Will Keys,
A recently published Ex Montibus Media, Africa Unauthorised production (http://africaunauthorised.com/the-pity-of-war), narrated by Hannes Wessells, (http://africaunauthorised.com/the-pity-of-war) caught my attention. The production brought together Col. Richard Ngwenya (ex-Deputy Chief of Operations for ZIPRA), Capt. Darrell Watt (Ex-SAS Rhodesia) and Clive Midlane (ex-Grey Scouts Rhodesia), this time on friendly terms to compare perspectives and to establish friendships.
I congratulate all involved. It goes without saying that Darrell Watt is always interesting. He was a brilliant and distinguished soldier, and I regret not having met him personally. The same goes for Clive Midlane. I am amused to comment that I would not have picked Darrell out in a lineout as being a stereotypical officer and gentleman. Darrell looks and acts as if he was born in the African bush. However, I have read a few Darrell Watt reports, and he writes like a commissioned officer. I hope Darrell accepts all in good humour.
Col. Richard Ngwenya passes muster as an ex-senior ZIPRA officer and leader. My interest has never been in battlefield tactics and personal experiences. I am interested in intelligence gathering and geopolitical machinations. I was particularly interested in Richard Ngwenya’s protestations about the British Government and MI6 manipulations in Africa. It so happens that I have recently written a book called ‘Perfidy’ and I dedicate a chapter to Perfidious Albion. Col. Ngwenya’s comments, and I paraphrase, “the British created the bush war, it could and should have been avoided. It was unnecessary. The CIO under Ken Flower was an instrument of the British Government, and they worked against peace”. I entirely agree with the good colonel, and I provide the reasons for the British perfidy.
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In 1957 in line with the implementation of this strategy, Ghana (formerly the Gold Coast) became independent under Kwame Nkrumah.
Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Zambia, Malawi and Sudan would follow suit. To facilitate MI6’s easy movement around Africa and not to attract undue attention, the British Government/MI6 purchased a legitimate Rhodesian Mining Company and, after that, domiciled the Head Office in London.
The company that MI6 acquired had for ninety years been known as the London and Rhodesian Mining and Land Company. Under MI6 management, it became known as Lonrho (London & Rhodesia). The company sub-Head Office was in Salisbury (Harare), the capital of Southern Rhodesia. Thus started a long story that ended with Lonrho morphing into a transnational company. Lonrho, particularly in its early life, was the MI6 cover ‘corporation’ to undertake surreptitious activities in Africa. The Southern Rhodesian settlers didn’t stand a chance.
MI6 had purchased and infiltrated the Lonrho Mining company in Salisbury, and the entire officer class of the British South Africa Police (“BSAP”), as a resource for them. In those days, recruiting, in the main, was directly from the United Kingdom. In 1908, Percy Joseph Sillitoe was a trooper in the BSAP, and between 1946 and 1953, he was Director of MI5.
The 1963 appointment of Ken Flower, ex-Deputy Commissioner in the BSAP, to be the inaugural Director of the newly legislated Central Intelligence Organisation was the cherry on the cake.
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The 1961 referendum was a confidence trick perpetrated by the British Government. Unfortunately, the complacent Southern Rhodesian electorate was so trusting of the British Government that they did not pay close attention to the consequences of the two referendums, intertwined and being prepared, in which they were being asked to vote. One referendum was required to legally affect the break-up of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland; the other referendum had a hidden agenda. If you voted for one, you automatically were considered to have voted for the other. English perfidy.
The effect of a vote to end the above Federation also meant the repeal of the 1923 Letters Patent Constitution that founded Southern Rhodesia. The political waters were so muddied that the electorate voted for an outcome they most clearly would have rejected had they better understood the details. This was British cunning at its best designed to disguise the underlying purpose. In a nutshell, the Rhodesians were duped by the government of the Crown. The mandarins of Whitehall well knew, their colonial cousins were farmers and frontiersmen, politically immature and too trusting of the people who had sent them to southern Africa. Most of them, in their wildest dreams, would not have believed they were the unwitting victims of a massive confidence trick. When the results of the referendum were promulgated, and the consequences revealed, the Rhodesians were aghast but alas, when they awoke, it was too late.
Meanwhile: ‘The Wind of Change blowing through this continent (Africa) and whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact”, quote Harold Macmillan in 1960 in Cape Town.
