When: November 25, 1981
Where: Seychelles
Background: The Cold War. The year is 1977, and pro-Western leader James Mancham has just been deposed by his former prime minister, British socialist France-Albert René, alias “The Boss”. In 1979, René’s party, The Seychelle’s People’s United Party, becomes the only legal party in the island nation. In 1979, an invasion is planned but exposed before it can be executed, by supporters of Mancham with the assistance of American diplomats.
France-Albert René, the creepiest ex-dictator since Kim Il Jong. He kind of looks like a movie villain, don't you think?
The Event: In 1979, the United States decides that René is not ‘corruptible’ in their favor, and that “other methods” have to be implemented to get rid of the dictator. In 1981 supporters of Mancham contact legendary mercenary ‘Mad Mike’ Hoare, and employ him to fight along-side 53 other mercenaries, including South African Special Forces (‘Recces’), former Rhodesian soldiers, and former mercenaries from the Congo Crisis. Their job; to bring down France-Albert René, and reinstate James Mancham.
Their cover being the name of “Ye Ancient Order of Froth-Blowers”, a beer drinking society on vacation, the mercenaries disguise themselves as a rugby team. They hide Ak47′s in their luggage. Mike Hoare himself explains it in his book, the Seychelles Affaire:
“We were a Johannesburg beer-drinking club. We met formally once a week in our favourite pub in Braamfontein. We played Rugby. Once a year we organised a holiday for our members. We obtained special charter rates. Last year we went to Mauritius. In the best traditions of the original AOFB we collected toys for underprivileged kids and distributed them to orphanages… I made sure the toys were as bulky as possible and weighed little. Rugger footballs were ideal. These were packed in the special baggage above the false bottom to compensate for the weight of the weapon.”
However, things quickly take a turn for the worse. When the mercenaries land in the Seychelles, one of them accidentally gets in the ‘Something to declare’ line. The overzealous customs officer insist that he is to inspect the mercenary’s suitcase. His weapon, supposedly well-hidden, is somehow found, and the customs officer flees from the scene. Another mercenary quickly assembles his weapon, and shoot the officer, but not before an alarm is sounded. A firefight erupts in the airport, between Seychelles security forces, and Hoare’s mercenaries.
At this time, by a stroke of luck, an Air India jet is forced to land on the airport because of lack of fuel. A cease fire is negotiated by Hoare to prevent civilians from getting caught in the crossfire. After several hours at the airport, the decision is made to get the fuck out of Dodge, and the mercenaries acquire fuel for the Air India jet, and board it, returning to South Africa. Four men are left behind, and convicted of treason in the Seychelles.
Aftermath: In 1982, a UN commission concludes that South African (Apartheid) defense agencies are involved in backing the coup. Because of their backing the mercenaries, initially Hoare and his men are only charged with kidnapping, which would have allowed them to walk free, but after international pressure, the charges are upgraded to hijacking. Forty-two of the forty-three hijackers are convicted, including Mike Hoare himself, who is sentenced to 10 years in prison. Many of the mercenaries, however, are quietly released after three months spent in their own prison wing.
In 1991, with the end of the Cold War, and the fall of the Soviet Union, René reinstitute democracy and a return of the multiparty system to the Seychelles. In 1998, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa declares that the coup was indeed backed by South Africa. Hoare himself had this to say about the coup during the five month trial following it:
“I see South Africa as the bastion of civilization in an Africa subjected to a total Communist onslaught. I foresee myself in the forefront of this fight for our very existence.”
'Mad Mike' Hoare
In the end the coup was unsuccessful, but only added fuel to the fire that was the legend of ‘Mad Mike’ Hoare, no doubt the most (in)famous mercenary in the history of Africa. This, the so-called Seychelles Affaire, was also one of the last events of the ‘Old School mercenary era’. In the late 80′s, with the founding of the world’s first private military company, Executive Outcomes, by former South African intelligence officer Eeben Barlow, mercenaries put on a suit and tie, and became respectable businessmen, and got in business with democracies, as can today be seen in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars.
The Seychelles
