Noted for his bravery under fire he served two tours of duty with the Biafran Army, rising to the rank of major, and was the last white mercenary to leave the country as secession ended.[1]

Williams found his Biafran troops to be completely different from those whom he commanded in Katanga. "I've seen a lot of Africans at war," he was quoted as saying. "But there's nobody to touch these people. Give me 10,000 Biafrans for six months, and we'll build an army that would be invincible on this continent. I've seen men die in this war who would have won the Victoria Cross in another context".[2]

Williams was assigned one hundred Biafran fighters in early 1968, and managed to keep two battalions of Chadian mercenaries serving with the Nigerian Federal Army at bay for twelve weeks with only antiquated weapons. After Williams redeployed his forces in early April, the Chadians forded the Cross River at two locations, and captured Afikpo, a main town on the western side.[3]

Completing his first contract and following a brief stay in the UK, Williams returned to Biafra on 7 July 1968. He was assigned to the 4th Commando Brigade led by Lt. Col Rolf Steiner. Steiner had command of 3000 men, and was assigned to the area around the Enugu - Onitsha road. Williams, who liked to joke that he was "half-mad", would personally lead his troops into battle, sometimes standing in a hail of Federal gunfire, just to prove to his troops that he was indeed "bullet-proof". His resolve under fire would often unnerve the more superstitious of Nigerian soldiers and serve to rally his own.[4]

On 24 August 1968 Williams was drawn into a critical battle of the conflict. At this point, he had 1000 soldiers under his command which carried out counteroffensives against two battalion-sized enemy units attempting to cross the Imo River Bridge with Soviet military advisers. When Williams returned to Aba for additional ammunition to continue the fight, he was told that there was simply none to be had. The Nigerian Air Force had become quite successful in blocking supplies into the beleaguered state. Some of Williams' men had only two rounds left for their rifles and many were forced to withdraw.[5]

Following the arrest and expulsion of Steiner and four others, Major Williams was allegedly the only European still left serving with the Biafran army. He left the state shortly before its collapse. It is thought that Williams, who encountered author Frederick Forsyth there as a war correspondent, served as the inspiration for the character of Carlo Shannon in Forsyth's The Dogs of War.[6]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taffy_Williams

not last might have heard of the exploits of Biafran Military , from some archives i found out that the Chadian soldiers being held and praised for their bravery were part of the troops sent by this banana republic in its futile and idiotic attempt to stop biafrans by all means.
Not just Chadian mecenaries , they were also joined by fulani mercenaries from parts of west africa

in summary "The biafrans were defeated by the might of Nigeria" how touching

JAOS:
in summary "The biafrans were defected by the might of Nigeria" how touching

Could Nigeria really have done anything besides starving children and women, we are talking about boko haram that is made up of illiterates consistently routing Nigerian military for almost a decade despite a military budget that is bigger than the national budget of chad , what a joke of a country

Didn't know Chadians too were asked to help defeat Biafra. Today, Buhari walks around as if he won the war all by himself!

kettykings:
not last might have heard of the exploits of Biafran Military , from some archives i found out that the Chadian soldiers being held and praised for their bravery were part of the troops sent by this banana republic in its futile and idiotic attempt to stop biafrans by all means.
Not just Chadian mecenaries , they were also joined by fulani mercenaries from parts of west africa

Lord have mercy!
I knew the Soviets, UK, Cameroun, Niger, Egypt, Syria, The Arab League, Sudan all assisted Nigeria in one way or the other but I never knew the Chadians too were actively involved.

Such a shameless and rotten country that had not less than 300 ethnic groups combined fighting just the Igbos and Ibiobios yet they had to call for virtually all manner of foriegn countries to assist it defeat a blockaded, starving and weapon lacking Biafra, and it still took them up to three years before starvation weakened Biafra gave up to save millions of children from dying.

Nigeria has always been a weak country and little wonder Chad is teaching their army how to subdue Boko Haram.

Tufiakwa!!

kettykings:




Could Nigeria really have done anything besides starving children and women, we are talking about boko haram that is made up of illiterates consistently routing Nigerian military for almost a decade despite a military budget that is bigger than the national budget of chad , what a joke of a country

have you done anything toward a better future for this country? if not stop complaining or go and join the army and fight for your country

JAOS:
in summary "The biafrans were defected by the might of Nigeria" how touching

ahhh!

