The 5 Commando was a mercenary unit of the Congolese National Army (Armée Nationale Congolaise, or ANC) formed in response to the Simba rebellion.

[citation needed] Although it remained relatively minor, it marked the start of a spreading wave of rebellions against the contemporary central government.

As unrest spread, leftist rebels established a Committee for National Liberation in Kivu, inspired by the late Patrice Lubumba.

[4] The defeat of the ANC at Stanleyville and capitulation of the capital city of Orientale Province came as a shock to the government, to Belgium, and to the United States.

Second in command was former executive officer of the Rhodesian Special Air Services, Alastair Wicks, who had also served with both Hoare and Tshombe in 1961.

[10] "Adventurers" from South Africa, many of whom had fought with Moise Tshombe in the secession of Katanga Province, signed up, as did recruits from Rhodesia and Nyasaland.

[citation needed] Hoare described the men from the initial batch of recruits as being of "alarmingly low" standard with a "...high proportion of alcoholics, drunks, booze artists, bums and layabouts.

[12] Belgian colonels Frédéric Vandewalle and Louis Marlière expressed similar doubts about the quality of the recruits, with the latter commenting that they were "pirates who are not worth anything in battle.

As a result, Belgian logistics units supported 5 Commando by providing them with weapons, ammunition, trucks and uniforms.

[14] Over the course of late 1964, the Congolese government improved the financial and logistical situation while Hoare screened out soldiers he deemed unfit.

The 5 Commando group was tasked with securing the border, reestablishing lines of communication, and clearing out pockets of resistance, especially in the Fizi-Baraka and Uvari areas.

[20] In contrast to these heroic headlines, the mercenaries supplemented their wages by searching bodies for cash and robbing banks in Stanleyville.

[citation needed] This was further evidenced by frequent meetings between Mike Hoare and later John Peters[Note 3] and the CIA Congo Station Chief, Larry Devlin.

[19] 5 Commando became highly efficient in working with the ANC troops and they cleared eastern Congo of Simba rebels.

The Baka Regiment of the ANC, together with the mercenary commandos led by Jean Schramme and by Bob Denard, had committed to support the plan.

[Note 4][31] On 23 July, the Baka Regiment and 11, 12, 13 and 14 Commandos revolted to support the exiled Tshombe, killing the commander of the ANC and taking control of the radio station in Stanleyville.

ANC forces recovered Stanleyville, executing several mercenaries, and Schramme withdrew from the city to establish a stronghold in Bukavu.

He likely did so for three reasons: to avoid the expense of paying the mercenaries, to forestall any attempts by Tshombe to use the unit in a further coup attempt, and to avoid the potential embarrassment of employing white mercenaries when the Congo was due to host an upcoming Organisation of African Unity annual conference in September.