Someone Wishes to Speak to You (37 page)

‘Thank you for giving me your assurance, and that of your Special Branch colleague, that you will keep my relationship with Jan strictly between the three of us. I trust that will continue to be the case, so long as I fulfill my side of the agreement. I will give some serious thought to what you have requested of me, and will phone you at the beginning of next week in order to arrange a further meeting. In the meantime, I will consider the best course of action in order to cooperate with your wishes.’

Driving away from Cecil Square, Mathew headed for Salisbury’s highly regarded botanical gardens in the hope that he would be able to come to terms with the serious predicament that he was now confronted with. Walking under a canopy of the brilliantly red flamboyant trees in such tranquil surroundings, he was able to acquire a degree of solace and become more resolute in coming to terms with the nightmarish scenario that he was faced with. Instead of returning to Gunhill afterwards, he decided to call in at the museum, where he knew Anna would be with her vervet monkeys. He knew that discussing her various observations would help to take his mind off the acute anxiety that Erasmus had just heaped upon him. Also, he recognised how important it was to take a step back from his present emotional state, and to adopt as pragmatic an approach as possible. As far as he was concerned, no obstacle in the world would be allowed to thwart his objective of gaining Jan as his lawfully wedded wife.

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.