At the time, Sir Edgar Whitehead, was prime minister. English-born, he was taking orders from the British Foreign Office and in all likelihood an MI6 asset. Sir Edgar played an important role in the con, lied to his own United Federal Party and helped the British to facilitate their dastardly plan. He retired to England, where he later died.
In 1963 another quiet but lethal appointment was recommended and accepted by Southern Rhodesian Prime Minister Winston Field who succeeded Sir Edgar Whitehead. The outgoing premier suggested and nominated English-born, BSAP Deputy Commissioner Ken Flower to be the inaugural Director of the newly legislated Central Intelligence Organisation (“CIO”).
Ken Flower was probably not a fully-fledged MI6 asset when he joined the British South Africa Police (“BSAP”). However, he undoubtedly was an MI6 asset once he became the Director of the CIO. The legislation that formed and founded the CIO also legislated the usual indemnities, authorities and powers required for a primary intelligence service.
It should be noted that it was as a result of this legacy of British treachery and betrayal, that locally born Prime Minister Ian Smith declared independence unilaterally on the 11th November 1965. Smith had figured the Brits out, knew their tricks, and he was trying to repair the damage.
But declaring UDI without first ensuring that the Directorship of the CIO was in safe hands was a catastrophic mistake. Hindsight has twenty/twenty vision, and in those days, the Rhodesians could not see the wood from the trees. Flower was never loyal to the cause of UDI, and his part in the eventual collapse of the countryside was traitorous.
Years later, on 1st August 2011 the duplicity of Ken Flower was exposed by Lord David Owen on a BBC Radio 4 program. I quote: “Flower was on our [Britain’s] side. So I was well aware of what Ken Flower was claiming was being done [by the Rhodesian Security Forces], and I used to read the CIO Reports”. The disclosure is available for all to see on Youtube. The British Cabinet papers were also released after the prescribed period, confirming Ken Flower’s treachery.
The CIO Director of Internal Intelligence was Derrick Robinson. The CIO’s institutional design was that it had complete control of all intelligence matters, that is, military, internal, external and liaison sources. This authority covered both Branch One and Two of the Special Branch.
Dan Stannard, former BSAP Special Branch, worked closely with the CIO and was convinced Flower was an agent provocateur.
This is a Dan Stannard quote: “If we had a meeting and there was an important decision to be made about our intelligence, Flower prevaricated. Soon after, he would travel to London, and upon his return, he would take a decision. Prevarication, a trip abroad, a swift decision when home. This tended to be his pattern of major issues. We were suspicious of him, and that divided the organisation. In my case, his conduct in the 1980 [independence] election confirmed my suspicions about him. CIO had worked on a plan to rig the election for [Abel] Muzorewa. We had boxes and boxes of stuffed ballots. We worked out how to enter undetected where the cast ballots were stored, and we were going to replace them with CIO ballot boxes. I was deployed to Bindura for this operation. Flower stalled on giving the order to start rigging, and then he just called it off. I was surprised because the plan was agreed upon. To me, this meant he was not his own man.”
I can confirm that the Dan Stannard quote is entirely accurate. See the book ‘Rhodesia – Our War Against terrorism’ by BSAP Assistant Commissioner Michael Edden PMM. I engaged in many discussions with Mike, who confirmed the vote-rigging scam described in his book. He also denied that Ken Flower had become a British agent provocateur. Mike Edden was a fence-sitter and a typical Special Branch type.
By Will Keys
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Quick question…… are MI6 in the habit of declaring who their agents are. Doubt it……. there is a lot of speculation. I’m not defending Flowers. If you make statement then prove them. David Owen had his own agendas.
There is a lot if speculation about members from various units within the Security Forces who were recruited by the South Africans before 1980.
Just Saying.
Hi Creigh, many MI6 types often out themselves, Christopher Steele is an example. A quick search on the internet and a little logic does the trick. But you are right, MI6 ‘undercover’ are undercover. The British Cabinet minutes for the relevant period were released. You can read them yourself. Lord David Owen presented the CIO reports given to the Home Office for discussion in cabinet. I have heard the objections re Flowers for years. The truth is that he sat on the fence and served both sides and finally Mugabe himself.
Will Keys……. you seem to have a fixation on Flowers. I do not know the truth behind his supposed engagement with MI6. I don’t support him either way. You don’t seem to have issues with other servicemen, some by their own admission, who were recruited by the SA forces prior to 1980. CID and SB did some very good work and I consider all persons engaged in the war to have made a contribution. Be them even those from WVS who handed a troopie a hamburger..
