Dogs of war, wild geese and soldiers of fortune. Wild geese The most seasoned wild geese and their exploits
The hopes of humanists that the coming century would be a century without wars did not come true. There are many local wars going on on the planet. And after September 11, the world entered into a state of major “intercivilizational” war - Christian-Western and Islamic-fundamentalist in the person of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and its sympathizers. Both sides have those who want to go to war. From time immemorial, war has been a means of earning money for people of a certain type; the concept of “landsknecht” (hired foreign soldier) has been known since the Middle Ages. Since then, the profession of a mercenary soldier looking for “front work”, regardless of state borders, has gained unprecedented popularity. For the first time in recent years, citizens of Russia and the former Soviet republics have appeared among the Landsknechts (the modern name is “soldiers of fortune”, “wild geese”). Do absolute cynics or people with some principles become “soldiers of fortune”? Are such soldiers good in battle? Do all people of this type know what awaits them in this field? Izvestia asked these questions to a recognized expert in mercenaries - a veteran of rebellions and military coups, French citizen Robert DENARD. The house of the legendary Bob Denard is located in the suburbs of Paris. Old, not renovated for a long time; The rooms are small, the paint is peeling off in some places. I can’t believe that a man lives here who, just twenty years ago, was considered the uncrowned king of Africa: he effortlessly overthrew local presidents and put them back on the throne like dolls, and with his name African mothers scared their children (as the Pravda newspaper wrote about Denard in 1984). "). The kind owner opens the gate and invites you to come in. He takes me for a long time around the house, where on the walls hang his diplomas, awards and animal skins given to him in Africa, African masks and figurines of gods. Separately on the wall under glass is the colonel’s crimson beret, pierced through and through by a bullet. Denard sits in the chair opposite me, smiles and says: “Voila. Ask your questions.” - Monsieur Colonel, when I was on my way to our meeting, I accidentally saw in the window of a bookstore a story about you by the American writer Samantha Weingart called “The Last of the Pirates”... Is this really so? - No. The girl just came up with a catchy title to sell her book. As you can see, I don't have a parrot or a wooden leg on my shoulder. Whatever they call me - a mercenary, a bandit, a pirate - it doesn’t matter to me at all. I know better than anyone who I really am. And now they’re even planning to make a film about me, “The King of Mercenaries.” - Are you flattered by such popularity? - What's flattering about that? Everything will be twisted again. - This movie is clearly being made for a reason - now the world is seeing a surge in the popularity of the “soldier of fortune” profession. More and more people from the countries of Eastern Europe and the CIS go to fight in Kosovo, Chechnya, Ethiopia to earn money from blood... There are also enough mercenaries from Islamic countries. Why do you think this happens? - The main reason is unemployment among thousands of professional military personnel. Around 1991, the situation on the planet changed greatly. The confrontation between the USA and the USSR has ended, a number of wars have ended, including in Afghanistan. In dozens of states (including Russia), many officers suddenly found themselves on the streets. Naturally, they tried to return to the activity they had studied all their lives, because they don’t know how to do anything else. Becoming a mercenary turned out to be easy, because there are no longer problems with borders. If earlier we crossed borders along secret paths, now the “soldier of fortune” simply buys a tourist ticket. - Are the mercenaries of your time different from those of today? - Essentially. In the sixties, detachments of “soldiers of fortune” consisted of “pros” who, as a rule, worked for the interests of their countries, and all their actions were controlled by the intelligence services. It was simply beneficial for the governments of France, England and the United States to pretend that groups of adventurers with whom they had nothing in common were fighting in the jungle. In fact, at that time there was a war in Africa between the USSR and the West. Previously, the “wild goose” profession included, if you like, romance, but now mercenaries are only interested in money. - Will the number of “wild geese” increase? - Now the whole world is like a big market. It all depends on the demand for services. Many people who have their own companies, the core of which are professional officers, go directly to various African presidents and say: we can provide the right people for your operations, the price is this and that. Previously, this was impossible to imagine: the number of “soldiers of fortune” in Africa was strictly limited by the same special services; random people were not included. - There is information circulating that a lot of mercenaries from Russia, CIS countries, and Eastern Europe have appeared in African countries. Have you heard about this? - This is not news to me. The Russians have always been excellent soldiers, and it is not surprising that some of your military personnel, discharged from service, found work in Africa. There would be more of them, but not all of your officers speak English and French. Therefore, groups of Russian mercenaries are still small in number. In 1997, in Zaire, I met about a hundred Serbs and Russians who fought on the side of ex-President Mobutu. The soldiers were laconic, very well equipped, trained, and participated in special forces operations. They arrived in the capital of Zaire on their own transport helicopter and flew away on it after the overthrow of Mobutu. - Rumors also leaked that Russians and Ukrainians participated in the coup d'etat in Congo (Brazzaville) in 1997 on the side of deposed President Pascal Lissouba. - I can confirm this too. However, as far as I know, Russian and Ukrainian mercenaries in the Congo did not engage in hostilities on land; their element was the air. They crewed combat helicopters and flew MiG fighters. - How many African countries use the services of Russian mercenaries? - A little. The Russians do not have special offices that would send trained groups to Africa... Mostly singles make their way. There are Russians in Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Angola... I also remember a Russian pilot who fought on the side of Chadian President Idriss Deby against the rebels. These are mainly pilots and military instructors. Forty years ago, Africans did not know how to fight, so they needed the support of white mercenaries - now they have learned to shoot at each other. But they still don’t know how to operate technology. Therefore, they need specialists to maintain guns and aircraft: there are still a lot of Soviet and Russian heavy weapons in Africa. - Do you like Russian weapons? - It's of excellent quality. Soviet military equipment has been in service with African countries for many years, and this shows its reliability, since Africans can break anything. In the Comoros, my personal weapon for many years was the AK-47. - By the way, about Comoros... In 1995, you carried out the last coup in your life there. Would it be easy for you to do this now? - Do you want to order a coup for me? - No, I just asked. - Of course, I understand coups. A putsch is easy to carry out, but difficult to plan: it takes six months to a year. Look (points to the map on the wall): for that very revolution in the Comoros, we bought a ship in Norway, for conspiracy, we transported it to Holland, and purchased weapons. Then they waited until 36 people gathered who agreed to participate in the operation. - There aren’t too many people... - Enough. They all lived in Comoros for ten years, knew the islands like the back of their hands and could walk from the landing site to the presidential palace with their eyes closed. We entered President Sualikh's residence and got him out of bed. He was very unhappy. - Would you believe it if they told you that in some country a coup was carried out by Russian mercenaries? - Why not? For a well-trained group this is not a problem. And as I said, Russians are good soldiers. - Did you meet Russians in Africa in the sixties? I was told that back then you could see adventurers from everywhere: both Soviet officers and former SS men. - I didn’t meet Russians in “free flight” then: they, just like me, depended on their government, we