Marc Goosens (died 12 November 1968) was a Belgian mercenary who fought in the 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.
Goosens served as an officer in the Belgian Army and was 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 'Tiny' Marc Vlaminck in Forsyth's novel. [7]
Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a partially recognised country in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria and existed from 1967 until 1970. Its territory consisted of the former Eastern Region of Nigeria, predominantly inhabited by the Igbo ethnic group. Biafra was established on 30 May 1967 by Igbo military officer and Eastern Region governor Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu under his presidency, following a series of ethnic tensions and military coups after Nigerian independence in 1960 that culminated in the 1966 anti-Igbo pogrom. The Nigerian military proceeded in an attempt to reclaim the territory of Biafra, resulting in the start of the Nigerian Civil War. Biafra was officially recognised by Gabon, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Tanzania, and Zambia while receiving de facto recognition and covert military support from France, Portugal, Israel, South Africa and Rhodesia. After nearly three years of war, during which around two million Biafran civilians died, president Ojukwu fled into exile in Ivory Coast as the Nigerian military approached the capital of Biafra. Philip Effiong became the second president of Biafra, and he oversaw the surrender of Biafran forces to Nigeria.
Frederick McCarthy Forsyth is an English novelist and journalist. He is best known for thrillers such as The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, The Fourth Protocol, The Dogs of War, The Devil's Alternative, The Fist of God, Icon, The Veteran, Avenger, The Afghan, The Cobra and The Kill List. Forsyth's works frequently appear on best-sellers lists and more than a dozen of his titles have been adapted to film. By 2006, he had sold more than 70 million books in more than 30 languages.
Chukwuemeka "Emeka" Odumegwu Ojukwu was a Nigerian military officer and politician who served as President of the Republic of Biafra from 1967 to 1970 during the Nigerian Civil War. He previously served as military governor of the Eastern Region of Nigeria, which he declared as the independent state of Biafra.
Onitsha is a city on the eastern bank of the Niger River, in Anambra State, Nigeria. Onitsha along with various cities and towns in southern Anambra State, northern Imo State and neighboring Delta State on the western bank of the Niger River, form a continuous metropolitan area.
The Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafran War, was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence from Nigeria in 1967. Nigeria was led by General Yakubu Gowon, and Biafra by Lieutenant Colonel Chukwuemeka "Emeka" Odumegwu Ojukwu. The conflict resulted from political, ethnic, cultural and religious tensions which preceded the United Kingdom's formal decolonisation of Nigeria from 1960 to 1963. Immediate causes of the war in 1966 included a military coup, a counter-coup, and anti-Igbo pogroms in the Northern Region. The pogroms and the exodus of surviving Igbos from the Northern Region to the Igbo homelands in the Eastern Region led the leadership of the Eastern Region to conclude that the Nigerian federal government would not protect them and that they must protect themselves in an independent Biafra.
Igbo land, east is the indigenous homeland of the Igbo people. It is a cultural and common linguistic region in southeastern Nigeria. Geographically, it is divided into two sections by the: an eastern and western.Its population is characterized by the diverse Igbo culture
The Dogs of War (1974) is a war novel by British writer Frederick Forsyth, featuring a small group of European mercenary soldiers hired by a British industrialist to depose the government of the fictional African country of Zangaro. The story details a geologist's mineral discovery, and the preparations for the attack: soldier recruitment, training, reconnaissance, and the logistics of the coup d'état. Like most of Forsyth's work, the novel is more about the protagonists' occupational tradecraft than their characters. The source of the title, The Dogs of War, is Act III, scene 1, line 270 of Julius Caesar (1599), by William Shakespeare: Cry, 'Havoc!', and let slip the dogs of war.
The flag of Biafra, used by the Republic of Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970), consists of a horizontal tricolour of red, black, and green, charged with a golden rising sun over a golden bar. The eleven rays of the sun represent the eleven former provinces of Biafra. The rays are typically long and slender with the lowest rays being nearly horizontal and the remaining rays spread evenly between.
Sir Louis Phillip Odumegwu Ojukwu, OBE was a Nigerian business tycoon from the Ojukwu family of Nwakanwa quarters Obiuno Umudim Nnewi.
The Stanleyville mutinies, also known as the Mercenaries' mutinies, occurred in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1966 and 1967.
Rolf Steiner is a German retired mercenary. He began his military career as a French Foreign Legion paratrooper and saw combat in Vietnam, Egypt, and Algeria. Steiner rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel commanding the 4th Commando Brigade in the Biafran Army during the Nigerian Civil War, and later fought with the Anyanya rebels in southern Sudan.
David Hugh "Taffy" Williams was a Welsh-born South African mercenary who fought for the State of Katanga during the Congo Crisis (1960–1963) and the Republic of Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970).
The First Invasion of Onitsha was a battle and military offensive fought during the Nigerian Civil War between Biafran and Nigerian forces. The Nigerian Army's 2nd Division managed to seize control of Onitsha for less than one day before being pushed out and crushed by Biafran soldiers.
The Abagana Ambush was an ambush during the Nigerian Civil War by Biafran troops led by Major Jonathan Uchendu that wiped out the Nigerian 2nd Division. Of the 6,000 Nigerian troops ambushed, only a very small number survived, including the 2nd Division's commander, General Murtala Muhammed.
The Second Invasion of Onitsha was military conflict between Nigerian and Biafran military forces.
Operation Hiroshima was a military operation conducted by the Biafran 4th Commando Brigade in an attempt to recapture Onitsha from the Nigerian 2nd Division. The operation ultimately resulted in failure and ended in the deaths of numerous local and foreign mercenaries and Biafran soldiers.
Ogbunigwe, also called Ojukwu Bucket, was a series of weapons systems including command detonation mines, improvised explosive devices, and rocket-propelled missiles, mass-produced by the Republic of Biafra and used against Nigeria between 1967 and 1970 in the Nigerian Civil War.
The Biafran Armed Forces (BAF) were the military of the Republic of Biafra, which existed from 1967 until 1970.
Sir Benedict Obidinma Odinamadu was a civil servant. He was the private Secretary to Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe., Dr. M.I. Okpara while Premiers of Eastern Region of Nigeria respectively and First Secretary to the Military Government of Colonel Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.