Operation Dragon Rouge: Congo 1964

                                         

October 28th, 1964, the Communist Simba Rebels, fearing an inevitable defeat from Western forces, arrest all Belgian and American citizens in Stanleyville, Congo-Léopoldville. Several hundred hostages were rounded up and held in the Victoria Hotel by the Simbas. The Léopoldville government turned to Belgium and the United States for help, and after several negotiation attempts with the Simbas bore no fruit, the American 322nd Air Division began to prepare a plan to airdrop Belgian Paratroopers into the city in an attempt for liberation.

At the same time, Col. Mike Hoare's 5 Commando were also headed toward Stanleyville to save the hostages, and especially the priests and nuns that were a particularly brutal target of the Simbas. The Col. and his men had come across many gruesome situations in which the nuns and priests were tortured, maimed, beaten, and sexually abused by the Simba rebels.

On the early morning of November 24th, 1964, Operation Dragon Rouge began. American C-130 Hercules came soaring over Stanleyville and 320 Belgian Paras began to flood out. The Belgians landed and secured the airfield and cleared the runway then they made their way toward the Victoria Hotel. The Paras prevented Simbas from killing most of the 60 hostages, and were able to evacuate them via the airfield. At 6:30, Radio Stanleyville broadcast an order to kill all foreigners.

The Simba rebels soon got word that the airport of Stanleyville was now under Belgian control, the hostages were ordered to sit down in the street. After a few minutes, when heavy firing was heard nearby, some of the Simbas opened fire on the seated hostages. The Belgian Paras intervened and stabilized the situation by killing and scaring away the remaining Simbas. Out of the 250 hostages that were gathered by the rebels, 18 were already dead, and 40 were heavily wounded