were on opposite sides of the front line. But former SS men and Wehrmacht soldiers actually fought in African countries, this is no secret, but they mostly worked for the French Foreign Legion. - It seems to me that things in Africa have only gotten worse over half a century. The same wars, famine, a sea of blood, mercenaries, the struggle for power. - Yes it is. And so far there is no end in sight. Oil has now been added to the centuries-old feud between tribes, and oil always costs blood. The superpowers left Africa, but the criminal business became interested in it. And this also causes bloodshed. Do you know what generally surprises me about Africans? For decades they lived under the rule of military dictators. But as soon as they had the opportunity for democratic elections, they again began to elect the same dictators as president: Mathieu Kérékou in Benin, Didier Ratsiraka in Madagascar... Africa is difficult to understand. - The press reported that in Comoros you were an uncrowned ruler, and President Abdullah only carried out your orders. - Lord, what nonsense! Ahmed was my friend. I even converted to Islam as a sign of respect for him, they began to call me Mustafa. This was, of course, just symbolic, although I liked about Islam that you can divorce your wife by simply saying “I’m divorcing you.” I only have eight officially recognized children, so I hope you understand me. But our relationship with President Abdullah has never been commercial. We were strong friends. - So you weren’t? - Maybe only at the very beginning. Of course, I received some money for carrying out coups, but it was work. - And how much does one coup cost on average? - It depends on the country. In Comoros there is one price, in Moscow it will cost more. I won’t tell you the price - it’s a trade secret, if you like. But any revolution is not done for free: money is required for the same ships and weapons. Do you have any special plan for a coup? If there is, let's discuss: maybe I'll like it and I'll give you a discount. - Thank you, Monsieur Colonel, another time. But I heard that you became a rich man by putting revolutions in Africa on stream. - Bullshit! My daughter Katya lives in this house with me, now she has gone to work on the night shift, because they pay more for night work. Would she work so hard if I were rich? Do you see my mountains of diamonds? No, these are now purely commercial wars being waged in Africa. I didn’t make much money from my business. I live on a pension in this small, shabby house... I have always been a soldier, not a businessman. Dollars have never been my main goal. - There have been failures in your career - for example, the attempted coup in Benin in 1977... - You have studied my biography well! I didn’t even expect that people in Russia know so much about me. “We even know that you were sentenced to death in absentia in Benin.” - Yes? But I'm not in Benin, so I don't care much. -Who ordered that revolution for you? - The King of Morocco, through whom the French intelligence services operated. Forty of my people arrived on the scene and immediately seized the capital's airport. But then everything went to hell: according to the plan, part of the army was supposed to join us, but it didn’t. The opposition politicians who were supposed to replace President Kerekou became frightened and refused to get off the plane. Soon North Korean commandos from Kereku's personal guard arrived on the scene, a battle ensued, and I decided to leave. - By the way, do you issue an invoice for work before or after the operation? - Of course, I demand an advance payment - after all, in any case, I risk the lives of my people. But if someone orders three coups in bulk at once, it will cost less. By the way, we prepared the putsch in Benin very quickly - in just three months, because it was sponsored by the Moroccan king: there was no need to think about where to buy a plane and weapons. - Do you regret that that attempt failed? - It was a pity then, because it seriously affected my reputation. But I have no desire to take revenge. - Imagine: you agreed to make a revolution, but then the person you ordered to overthrow suddenly offers you a much larger sum. What are you going to do? - I will fulfill the previous agreement. Not everything in life is measured by money. - If you were ordered to kidnap Osama bin Laden or, say, Yugoslav ex-President Milosevic, would you undertake it? - You can imagine anything. But in reality, I can hardly imagine anyone turning to me for this. I definitely wouldn’t take on bin Laden: he has a whole army, and you can’t catch him with fifty commandos. As for Milosevic, I completely disagree that he was chosen as a scapegoat for everything that happened in Yugoslavia. - You've been thrown around the world quite a bit... Where did it seem most dangerous? - Perhaps in Vietnam, where I served in the French Navy in the fifties... It was real hell. (Shows a scar on his hand from a shrapnel.) Africa is a much more harmless place: there are vaccinations against fever, and I’m used to the climate. - Tell me, is it difficult to kill people? - This is a difficult question... Very often I found myself in the following situation: if I don’t kill, then they will kill me... And here there is no choice left. But never in my life have I killed for pleasure. And he never shot a woman or child. The same goes for revolutions: I didn’t do them on a whim. It was a job, not a hobby. - You had to leave Comoros after the death of President Abdullah, who was killed under mysterious circumstances. It was suggested that you yourself shot him during a quarrel, for which they even tried to try you in Paris. - Do I look like an idiot? Why did I have to cut the branch on which I was sitting? I still don't know exactly what happened. The president and I stood in the palace and talked. A security guard (his close relative) appeared and, without explanation, opened heavy fire from a machine gun. I still don’t know who exactly he wanted to kill - him or me. I threw myself on the floor, but Abdallah does not have the reaction of a military man, he is a civilian, and all the bullets went to him. - You were also accused of the death of the former president of Comoros, Sualiha, who was overthrown by you. - Lord, do you think it was my job to shoot the local presidents like partridges? - Who knows. - You are wrong. On the contrary, I offered to let Sualikh go, but they didn’t listen to me, the crowd tore him to pieces... He was very unpopular in the country, everyone hated him. But when they wanted to burn the corpse, I did not allow it and handed the body over to the family. - You are 72 years old, but you seem to be in excellent shape. Aren't you sad about living quietly in retirement, without planning coups and revolutions, and quietly growing flowers in your yard? -Have you not seen flowers near my house? In my opinion, they were very successful, I tried. But it's true that I can't live without doing anything. I constantly have some ideas, plans, projects in my head... Although I don’t feel like I’m at work - I’m really retired, I read books and allow myself to sleep more. I think this is wonderful. -Are you now considering a plan for a new coup? - Even if there is a plan, I still won’t tell you. Biographical information Robert (in English simply Bob) Denard was born in 1929 in China in the family of a French officer. He chose a military career and in the late forties entered service in the French Navy in Vietnam. In 1961, he showed up in the Congo with a detachment of mercenaries, and since then the path of a “soldier of fortune” has become his main profession. He fought in the same Congo, in the 60s. fought on the side of the deposed Imam of Yemen, participated in the civil war in Nigeria. He took part in about ten military coups. In 1977, he unsuccessfully attempted a coup in Benin. A year later, with a group of 50 people, he staged a revolution in the Comoros Islands, during which President Sualih was killed. Denard became the head of the guard of the new President Abdullah. In 1989, Abdallah was killed under unclear circumstances, and Denard had to leave Comoros, go to South Africa, and then return to France, where he had not been for many years. In 1995, a detachment of mercenaries led by Denard again landed in the Comoros, again deposing the president. French paratroopers who arrived in Comoros surrounded his fighters, and the colonel had to surrender. He returned to Paris, where he was on trial in 1993 and 1998 for the attempted coup in Benin and the death of Comorian President Abdallah. In both cases he was acquitted. He was married twice and has 8 officially recognized children. Heads the association of former mercenaries "Peace is our Fatherland".
