Marc Goosens
Marc Goosens (died 12 November 1968) was a
Yemeni Civil War and served in the army of Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War. He was killed by Nigerian forces in Onitsha during Operation Hiroshima
.
Life
Goosens served as an officer in the
Belgian Army and served as a military advisor to the Congolese government during the Congo Crisis.[1] During the civil war in Yemen, he and other Congo veterans trained royalist rebels.[2] He participated in the Nigerian Civil War under the command of fellow mercenary Rolf Steiner, and he was one of the many foreign mercenaries who committed themselves to Biafra, a secessionist country that declared independence from Nigeria.[3] During the unsuccessful attempt led by Welsh mercenary Taffy Williams to retake Onitsha from Nigerian forces, Goosens died after being shot in the liver.[4] Under the title Biafra: Final Mission, Paris Match, a dramatic photo series published by Gilles Caron on November 30, 1968 showed Biafran soldiers carrying the body of Goosens.[5] Goosens is one of the five fallen mercenaries to whom Frederick Forsyth dedicates his novel The Dogs of War.[6] Goosens is said to be the model for the character of the mercenary Marc Vlaminck in Forsyth's novel.[7]
References
- ^ Peter Baxter: Biafra: The Nigerian Civil War 1967-1970, Helion & Company/30° South Publishers, Solihull/Pinetown 2014, S. 50
- ^ Anthony Mockler: The new mercenaries. Corgi Books, London 1986, ISBN 0-552-12558-X, S. 168
- ^ Frederick Forsyth: The Biafra Story. The Making of an African Legend. Barnsley, Yorkshire, England: Pen & Sword Books Ltd., 2007, ISBN 978-1-84415-523-1, S. 112
- ^ Frederick Forsyth: Outsider. Die Autobiographie. C. Bertelsmann, München 2015, ISBN 978-3-570-10266-4, S. 259, Anthony Mockler: The new mercenaries. Corgi Books, London 1986, ISBN 0-552-12558-X, S. 179ff
- ^ "The real dogs of war — JEREMY DUNS". www.jeremy-duns.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-23.
- ^ Frederick Forsyth: Die Hunde des Krieges. Thriller. Piper, München 2001 (Erstausgabe ebd. 1974), ISBN 3-492-23127-6, S. 6
- ^ Anthony Mockler: The new mercenaries. Corgi Books, London 1986, ISBN 0-552-12558-X, S. 194
Literature
- Frederick Forsyth: The Biafra Story. The Making of an African Legend. Barnsley, Yorkshire, England: Pen & Sword Books Ltd., 2007, ISBN 978-1-84415-523-1, S. 112–153
- Frederick Forsyth: Outsider. Die Autobiographie. C. Bertelsmann, München 2015, ISBN 978-3-570-10266-4, S. 258–262
- Anthony Mockler: The new mercenaries. Corgi Books, London 1986, ISBN 0-552-12558-X
External links
.svg){kind=small}  | This biographical article related to the military of Belgium is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |