Mad Mike Hoare: The legend

In 1964/1965, Colonel Mike Hoare led 300 `Wild Geese' across the Congo to crush a communist rebellion, rescue 2000 nuns and priests from barbarity, beat Che Guevara ? and become a legend. Of Irish blood, Mike was schooled in England and, during World War 2, was the `best bloody soldier in the British Army'. He demobbed as major, qualified in London as a chartered accountant and emigrated to South Africa. Going rogue, he started living dangerously to get more out of life, including trans-Africa motorbike trips, bluewater sailing, exploring remote areas, and leading safaris in the Kalahari Desert. Here Mike got to know the CIA agent who was to change his life ? and Nelson Mandela's. Later Mike was technical advisor to the film The Wild Geese, which starred Richard Burton playing the Mike Hoare character. In 1981 Mike led 50 `Frothblowers' in a bid to depose the socialist government of the Seychelles. Things went wrong and soon Mike was to spend three years in jail for hijacking a Boeing 707. Here for the first time, in this story behind the story, Chris Hoare separates the man from the myth in a way only a son can, and concludes his `mad dad' was an officer and a gentleman with a bit of pirate thrown in.