Africa || Tshombe, mercenaries, "Wild Geese", book, film and life
One of the cutest (and relatively true) films about mercenaries in Africa, Wild Geese, was loosely based on real events. For those who haven’t watched it, let me remind you what it’s about. English mercenary Alain Faulkner receives an offer from industrialist Edward Matherson to kidnap a former president from a prison in a Central African country. Exiled Julius Limbani was captured aboard his plane and smuggled into that country to face execution at the hands of General Ndofa, who had seized power. Faulkner assembles a team of mercenaries, trains them, after which the “wild geese” land on the territory of the country and liberate Limbani. At the last minute, the plane that is supposed to pick up the mercenaries takes off (on secret orders from Matherson) and abandons the expeditionary forces to their fate. The mercenaries fight their way to the border, where they accidentally find an opportunity to fly out of the country. The plane carrying the surviving mercenaries lands in Rhodesia after the country's authorities are given confirmation that President Limbani is on board.The film was shot in 1978, directed by strong director Andrew McLaglen, nothing outstanding, but a good professional. The film's producer, Ewan Lloyd, was dying to make a film in the spirit of The Guns of Navarone. And when Lloyd came across a draft of a story by a Rhodesian writer, he realized that fate had given him a chance.
The story was called “The Thin White Line,” a point highlighted in the text when one of the characters, the Rhodesian with Boer roots, Peter Coetzee, tells Julius Limbani: “There is now a thin white line running across the south of the continent. You blacks have two thirds of the continent in your hands - do with them whatever comes into your head. But leave us alone. Don't try to cross this line - otherwise you will be in trouble. And you, Mister, should know that behind this line, we whites have done much more for blacks than all the other blacks combined.” Lloyd, however, insisted that the film should be released under a different title, which was eventually done. Moreover, the book was also published under the title “Wild Geese” - thanks to the suggestion of one person, more about him below.
The well-known online trash collector Wikipedia says that the story was based on rumors that a plane with mercenaries once landed in Rhodesia and there was a certain African president on board. Well... in general, both so and not so. Those who added this paragraph to the article about the film heard the ringing, but they don’t know what, where and how.
In reality, as one Pshek once said, everything was not as it really was...
Key points. The progressive president in exile, Julius Limbani, is none other than Moise Tshombe. The author of the book did not really hide this - some moments there simply exactly repeat the fate of Tshombe.
Congolese Tshombe, born of a noble family, entered Congolese politics in the late 1950s. Unlike the scumbag and cannibal Lumumba, Tshombe spoke from normal moderate positions. Although he supported the decolonization of the Congo, he understood that without the whites the Congo would fall into ruins. To his credit, he was a normal African racist - that is, he put his own people first, but he treated whites with respect - an exception was made for communists. In addition, Tshombe cherished the dream of autonomy for his province of Katanga (which was the cornerstone of the country - without Katanga, the Congo would not be worth a penny).
After Congo gained independence in the summer of 1960, the country immediately fell into chaos. Tshombe, by then the most popular man in the south of the country, had little love for either Lumumba or President Kasavubu. He simply left the capital for Katanga. On July 11, tired of fruitless attempts to somehow influence the situation, he declared that Katanga was separating from the Congo, and let rabid people like Lumumba do what they wanted in their new free state. Tshombe also allowed Belgium to send troops into the province to protect the Belgians from the violence of the "revolutionary" hordes. Order was established in the province.
The news of Katanga's secession was received differently around the world. The Congolese government was in a state of rage, punctuated by quiet panic. The USSR started the usual bagpipe that the Belgian colonialists are trying to put a yoke on the neck of the Congolese people again. The Western powers were slowly going crazy trying to make sense of the chaos of the Congolese mosaic. Lumumba eventually managed to push through a resolution against Katanga at the UN. The UN decided to remove the Belgians from Katanga and send peacekeeping troops in their place.
The introduction of troops led to, to put it mildly, instability. Now it is difficult to understand what was going on then in Katanga (and throughout the Congo) - no, there are, of course, sources, as well as dry lines from encyclopedias, but they do not convey the full picture. Something incomprehensible was happening, something that did not reach chaos, but had nothing to do with order. In January 1963, the UN managed to bring a relative semblance of stability to Katanga. Six months later, Tshombe, as a result of government intrigues, was forced to leave the country and retired to Spain. There he cherished plans to return - and an opportunity suddenly presented itself. In the summer of 1964, an uprising of the Simba broke out in the Congo - primitive, illiterate Africans who considered their main task to be the physical destruction of all whites, as well as all more or less educated Africans. The main striking force of the Simba were the jeunesse - juvenile bandits who killed everyone (it is worth noting that cannibalism was widespread among this public). The province found itself engulfed in the fire of war, which threatened to spread to other regions. The situation was leading to the fact that instead of the Congo, a wild territory would appear on the map of Africa. In a desperate attempt to somehow improve the situation, President Kasavubu invited Tshombe to the post of prime minister. As head of the cabinet, Tshombe brought order - immediately inviting foreign specialists, both technical and military, to the country. The press preferred to call the latter “mercenaries.” Tshombe adhered to his views - without foreign assistance the country could not survive, both in the short and long term. But as soon as Tshombe completed the task assigned to him, he was immediately removed. In October 1965, Kasavubu, dissatisfied with Tshombe's growing popularity and also with Tshombe's insistence on an alliance with the West, removed the unwanted prime minister. Tshombe, however, opposed this. It is not known how the government crisis would have ended, but the commander of the Congolese army, General Joseph Desire Mobutu, appeared on the stage and politely asked both players to leave, usurping power. After which he accused Tshombe of treason. Knowing the morals of his political colleague, Tshombe chose to flee to Spain for the better. Mobutu, without much ceremony, sentenced Tshombe to death in absentia.
And at the same time he began to restore order in the country. Mobutu, who until a certain time was considered a sane politician, moved on to actions that were, of course, decisive, but too steep. First, he publicly hanged 4 prominent politicians in Leopoldville, accusing them of conspiracy, then, on his orders, three white mercenaries were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor, and to top it off, he panicked the Congolese Belgians. Having accused several planters of committing sabotage in a number of regions, on Mobutu's orders their ears were cut off and their fingers were chopped off. Well, the economy began to shake noticeably.
At the same time, Mobutu, oddly enough, enjoyed the sympathy of Washington. He first visited the White House under Kennedy. Later, the Americans provided significant assistance to Mobutu and the Congolese army - in particular, a large number of aircraft and weapons were transferred to the Congo. For this, Mobutu allowed US special forces to work behind the scenes in the country. Therefore, the Americans treated him, although without much love, but preferred that he rule the Congo - as it seemed to the White House then, it would always be possible to come to an agreement with him.
And of the mercenaries at that moment in the Congo during this period there were two fairly well-known mercenaries - the Frenchman Bob Denard and the Belgian Jacques Schramm. Two thugs, openly dissatisfied with Mobutu, agreed to revolt. It was planned that Schramm would capture Stanleyville, and Denard would later join him with his forces and the Katangese gendarmes. Next, the mercenaries capture Kinda and Bukavu, and after that Kamina, the main air force base. At the same time, Elisabethville automatically falls, Tshombe arrives from Spain, Katanga rises to a full-scale popular uprising, Mobutu either resigns, or Katanga secedes.