JAOS:

have you done anything toward a better future for this country? if not stop complaining or go and join the army and fight for your country

look at this comedian speaking, your types should be busy asking questions about where nigeria missed target and not requesting me to join an organisation whose achievements is not more than shooting unarmed protesters and starving innocent women and children to death

JAOS:
in summary "The biafrans were defected defeated by the might of Nigeria" how touching

Even a superpower would capitulate under such coalition. You should rather be ashamed that a newly formed country that didn't even have the chance to prepare, intimidated Nigeria to the extent that it had to call for help from such large number of countries despite having an overwhelming numerical and financial advantage!!

If we are to fight only for you to go behind and hire thugs to join you in fighting me, doesn't that make you a coward and a lilly-livered asshole??

Never knew the sh!those status was generational

Ojukwu is truly a great man.

My grandfather fought under Major Williams in Obubra sector and definitely faced those Chadian soldiers (infamously nicknamed Gwodo Gwodo) cause of their unusually huge frames, extremely dark skins and heavy tribal marks... he confirmed they were some ruthless bastards who just sprayed anything and anywhere they faced with heavy machine gunfire without a care in the world... my grand-dad must have been 16 years old at the time, just fresh from "training" and green to the war front with barely 6 weeks of military training at Enugu, he was armed with just a submachine gun with few rounds of ammunition. Yet those boys dug in and fought like true warriors, decimated the mercenary soldiers and made sure none of them crossed the estuary alive into Cross river areas till they ran out of ammunition and retreated. Major Williams it must be noted was a South African white mercenary who genuinely had so much love and respect for the Biafran soldiers, he was the last of the very few mercenaries who actually stayed and fought with Biafra despite the acute lack of weaponry, supplies, and payment from the Biafran government. God bless our heroes!

kettykings:




Could Nigeria really have done anything besides starving children and women, we are talking about boko haram that is made up of illiterates consistently routing Nigerian military for almost a decade despite a military budget that is bigger than the national budget of chad , what a joke of a country

I have completely lost hope, trust and faith in this country. I deeply regret being in this country now and not leaving when I was free. NIGERIA CAN NEVER BE BETTER

yes ojukwu was a great man. but he was too stubborn to the point of fool-hardy.
even when he knew he's yet to have a standard and well co-ordinated army, he rejected the conditional support offered by many strong foreign countries, hoping Biafra 'll win the war single-handedly. who wins war alone in this modern times ? but Nigeria govt was soliciting for the support of any foreign nation that showed interest, even with heavy costs.
that war was actually a fight of un-equal partners, it's even a miracle Biafra was able to survive for 3 yrs.

Biafrarep:


Lord have mercy!
I knew the Soviets, UK, Cameroun, Niger, Egypt, Syria, The Arab League, Sudan all assisted Nigeria in one way or the other but I never knew the Chadians too were actively involved.

Such a shameless and rotten country that had not less than 300 ethnic groups combined fighting just the Igbos and Ibiobios yet they had to call for virtually all manner of foriegn countries to assist it defeat a blockaded, starving and weapon lacking Biafra, and it still took them up to three years before starvation weakened Biafra gave up to save millions of children from dying.

Nigeria has always been a weak country and little wonder Chad is teaching their army how to subdue Boko Haram.

Tufiakwa!!

You got it right...
That's why MNK said dat Nigeria has never won anything war on their own.

Macphenson:
Ojukwu is truly a great man.

Ya bu ihe mere ka ha kpoo ya IKEMBA

smileyoo:
yes ojukwu was a great man. but he was too stubborn to the point of fool-hardy.
even when he knew he's yet to have a standard and well co-ordinated army, he rejected the conditional support offered by many strong foreign countries, hoping Biafra 'll win the war single-handedly. who wins war alone in this modern times ? but Nigeria govt was soliciting for the support of any foreign nation that showed interest, even with heavy costs.
that war was actually a fight of un-equal partners, it's even a miracle Biafra was able to survive for 3 yrs.

Ojukwu was not perfect, you have to understand he was still a very young man when the war broke out, and youthful exuberance combined with the fact that he was faced with a crisis situation that was at the time so immense and heated up that he was under incredible pressure from his people to secede (emotions were very high at the time in the East in the aftermath of those pogroms)... so mistakes, lack of planning and bad decisions inevitably were made. Surely in the context of hindsight, that's the unfortunate version of history we hope not to repeat again.

