Rolf Steiner: Part One, Biafra

Rolf Steiner has worn many hats in his time, but for this post, we'll be focusing more on his service in Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War. In 1967, Steiner met up with fellow mercenary Roger Faulques in Paris, Falques was setting up a mercenary unit to fight in the Nigerian Civil War for Biafra. France was one of the few nations that supported Biafra's independence primarily due to the Nigerian oil under Biafran control, reported to be able to generate over one million barrels a day.

So the French Secret Service began sponsoring mercenaries to fight on behalf of France so they weren't directly getting their hands dirty in Africa again. Steiner flew to Port Harcourt and enlisted in the Biafran military where he became a commissioned officer, such was the case for any white mercenaries. Falques, Steiner and around 52 other mercenaries would soon depart and head toward Calabar and attempt to retake the city.

That attempt would end in disaster and afterward, Steiner was one of the only a handful of mercs to stay on, and through seniority Steiner became the de facto leader. Falques and Steiner expected the war in Biafra to run the course similar to that of the Congo Crisis in the early 1960s, fighting untrained UN soldiers and poorly trained local forces. This did not happen to be the case, the Nigerians were better trained, more disciplined, and especially better outfitted than the ANC or the subsequent UN forces prior.

Upon this discovery, the majority of mercs left Biafra in fear of actually getting killed in combat, especially since the Nigerian Federal Army that they were up against rarely took prisoners and especially hated white soldiers since they were seen as "outsiders sent to destroy Nigeria". Steiner's first order of business was to attempt to create a small "river navy" by affixing lmgs to river boats. Steiner was convinced that the easy way to flank into Biafran territory was through the Niger River and that controlling the waters was essential to their victory. Steiner's navy became very successful with night raids on NFA bases, bringing back weapons and supplies with each successful mission. 

The NFA had set up a blockade that would eventually starve Biafra into submission unfortunately. On land, Steiner commanded the 4th Commando Brigade (or S Brigade), formed up of mostly irregulars and operated outside of the normal Biafran Army's chain of command. The first three commando brigades did not intact exist and was a point of intentional misinformation the Biafran Army wanted to spread. The 4th Brigade adopted the skull and crossbones as their unit insignia and had the slogan "Long live death! Long live War" and became an elite unit feared by the NFA. Some of Steiner's closest compatriots included "Taffy" Williams the Welsh mercenary, Johnny Erasmus the Rhodesian explosives expert, and Irishman "Paddy" Malrooney, who had all served in Katanga in the early 60s. 

August 1968 would be one of their most intense battles, they were tasked to stop the 3rd Nigerian Marine Commando Division from crossing the Imo River as the Nigerians followed up their capture of Port Harcourt, the center of the oil industry. S Brigade only consisted of around 1,000 men at the time, were not well armed and had to scavenge during the fight to pick up enough ammo. It took until the end of October for the S Brigade to finally break the 3rd NMCD. According to Chinua Achebe, and contrary to the perceptions of a mercenary, Steiner fought for the Biafrans without any pay and served long after most other white mercs had left the cause. 

Steiner said he fought for Biafra for primarily idealistic reasons, saying the Igbo people were the victims of genocide. American journalist Ted Morgan mocked his claims, describing Steiner as a militarist who simply craved war because killing was the only thing he knew how to do well. 

On November 15th, 1968, Steiner launched Operation Hiroshima, with the main goal to retake the occupied city of Onitsha and to half the advance of the NFA. Steiner ordered a full frontal assault against Nigerian positions across an open area without artillery, air or fire support. 

The NFA had men dug-in with fortified mg nests and the Nigerians decisively stopped the initial offensive from the S brigade. Belgian merc Marc Goosens was killed together with most of his men in a suicidal attack against a heavily fortified NFA position. By the time the offensive was abandoned on November 29th, 1968, over half of the 4th Commando Brigade had been killed. Steiner started to drink heavily after Operation Hiroshima failed. He was reportedly described as becoming paranoid and he feared that his own men were planning to kill him after.  In an assessment, author Frederick Forsyth,  at the time a war correspondent in Biafra, wrote of Steiner: "He was good once, but deteriorated. The press publicity got to him and that's always bad for a mercenary". 

Late December Steiner met with the Biafran President Ojukwu and explained the events that unfolded during Operation Hiroshima. Embarrassingly Steiner showed up drunk and belligerent to their meeting, ordered a glass of beer and proceeded to become extremely angry after he had been served a warm beer. Steiner smashed the glass and berated his server and demanded that deserved cold beer. President Ojukwu refused his request and Steiner attempted to slap him across the face, starting a brawl with the president's bodyguards. Ojukwu prevented Steiner from being shot on the spot, and the meeting promptly concluded with Ojukwu stripping him of command and having him hauled out in handcuffs. On December 10th, 1968, Steiner was kicked out of Biafra.