Talking Nonsense and Politics
Edgar Whitehead was boarding the aircraft in Lagos to take a well earned leave to Southern Rhodesia after his eighteen month service in West Africa when he was intercepted by the Senior Naval Officer.
"I have a "Top Secret" dispatch from the RAF for AVM Meredith in Salisbury. You will carry it." He then chained and locked a small bag to Edgar's wrist. He could slip it up his sleeve but had no means of removing it before he reached Salisbury where they had the key.
Flying in a US Army Dakota as far as Elizabethville and then on to Bulawayo by train he was then met with a big salute on the platform by none other than a uniformed Hayes-Hill from pre-war shooting trip days! This official welcome was followed by a vigorous hand shake.
In Salisbury, Edgar's first priority was to get rid of the lock and chain. He reported to Defense HQ and tore a strip off a young Subaltern before he agreed to unlock him and take responsibility for onward transmission of the dispatch to Air HQ. He then was interviewed by Brigadier Day, Commander Military Forces. He ordered Edgar to take up residence at the King George VI Barracks until official discussions ended.
A formal military conference took place in Prime Minister Huggins' office as he held the portfolio of Defense himself. He was accompanied by three red tabs (senior military officers belonging to the General Staff) to discuss the future of Rhodesians in West Africa. The negotiations were somewhat involved as it was essential to preserve complete secrecy about the movements of a West African Division to Burma, although Edgar had permission to tell Huggins and his military advisers. Huggins insisted that Rhodesians not be given leave to see their wives and families before being committed to the Far East because it would obviously be difficult to prevent the general public finding out their destination. Throughout the negotiations Huggins was acutely aware of the humor of Edgar's position, referring him as 'the representative of the War Office'.
After three days they finally reached agreement and Huggins said, "Now Edgar lets cut out all this nonsense, come up to my house and talk politics."
Finally, Edgar set off for Witchwood on his twenty-eight day leave. Irked at being compelled to continue to wear his uniform, Edgar nevertheless decided to spend a few days looking up old friends in Umtali. The Japanese were in the Indian Ocean, threatening Madagascar. In anticipation of a Japanese invasion of Portuguese East Africa (PEA) Edgar found his old friend the District Superintendent of Police busy supervising the digging of slit trenches for Civil Defense. The Rhodesian Forces were under the command of Smuts who ordered the tarring of the road from Fort Victoria to Umtali (so that South African troops could be rushed up from the Transvaal).
Edgar hired a drive-yourself car from his old garage but the petrol controller only allowed him enough petrol to travel from Umtali to the farm once a week. On arrival at the farm he found Sumajeri waiting to receive him and settled down to three weeks of solitude.
To his relief the dam had not suffered any damage from flooding over the temporary spillway, but the orchard by now was in a shocking state. He spent some days trying to prune the trees but the job was beyond him. He could only manage to do ten of the three thousand trees in a full day's work. He managed to get up to the Vumba Hotel three or four times as the new manager sold him an extra gallon of petrol off the ration. He also allowed his very brainy schoolboy son to come and stay with Edgar for a couple of days to keep him company.
He was saving up three-quarters of his monthly pay and allowance to build up a fund for Witchwood's rehabilitation after the war.
The historical novel Whitewashed Jacarandas and its sequel Full of Possibilities are both available worldwide on Amazon as paperbacks and eBooks.
Attention all Zimbabwe Readers! Hannah Rothwell of Pungwe Projects, 10 Stuart Avenue, Pomona, Harare can take book orders for Whitewashed Jacarandas and Full of Possibilities. Once Hannah places an order it is usually received from the UK within two weeks. Act today to receive your books before Christmas! Contact her at PUNGWEPROJECTS@GMAIL.COM or phone 0785 685 568. Find her on Facebook as Pungwe Projects or on Instagram as pungwe_projects.
These books are inspired by Diana's family's experiences in small town Southern Rhodesia after WWII.
Dr. Sunny Rubenstein and his Gentile wife, Mavourneen, along with various town characters lay bare the racial arrogance of the times, paternalistic idealism, Zionist fervor and anti-Semitism, the proper place of a wife, modernization versus hard-won ways of doing things, and treatment of endemic disease versus investment in public health. It's a roller coaster read.
References:
- Sir Edgar Whitehead's Unpublished Memoirs, Rhodes House, Bodleian Library, Oxford University, by permission.
- Photo credit:
