Someone Wishes to Speak to You

by Jeremy Mallinson

  On the Friday morning, Mathew received a phone call from Jeremy Hughes’ diplomat friend with the excellent news that he had been suddenly recalled to the UK and would have to cancel his luncheon date at Brett’s Restaurant. He was to take part in talks with the team that the potential proconsul Lord Carver had established in Whitehall.

  ‘It is very much my hope that we will have the opportunity to meet in the future,’ added the still-unnamed diplomat. ‘Although this does depend on whether I am to be included in the squad that the Field Marshall is planning to establish for a British Consulate in Salisbury later on in the year.’

  It was only after Mathew had replaced the receiver that he realised the Willocks’ time in Rhodesia was soon to come to an end, and how important it was for him to see them before they went. He wondered whether Michael Lamb’s appointment would be terminated at the same time and, if it was, whether Addie would be employed by the much talked-about British Consulate – although he feared this would not be the case. However, Mathew was greatly relieved about the cancellation of the lunch. At least he would be spared for the time being from being subjected to any further pressure to divulge precious confidentialities.

  ‘I must say, Mathew, your first two tutorials have gone down extremely well among the students,’ said Professor Tom Martin, ‘and I think we can safely say that you are already a popular member of the academic team. It’s been a good start.’

  On Mathew’s part, he was delighted by the welcome he received from both the staff and the students themselves, for the latter had shown so much enthusiasm and keenness to learn. He also found the subject matter chosen by the four MSc graduates that he was supervising to be extremely stimulating, although he was realising that he had to put in considerably more time than he had at first expected. Particularly in order to gather sufficient information about the diverse subjects that the graduates had chosen, so that his lectures and supervision of their studies would be as apposite as possible.

  Mathew’s second meeting with Piet Erasmus also took place over lunch at the Meikles Hotel, and their conversation on the whole was carried out in a businesslike and conciliatory fashion. ‘I can guarantee that your affair with Jan Bushney will not be communicated by either myself, or by my BSAP Special Branch colleague, to any other intelligence-gathering operator. I also guarantee that the source of the information you will be giving me will never be revealed to your African friends. As previously agreed, Special Branch have already withdrawn the surveillance that they had been carrying out on your movements.’

  After the reiteration of such reassurances, Mathew gave Erasmus the majority of the information he was seeking. This not only included his close relationship with Edgar Chidzikwee and Joshua Dombo, and with some of their fellow tribesmen, but also how much ZANU/PF operatives in the area had been pressurising tribesmen to cross the Mozambique border to join the ZANLA terrorist forces. Also, he told Erasmus about the majority of his two in-depth conversations with Chief Chidzikwee, which provided him with a good first-hand insight into the feelings and attitudes of one of the region’s senior tribal leaders.

  ‘I have no hard proof that ZANLA terrorist camps are cooperating with FRELIMO in providing training for ANC activists, although I have heard rumours that this is the case. I’ve also heard reports that both organisations have aided their ANC colleagues to travel south to the banks of the Limpopo, assisting with their movements across Rhodesia’s border and their infiltration into the Republic of South Africa.’

  ‘Well, Mathew, I must say I’m very pleased with the information that you have provided, but in order to complete all aspects of our bargain, should Ian Smith succeed in achieving the internal settlement that his government is currently trying to establish, it may be necessary for you to return to your campsite in the Vumba for a few days in order to glean as much information as possible from the local African population. It might also be beneficial for you to arrange a further meeting with Chief Chidzikwee – I would be particularly interested to learn the chief’s views on the sustainability of the potential of an internal settlement should it come under the stewardship of Bishop Abel Muzorewa, as opposed to that of Robert Mugabe or Joshua Nkomo.’

  Although Mathew was reluctant to inform on his African friends, he knew only too well that with the knowledge Erasmus and his Special Branch colleague held about his intimate relationship with Jan, he had no alternative but to cooperate fully with whatever was requested of him. Even if this did require him to return to Umtali and the Vumba Mountains.

  As Simon and Anna had accepted an invitation to another braai at Paddy and Jan Bushney’s home, Mathew decided to drive down to Inyanga to stay with Miles Kinloch and Addie for the weekend. Although he too had received an invitation, he knew it would be far less stressful for him to carry on exchanging notes with Jan through the Causeway post office (especially now Erasmus had confirmed that he was no longer under Special Branch surveillance) than having to be in her presence and to act in a formal fashion. During the Saturday evening dinner with the Kinlochs, Addie spoke only a little about the present state of affairs in her Salisbury office, although she mentioned that if Field Marshall Carver were to take over as Britain’s Chief Representative, the Willocks and the Lambs would be recalled to the UK. As this was very likely to be the case, she thought that her services would not be required by the new Consulate.

  On Mathew’s return to Salisbury, Simon told him how the party had developed, with the usual loosening of tongues after some of the major’s younger military colleagues had consumed more alcohol than was advisable. First, an enthusiastic young lieutenant from the RLI headquarters at Salisbury’s Cranborne Barracks said how much he was looking forward to his participation in a major strike on terrorist camps in Mozambique, which was due to take place later on in the month. He also mentioned how earlier on in the year, General Walls’ establishment of Combined Operations (ComOps) had so well streamlined a far more coordinated approach to the fight against ZANLA and its terrorist gangs. It was in connection with this forthcoming ComOps counter-insurgency raid that Paddy Bushney let slip, as if to highlight the independent nature of his regiment, that he was about to take a task force of Selous Scouts to Hot Springs, a settlement just to the north of Birchenough Bridge, in order to undertake some cross-border strikes of their own.

  ‘Jan told me how very sorry she was that you were unable to make the braai,’ added Anna, ‘but she said that she hoped there would be an opportunity to meet up with you again in the not-too-distant future. She always says that she finds you such an interesting person to talk to.’ On hearing this, Mathew so very much wished that he could confide in Anna and tell her that Jan and he were lovers, although he did have the feeling that Anna was already aware there was something going on that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. At least Mathew was safe in the knowledge that his next meeting with Jan was already arranged to take place at Carnock Farm in just under a month’s time; providing of course that there were no unexpected let-ups from Paddy Bushney’s counter-insurgency operations, which usually took place over the weekends.

  In the latter part of November, it was widely reported by the press that Lord Carver had arrived in Salisbury in his field marshal’s uniform, accompanied by the UN-appointed General Prem Chand. According to the Rhodesia Herald, by wearing the insignia of a field marshal, Carver had wanted to make the point that he outranked the officer commanding the Rhodesian forces. But as Ian Smith had been pre-warned of Carver’s hostility toward his government, he had chosen to ignore the field marshal’s presence in the country and had instead spent the day watching a cricket match at the Salisbury Sports Club. Carver and Chand were totally unaware that the mayhem of Operation Dingo was about to be unleashed. It was a raid by Rhodesia’s ComOps on two terrorist camps in Mozambique only a few days after their arrival, while they toured the country on a fact-finding mission.

  It was subsequently reported that early in the morning of 23 November, Rhodesia’s greatest and most
successful counter-insurgency attack on ZANLA forces had taken place. The target was Robert Mugabe’s headquarters at Chimoio. Two days later, a second ZANLA base to the north, known as Tembué, received a similar devastating onslaught. According to the official reports that followed these two cross-border raids, about ten minutes before the initial air strike a DC-8 airliner was flown over the Chimoio camp as part of a deception plan causing the insurgents to disperse, only to reform on parade a few minutes later, in time for the main air strike. The approach of the RAF’s aging Canberra and Hunter aircraft had not caused any undue alarm; the assembled ZANLA forces did not take cover as they assumed it was just the DC-8 returning to fly over them.