The CIO strategy was to enable a coalition government to be established comprising ZAPU, UANC and RF, thus preventing ZANU-PF from obtaining a simple majority of seats in parliament and installing Mugabe as PM. That would have put Nkomo in line for prime minister. But intelligence officers at all the JOCs in ZANLA’s operational areas (mainly Hurricane, Thrasher and Repulse) recognised that Muzorewa’s UANC and Sithole’s ZANU had little chance of gaining enough support during the ceasefire period to win the non-Ndebele population’s vote under prevailing circumstances. There is little doubt that ZANU would have rejected any result that denied them the majority vote. They had vowed to “go back to the bush” if they did not win. Operation Quartz was planned by Combined Operations HQ on this assumption, possibly believing that CIO would ensure that rigged votes in certain “liberated” areas would prevent a ZANU-PF majority. There might have been a good reason why the “stuffed ballots” were never used, one being that it would destroy the fallacy of a “free and fair election” if exposed. As Lord Soames, the British Governor, was the only authority who could proscribe ZANU-PF (with Lord Carrington’s approval), this did not happen, Rhodesia was doomed thereafter to accepting fait accompli and the subsequent installation of a Marxist government. ZANU-PF is determined to continue totalitarian rule of Zimbabwe under the guise of democracy.
Hi John, I do not believe we have met, but friends of mine claim to have had an acquaintance with you. Please confirm that Army Intelligence, I believe that is where you were in command, came under the CIO umbrella? The British Cabinet minutes confirm that CIO reports from Flower were regularly discussed in the British Cabinet Room. The CIO strategy was informed by what MI6 told Flower to do. I have no disagreement with anything you wrote. I am ex BSAP and I won’t forgive Flower for sitting on the fence. I believe he bungled Rhodesian intelligence gathering. Mike Eden confirmed to me that BSAP Ground Coverage was the primary rural source of intelligence run by the uniform branch, and I do know something about that aspect. SB let us down badly. In Australia on a visit, I tried to discuss Flower with the late Hon. Ian Smith. Mr Smith was extremely open about everything but he was obviously reticent to discuss Flower. I obviously didn’t press the issue.
Great article.
The Duplicitous Pommie Commie govt is now destroying its own country with unbridled illegal immigration and ridiculous woke laws. No wonder, as they are WEF operatives!!!! The billionaire squirt PM Riki Tiki Tavi is a paid up member of the WEF. As great British patriot Katie Hopkins says of him, “No man should be of nipple height!!!!”…..says it all….
Hi Phil, I agree with you. I don’t get the “nipple height’ bit?
Nipple height meaning measured from the ground up to Katie Hopkins’ nipples, I suspect!!!!! ie: 5foot. Her words….
Thanks Phil, I get it, I like Katie Hopkins. I’ll keep an eye, on the KH side, to confirm the measurement LOL.
I wonder how much of this has migrated to RSA- it would be very difficult to make this up! I think this is fairly reliable, apart from sour grapes I cant think of any real motivation for a whistle blow- dispossessed people still living in Zimbabwe need closure and this would be a fairly simple and just conclusion that the British Government could effect!
I agree completely
I can accept the bitter truth that Carrington (& the UK) sold out Rhodesia at Lancaster House. But why? Was it simply revenge for UDI?
The American foreign policy, Pax Americana, was anti-colonial and neo-conservative in perspective. The recent US Afghanistan humiliation and the present NATO/US Ukraine catastrophe, has effectively ended the Pax Americana policy. The British Government did a deal with the American foreign currency regulators. The US would tolerate independent jurisdiction banks, starting in the Cayman Islands, in return for the British granting independence to its African colonies.
