Costas Georgiou (Grk. Κώστας Γιώργιου,also Anglicized as Kostas Giorgiou; alias "Colonel Callan"; 1951-1976) was a mercenary executed following the Luanda Trial for activities during the civil war phase of the Angolan War of Independence.

Early Life

Georgiou was born on Cyprus in 1951, when the island was still a British protectorate. His family moved to London in the early 1960's.

British Military Career

Georgiou joined the British Army, and served, at first with distinction, in the 1st Parachute Battalion in Northern Ireland, credited as one of the best marksmen in the unit. However, he was later court-martialed, along with his fellow-trooper Mick Wainhouse, after they robbed a Northern Ireland post office, and was dishonorably discharged.

Despite later pretensions to the rank of colonel, Georgiou's highest British Army rank attained was that of corporal, and he never received officer training.

Mercenary Activity

Background: Roots of the Conflict and Georgiou's Recruitment

In 1975, Portugal recognized the independence of its former colony of Angola, and acknowledged the Soviet-aligned MPLA faction as the de jure government. The new government sought and received help in the form of Cuban military advisors, combat troops and materiel to fight against rival factions, which included the US-backed FNLA and the South African-backed UNITA, which received some US funding but no actual military aid. At the same time, British and American ex-military were recruited by FNLA through contacts in the United Kingdom and United States. Funding was provided by various NATO-member intelligence organizations, including the American CIA and the French Secret Service.

By this time, Georgiou was out of the army and working part-time as in construction. He had few prospects for more stable and gainful employment, given his dishonorable discharge. He was also at this time dating a Miss Rona Angelo. Her cousin was Charley Christodoulou, also an ex-paraterooper of Greek Cypriot extraction, but honorably discharged. An acquaintance, Nick Hall , another dishnorably discharged airborne veteran took the initiative and put out an advertisement soliciting mercenary employment for four able-bodied young men. These were Hall himself, Georgiou, Christodoulou and Costas's old chum, Mick Wainhouse.

The group received a prompt reply from "Dr." Donald Belford , a former British Army medic who had volunteered for a humanitarian aid group in Africa some years before. While there, he had treated several Angolan fighters wounded in the struggle against the Portugese, earning their friendship and trust. One of his friends was Holden Roberto, leader of the FNLA. After independence, Belford became Roberto's official emissary in Britain.

Georgiou in Angola

"Callan," as Georgiou was now styling himself, led an FNLA military group. It was composed of foreigners with varying degrees of military experience, together with a somewhat larger contingent of native Angolan support troops (in this case truck drivers) and fighters, few of whom had any military experience at all. They fought several dramatic engagements, including succesful ambushes of minor MPLA detachments. Still, he repeatedly failed to make contact with strategically significant MPLA or Cuban formations, to say anything of successfully engaging them. According to mercenary David Tomkins , the group spent most of its time foraging for food, usable weapons, and ammunition. Much of this foraging consisted of "raids" on villages where the men would casually walk into town brandishing their weapons, searching for anything of use. Anyone who offered violent resistance would be shot, although Tomkins says in an interview that this was rare.

Lack of proper equipment was one of the key factors in the failure of foreign mercanary units in Angola generally, and in Georgiou's case in particular. The MPLA had Soviet tanks, artillery and crack Cuban troops. The other two factions had mostly light infantry, and not always the best-trained and disciplined at that. Another factor was leadership inexperience: Georgiou had absolutely no training nor experience as an officer, nor did most of his counterparts in other units.

Trial & Execution

The principal crime for which Georgiou was executed was the slaying of fourteen of his men who had attempted to desert in some of the trucks that were carrying the unit's supplies. They did this after mistakenly firing on one of the other vehicles in their convoy, for which they feared punishment. He was also accused of killing two Angolan civilians, as well as torturing civilians to extract intelligence on enemy troop movements. In addition, fighting as a rebel soldier was itself considered a crime by the prosecuting MPLA authorities.

Georgiou's sister was allowed to visit him during his captivity in Angola. In a BBC interview, she said they spoke mainly about their family and the trial proceedings. They conversed in Greek. Georgiou's body was repatriated to England, and he was buried according to the rites of the Greek Orthodox Church.

External Links

[1]BBC retrospective for June 28, 1976

[2]BBC retospective for June 11, 1976

[3]Tomkins Interview

[4] US Army JAG Corps Military Law Review Article on mercenaries and international law; includes discussion of the Luanda Trial and Costas Georgiou