The real Wild Geese were Irish mercenaries employed by the French army, and later in the US Civil War. The English viewed this with acquiescence, as the less Irish in Ireland, the less rebellions!
Is it because Hollywood thought, or did not bother finding out the real origin of the real Wild Geese?
I think it may have come from the radio ID they used when they were contacting the transport plane for pick up, "iron man, iron man this is wild goose.
shareYeah, but that was a decission of the screenwriters. They could have been as well use the call sign "loons" or "orphan."
I guess I want to rephrase my original question.
Why did the screenwriter decided to have them use the call sign "the wild goose" when "The Wild Geese" were already a well-known group of Irish mercenaries...?
The Wild Geese was also the nickname of 5 Commando, the mercenary unit led by Mike Hoare (technical advisor on the film)in the Congo. Hoare was the inspiration for Faulkner and the basic plot is inspired by the hijacking of Moishe Tshombe, after he was deposed by Mobutu. Limbani is essentially Tshombe, though he was hardly an inspiring figure, compared to Lmumba. Tshombe was pretty much in the pocket of the Belgian mining interests.
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."-Groucho
Perhaps mercenaries in general like to be identified with the Wild Geese, for the romantic idealism that attaches to the name?
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I don't think of the original Wild Geese as mercenaries. The British were brutal to the Irish and turned away American relief efforts during the potato famine while shipping food out of Ireland during the same period. They wanted them to die so as to control the remainder moe easily.
Many Irishmen went to France or Spain hoping to return to Ireland. As a matter of fact during the Spanish Armada which made its way up the English Channel, around England and then back south to Spain used Irish pilots to guide them through the channel. The Armada was mainly defeated through really bad storms rather than the English ships.
I don't know everything. Neither does anyone else
Many Armada ships were wrecked along the coast of Ireland, where the locals promptly slaughtered the survivors. This always surprised me, as I would have thought that the Spaniards and Irish would have been on the same side of the ideological fence.
The word mercenary has acquired rather negative connotations in modern times, but back when the Wild Geese flourished in the 17th and 18th centuries, fighting for a nation not one's own was not considered unusual.
The potato famine occurred in the 1840's, caused by a blight brought from America, ironically enough. This was considerably after the Wild Geese era, so whatever else was motivating them, it wasn't the famine.
Britain was negligent in providing relief, rather than deliberately pursuing a policy of genocide, but the end result was the same.
The British were brutal to the Irish and turned away American relief efforts during the potato famine while shipping food out of Ireland during the same period. They wanted them to die so as to control the remainder moe easily.
You sound like an apologist for the English. I once read some statistics compiled of Ireland during the potato famine. The compiler listed detailed records of shipments of butter, pork, beef, etc. shipped OUT of Ireland to England. The shipments were guarded by British army units stationed in Ireland. He even gave the names of the ships, dates, and ports.
The troops were there to stop starving people from trying to stop the mass export of food.
I don't know everything. Neither does anyone else
I don't think of the original Wild Geese as mercenaries. The British were brutal to the Irish and turned away American relief efforts during the potato famine while shipping food out of Ireland during the same period. They wanted them to die so as to control the remainder moe easily.
Many Irishmen went to France or Spain hoping to return to Ireland. As a matter of fact during the Spanish Armada which made its way up the English Channel, around England and then back south to Spain used Irish pilots to guide them through the channel. The Armada was mainly defeated through really bad storms rather than the English ships.
Yep, some bitter and idiotic twisting of historical opinions taken by the poster as 'fact', then re-spewed here.
shareIf you notice, the surnames of two of the three main characters are Irish, not English.
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flyer333555 wrote:
The real Wild Geese were Irish mercenaries employed by the French army, and later in the US Civil War. The English viewed this with acquiescence, as the less Irish in Ireland, the less rebellions!
Is it because Hollywood thought, or did not bother finding out the real origin of the real Wild Geese?
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Their mission was a wild goose chase.
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/wild--goose--chase