipline and lack of dedication are the main signs of these fighters. It is unthinkable to win the war with such troops."
Against this background, decadent sentiments began to spread among the fighters of the Cuban detachment. Che Guevara wrote about this:
“Many of my comrades dishonor the title of revolutionary. I apply the most severe disciplinary sanctions to them”.
Try to guess what disciplinary punishment Che Guevara considered "the most cruel"? Such, in his opinion, was the threat to send the "alarmist" home - to Cuba!
Passports were found for some Cubans who died during the fighting in the Congo, which caused a big scandal and accusations of Cuba and other socialist countries in the fighting on the side of the rebels.
As a result, Che Guevara still had to leave the Congo: in September he left for Tanzania, then, according to some sources, he was treated for several months in Czechoslovakia. Returning to Cuba, he began to prepare for an expedition to Bolivia - the last of his life.
And Mike Hoare on October 10, 1965 announced the liberation of the Fizi-Barak region.
On November 25, 1965, Mobutu came to power in the Congo, who the very next day thanked Hoare with a letter of resignation - the Briton seemed to him too independent, independent and dangerous. In Commando-5, he was replaced by John Peters, whom Hoare called "crazy as a snake," and Captain John Schroeder was the last Wild Goose commander to take over in February 1967.
Three months later, in April 1967, this legendary unit was disbanded altogether. Now the main "star" of the Congo mercenaries was Bob Denard, who led the French-speaking battalion Commando-6, created in 1965.
But the actions of Mike Hoare and Commando-5 were so successful and effective, and made such an impression that the name "wild geese" soon became a household name. Over time, many detachments of mercenaries appeared with similar emblems and names, and even parts of the armed forces of some countries are not ashamed of "plagiarism". For example, here is the emblem of the combined squadron of the Ukrainian Air Force "Wild Duck", created in Ukraine from volunteers wishing to fight in Donbass in September 2014:
The similarities are obvious. This name was suggested by one of the "volunteers", and later officially approved. The unit included servicemen of units of the Air Force of Ukraine, with the exception of the pilots and navigators themselves. The detachment fought in the Yasinovatsky district, near Avdiivka and the Donetsk airport. But let's not talk about them, let's return to the story of those who went to kill at least for money and people of strangers, and not their compatriots for ideological reasons (but also for money).
The Amazing Adventures of Bob Denard
In 1963, Robert Denard and Roger Fulk ended up in Yemen, where they fought on the side of the monarchists (their employer was the "imam-king" al-Badr). However, a secret war against the new authorities of Yemen was then fought by Great Britain, Israel and Saudi Arabia. The main role in this intrigue was played by people from the British intelligence (MI-6), who attracted the notorious David Stirling (the first commander of the Special Airborne Service, Special Operations Executive, about him will be described in another article), and to help these already very authoritative French were sent four SAS employees on leave. The operation was supervised by SAS Colonel David de Crespigny-Smiley. In his book Arabian Assignment, published in 1975, he pointed out a curious difficulty in recruiting Katanga veterans: in the Congo they had many women and freedom to drink alcohol, while in Islamic Yemen they could not offer anything like that.
And the passage of a large caravan (150 camels with weapons and equipment) across the Aden-Yemen border was provided by British Lieutenant Peter de la Billière, the future director of SAS and commander of British forces in 1991 during the Gulf War.
Since then, Denard has been constantly suspected of secret cooperation with MI6 (and not without reason). Denard stayed in this country until the fall of 1965 and not only fought, but also organized a royalist radio station in one of the caves of the Rub al-Khali desert (on the border with Saudi Arabia), broadcasting to Yemen.
In 1965, Denard returned to the Congo: at first he served with Tshombe, who at that time was already the prime minister of this country and fought against Simba and Che Guevara's Cubans. At that time, with the rank of colonel of the Congo army, he headed the Commando-6 battalion, in which about 1200 French-speaking mercenaries of 21 nationalities served (including Negroes, but most were French and Belgians, there were a lot of Foreign Legion paratroopers). Then he fought against Tshombe, “working” for Mobutu, who took the modest title of “a warrior going from victory to victory who cannot be stopped” - Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa for Bang (there are different translations, but the meaning is the same). However, he did not deprive his subjects in this respect either: European names were banned, and now everyone could quite officially call himself very pretentious.
