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Military history: African

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Please see the discussion started at Template talk:Congo Crisis. Farawayman (talk) 23:53, 17 June 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Belgian and mercenary units and commanders

Is there a specific reason to mention Belgians as a separate 'kind' of commanders (i.e. as opposed to 'regular' mercenaries)? I would argue that both Belgians like Vandewalle and e.g. French like Faulques were military personnel hired to serve in foreign armies, being both mercenaries. The phrasing 'Belgian and mercenary...' could suggest that Belgians had some other kind of characteristics than the other mercenaries, no? CBJH (talk) 13:18, 21 June 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Conceptually, I agree - but I think we need to indicate that "commanders" includes both Belgian and Mercenary. Maybe "Commanders (Belgian and mercenary)" ?? Farawayman (talk) 23:25, 22 June 2021 (UTC)[reply]

But is there something specifically Belgian about the Belgian mercenaries and commanders in Katanga/Congo/Kasai/...? Were they on the payroll of the Belgian state during their stay in Congo/Katanga/...? And conversely, were the French, South Africans,... then not on the payroll of their home country? Vandewalle, for instance, was at the service of Katanga and then directly to Congo, so not a part of the Belgian army (at least officially).CBJH (talk) 09:12, 23 June 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Mercenaries, military advisors, Belgian paratroopers, Cuban pilots and Belgian Logistic units were all effectively part of the ANC, thus indirectly funded by Belgium (and possible the United States). See §14 of UN Security Council minutes of meeting of 23 December 1964 (you can find it [here)]. This is a very interesting document, well worth looking at on this subject! So from this perspective, all commanders other than UN units should be grouped together as we have discussed above, but for ease of navigation - I still think we need to show them separately per origin. We could consider Level 1 header: Commanders, Level 2.1: Mercenaries; Level 2.2 Belgian; Level 2.3 Other <here we include the US, Cuban and other> leadership? Farawayman (talk) 18:22, 23 June 2021 (UTC)[reply]

A fascinating read indeed! Separating per origin sounds fine by me.CBJH (talk) 08:46, 24 June 2021 (UTC)[reply]