'Mad Mike' Hoare: What kind of men became Wild Geese in the Congo - and why?

Growing up in the 70’s our Baptist church had a missionary in Rhodesia. The horror stories of what the Communist-trained guerrilla’s did to the average villager was Stygian; there were also stories told about the Simba atrocities in the Congo that made their way back to us through Christian missions in the Congo, Rhodesia and SA. Hoare’s success in saving African villagers, Belgians and missionaries from certain (almost absolute) death are well known within Protestant and Catholic church circles. When “Mad Mike” passed away I’m sure he met up with many of those he saved. Chris, your book is on order! All the best.

Your father defended us from the communists, my beautiful Kenya and the East African communities are mostly democratic thanks to your father's efforts.

Your father was a hero. You should be very proud of him!

Your Dad was a Full blown Man.. mine was as well ...he was a Combat Veteran with the 11th cavalry..Vietnam . 1966-67. He Passed away cupple years now ..i miss him God bless

Sounds much like the kind of volunteers i served with as Legionnaire in the 70's. I never knew Mike Hoare but knew some who did and all spoke highly of him.

A gentleman of fortune he was. They don't make them like him anymore. Rest in peace sir. Salute.

My brother in law served 22 years in the Royal Marines, then spent some time protecting ships from pirates in the private sector. He doesn't talk about it, when he does its just bits and pieces every now and then. One thing he told me was Hollywood shows mercenaries as big muscular man but in reality their just ordinary man with a military background, you could bump into them in a supermarket and have no clue what they do for a living.

Such a patriot ....whose loyalty was to mankind.

cheers to Mad Mike . If only all western men were like him .

My dad was 5 Commando. Great stories he told me when I was growing up.

It’s also the 60’s so a lot of the younger guys probably grew up listening to fathers, uncles, grandfathers or old guys at the pub talking about “the war”. An entire generation fought in WW2 and you as a young man missed out and want to prove yourself to your veteran heroes.

My father fought w/, French Foreign Legion, 1950--53....I still have the Maroon Beret, w/ silver clasp...retired US Army 1st Armored Division......

I read one book about your father's exploits in the Congo, great man and the book was really a great read too, one of my inspirations in joining the Military back in the day. I'm sorry for your loss. My condolences and prayers to you and your Family. RIP Mad Mike.

I do need to thank the soulless algorithm for this particular recommendation.

Old school real men , enough said 👍🏻💯💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼

There was an article recently written about "Mad Mike" Hoare in Military Illustrated. It suggested he achieved successes in shorter periods of time which would have taken conventional officers longer.

Have some of his books, and they are good . As a Norwegian it is very good to read about the boat of his, the Archers were well known and quite a lot of historical miles many took the ships world wide.

I'm looking forward to reading your book. I'd love to see something in-depth about the film, Wild Geese.

Chris, I had read a number of your fathers books as a teenager and was captivated by this odd-ball Irishman wandering around Africa in the 60’s as a mercenary leader having read about his adventures throughout Africa and on lake Tanganyika and all sorts! Did he ever speak much about his Irish lineage to you at all? Not too many people know of him here at all! Fantastic video by the way.

Thank you for sharing 😊