Mobutu also declared himself "the father of the people" and "the savior of the nation" (where without it). And on the screensaver of the evening news, the dictator was a subject sitting in heaven, from which the actor made up for him solemnly "descended" to his subjects. The knobby cane, with which Mobutu always appeared in public, was considered so heavy that only the most powerful warriors could allegedly lift it.
Mobutu did not go broke on the expensive services of Denard: the personal capital of the dictator in 1984 was about $ 5 billion, which was comparable to the country's external debt.
And at that time, Denard's old acquaintance, Jean Schramm, was fighting for Tshombe: "nothing personal, just business."
But then Denard again returned to Katanga and, together with Jean Schramm, fought against Mobutu - in 1967. Now we will tell you how this happened.
Rise of the white mercenaries
What an epic and pretentious title for this subtitle, isn't it? Thoughts involuntarily come to mind about some Carthage of the era of Hannibal Barca or Gustave Flaubert's novel "Salammbo". But I did not invent this name - that is how those events in the Congo are called in all textbooks and scientific works. It was then that the glory of Jean Schramm, whose name became known far beyond the borders of Africa, broke out into a supernova. Two men challenged the powerful Congo dictator Mobutu, and it was Schramm who bore the brunt of this unequal struggle.
Jean Schramm, forced to leave with his people in Angola in 1963, returned to the Congo in 1964, fought with the Simba rebels, and in 1967 he actually controlled the province of Maniema, and did not plunder it, as one might think, but rebuilt and rebuilt the infrastructure destroyed by the war.
Mobutu did not like all this very much, who in November 1965 carried out the second coup d'état and was considered a "good" (American) "son of a bitch", which, however, did not prevent him from flirting with China (he respected Mao Zedong very much) and maintain good relations with the DPRK.
The only merit of this dictator was that, unlike some of his African colleagues, he "did not like" people (in the sense that he did not like to eat them). Cannibalism was carried away just in the rebellious provinces. But he loved to “live beautifully”, and even the French “abacost” (from the French a bas le costume - “down with costume”), invented by Mobutu, which were now prescribed to be worn instead of European costumes, were sewn in Belgium by the Arzoni company for the dictator and his entourage. And the famous leopard hats of the dictator are only in Paris.
The state-owned company Sozacom, which exported copper, cobalt and zinc, annually transferred from $ 100 to $ 200 million to Mobutu's accounts (in 1988 - as much as $ 800 million). In official reports, these amounts were called "leaks." And on a monthly basis, trucks drove up to the building of the Central Bank, onto which they loaded sacks of national currency banknotes - for petty expenses: these amounts were called "presidential subsidies."
With the diamonds mined in the Kasai province, it was quite "fun": Mobutu arranged excursions for his foreign guests to the storage facility of the state-owned company MIBA, where they were given a small scoop and a small bag in which they could collect their favorite "stones" as "souvenirs" …
From Congo (since 1971 - Zaire, since 1997 - again DRC), the guests left in an exceptionally good mood and invariably certified the dictator as a wonderful person with whom one can and should deal.
By the way, regarding the renaming of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Zaire: when this happened, there were jokes that schoolchildren from all over the world should now be grateful to Mobutu. After all, there was also the People's Republic of the Congo (now the Republic of the Congo), a former French colony with its capital in Brazzaville, which was constantly confused with the DRC.
In April 1966, Mobutu reduced the official number of Congo provinces from 21 to 12 (in December of the same year to 9, and completely abolished in 1967) and ordered Denard and his Commando-6, who were in his service, to disarm Schramm's soldiers. However, Schramm, behind which was Belgian Foreign Minister Pierre Harmel, and Denard, traditionally guarded by the French special services, preferred to come to an agreement. Their European chefs did not like Mobutu's pro-American position, while Denard suspected that he himself would be next on the list for elimination. It was decided to rely on Moise Tshombe, who was in Spain at the time. Denard and Schramm were supported by Colonel Nathaniel Mbumba, who headed the former Stanleyville (Kisangani) gendarmes dismissed during the Mobutu-initiated "purges".
