South Africa, who died at 100 'Mad Mike': he was the most famous mercenary in the world

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04 February 2020'Mad Mike ', nickname of Mike Hoare, probably the most famous mercenary in the world, has died at the age of 100. On him is built the character of Colonel Allen Faulkner, played by Richard Burton in the film "The 4 of the wild goose".

 Born to Irish parents, he served in the British Armed Forces as a tanker in World War II. Discharged with the rank of major, he moved to South Africa, where he worked for some time as an accountant. Crucial was the meeting with the Congolese politician and businessman Moise Ciombe, by whom he was hired to form the team of British and South African mercenaries nicknamed "Wild Geese", with which he managed to crush the revolt of the Simba, anti-colonial revolutionaries and pro-Marxist, supported by the Soviets and Cubans.

He retired in the 1980s, but in 1981 embarked on a failed coup attempt in the Seychelles Islands. Convicted for this to 33 years of imprisonment in South Africa, he served only 33 months in prison. Mike Hoare wrote 3 memoir books: “Congo mercenary”, “The road to Kalamata” and “The Seychelles affair”.