Marc Goosens
Marc Goosens (died 12 November 1968), also sometimes spelled Marc Goossens was a Belgian mercenary who fought in the Yemeni Civil War and fought for Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War. He died in Onitsha, Nigeria 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 dozen mercenaries who committed themselves to Biafra with great dedication.[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
- ^ http://www.jeremy-duns.com/blog/2014/5/30/the-real-dogs-of-war
- ^ 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[]
- European military personnel stubs
- Belgian people stubs
- Belgian soldiers
- Biafra
- 20th-century Belgian people
- Belgian mercenaries
- Military personnel killed in the Nigerian Civil War
- Belgian expatriates in Nigeria
- 20th-century births
- 1968 deaths