Commando-10 Schramma was supposed to capture Stanleyville, after which, with the help of the approaching fighters of Denard and the gendarmes of Katanga, take the cities of Kinda and Bukava. In the final phase of this operation, dubbed Carillis, Schramm was to take control of Elizabethville and Kamina Air Base, where Tshombe was to fly to demand Mobutu's resignation.
Meanwhile, in Commando-6 Denard at that time there were only 100 white mercenaries (French, Belgians and Italians), in Commando-10 Schramm - only 60 Belgians. The soldiers of these detachments were negroes, and the Europeans, as a rule, held officer and sergeant positions.
However, on July 2, Tshombe's bodyguard Francis Bodnan hijacked the plane on which he flew to Congo and ordered the pilots to land it in Algeria. Here Tshombe was arrested and died 2 years later. Until now, it is impossible to say with certainty whose task Bodnan performed. Most researchers believe that he was recruited by the CIA, since Mobutu was considered exactly the American "son of a bitch".
Denard and Schramm, who had not even had time to start the uprising, were left without "their" presidential candidate, but they had nothing to lose, and on July 5, 1967, Schramm, at the head of a column of 15 jeeps, broke into Stanleyville and captured it.
Against him, Mobutu sent an elite third parachute regiment, whose soldiers were trained by instructors from Israel. Denard, apparently doubting the success of the operation, acted hesitantly and was late, and then was seriously wounded and taken to Salisbury (Rhodesia). Schramm's detachment and Colonel Mbumba's gendarmes fought for a week against the paratroopers of the third regiment, and then retreated into the jungle. Three weeks later, they unexpectedly appeared near the city of Bukava and captured it, defeating the government troops stationed there. By that time, Schramm's detachment had only 150 mercenaries and another 800 Africans - the Mbumbu gendarmes, against whom Mobutu threw 15 thousand people: the whole world watched in amazement how for 3 months the newly-minted "Spartans" of Schramma fought for Bukavu and left practically undefeated.
While fighting in Bukawa was still ongoing, the recovered Bob Denard decided to find a new leader of the Congo, who, in his opinion, could well become the former Minister of Internal Affairs Munongo, who was imprisoned on the island of Bula Bemba (at the mouth of the Congo River).
13 saboteurs recruited in Paris, led by the Italian combat swimmer Giorgio Norbiatto, set off on a trawler to the coast of the Congo from Angola, but a storm that raged for two days thwarted their plans. Denard's detachment (110 white and 50 Africans) on November 1, along forest paths on bicycles (!) Crossed the Angolan-Congolese border and entered the village of Kinguese, putting to flight a government army platoon that was standing there and seizing 6 trucks and two jeeps. But later on, luck turned away from the "king of mercenaries": his squad was ambushed while trying to seize army warehouses in the city of Dilolo (it was necessary to arm three thousand Katanga rebels) and retreated. After that, Mbumba went to Angola, where he continued to fight against the Mobutu regime. In 1978, he was the leader of the National Liberation Front of the Congo ("Katanga Tigers") and one of the organizers of the raid on the city of Kolwezi, which was recaptured only by the paratroopers of the Foreign Legion under the command of Philip Erulen (this will be discussed in a future article).
And Schramm took the remnants of his people to Rwanda.
In the failure of this rebellion, Schramm blamed Denard, who really acted somehow unusual for himself, strange and indecisive. However, it should be admitted that the plan of Operation Carillis looked very adventurous from the very beginning, and after the kidnapping of Moise Tshombe, who enjoyed support in the Congo, the chances of success became very minimal.
In Paris, Denard founded the firm Soldier of Fortune, which recruited gun-skilled young men for African dictators (as well as for those who just wanted to become African dictators). It is believed that the number of coups in which Denard participated in one way or another is from 6 to 10. Four were successful, and three of them were personally organized by Denard: not without reason he was called the "king of mercenaries", "the nightmare of presidents" and "pirate of the Republic" …
However, in an interview to a journalist's question about Samantha Weingart's book "The Last of the Pirates", the hero of which he became, Denard ironically replied:
"As you can see, I don't have a parrot and a wooden leg on my shoulder."
