|
What happened? Part 3
Realizing how certain of the elected officials today are playing the control card; it amazes me as I look back at my seventy years of life!
Date: 2/2/2013 4:41:53 PM ( 11 y ) ... viewed 10138 times What happened to common sense?
Did all the Liberal electors get into office with out any realization of what is important or how things really work in the US or the real world?
With the so called anti 2nd Amendment stands and related
actions of many of the Liberal Politicians! They have gone off on a tangent about the right of a citizen to own firearms...
Going back a few years when I personally witnessed the take over of a country due mainly to unarmed citizens and foreign subversives... Roll the clock back to January 1964, to an island named Zanzibar!
January 1964, while serving aboard the Destroyer - USS Manley DD 940; we had just came down from the Persian Gulf deployment, deployed to Mombasa, Kenya for visit... Some of the things we did was gave Blood, provide information on the US Navy, while some of the crew went on local tours & Safari..
This all changed on the 11th of January {my birthday} when the following day, 12th of January; We were notified to proceed south to Zanzibar; to assist US citizens { most work at NASA Tracking station} on the island; where a revolution had flared into a deadly riot against the Arab rulers...
*** Historical note of action:
The Zanzibar Revolution by local African revolutionaries in 1964 overthrew the Sultan of Zanzibar and his mainly Arab government. An ethnically diverse state consisting of a number of islands off the east coast of Tanganyika, Zanzibar had been granted independence by Britain in 1963. Thereafter a series of parliamentary elections resulted in the Arab minority retaining the hold on power it had inherited from Zanzibar's former existence as an overseas territory of Oman.
Frustrated by under-representation in Parliament despite winning 54% of the vote in the July 1963 election, the mainly African Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP) allied itself with the left-wing Umma Party, and early on the morning of 12 January 1964 ASP member John Okello mobilised around 600–800 revolutionaries on the main island of Unguja (Zanzibar Island).
Having overrun the country's police force and appropriated their weaponry, the insurgents proceeded to Zanzibar Town where they overthrew the Sultan and his government. Reprisals against Arab and South Asian civilians on the island followed; the resulting death toll is disputed, with estimates ranging from several to 20,000. The moderate ASP leader Abeid Karume became the country's new president and head of state, and positions of power were granted to Umma party members.
The new government's apparent communist ties concerned Western governments, and as Zanzibar lay within the British sphere of influence, the British government drew up a number of intervention plans. However, the feared communist government never materialized, and British and United States citizens were successfully evacuated, so these plans were not put into effect.
***
This is where I came into contact with Zanzibar 12 Jan 1964; as the USS Manley DD 940 was sent to assist the American & Mainly British dependents on the island!
We will cove more on how this happened...
British military forces in Kenya were made aware of the revolution at 4:45 am on 12 January, and following a request from the Sultan were put on 15 minutes' standby to conduct an assault on Zanzibar's airfield.[1][31] However, the British High Commissioner in Zanzibar, Timothy Crosthwait, reported no instances of British nationals being attacked and advised against intervention. As a result, the British troops in Kenya were reduced to four hours' standby later that evening. Crosthwait decided not to approve an immediate evacuation of British citizens, as many held key government positions and their sudden removal would further disrupt the country's economy and government.[31] To avoid possible bloodshed, the British agreed a timetable with Karume for an organised evacuation.
Within hours of the revolution, the American ambassador had authorised the withdrawal of US citizens on the island, and a US Navy destroyer, the USS Manley, arrived on 13 January.[32] The Manley docked at Zanzibar Town harbour, but the US had not sought the Revolutionary Council's permission for the evacuation, and the ship was met by a group of armed men.[32] Permission was eventually granted on 15 January, but the British considered this confrontation to be the cause of much subsequent ill will against the Western powers in Zanzibar.[33]
Western intelligence agencies believed that the revolution had been organised by communists supplied with weapons by the Warsaw Pact countries. This suspicion was strengthened by the appointment of Babu as Minister for External Affairs and Abdullah Kassim Hanga as Prime Minister, both known leftists with possible communist ties.[1] Britain believed that these two were close associates of Oscar Kambona, the Foreign Affairs Minister of Tanganyika, and that former members of the Tanganyika Rifles had been made available to assist with the revolution.[1] Some members of the Umma Party wore Cuban military fatigues and beards in the style of Fidel Castro, which was taken as an indication of Cuban support for the revolution.[34] However this practice was started by those members who had staffed a ZNP branch office in Cuba and it became a common means of dress amongst opposition party members in the months leading up to the revolution.[34] The new Zanzibar government's recognition of the German Democratic Republic (the first African government to do so), and of North Korea, was further evidence to the Western Powers that Zanzibar was aligning itself closely with the communist bloc.[26] Just six days after the revolution the New York Times stated that Zanzibar was "on the verge of becoming the Cuba of Africa", but on 26 January denied that there was active communist involvement.[20][35] Zanzibar continued to receive support from communist countries and by February was known to be receiving advisers from USSR, East Germany and China.[36] Cuba also lent its support with Che Guevara stating on 15 August that "Zanzibar is our friend and we gave them our small bit of assistance, our fraternal assistance, our revolutionary assistance at the moment when it was necessary" but denying there were Cuban troops present during the revolution.[37] At the same time, western influence was diminishing and by July 1964 just one Briton, a dentist, remained in the employ of the Zanzibari government.[15] It has been alleged that Israeli spymaster David Kimche was a backer of the revolution[38] with Kimche in Zanzibar on the day of the Revolution.[39]
