Michael 'Mad Mike' Hoare: Mercenary who inspired movie Wild Geese dies aged 100

Widely considered the world's best-known mercenary, he believed "you get more out of life by living dangerously".

Monday 3 February 2020 09:48, UK

Mike Hoare with his personal bodyguard, Sergeant Donald Grant, in 1964
Image: Mike Hoare (left) with his personal bodyguard Sergeant Donald Grant in 1964
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Mercenary "Mad Mike" Hoare, who fought in the Congo and inspired the movie The Wild Geese, has died aged 100, his son has said.

Chris Hoare said in a statement that his father, who was born in Dublin in 1919, died in a care facility in Durban, South Africa.

"Mike Hoare lived by the philosophy that you get more out of life by living dangerously, so it is all the more remarkable that he lived more than 100 years," Mr Hoare wrote.

Richard Burton played Colonel Allen Faulkner in Wild Geese, a character based heavily on Mr Hoare
Image: Richard Burton played Colonel Allen Faulkner in The Wild Geese, a character based heavily on Mr Hoare

Michael Hoare, widely considered the world's best-known mercenary, first found fame by leading a campaign to defeat communist-backed rebels in the Congo in 1964.

He nicknamed his band of fighters the Wild Geese, the title of a 1978 film about mercenaries paid to rescue the imprisoned leader of an unnamed African state by a British tycoon.

The film starred Richard Burton as Colonel Allen Faulkner - a character based heavily on Mr Hoare - Richard Harris and Roger Moore.

A fervent anti-communist, he was derided as "that mad bloodhound Hoare" on East German radio, leading to the nickname "Mad Mike", which he enjoyed.

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His reputation was ruined when he and a force of almost 50 mercenaries launched a failed coup in the Seychelles in 1981.

Roger Moore (L) and Richard Harris in a scene from the 1978 movie Wild Geese
Image: Roger Moore (left) and Richard Harris in a scene from the 1978 movie The Wild Geese

It is believed Mr Hoare knew the islands well, and had a particular hatred of its socialist government under President Albert Rene.

With the tacit backing of the governments of South Africa, where he lived, and Kenya, Mr Hoare hatched a plan to enter the country posing as a charitable drinking club of former rugby players.

It fell apart when one of them had his bag searched at the airport. When officers found his dismantled AK-47, the man panicked and admitted there were more weapons outside.

As the plan unravelled, the mercenaries commandeered an Air India plane and flew it back to South Africa, where they were jailed for six days. The adventure was ridiculed around the world as "the package-holiday coup".

Mr Hoare was sentenced to 20 years, with 10 years suspended for hijacking the Air India plane. He was released after 33 months.