Were You Part Of This?

 

I wasn't, obviously, being far too young and busy studying for something called "O Levels" at King's Cant. All very prestigious and thank you very much. Apologies, btw, to Col., then Major, Dewar RGJ, "D'ye think you could run with the boys in the Mess?" I thought about that for about a second as we strolled around Green Court and replied with youthful vigour that I could. All at the mighty age of 15. Huh, Vicar's son notwithstanding.

Flash forward 40 years and lo and behold, we're bombing the living heck out of Iran, arming a Kurdish insurgency and, here in Dallas, taking Ma LSP to the hospital for an outpatient visit. All good, and thank God local friendlies are on hand.

So what do you do after the hospital? Make up chicken salad, feed the aged p., then relax on the porch to the sound of thunder.

Your Pal,

LSP

Dogs of War

 

The Swiss were famous for it, the Hessians gave it a college try, some even wonder if the US military haven't been in the game as the armed extension of the House of Saud. That's as maybe and it's all going on in the Ukraine today. LL makes the compelling point that if you want to fight in a "stand up war" join a PMC (Private Military Company), with a sponsor, and people who know what they're doing. 

That in mind, we remember the world's most famous mercenary in recent times, Mad Mike Hoare. Born in British India to Irish parents, Hoare fought in WWII and retired at the rank of Major to Durban, South Africa, where he worked at the insufferably dull job of accountancy until recruited by Moïse Tshombe to put down the communist Simba insurgency.

Mad Mike's final exploit was in the Seychelles, where his team were arrested at the airport. The BBC comments:

When officers found a dismantled AK-47, the man panicked and revealed that there were more weapons outside.

At this point the entire plan unravelled, and amid the ensuing conflict at the airport the mercenaries commandeered an Air India plane and flew it back to South Africa.

When they arrived the mercenaries were jailed for six days...

 

 

There is, when you think on it, something remarkable about Hoare and here at DLC (Dallas Light Cavalry) HQ he's required reading. He was, miraculously, 100 years old when he died in 2020.

Rest in Peace, Colonel,

LSP

Rest in Peace Colonel Hoare

Colonel Mad Mike Hoare died on the Feast of the Presentation, February 2nd, 2020, he was 100 years old. This in itself is remarkable, given his way of life. One reader commented, "His death is a tragedy, but he had a good run."

Yes indeed. The film Wild Geese is based on Hoare's heroic action in the Congo, and some argue it's the "best film ever made." He not only stood against but fought the Communist horde.

Rest in Peace, Colonel Hoare, and rise in glory.

LSP