Mercs: True Stories of Mercenaries in Action

308 Pages·1999·34.07 MB·English

by  Bill Fawcett

Mmics
True Stories of Mercenaries in Action
Astounding tales of
the courage, skill,
and sacrifice of tlie
ultimate soldier
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SINCE THE DAWN OF WAR,
THEY HAVE EARNED THEIR PAY
. .
WITH BLOOD.
Offered astounding wealth to switch allegiances during
the 1364 battle of
FLORENCE,
British soldier of fortune Sir John de Hawkwood and
his fabled White Company made history instead
opting to face almost certain defeat rather than break
an existing contract.
The Japanese routed the British and
surrounded the city of
RANGOON,
leaving it up to an American mercenary air force,
'The Flying Tigers," to help hold off the invaders for
seventy-five desperate and heroic nights.
In
BLVFRA,
international adventurer and fighter pilot
Carl Gustav von Rosen lead an unsanctioned daredevil
raid against the Soviet-backed Nigerian Air Force
that was attacking innocent civilians.
A West Point graduate and former New York City
judge with the nom de guerre "Michael Stone"
led a small column of surplus tanks and jeeps
against the Syrian army in 1948 in order
to break the siege of
JERUSALEM
MERCS
A BREED APART
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MEIU
True Stories of Mercenaries in Action
Edited by
BILL FAWCETT
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Contents
Mercenaries in History
i
Greek Mercenaries in Persia
The Anabasis, 400 B.C. 5
Hannibal in Italy
The Battle ofLake Trasimene, 217 B.C. 10
The Fine Art of Contract Negotiation
The White Company and
the Battle ofFlorence, 1364 20
The Game of Survival
SirJohn de Hawkwood at Borgoforto, 1367 28
Mercenaries Triumphant
The Battle ofCastagnaro, 1387 33
The Hessians in America
The Battle of Trenton, 1776 44
Faithful unto Death
The Massacre cfthe Sniss Guards, 1792 57
Death With Honor
The Battle ofCamerone, 1863 61
Twentieth-Century Mercenaries 71
Combat in a Strange New Worid
The French Foreign Legion in World War II 75
A Meeting of Honor
Bir Hakeim, 1942 79
MERCS
The Lost Cause
Dien Bien Vhu, 1953 84
Mercenary Knight of the African Skies
Count Carl Gustav von Rosen
(1909-1974) 94
The Crusade against Castro
Alpha 66 107
Buyer and Seller of Men
Jonathan Banks 112
Civihan Irregular Defense Group
Montagnard Mercenaries in Vietnam,
1961-1974 119
American Soldiers of Fortune 125
Revolution over China
Claire Chennault and the Flying Tigers,
1937-1942 129
Larger Than Life
Captain James B. "Earthquake" McGovern 142
Soldier, Jurist, Patriot
David "Mickey" Marcus (1902-1948) 152
The Unknown Mercs
Allen Pope and the Freedom Fighters ofAsia 157
The Cuban Second Front
William Morgan and
the Directorio Revolucionario 161
Today's Legionnaire
Djibouti, 1973 168
An American in Angola
George Bacon III (1946-1976) 181
Contents vii
Modern Mercs