Everything was ready. And at that moment, like a bolt from the blue, the news came - Moise Tshombe had been kidnapped! On June 30, 1967, the plane on which the ex-prime minister was flying was hijacked by unknown criminals and landed in Algeria.
The CIA was behind the organization of Tshombe's kidnapping. For Langley - and for Washington - it was beneficial to support Mobutu, but Tshombe was not very profitable for the Americans. And even more unprofitable was the return of Tshombe to the Congo, the possible secession of Katanga, the appearance on the map of Africa of a new state with a relatively independent politician.
The direct perpetrator of the terrorist attack was a certain Francois Baudenant, a 33-year-old Frenchman with a criminal record, a citizen of Spain. He served as the personal bodyguard of Tshombe, whom the latter trusted - but at the same time, the sophisticated politician somehow managed to miss the moment when Bodenan was recruited by the CIA. Most likely, this happened before the fall of 1966, because in December 1966, a secret meeting took place between Tshombe and Denard, at which plans for Tshombe's return to the country were discussed. This meeting immediately became known in Langley, and a plan was adopted to “eliminate” the restless prime minister. On June 30, during the flight Ibiza - Mallorca, Bodenan, at gunpoint, forced the pilots of a small plane (there were only 5 passengers on board) to fly to Algeria. Local authorities, having received such a “gift”, were in confusion - they did not receive any benefit from the fact that they had a disgraced Congolese politician in their hands, but on the other hand, it was also not convenient to give it away anywhere. Despite Mobutu's demands for extradition, Tshombe was put in prison and refused to be extradited anywhere, hoping that the situation would somehow resolve itself. Bodenant surprisingly escaped immediate arrest. He was tried later - in 1982 in Spain he received 12 years - mainly for “violating the civil rights of Moise Tshombe”; he somehow got away with hijacking the plane.
On July 5, 1967, a mercenary rebellion finally broke out - but alas, it was too late. In addition, there was a monstrous lack of coordination in the actions of Denard and Schramm. Denard and his team did not make it to Stanleyville in time, and Schramm was forced to hold the city alone against the 3rd Parachute Regiment of the Congo Army. On July 10, Denard was wounded in battle and left Schramm. His team found a way to leave the country for Rhodesia. On August 9, Schramm managed to capture Bukava and hold the city for 3 months. At the end of October, Denard re-entered the Congo from Angola with his team - the invasion was carried out with the secret help of the Portuguese. Unfortunately, Denard overestimated his strength, and the invasion fizzled out - he did not reach Bukavu. If he had managed to enter the city by November 3, everything could have been different. But he didn't have time. Mobutu risked throwing the elite 1st Parachute Regiment against Schramm and the city fell. The mercenaries quickly managed to move to neighboring Rwanda, from where, a few months later, they flew to Europe.
If Tshombe were not in an Algerian prison at this moment...
But he was there.
And there was at least one attempt to free him. Initially, certain Belgian circles tried to rescue Tshombe with the help of bribes. The amount varied between $6 million. But in May 1969, the prison in Algeria where Tshombe was imprisoned was raided - several mercenaries were killed, and the raid itself failed. The Algerian authorities imposed a ban on the publication of any information about this episode, but some information was leaked. However, it is still unknown who exactly carried out this raid. At least one thing can be said with confidence - neither Hoar nor Denard had anything to do with this. The attempt to free Tshombe from an Algerian prison failed, but the amount of bribes after that increased to 15 million. It is not known how it would have ended, but on June 30, 1969, the Algerian authorities announced Tshombe’s death as a result of a heart attack.
Did Tshombe really have a heart attack? Or did he have a heart attack? Who knows... Tshombe was buried in Brussels, but again the question arises - when exactly was he buried there? And in general, did he die in 1969? There are still persistent rumors that in the grave in the Etterbeck cemetery is another body…
Now, in light of the above, some aspects of the book and film “Wild Geese” become more understandable. Information about the mysterious plane that landed at the Rhodesian Kariba airfield comes from two sources. Firstly, from the author of The Wild Geese, Daniel Carney. The son of a British diplomat, Carney moved to Southern Rhodesia (then part of the Federation of Northern Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia and Nyasaland) in the early 1960s. In Rhodesia, he joined the police, and not just the police, but the Special Service - in other words, the country's external and internal intelligence. He served there for 4 years, after which he retired, but did not leave the authorities. In the course of his activities, Carney had access to various documents, including those classified as “Secret”. And his awareness becomes clear.
The second source is Al Venter, perhaps the only journalist who can rightfully be called an expert on African issues. Venter covered almost half of all the wars that took place in Africa from the 1960s to the 1980s, and his knowledge of realities and events makes us treat his words with at least attention. According to Venter, during one of the Congolese wars, the Kariba air force base once experienced abnormal activity: mysterious night phone calls, Rhodesian air force planes on alert, etc. Such activity was noted by the local press, but censorship immediately prohibited the publication of any materials about the “alleged landing of a mysterious plane.”
The planes actually landed. That "Dakota", about which rumors subsequently circulated, actually landed in Caribe - it just happened on July 10, 1967. On board were the wounded Bob Denard and 13 of his mercenaries, who flew away from Stanleyville in a captured DC-3. They left Stanleyville, fought their way to the airfield, hijacked the Dakota and headed to Rhodesia. Denard ended up in the hospital, but the wound was not very serious - he soon came out of there. Almost immediately he flew to Brussels - after staying there for some time, he flew to Luanda, where he set up his headquarters to prepare for the invasion of the Congo. (Neither the Rhodesian nor the Portuguese authorities interfered with Denard’s activities. There is no clear answer to the question why. He, of course, was not the person who could be trusted with the honor of his sister - but he fought for that very “thin white line”, protecting civilization from the savages. Therefore, the authorities turned a blind eye to his pranks). So the version that this particular landing of Denard at night in the Caribbean is in fact the prototype of the mysterious night landing of the Dakota in the book and in the film is not without foundation.
But besides this, other planes landed at the base in Kariba - in 1967, and in 1968, and in 1969. Some contained money. In others... what happened in others was probably known only by Ken Flower, director of the Rhodesian Central Operations Centre.
Also, it is on the conscience of Bob Denard that the betrayal of his people remains - the first mass betrayal of his subordinates by his employer in the modern history of mercenaries. Carney used this move as one of the constructions for the plot of the story. In the film (this moment is deliberately not clearly stated in the book), Matherson negotiates behind the scenes with General Ndofa and decides to hand over the mercenaries to the general. Life was a little different.
In Leopoldville at the time of the Stanleyville Mutiny there were about 30 mercenaries from Denard's 6th Command. Why he didn’t warn them that it was better for them to leave the city in advance - again, there is no answer. Perhaps he believed that they were not in great danger - the mercenaries in Leo were employed in administrative positions, and not as stormtroopers. Perhaps he was afraid of information leaking about the upcoming speech. Or maybe he simply acted on the principle of “every man for himself.” One way or another, on July 5, as soon as news of the mutiny became known, the mercenaries in Leo (including two Englishmen) were arrested and shot on the spot. Only one managed to escape - a black Frenchman, who later spoke about the fate that befell the 6th Team.