JAOS:
in summary "The biafrans were defeated by the might of Nigeria" how touching

The great BIAFRAN SOLDIERS were NEVER and can NEVER b defeated by d Nigerian forces. rather with d helps of Britain, Russia, Chad, and the Arab world that helped Nigerian soldiers in forcing the great BIAFRAN troops into submission by starving innocent civilian populace.
Nigerian lost more soldiers in d battle field than the BIAFRA soldiers.
ask about d Abagana ambush by the brave and courageous BIAFRA troops that left thousands of Nigeria troops dead.

Chad too.
E be like Nigeria beckoned on the entire world to fight their battle in 1967 and still Biafrans held them down for 3years.

Only God knows what would've happened if Awolowo hadn't come up with the food blockade to Biafrans.

Chadian mercenaries? that's a new one.

The north love Bokoharam. That's why they are all angry with the gallant soldiers of the chadians.

Why are you people like this?

My Biafra was weakened when the shameless Nigeria government used the food blockade approach.

Millions of Biafran children were starved to death as a result of the food blockade.

ChristineC:
Chadian mercenaries? that's a new one.

Yup, there's so much goldmines of information we don't know about the Biafran war, and that's why lots of Nigerians are largely ignorant about these things. The best of what we learned about the war were accounts from our parents, grandparents, Uncle's etc who witnessed it all.

sagtav:
My Biafra was weakened when the shameless Nigeria government used the food blockade approach.

Millions of Biafran children were starved to death as a result of the food blockade.

You can't blame Nigeria for coming up with the food blockade...in preparing for the war ojukwu should come up with a way of securing stable provisions for his people and soldiers....all is fair in love and war

sagtav:
My Biafra was weakened when the shameless Nigeria government used the food blockade approach.

Millions of Biafran children were starved to death as a result of the food blockade.

Looking at these pictures plunged me into sober reflection. engrossed in the penury of our forefathers. and all I can say again is that biafra shall rise again, this time, stronger and mightier

The biafran army almost over ran Lagos before the British sent their armored cars and Russian their jet fighters Egypt their pilots and north African countries sent their troops, my mother told a story, when our village fell to the federal side, every one was running helter scatter and soldiers came in and they were shooting everything in sight and my mother was captured, she saved by a cameroun soldier that she knew while she was living in in that country

Jimmy17:

You can't blame Nigeria for coming up with the food blockade...in preparing for the war ojukwu should come up with a way of securing stable provisions for his people and soldiers....all is fair in love and war

Not all is fair in war. That's why the likes of Charles Taylor are in prison for crimes against humanity.

ChristineC:
Chadian mercenaries? that's a new one.

gwodo gwodo...not a new one..mum said they later went on extra time killings and rapings in biafra land even when the war was declared to be over..

BoboNkiti19:
My grandfather fought under Major Williams in Obubra sector and definitely faced those Chadian soldiers (infamously nicknamed Gwodo Gwodo) cause of their unusually huge frames, extremely dark skins and heavy tribal marks... he confirmed they were some ruthless bastards who just sprayed anything and anywhere they faced with heavy machine gunfire without a care in the world... my grand-dad must have been 16 years old at the time, just fresh from "training" and green to the war front with barely 6 weeks of military training at Enugu, he was armed with just a submachine gun with few rounds of ammunition. Yet those boys dug in and fought like true warriors, decimated the mercenary soldiers and made sure none of them crossed the estuary alive into Cross river areas till they ran out of ammunition and retreated. Major Williams it must be noted was a South African white mercenary who genuinely had so much love and respect for the Biafran soldiers, he was the last of the very few mercenaries who actually stayed and fought with Biafra despite the acute lack of weaponry, supplies, and payment from the Biafran government. God bless our heroes!

that generation of young Biafran soldiers is the finest of the finest.............noble and brave men! when Biafra comes we will build a monument to eulogize their feat.......great lads!!!

excanny:


Not all is fair in war. That's why the likes of Charles Taylor are in prison for crimes against humanity.

Let me read up on me...I understand the plight of the biafrans...It wasn't fair on them... especially the citizens who had no input in the decision making..

ChristineC:
Chadian mercenaries? that's a new one.

It's not new. That's why history is recommended, always search to read about Biafra. Important!!