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.