Another parallel between reality and the book is Denard's invasion of the Congo from Angola. In the book, the training of mercenaries is carried out at a certain base in Mozambique. At the same time, the Portuguese authorities know and secretly approve the upcoming operation. However, they warn that they are leaving the border open to mercenaries for a short time. If Faulkner's team does not return by a certain hour, the border will be closed.
In real life, Denard's invasion of Angola was also carried out with the knowledge of the Portuguese authorities, more specifically the Portuguese secret police, PIDE. In particular, it was the Portuguese who provided Denard with weapons and brought his group to the border. True, this is where the cooperation ended - the “floggers” washed their hands of it, pretending that they had absolutely nothing to do with it.
It is quite natural that Carney based one of the main characters of his book, the mercenary commander Colonel Alain Faulkner, on Bob Denard. Naturally, Faulkner is a collective image - there is also something in him from another legend of the 1960s, Major Michael Hoare, commander of the 5th Brigade, who actually coined the concept of “Wild Geese” - so in the 18th century called Irish soldiers who went to serve under foreign banners. Hoare revived this concept, and the press did further: starting from the 1960s, mercenaries, in addition to the traditional “soldiers of fortune,” were given the nicknames “Dogs of War” (the merit of another writer Frederick Forsyth), “Wild Geese” and Les Affreux - the latter was introduced into circulation by journalists from Mond. But Hoar, unlike Denard, was not exactly Les Affreux - he was not known for cruelty, fought intelligently, contracted for work, completed it and left. To some extent, history treated him unfairly - the nickname Mad Mike, Mad Mike, was assigned to him, although Hoar was, perhaps, much more cold-blooded than the rest of his eminent colleagues in the craft.
The same Venter even noted the external (certain) similarity between Hoare and Faulkner, played by Richard Burton. It’s difficult to judge, in the eye of the beholder, as they say, Denard is perhaps even more similar. But Faulkner-Barton, Denard and Hoare have one thing in common - the fierce determination of a professional who achieves his goals. Not always with clean hands
Well, yes, it’s a well-known fact that the film’s consultant was Hoar himself, who was brought to the set by one of the actors, Jan Yul. The director's assistant found Yul in South Africa (where the film was actually filmed). Yule, in turn, suggested inviting Michael Hoare as a consultant. In the conversation it turned out that Hoare was Yule's former commander - they both fought in the Congo in 1964-1965. Lloyd immediately jumped at the idea of working with Hoare - which brought a dose of authenticity to the film. And it was Hoare who suggested the title for the film.
As for the question of what happened to Tshombe, this will probably remain one of the possible historical mysteries. What is known is that several Dakota aircraft that landed in Rhodesia during the Congolese events remained in the country. It is unknown whether the body of the former Prime Minister of Congo was on one of these planes.
The activities of mercenaries, as a rule, are illegal or semi-legal. They don’t like mercenaries, because they earn their bread at the cost of blood, mostly that of others. There is an article in Russian legislation that provides for a prison term of up to 7 years for such work. There are similar articles in the legislation of many other countries. However, the number of mercenaries is not decreasing; many regimes eagerly resort to their services.
To become a mercenary, you must, at a minimum, have some in-demand military profession. Real combat experience is highly valued. Many mercenaries know each other personally and maintain connections. Therefore, they easily come together when another conflict arises. A person without a reputation, military profession and combat experience is usually not needed by anyone.
However, all mercenaries start somewhere. The simplest and worst option is to simply go illegally to the next war. If the newcomer is lucky and is not detained or imprisoned, he has a chance to reach the combat region. Then he can only hope that he can survive and gain the necessary experience. There is no need to talk about earnings in this situation; no one will pay such a person good money. Most likely, you will have to fight for food and lodging, and it will be good if you manage to save something for the return trip.
If a mercenary has a military profession and knows English, he has a chance to use the services of one of the foreign companies that recruit people to provide security services. For example, the American Military Professional Resources Inc., Dyncorp or the British Sandline International. You may be offered to work as a security guard in some third world country, but it is quite possible that this is just a convenient cover and in fact you will have to take part in one of the local conflicts.
This option can be considered the most successful, since it will be possible not only to gain experience, but also to establish oneself in a certain way. Having performed well, a newcomer can receive an invitation to another contract. From this moment his real career as a mercenary begins.
It is necessary to understand that mercenaries, as a rule, are attracted not by the money they can get, but by the lifestyle characteristic of the “wild geese”. Most of them are simply not interested in the gray, dull life from paycheck to paycheck; they prefer war to it. Many of them do not have families and do not have any illusions about their future, living for today. It is unlikely that these people should be blamed, but there is no point in admiring them. Everyone in this world lives as they can and as they want.
Gray geese are mercenaries. Soldiers of fortune, recruited to conduct combat operations when, for one reason or another, it is not profitable for the state to use young animals called up at military registration and enlistment offices as cannon fodder. I'm talking about the state of affairs in Russia, although in other countries the situation is often mirrored. It is more profitable to send mercenaries, their coffins are cheaper than those of those who “repaid their debt,” and there is less noise with them. A conscript soldier who was alerted and sent to Dagestan in 1999 had a mother who could easily have joined some Committee of Soldiers' Mothers, and then the authorities would have a lot of trouble. In addition, among them there may well be not only collective farmers or security guards of shopping complexes, but also yesterday’s students who failed the session and ended up in the barracks thanks to the machinations of the military registration and enlistment office. Organically not connected either with the army, or with a career in it, or with the prospect of one day finding housing for their service, they are dangerous for the state. Why? Because someday they will be able to describe what they saw. The harsh rawhide truth, which has nothing to do with those fables that are played on central television in series about certain heroic special forces. The raw truth of harsh army life, survival in inhuman conditions, often created by rampant theft, stupidity and betrayal of the command.
Do not confuse Gray Geese with ordinary contract soldiers who appeared after the collapse of the USSR. Contract servicemen trace their genetic links back to long-term conscripts. For the most part, these are quite harmless people - they get involved in scams during the day and get drunk in the evening. Almost everyone has a wife, mother-in-law, and a dacha with vegetable gardens. The limit of their dreams is a military pension, having received which, they move in an organized manner to security structures, where they continue to do the same thing - guard during the day, steal at night out of habit, and then drink away not military, but civilian property. Some of them, due to certain circumstances, even move to serve in internal organs, where they very soon become involved in the rhythm and specifics of local work - they are no strangers. They serve as usual, but, alas, many of them are not capable of conducting combat operations.
I repeat, for the most part, contract servicemen in the Russian army are not fit to be sent into battle. Well, first of all, let's note that the “majority” are women. It so happened since the beginning of the 90s that the first “contract soldiers” were officers’ wives, by hook or by crook, their husbands arranged for service in conditions of total unemployment in garrisons. They became signalmen, clerks at headquarters, nurses in medical units, clubs and headquarters were filled with them. Sometimes they were listed as “snipers”, “machine gunners”, “crew numbers”, although it is quite difficult to imagine them with a mortar plate on their back. They filled the combat staff units, while further than the headquarters, where they were given a warm place, they could hardly be seen. And half of the “contract workers” I knew in the 90s were like that.
