5 Commando Part One

In July, 1964, under the instruction of the Congolese Prime Minister Moïse Tshombe, Jerry Puren (a former mercenary officer in the Katangese Air Force) started recruiting mercenaries to help the Congolese Army fight the Communist Simba Rebels. The word was put out to over 200 potential recruits, including a former friend and ally of Mr. Tshombe. The man was Major Mike Hoare, who fought beside Mr. Tshombe in 1961 during Katanga's attempt to become an independent state.

During that time Major Hoare's company of mercenaries was known as 4 Commando, and was Mike's first time leading mercenary forces. So when it came to liberating the Congo from the Simba forces, Mr. Tshombe wanted Mike to lead a new company of mercenaries; 5 Commando. Technically part of the Congolese Army, 5 Commando were the best chance Mr. Tshombe had to free the Congo from the extensive grip the Simbas already had.

The Congolese Army was in dire need of assistance, due to the overarching beliefs of Voodoo and Witchcraft among the citizens of the Congo, rumor had it that the Simbas were blessed before each battle and given supernatural powers by their witch doctors. When the Congolese Army encountered the Simbas, they would simply toss their rifles down and flee. Mr. Tshombe's solution was White mercenary soldiers that didn't believe in voodoo, witchcraft and so on, to combat the Simbas.

Major Hoare put ads in the newspapers in Johannesburg, South Africa and Salisbury, Rhodesia, calling for physically fit men that could run march 20 miles a day, found of combat, and were "tremendous romantics." 5 Commando was a mixture of South Africans, Rhodesians, British, Belgians, and Germans, of which were mostly veterans from the Wehrmacht. Reflecting his pride in his Irish heritage, Major Hoare used a flying goose as the symbol of 5 Commando and called his men the Wild Geese after the famous Irish soldiers who fought for the Stuarts in exile in the 17th and 18th centuries. 5 Commando was divided into eight sub-units, designated as 51 to 58 Commando, with two officers and three sergeants per sub-unit.