  In the first pass, the Canberra bombers were reported to have dropped 1,200 Rhodesian-designed anti-personnel fragmentation Alpha bombs. Following the initial devastating air strikes by the Canberras, it was reported that Hunters, FB9s, and ten Alouette III helicopter gunships engaged opportunity targets in allocated areas, which together inflicted the majority of the casualties. The paratroopers and heliborne troops had been deployed on three sides of the camp and were effective in killing large numbers of fleeing ZANLA cadres. Reports stated that Operation Dingo accounted for the deaths of more than 3,000 ZANLA fighters, with an estimated 5,000 wounded.

  The Rhodesian forces had withdrawn in good order with only one SAS member being killed at Chimoio, and a Vampire pilot being killed on crash landing after his plane had been damaged by ground fire. Mathew was later told by Jan that on the day after the ComOps raids on Chimoio and Tembué, her husband had led the Selous Scouts’ Operation Virile, which successfully destroyed five bridges over the Mozambique border, two of which represented major targets across the Lusito River. Jan had said how very proud Paddy Bushney had been of the tight-knit troops that had accompanied him, and how highly he spoke of some of the African soldiers involved, who had carried out their duties with the utmost efficiency and professionalism.

  Once the death toll of Operation Dingo became public knowledge, the international community was outraged and insisted that the targets had been refugee camps, not ZANLA training bases for terrorist insurgency. Whatever the truth was, Mathew was well aware that there were sure to have been numerous camp followers, women and children. He couldn’t help thinking what a tragic new phase the Bush War had entered due to the Rhodesian forces’ attempts to put an end to any future insurgency from across its borders. As Operation Dingo had resulted in so much loss of life, Prime Minister Jim Callaghan called for the Rhodesians to be held to account for the slaughter of refugees and vowed to intensify pressure on Ian Smith’s government to hold elections at the earliest opportunity, stating that he would not support an internal settlement unless this was achieved on a one man, one vote, basis.

  During the university’s Christmas break, Mathew spent the majority of the festive season staying with Addie and her father in Inyanga, and even took the opportunity to see how his partly habituated family group of chacma baboons had progressed since his last visit. However, after a flurry of notes through their respective post office boxes, Mathew and Jan arranged their twenty-four hours together at Macheke, without Mathew having aroused any suspicion as to his whereabouts. The Vaughan-Joneses would consider that he had already arrived in Inyanga on the Saturday, whereas the Kinlochs would think that he was still at his adopted home in Salisbury, and was driving down to Inyanga on the Sunday morning.

  Their reunion at Carnock Farm was an intensely emotional and joyful occasion, as this was the first time they had been together since Mathew’s visit to his family in late September. While they enthusiastically embraced as if nothing in the world could ever separate them, exchanging words of love, their togetherness was only interrupted when Mariette’s footsteps were heard on the gravel as she had approached to welcome Mathew back to her home. During their twenty-four hours together, Mathew found it most difficult not to tell Jan about his meetings at Meikles Hotel with Piet Erasmus, or how he had been under surveillance by a member of BSAP’s Special Branch for some time so that during their previous stay at Carnock Farm, he had been seen coming out of her bedroom in the middle of the night. Mathew knew how extremely upset she would be to learn that Special Branch were aware of her extramarital relationship, and the great concern and horror she would experience at the thought that her possessive husband could possibly find out.

  They talked again about when the best time would be for Jan to file for a divorce, although they both recognised that at the present stage of the Bush War, with the regular news of some of the Selous Scouts’ and Major Bushney’s successful operations against the insurgents, the break-up would have to be delayed. So they both agreed that until the Bush War came to an end, and a constitutional settlement was arrived at, they would have to continue with a clandestine relationship. While politicians both in and outside the country had been trying to find a satisfactory settlement, the Selous Scouts, with their military associates the SAS and the RLI, were still very much involved with counter-insurgency operations. As Major Bushney was currently one of the country’s heroes, they both realised an announcement that Jan had started divorce proceedings against him would appear highly counterproductive, perhaps even unpatriotic.