As an illustration, one episode from the life of our border detachment just before the business trip to the North Caucasus. Somewhere behind the club the mortar men were conducting their training—either they were laying out military equipment and checking it, or something else. A certain lady in a fur coat comes up to them and introduces herself to them - so, they say, and so, boys, I am listed on your battery as the calculation number. I decided to get acquainted at least. You never know. You don't eat tea at a resort.
The people reacted to such a meeting with understanding. Jokes, enthusiasm, laughter. And when we treated ourselves to cigarettes, we became even kinder. They asked how to call and call the wife of some colonel from the department by name and patronymic. The latter interest is not idle. If they have a dispute among themselves about who should wear the outfit next time, they will remember, oh, Klavdia Ivanovna hasn’t been on the list for a long time. And immediately everyone’s soul will somehow feel lighter. They will begin to figure out who drank the OZK, but there are no culprits. So she is - and there is no one else. They replaced everything with ours. They didn’t say it after, but who will clean up after you, Pushkin? For why commemorate the Sun of Russian poetry in vain when there is Claudia Ivanovna for this, their fighting friend, whom they saw for at most five minutes in their lives. I’ll immediately make a reservation that the first name and patronymic were taken out of thin air, and therefore any coincidences are accidental.
Their name is legion, their essence is dead souls.
For every military feat, there may well be a similar combat friend who will always regularly receive a reward for serving the Motherland. When “boys” like those described above took Grozny, these same “snipers”, “machine gunners” and “crew numbers” were probably invisibly present among them. And the tradition of rewarding staff ladies for military exploits has been alive since the time of Amin’s palace.
No, I don't argue, every rule has an exception. In our regiment, signalmen and medical instructors lived in tents - mostly Ivanovo girls, who were brought to the war by need and unemployment. Keeping them in the field is a headache for the authorities, who are forced to provide them with special conditions, and also exclude them from the list of orders in favor of increasing the workload for men; I have not seen a single woman at the post. However, we are talking here, I repeat, about contract servicemen who were drafted into the military units of their husbands in order to replenish the family budget in conditions of total unemployment in the garrisons.
Therefore, when they show something positive on TV about how “women military personnel are more disciplined,” and at the same time show them in brand new camouflage on the armor of a tank (which clearly conscripts had been scrubbing for a week before filming), then I’m disgusted by such a staging. he just starts to turn himself inside out with laughter. There is no place for women in the army, and 90% signed the contract only because they could not find another decent job.
I, who served three contracts in the Russian army after two compulsory army years, do not believe in contract service. I sincerely doubt that it will ever be able to fully replace military training for conscripts. Firstly, I saw that half of it consists of officers’ wives, many of whom do not even strive to delve into their duties, but only produce lists of “dead souls,” thus reducing defense capability. Secondly, for the pittance that contract soldiers are paid now—several times less than a platoon commander—their ranks can only be replenished by “conscripts” who will be forced to sign this contract. Well, and thirdly, also because the male part of the contract soldiers who stayed in the army for more than a couple of terms are infantile servants who are physically impossible to tear away from the skirt of their beloved mother-in-law and send him somewhere to point “A”, that is, “wherever the Motherland orders,” at the hour when it is needed.
Well, and most importantly, all these over-age contract workers from the “over 30” club have a bunch of chronic diseases. If there is a need to urgently send them to a hot spot, any of them will provide as justification a whole set of certificates about illnesses, which in general are not called upon. And they won’t lie even once. The older the body, the more it wears out in military conditions.
Let's say our brother, a military radio operator, has a spinal disease that is occupational. In the mountains they carry more than grenade launchers and machine gunners. In the same GRU special forces, in addition to supplies of water (several plastic bottles with mineral water), food for a week, zinc with cartridges and everything else that others carry on their humps, the signalman also needs to take several walkie-talkies with him when going out. In addition to the main VHF band with a module attached to it for encrypting and decrypting radio communications (the so-called “historian”, the size of a brick), when going out, they also take with them “just in case” the shortwave “Severok”, which allows them to go out into broadcast only in emergency cases, and only in code phrases. And on top of that - a “pager” - another brick-sized thing that cannot be communicated through, but which transmits a call signal if the base suddenly wants to get in touch outside of the schedule. But that is not all. Plus, to all this, a supply of army lead batteries, the volume of several bricks, since they began to measure everything with them. Plus, in addition to all this, you need to take a so-called charger - a manual dynamo, which the radio operator turns day and night all week at the exit. He cannot sleep at this time - several times an hour he must report that the reconnaissance group is alive, and they were not slaughtered like blind kittens.
Sometimes backpacks can’t stand it and tear from the weight of everything that the radio operators have stuffed in them. For example, Hedgehog’s straps once broke, and he carried all his belongings in his arms throughout the entire transition before evacuation, since the group did not have the luxury of stopping and waiting until he sewed them on.
No one will forever be able to carry army backpacks more than their own weight in the mountains. Sooner or later, the same thing will happen to them as to me - they will tear off their backs and will be thrown out of the army as disabled people with a criminal offense, without the right to get a job anywhere else. War is a matter for the young. Therefore, contract service for ordinary positions in combat units does not make sense for those “over 30.” Then they only become a burden for the army, like me or that same Klavdia Ivanovna, who, at best, types orders on a typewriter at headquarters, while occupying a full-time combat unit.
I repeat, not every contract soldier can be a Gray Goose. And at the same time, not every vagabond mercenary, for whom the field life of war is his usual habitat, will be able to take the place of a permanent “servant” in peaceful conditions and adapt to the whims of his superiors. These are two completely different psychological types.
There are two types of military - before and after. A young and trained conscript soldier, into whom the sergeants on the parade ground have drilled several conditioned reflexes, will always carry out any order. Like a robot, he will climb up under bullets, but carry out orders, despite the fact that he has liquid feces flowing through his boots. The worst thing for him is not to die, but not to carry out orders. And people like him burn like packs of pencils in this fire.
The other soldier is the one who miraculously survived after this battle, reached the top of that hill, shooting all his ammunition somewhere into the void, and who then got tired of burying his comrades. He gained what the young soldier did not have - experience, but lost discipline forever. This experienced soldier will no longer run wide-eyed under bullets at full speed. He will hide, bend down, lazily smoke in pauses, but slowly and surely achieve his goal.
Alas, a complete lack of discipline makes this more experienced warrior unattractive in the eyes of his superiors. For it is more convenient to manipulate and send to death a young and green man who trembles with fear at the mere thought that he will not carry out an order, than to be sent by an experienced fighter who will spit in your eyes and tell you that you should not go head-on, and sneak up on the other side. Not every military leader knows how to be controlled by experienced soldiers and find a compromise between the assigned tasks (usually idiotic) and the interests of the one whom he needs to send to certain death.
Either disciplined, submitting in everything to the will of human superiors, or experienced, but on occasion he sends him to hell if, guided by his experience, he doubts the need to carry out a rash order. I have not noticed any examples of combining these two qualities in a Russian warrior.