Carrington was Chairman of the Bilderberger Group from 1978 to 1981. Kissinger was a member too as was Harold Wilson. Rhodesia was getting in the way of their long term objective of global dominance. See the diaries of Dr K Little, which used to be easily accessed via Google …
You are right about the Bilderberger Group, Kissinger etc. They (Blair, TRUDEAU, Ardern, Sunak, Soros, Gates, Kerry, etc etc) are all members of the WEF and want to usher in the Great Reset and install the New World Order to control the world. If you listen to these radio broadcasts from Olive Tree Views you will find out what’s really going on behind the scenes…….very informative…..
https://olivetreeviews.org/radio-archives/2023/02/
The New World Order now likes to be known as the GPPP as, in Klaus Schwab’s own words, the WEF has “infiltrated” governments all round the world. It is said that the WEF reports to “The City of London” which is one square mile in London that houses headquarters for over 500 international banks and related services like KPMG, which has a large building in this area. Below shows you how the whole structure fits together.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02j6qJ1L8LRvTMTkyFffwPRAD3L9tkWZ7wcHw46rh2VLa2zFXpdhcztcj2ZTJ4zDmkl&id=100079932633008
Jan Markell has a discussion with author J.B. Hixson for the hour. They discuss the January Davos WEF meetings. The Antichrist kingdom won’t come out of thin air. It is being prepared now by global elite and will spring into action when the church vacates in the Rapture. But what do the global elite have in mind? How about eating bugs, slashing the population, and owning nothing?
“Why God Laughs at the Global Elites (Part 1) – Olive Tree Ministries” https://olivetreeviews.org/radio-archives/why-god-laughs-at-the-global-elites-part-1/
Hi Jim, the first chapter of my book deals with ‘The City” in London. It is the money laundering center of the world.
Listen to these informative radio broadcasts which reveal what is really going on behind the scenes regarding the WEF (World Economic Forum).
https://olivetreeviews.org/radio-archives/2023/02/
Hi Jimcolsa, The Bilderberger Group was supported by powerhouses, Cecil J. Rhodes, and the Rothschilds. They believed that the USA and Britain should run the world. I understand they meet annually? Is DAVOS just a manifestation of the original Bilderberger Group?
More about the WEF. Avoid blog to subscribe to is Olive Tree Views as they know what is going on in the world….
Jan Markell has a discussion with author J.B. Hixson for the hour. They discuss the January Davos WEF meetings. The Antichrist kingdom won’t come out of thin air. It is being prepared now by global elite and will spring into action when the church vacates in the Rapture. But what do the global elite have in mind? How about eating bugs, slashing the population, and owning nothing?
“Why God Laughs at the Global Elites (Part 1) – Olive Tree Ministries” https://olivetreeviews.org/radio-archives/why-god-laughs-at-the-global-elites-part-1/
Hi William. What is the title of your book and where can I buy it? Is it available in Kindle or ePub format? I’m also Ex BSAP. I served in Support Unit in 78 & 79.
Hi Jim. Very interested in the diaries of Dr K Little. Do you have the diaries or a link to where I can find them. The Bilderberger Group is a nest of Deep State operatives.
Hi Campbell, it was not simple revenge for UDI. It is better explained in my book. I’ll try a short precis. A central plank in the Pax Americana (US foreign policy) was disdain of European colonial empire. When the British Empire began to collapse it meant that revenues from the Empire would stop flowing to London. An alternative revenue stream was proposed by Pax Americana and in return the British Government would give up a.s.a.p. its African colonies to black majority rule. The powerful African-American vote in the Democrat Party held sway, and they found white rule over blacks in Africa objectionable. They thought they were doing good by freeing blacks from white oppression. They didn’t understand that ‘arrested development’ takes generations to overcome and ‘it’ followed them to America. White rule is/was an excellent maturation process, it is called the Flynn Effect. African-American lag is manifestation of ‘arrested development’ in the USA and Africa. It is complicated and simple. White rule in Africa would not be allowed because of unwise acceptance of the facts of life. Evolution does not evolve without reversals.
The American Blacks who decided to go back to Africa found out all about it in Sierra Leone, Liberia.
This excuse would cover individuals throughout history. Dumb.
Not sure if there would be any history if it was ‘uncool’ to write about dead people?
Just an unnecessary comment which could have left out, if he didn’t think Flower was an mi6 agent then that’s his choice and now years later Keys chirps him….still not cool
Still dumb.
How convenient that In 1980, when Robert Mugabe became the first Prime Minister of the state of Zimbabwe, he kept Flower as CIO boss as well as other top officials in his predominantly black, first administration.
Well done Will. Devious bastard nation
Thanks Brian.
Couldn’t have said it better myself Brian.
How can one ever forgive Zipra for the shooting down of Rhodesian civilian aircraft and killing innocent people?
You conflate the Air Rhodesia murders with individuals trying to be decent decades later.
Easy to condemn a dead man……not cool
Being dead does not exonerate a person of their actions whilst alive.