By Anyi Kings
Published On The Biafra Post
May 13, 2026
“True friendship is not measured by blood, race, or language… but by who stood with you when the world turned away.”
As the 30th of May draws closer, the sacred day set aside to remember the heroes and heroines of Biafra, we pause to honour not only sons and daughters of the land, but also foreign friends who chose to share in Biafra’s pain, sacrifice, and struggle.
One such man was Marc Goossens, the giant Belgian soldier whose name remains written in the blood-soaked history of the Biafran war.
Born in Belgium, Marc Goossens had already fought in the Congo and the Yemeni Civil War before destiny brought him to Biafra. In 1968, under the command of Rolf Steiner and alongside Major Taffy Williams, Goossens joined the famed Biafran 4th Commando Brigade—an elite unit created to resist overwhelming Nigerian military advances.
In November 1968, during the tragic military campaign known as Operation Hiroshima, over 4,000 Biafran commandos moved toward Onitsha in an attempt to retake the strategic city. The operation became one of the bloodiest encounters of the war. With no air cover, little artillery support, and exposed open terrain, the Biafran forces were met with devastating machine-gun fire.
It was there, on the soil of Onitsha, that Marc Goossens was fatally wounded while leading his men into battle. Historical records place his death in mid-November 1968 during the failed offensive. By the end of the operation on November 29, nearly half of the brigade had been lost.
Days later, on November 30, 1968, the French magazine Paris Match published a haunting photo essay titled “Biafra: Final Mission.” The unforgettable black-and-white images captured Biafran soldiers carrying the body of the fallen Belgian warrior across a river.
When his comrades searched his pockets, they reportedly found two things:
His final pay—$4,000
A photograph of his girlfriend waiting for him back in Ostend, Belgium. �
Jeremy Duns
That image would immortalize Marc Goossens—not merely as a mercenary, but as a man who chose to stand with a people fighting for survival.
Marc Goossens may not have been born Biafran…
But history records that he died like one.
On this 30th of May, we remember thee.
“There is no friend like one who shared our mourning days, our tears, our hunger, our battles, and our hope.”
**Rest on, Big Marc. Biafra remembers.**
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