A soldier of conscript service, who, by the will of fate, ended up in the war and involuntarily gained enormous military experience, more significant than that of a rear ensign, is already at five minutes a gray goose, ready, after being transferred to the reserve, to be hired for money in order to get there again again. These are the ones who, when they come home for demobilization and, after spending some time in their homeland, quite often return to war at the first opportunity. Therefore, conscripts of the early 90s, who found the collapse of the Union in “hot spots”, were registered as contract soldiers in the 1st Chechen. In turn, those who visited Grozny in 1994-1995, in the midst of their one and a half years of military service, easily signed a contract in 1999.
However, not only after hot spots did people sign contracts in the mid and late 90s in order to make money from the war. Personally, I had a fairly peaceful conscript service as a signalman. That is, the Caucasus and Transnistria passed me by. Moreover, having been without normal work for two years after demobilization, he came to Voronezh and got a contract, again in a communications company, in which there were no signs. But one day, fate asked me to make a choice, and I gave my consent.
It will be interesting for me to describe in this book at least my closest acquaintances from this generation, to which the term “lost” can really be applied. None of them could have ever imagined that he would one day have to go to war. As a rule, these are young people of peaceful professions - machine workers or collective farm machine operators. They were not in demand in the 90s, when factories did not see a patch for several months, and even more so in rural areas. They had no prospects in the new market conditions.
And when the opportunity presented itself to make money somewhere and somehow, many of them responded. These men, who had worked odd jobs for many years and had experienced poverty, used their homemade pig-knives to cut the throats of militants in hand-to-hand combat. The people in our area tried with all their might to “fit into the market.” Even in conditions when all the enterprises in the area were ruined, and there was simply physically no work left, they found ways to feed their family. If there is an opportunity, they will organize a team of builders and “shabhat” with private owners - those same Muscovites. If they notice that something is bad somewhere, they won’t pass by either. In a word, a man is a breadwinner. The family should not be hungry. It was from among these miners that the contract soldiers of the 1st and 2nd Chechen companies were formed. In our region alone, out of 60 thousand (and there are no more), more than 300 people went on business trips to the North Caucasus. That is, every 200th. Can you imagine the scale of unemployment if men were hired en masse to fight when they were paid in combat?
Our people are often accused of laziness - they say they lie on the stove, but do not want to work. I don't know who this is about. In the space from the North Caucasus to Ryazan, I came across people of a completely different type - ready to work anywhere and under any conditions, as long as their work was paid. They go on shifts in the Arctic, work for months away from home on construction sites in the capital. And if necessary, they will go to fight in the North Caucasus. If only they paid. And it is not at all necessary that they have some kind of combat experience, or at least a military specialty in demand in motorized rifle units. He turned the handle on the machine, which means he could be a gunner. I served in the navy, but I still held a machine gun in my hands even if I took the oath. There would be a desire.
In the early 90s, the military profession suddenly became prestigious in those conditions when there were factories, and the troops paid at least, but regularly. However, if someone did not manage to occupy this niche in time, then later, when the staffing tables were already filled, getting a contract suddenly became problematic. And against such a background, for the worker-peasant unemployed youth, who were generally unlikely to get a job anywhere, in 1995 the opportunity suddenly appeared to be hired as contract workers. True, as part of combined units fighting in Chechnya. At the height of the fighting they took everyone. Criminals in tattoos, disbats, who were once commissioned, or even did not serve at all. One of my classmates, who barely received his lieutenant's shoulder straps, told me that a combat unit allowed a soldier who had served time for murder into his platoon. Everyone was in demand when blood flowed like a river. But the active phase of hostilities ended, and in the military registration and enlistment offices most of them were blacklisted, from which it was impossible to escape until the start of the next war, when cannon fodder would be needed again, and again they would take everyone, even criminals. And history will repeat itself again.
And it may seem that they will no longer be able to escape from this circle. All that remains is to sit in prisons in between short and dangerous work as cannon fodder. I wanted to refute this thesis. This book is precisely about the fact that everyone, even Gray Geese and Soldiers of Fortune, have a chance to break out of their habitat and achieve something, despite any life circumstances.
Yes, I understand that my case is not entirely typical. Before being drafted into the army, I was a kind of “bookish boy” who spent a lot of time in libraries, or with a soldering iron in a radio circle, won school and regional competitions, and even, albeit in absentia, entered the University before military service. If I had been drafted not in the spring, but in the fall, and had thus managed to close the session of the second semester just before the draft, then after being transferred to the reserve I would have continued my education, and it is unlikely that I would have gone on to serve under a contract. Well, if at one time I had managed to score more points in the entrance exams, I would have entered the full-time department - and then in the fall of 1993 I would have retired to the reserve according to Gorbachev’s Decree along with the rest of the students, without having served and six months. “It doesn’t get through your head, it gets through your legs,” as our sergeants joked in the training unit. Everything in my life could have been different - even between the first and second contracts, I tried to enter Voronezh University again, but failed. In total, there have been five entrance exams in my life, starting in 1990, not counting admission to the master's program. And only in 2004 I managed not only to enroll again, but also to finally finish my studies, receiving a higher education only at the age of 36. The hope of one day obtaining a diploma did not leave me for 13 years, starting from conscription in 1991, and right up to my admission to Moscow State University, which was successful only on the third attempt.
Probably, initially I was somehow different from the rest in my thirst for knowledge. Perhaps I was able to be drafted a second time only because the military registration and enlistment office employees, in pursuit of volunteer commissions, filled out the appropriate tests for me, adjusting the picture of my intellectual level to the required average result. However, the main quality that allowed me to withstand all the tests during my five years of study at the University was perseverance, acquired somewhere out there in the mountains. If you have the desire and will, any goal you set for yourself can be achieved. I was convinced of this by observing, while studying in the Preparatory Department, the guys “from hot spots” who sat in libraries for hours and, in the end, were transformed. Their persistence was no less intense than that of the so-called “nerds,” the study fanatics.
The main thing that distinguishes typical Gray Geese is that one day they managed to overcome themselves, their fears, and decided to go to war. In order to change their social status and rise to a higher level, they need, first of all, to obtain a higher education. But not everyone dares to decide to find themselves in virtual poverty for several years, devoting all their free time to study. Moreover, during these years they will have to change completely and achieve success in a completely unfamiliar area. In some ways, for professional soldiers, this decision to pursue higher education is as difficult as, for example, for ordinary civilians, one day daring to go to war. There will always be good reasons to refuse new unknown difficulties. However, I know many who have overcome themselves more than once, and have twice risked making a choice - to step into the unknown and go to war, and then to realize themselves in their studies in order to improve their education.
The Russians have always been excellent soldiers, and it is not surprising that some of your military personnel, discharged from service, found work in Africa, Bob Denard.
They showed great interest among readers in the activities of military mercenaries. Reedus decided to study this area in detail - the history of the issue, operating principles, and market conditions.
However, without the story of the Frenchman Bob Denard (real name Gilbert Bourgeau), the greatest mercenary of our time, the topic of soldiers of fortune is not worth raising.