  On 31 December 1977, Mathew listened to Ian Smith’s New Year message with Addie and Miles Kinloch, in which he highlighted that, ‘The British have been trying to settle the Rhodesian problems in a manner which would best settle their own interests, rather than the interests of Rhodesia.’ He had gone on to report that whereas the rest of the world was pursuing a settlement between Nkomo’s ZAPU and Mugabe’s ZANU/PF, his RF Government were currently negotiating to establish an ‘internal settlement’, with him becoming joint prime minister with Bishop Abel Muzorewa, the Rev. Ndabaningi Sithole and Senator Chief Chirau, in order for Rhodesia to establish a fifty-fifty black/white transitional government, which he hoped would be fully recognised by the international community. Smith had ended his broadcast by saying, ‘Let us hope that with 1978 a new era is about to begin. With goodwill, understanding and courage, we should grasp the opportunities open to us to end our dispute, to the benefit of all of our people.’

  The spring term at the university started off well with a good deal of optimism among the students about the country’s future. In early February, the Willocks held a small farewell dinner at their residence, which Mathew attended with Michael and Denise Lamb, and Addie. The Lambs were to follow the Willocks back to the UK after a short handover period to the newly arrived staff at the British Consulate. Addie, as expected, was given a month’s notice, but Simon Vaughan-Jones managed to find her a job at his Victoria Museum. On 4 March, the fifty-fifty black/white transitional government was sworn in, but this ‘internal settlement’ was not recognised by the outside world.

  In April 1978, ZANLA insurgents killed Lord Richard Cecil, who had been working on a documentary about the Bush War, after he parachuted with the RAR into northeast Rhodesia. Lord Cecil’s ancestor had been a notable builder of the British Empire and Cecil Square in Salisbury had been named after him. Acts of terrorism having increased, including the fatal shootings of two women in their sixties in the dining room of Inyanga’s Montclair Hotel; a thirteen-year-old boy being killed as his sixteen-year-old brother fought off a gang of terrorists at their family home in Glendale; and a horrific atrocity on 23 June when eight English missionaries and four children were slaughtered at the Elim Mission, in an isolated mountainous region in the Eastern Highlands. The killers were reported to have dragged black students from their beds and harangued them for paying school fees to a ‘racist government’, while the whites were removed and butchered elsewhere.

  In August, it was reported in the Rhodesia Mail that President Samora Machel had admitted holding 20,000 religious dissenters in camps in Mozambique but refused to bow to pressure for their release. On the 29 August, a Viscount carrying fifty-eight passengers was shot down by ZIPRA insurgents with a SAM-7 missile, only a few minutes into its flight from
Kariba to Salisbury. After the plane had crash-landed in the Zambezi Escarpment, twelve ZIPRA insurgents arrived at the scene and shot and bayoneted the majority of the survivors, with their commander being reported to have shouted, ‘You have stolen our land, you are white, now you must die.’ As the country mourned this major atrocity, another mortar and rocket attack was carried out by ZANLA operatives on Umtali. In view of the numerous terrorist attacks that were taking place, Mathew came to the conclusion that neither of the African political parties ZANU/PF or ZAPU would ever recognise the overall authority of the RF’s recently established Interim Government.

  Soon after Lucienne had joined her husband, Daniel Olingo, at the US Embassy in Lusaka, she wrote to Mathew in the hope that they could arrange to see each other again. They soon arranged to meet at the end of September at the Royal Livingstone Hotel in Zambia, where she would stay with her two children. On the day before their meeting, Mathew flew up to Victoria Falls from Salisbury, via Kariba, and booked in for two nights at the famous Victoria Falls Hotel, sometimes referred to as the ‘Gleneagles of Africa’.

  As a British citizen and holder of a British passport it had been comparatively easy for him to acquire a day tourist visa to enter Zambia, whereas Lucienne and her children were refused entry into Rhodesia and due to the country’s racist policies, would not be allowed in his hotel.