Siegfried Müller (1920 – 1983) often
called Kongo-Müller was a former German Wehrmacht officer-candidate who fought
as a mercenary under Major Mike Hoare in the Congo Crisis.
Siegfried Müller was born in Crossen an der Oder, Germany
(now Poland) in 1920. After Hitler Youth and Reich Labour Service, Müller
joined the Wehrmacht in 1939, fighting in the campaigns in Poland, France, and
on the Russian Front. He claimed to have held the rank of First lieutenant by
the end of the war, but this cannot be verified. He was seriously wounded and
captured by the Americans.
Released in 1947, he enlisted in the US Army Civilian Labor
Group (CLG), an American Labor Service Unit of Germans; then became a
Lieutenant in a CLG security unit. He was denied entry to the Bundeswehr in
1956, but found employment with British Petroleum, clearing mines planted by
the Afrika Korps in the Sahara Desert during World War II.
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| Mike Hoare |
Müller emigrated to the Republic of South Africa in 1962 and
was recruited as a mercenary with the rank of Lieutenant for the Congo Crisis
in 1964. At 44, Müller was the oldest of Mike Hoare's soldiers. He was promoted
to Captain after a successful operation to seize Albertville (now Kalemie) and
led 52 Commando, a sub unit of No 5 Commando comprising approximately 50
soldiers. He was later promoted to Major.
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| Mike Hoare (left) |
Major Müller wore his World War II Iron Cross First Class on
his operations in the Congo, which attracted the attention of journalists from
Time magazine and Der Spiegel. Admitting that he had had too much to drink,
Müller was interviewed by a GDR film crew for the 1966 documentary Der lachende
Mann – Bekenntnisse eines Mörders. Müller also appeared in the film Africa
Addio and the 1965 East German documentary Kommando 52.
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