The deposed Sultan made an unsuccessful appeal to Kenya and Tanganyika for military assistance,[31] although Tanganyika sent 100 paramilitary police officers to Zanzibar to contain rioting.[1] Other than the Tanganyika Rifles (formerly the colonial King's African Rifles), the police were the only armed force in Tanganyika, and on 20 January the police absence led the entire Rifles regiment to mutiny.[1] Dissatisfied with their low pay rates and with the slow progress of the replacement of their British officers with Africans,[40] the soldiers' mutiny sparked similar uprisings in both Uganda and Kenya. However, order on the African mainland was rapidly restored without serious incident by the British Army and Royal Marines.[41]
The possible emergence of an African communist state remained a source of disquiet in the West. In February, the British Defence and Overseas Policy Committee said that, while British commercial interests in Zanzibar were "minute" and the revolution by itself was "not important", the possibility of intervention must be maintained.[42] The committee was concerned that Zanzibar could become a centre for the promotion of communism in Africa, much like Cuba had in the Americas.[42] Britain, most of the Commonwealth, and the USA withheld recognition of the new regime until 23 February, by which time it had already been recognised by much of the communist bloc.[43] In Crosthwait's opinion, this contributed to Zanzibar aligning itself with the Soviet Union; Crosthwait and his staff were expelled from the country on 20 February and were only allowed to return once recognition had been agreed.[43]
[edit]British military response
RFA Hebe
Following the evacuation of its citizens on 13 January, the US government stated that it recognised that Zanzibar lay within Britain's sphere of influence, and would not intervene.[44] The US did, however, urge that Britain cooperate with other East African countries to restore order.[44] The first British military vessel on the scene was the survey ship HMS Owen, which was diverted from the Kenyan coast and arrived on the evening of 12 January.[33] Owen was joined on 15 January by the frigate Rhyl and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Hebe. While the lightly armed Owen had been able to provide the revolutionaries with an unobtrusive reminder of Britain's military power, the Hebe and Rhyl were different matters.[33] Due to inaccurate reports that the situation in Zanzibar was deteriorating, the Rhyl was carrying a company of troops of the first battalion of the Staffordshire Regiment from Kenya, the embarkation of which was widely reported in the Kenyan media, and would hinder British negotiations with Zanzibar.[33] The Hebe had just finished removing stores from the naval depot at Mombasa and was loaded with weapons and explosives. Although the Revolutionary Council was unaware of the nature of Hebe's cargo, the Royal Navy's refusal to allow a search of the ship created suspicion ashore and rumours circulated that she was an amphibious assault ship.[33]
HMS Centaur
A partial evacuation of British citizens was completed by 17 January,[45] when the army riots in East Africa prompted Rhyl's diversion to Tanganyika so the troops she was carrying could assist in quelling the mutiny. In replacement, a company of the Gordon Highlanders was loaded aboard Owen so an intervention could still be made if necessary.[46] The aircraft carriers Centaur and Victorious were also transferred to the region as part of Operation Parthenon.[43] Although never enacted, Parthenon was intended as a precaution should Okello or the Umma party radicals attempt to seize power from the more moderate ASP.[27] In addition to the two carriers, the plan involved three destroyers, Owen, 13 helicopters, 21 transport and reconnaissance aircraft, the second battalion of the Scots Guards, 45 Commando of the Royal Marines and one company of the second battalion of the Parachute Regiment. The island of Unguja, and its airport, were to be seized by parachute and helicopter assault, followed up by the occupation of Pemba. Parthenon would have been the largest British airborne and amphibious operation since the Suez Crisis.[27]
Following the revelation that the revolutionaries may have received communist bloc training, Operation Parthenon was replaced by Operation Boris. This called for a parachute assault on Unguja from Kenya, but was later abandoned due to poor security in Kenya and the Kenyan government's opposition to the use of its airfields.[47] Instead Operation Finery was drawn up, which would involve a helicopter assault by Royal Marines from HMS Bulwark, a commando carrier then stationed in the Middle East.[30] As Bulwark was outside the region, Finery's launch would require 14 days' notice, so in the event that a more immediate response was necessary, suitable forces were placed on 24 hours' notice to launch a smaller scale operation to protect British citizens.[30]
With the merger of Tanganyika and Zanzibar on 23 April, there were concerns that the Umma Party would stage a coup; Operation Shed was designed to provide for intervention should this happen.[30] Shed would have required a battalion of troops, with scout cars, to be airlifted to the island to seize the airfield and protect Karume's government.[48] However, the danger of a revolt over unification soon passed, and on 29 April the troops earmarked for Shed were reduced to 24 hours' notice. Operation Finery was cancelled the same day.[48] Concern over a possible coup remained though, and around 23 September Shed was replaced with Plan Giralda, involving the use of British troops from Aden and the Far East, to be enacted if the Umma Party attempted to overthrow President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania.[49] An infantry battalion, tactical headquarters unit and elements of the Royal Marines would have been shipped to Zanzibar to launch an amphibious assault, supported by follow-on troops from British bases in Kenya or Aden to maintain law and order.[50] Giralda was scrapped in December, ending British plans for military intervention in the country.[51]
[edit]Legacy
** stop back - continued later...
Add This Entry To Your CureZone Favorites! Print this page
Email this page
 Alert Webmaster
|