At the beginning of glorious deeds
People who knew Denard, including his opponents, unanimously say that he was a man of extraordinary intelligence, steely will, and at the same time surprisingly easy to communicate with.
Denard himself considered himself and his fellow mercenaries to be romantics, to some extent adventurers, and compared them to corsairs.
“For us then, the profession of a mercenary meant, first of all, romance. Today's soldiers of fortune fight only for dollars. We took money only when it was necessary to pay for weapons and equipment - they don’t give it for free anywhere,” he explained in an interview shortly before his death.
According to the official biography, which, as you might guess, has a lot of blank spots, Denard first took up arms at the age of 15, joining the Resistance in 1944. After the war he entered the naval service and was sent to French Indochina, where he took part in the First Indochina War. Denard was fired from military service for fighting, but he quickly found a place in the Moroccan police.
Since then, the African continent has become his home for many years.
On the left is still a simple boy Gilbert Bourgeau, and on the right is the legendary King of Mercenaries - Bob Denard
Consistent anti-Bolshevik
Bob Denard held extreme right-wing views, was an anti-communist and a supporter of Farnsafrica - a system of informal guardianship of Paris over former colonies.
African states received freedom, and France gained access to their mineral resources and local markets.
With the advent of freedom, blood began to flow in the colonies, regimes replaced each other one after another, so local petty dictators needed professional military men, and not local fools with machine guns. Denard quickly realized that this was the place for him, put together a detachment and first went to the Congo, where the civil war began.
He enlisted in the army of Moise Tshombe, who announced the separation of the state of Katanga from the Republic of Congo. The choice of side was due to the fact that at first the USSR opposed secession, supporting the Republic of the Congo.
Denard acted, as he admitted, with the tacit permission of Paris. “Corsairs in France received written permission from the king to attack foreign ships. I did not have such permission, but I had passports issued by the secret services,” he later explained.
In the Congo, Denard fought along with other mercenary units, including the no less legendary soldier of fortune, Irishman Mile Hoare (in 1964-1965, they suppressed the Simba “red” uprising, which was supported by Moscow).
Mad Mike is famous for the fact that it was thanks to him that in the West the phrase “wild geese” became a common noun for mercenaries. He christened his 5th Commando Squad "Wild Geese", which was a reference to the nickname of the Irish mercenaries of the 15th and 16th centuries.
Chevron of the 5th Commando Squad "Wild Geese" by Michael Hoare
Together with the troops of Hoare and another mercenary, Jean Schramm, Denard's mercenaries prevented the massacre of more than one and a half thousand white residents of Stanleyville.
All three field commanders in their subsequent activities harshly suppressed attempts to kill Europeans, even if they were undertaken by the troops of their African employers.
There is evidence that Denard participated in the Portuguese invasion of Guinea in 1970, attempted to overthrow the Marxist regime of Mathieu Kérékou in Benin, participated on the side of the white minority in the conflict in Rhodesia, in the civil wars in Angola and in Nigeria, Chad, Yemen and in a dozen more local conflicts in Africa, as well as in Iran.
This is fragmentary information, the degree of reliability of which cannot be confirmed. By his own admission, throughout his active career, Denard “caught a dozen bullets,” including being wounded in the head.
From mercenaries through Islam to officials
The Mercenary King carried out the largest operation in the Comoros Islands - a small archipelago between Madagascar and the African coast, a former French colony.
In 1975, Bob Denard led the uprising of Maoist Ali Sualikh, which contradicted his right-wing views and other political principles. The coup was successful: President Ahmed Abdullah was overthrown and fled. The deed was done, and Denard left Comoros.
Bob Denard at the height of his fame in the Comoros
But three years later he returned with a detachment of fifty mercenaries and carried out a new coup, as a result of which Sualikh was killed and Ahmed Abdullah returned to power.
As if forgetting the role of the Mercenary King in the Maoist insurgency, the population of the islands greeted him as a liberator, and Muslims even called him the messenger of Allah. Denard received Comorian citizenship, converted to Islam, taking the name Said Mustafa Majub, and married a native of the islands.
However, the change of religion was formal: he never read the Koran and did not learn to pray. “In France I am a Christian, and in Comoros I am a Muslim, that’s all. You must respect the religion of the country where you live,” Denard later explained.
Denard's finest hour has come in Comoros. Here he created a military base of mercenaries, who were formally called the presidential guard. The French soldier of fortune became the unofficial ruler of the Comoros Islands, restructuring the administration, police, and courts according to his preferences. He went into business, became a landowner, but did not forget about his true calling.
From the Comoros, he organized operations in Mozambique and Angola, simultaneously helping France circumvent the embargo imposed on South Africa.
Denard's success inspired his former ally Michael Hoare, who decided to establish control over the Seychelles. However, Mad Mike's adventure failed: the operation failed due to the carelessness of one of the squad members, who failed to hide the weapon well enough. The element of surprise was lost, and the “wild geese” had to engage in battle right at the airport. The adventure ended with the hijacking of an Indian plane and flight to South Africa.
Legendary Mad Mike on the right
The comfortable life ended in 1989, when Ahmed Abdallah was killed under mysterious circumstances. According to one version, Denard himself eliminated his patron when the president decided to disband the guard.
Later in court this version was not confirmed. And the half-brother of that same Maoist Ali Sualikh, Said Mohamed Johar, soon came to power.
Paris did not forget its “corsair”, and with the help of French special forces, Bob Denard managed to escape to South Africa.
“In the 60s, troops of soldiers of fortune consisted of professionals who, as a rule, worked for the interests of their countries, and all their actions were controlled by the special services. It was simply beneficial for the governments of France, England and the United States to pretend that groups of adventurers with whom they had nothing in common were fighting in the jungle. In fact, at that time there was a war in Africa between the USSR and the West. Previously, the “wild goose” profession involved, if you like, romance, but now mercenaries are only interested in money. The superpowers left Africa, but the criminal business became interested in it. And this also causes bloodshed,” the King of Mercenaries explained shortly before his death.
Denard accompanied by French military
The End of the Mercenary King
Denard did not want to accept the defeat in Comoros and in 1995 he again landed on the islands with a group of mercenaries. Since a French landing party was sent to restore order, the Mercenary King did not offer resistance. This adventure was the latest in his rich track record.
“I spent a total of fifteen years in Comoros, but the stories about a dozen coups are nonsense. I participated in a maximum of two or three,” Denard recalled.
The Mercenary King was tried several times. In 2006, he was sentenced to five years of suspended imprisonment for belonging to a criminal community. A year later, the sentence was changed to a real four-year term, and was soon reduced to one. But for health reasons, Denard did not leave and soon passed away into another world.
“It's true, I was not a saint. In battle there is no other way. But I wouldn’t still be here if I had done truly reprehensible things,” he said at his 1993 trial.
Bob Denard had a chance to see Soviet and Russian mercenaries in action. And he spoke very flatteringly about them, as well as about Soviet weapons
Bob Denard about the Kalashnikov assault rifle: "Oh yeah! A wonderful machine that has helped me out many times. I remember I had just one like this in Yemen. You, in Russia, generally make good weapons, I must tell you.”
