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Zimbabwe – or was it Rhodesia? |
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Constitutional talks
A series of three talks took place from 1966 to 1968 between the Ian Smith government and the British, led by Prime Minister Harold Wilson, in an effort to resolve the impasse. The first was on board the HMS Tiger in the Mediterranean. It was reported that Prime Minister Harold Wilson took a highhanded approach, almost guaranteeing failure.
Brian was not in that negotiating team; instead, he was in Salisbury "looking after the shop". 
As Secretary Comptroller, Brian was in demand for official duties
© Brian Oliver |
The talks came to a sudden end, and all the Cabinet Ministers had to return to the capital for an urgent meeting with the prime minister.
Brian joined the second round of talks in October, 1968. These were held at Gibraltar, but this time aboard HMS Fearless. This time Brian was included as Secretary of the constitutional team. He remembered the rigorous schedule: "It exhausted me – I was up at 7 am for keep fit exercises on deck, then breakfast, then the morning’s team conference, then working parties of Rhodesian and British officials, dictating minutes and reports to one of our secretaries, lunch, plenary session with full Government teams on board HMS Fearless each afternoon, a break for dinner and more dictation, and talks again afterwards until late, followed by the final round of dictation.
"But it was not finished then – just as you would get to the cabin, a steward would invariably knock at the door to say, 'Beg pardon, Sir, compliments of the President of the Petty Officers’ Mess, would you be good enough to join them for a drink!' On the last night I was so weary that I actually fell asleep for two hours sitting in the heads (Naval term for toilets) and it had nothing to do with the quantity of drink."
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