SPRINGBOK CYBER NEWSLETTER
August 2014 edition
Thursday 18th September, the date of the Scottish Referendum, will be the most important – and potentially most catastrophic – date in British constitutional history since 1st January 1922, when 26 counties of Ireland were allowed to breakaway from the United Kingdom to form the tragic Republic of Ireland.
Although the Kingdoms of Scotland and England were not officially unified until the Act of Union in 1707, the two former countries had been de facto united since 1603, when King James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne and declared himself King James I of GREAT BRITAIN. The Union Flag was then designed and accepted as the official flag of the nation, and to all intents and purposes the border ceased to exist. In actual fact, however, the entire British Isles had been intertwined for centuries earlier, even prior to the Roman era when Britannia was regarded as a single entity.
One only has to look at a map to see that the British Isles are one nation geographically. The British people also consist of the same basic ethnic stock, and both economically and culturally that which unites the British nation is far more fundamental than any regional differences. Furthermore, the United Kingdom has been one of the greatest success stories in world history, being the cradle of both the industrial and agricultural revolutions, and founding the greatest Empire which the world has ever seen. It also spearheaded the fight to rid the world of Communist, Fascist and Islamic tyrannies, and has been in the forefront of free-market economics and technological advances.
In view of these facts it should have been unthinkable that any part of the United Kingdom should seek to breakaway – indeed up until just a few short decades ago the idea of Scottish “independence” would have been dismissed out of hand as a fantasy. The reason why such a frightening state of affairs has come about is complex, but we would contend that it has been caused by the post-WWII growth of socialism, the surrender of Empire, and the headlong rush into the European Union. In this regard it should be remembered that the powers behind the EU have always sought to destroy the unity of the great nation-states of Europe – and not just Britain!
There is an old axiom that the difference between a patriot and a nationalist is that patriots love their own country, whereas nationalists hate everybody else’s. Although they may not hate every other country, whenever the leaders of the SNP speak, particularly Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon, it is clear that their subliminal message is not so much love of “Scotland”, but more hatred of “England”! There consistently seems to have been something very nasty about all parties and organizations which term themselves “national” or “nationalist”. We remember that it was the NATIONAL Party of South Africa which sold-out their country to the tender mercies of the African NATIONAL Congress, and that the erstwhile Rhodesia is now being terrorized by the Zimbabwe African NATIONAL Union. Furthermore it should never be forgotten that the full name of the Nazi Party was the German NATIONAL Socialist Party, and that the SF/IRA terrorists regard themselves as part of the Irish Pan-NATIONALIST Front. Moreover we ourselves have of course suffered badly from dirty-tricks campaigns emanating from the Nazi-wannabes of the British NATIONAL Party. We are not suggesting that the SNP falls into quite the same categories, but by adopting an ideology of “nationalism” they are clearly following the same path.
Happily opinion polls have constantly shown that a clear majority intend to vote “No” on September 18th, with a margin of anything between 10 and 20% - but the fact remains that it is worrying in the extreme that anyone should want to vote for destructive Scottish “independence”. Such a situation should never have come about of course, and Westminster politicians of all parties must be held responsible for this awful situation. We warned in the late 1990s that the Labour government’s plans to establish Holyrood and Cardiff Bay “parliaments” would provide vehicles similar to those in the Russian Federation, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia, which were used to break-up those nation-states, and could therefore end in tragedy. But it is the present coalition government which is mainly to blame, for allowing Alex Salmond and his cronies to initiate this splitist referendum, and agreeing to every advantage in his favour!
Sir John Major was not our favourite politician, but he has recently been quoted as saying that if more than 60% vote “No” then not only will the issue be dead for a generation, but it will be dead for all time. He is probably correct, so it is therefore vitally important not only that the “No” vote wins, but also that the majority is as big as possible. Over-confidence now seems the biggest enemy of the Unionist cause, so we therefore not only implore all supporters who can vote in the referendum to vote “No”, but also encourage everyone with contacts in Scotland to do their best to persuade them to give the Nationalists the bloodiest nose possible.
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SPRINGBOK CLUB NEWS
The Springbok Club joined forces with the Swinton Circle in July in order to stage a joint meeting. A full report of this event appears in the Swinton Circle News section below.
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On Saturday 23rd August the Springbok Club will be organizing a trip to the National Portrait Gallery in London, specifically to see a special exhibition of paintings relating to the start of the First World War. Rendezvous between 12.00 noon and 12.30 hrs in front of the ticket office, which is situated up the stairs from the main entrance in St.Martin’s Place, London WC2H 0HE (nearest tube stations: Leicester Square, Charing Cross and Embankment). After visiting the National Portrait Gallery the Springbok Club party will adjourn to a near-by hostelry with Rhodesian connections for a convivial ending to the day. For more details ‘phone: 07711188430.
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Towards the end of September the Springbok Club will be staging a meeting which will be addressed by a leading member of the organization who has recently returned from a professional contract in the “new” South Africa, and who will tell something about the true conditions currently prevailing there.
In November the Springbok Club plans to stage its annual UDI Day celebration buffet, at which there will be a guest speaker with strong Rhodesian connections.
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In October the Kent Branch of the Springbok Club will be organising a trip to see some of the historical sites of the Medway Towns
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SWINTON CIRCLE NEWS
The Swinton Circle had organized a joint meeting with the Springbok Club last month, which was due to be addressed by Miss Elizabeth Anderson of the Friends of the British Overseas Territories, an estimable organization which the Swinton Circle hoped to establish closer relations with as a result. Unfortunately, however, Miss Anderson informed us just three days prior to this meeting that she was pulling-out, citing work commitments as her reason. This last-minute reneging of a promise left the Swinton Circle in a very difficult position of course, and there are a number of reasons why we are doubtful whether the reason given by Miss Anderson was correct, not least because she proved incapable of providing any replacement speaker from the Friends of the British Overseas Territories organization. We would therefore very much like to get to the bottom of this disturbing matter, so if anyone can shed any further light on the real reason for Miss Anderson’s withdrawal we would be most grateful.
Happily Ms. Claudia Bryan, a good friend of our movement, was prepared to step into the breach to take the place of Miss Anderson at this meeting. Ms. Bryan, a South African by birth and a brave campaigner who alerts the world to the true appalling situation in the “new” South Africa through her “No farmer, no food” campaign, had been the planned guest speaker for a Springbok Club meeting later this year, so her appearance at this joint meeting therefore gave her the opportunity to reach an even larger audience. She was joined at this meeting by her close associate Mr. Winston Hall, and together they gave masterful speeches highlighting the near-genocide conditions which currently exist in the “new” South Africa, particularly being faced by the farming community. Their talks were also illustrated by an enlightening, albeit very gruesome video, and a recording of both their speeches and this video can be viewed at :-
www.youtube.com/embed/SpxyDYk5LDA
We would therefore like to thank both Ms. Bryan and Mr. Hall for conveying such enlightening information, especially as they undertook this task at such short notice.
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The Swinton Circle is still hoping to hold a meeting to be addressed by a prominent former Conservative MP during late August, though unfortunately the precise details still haven’t been able to be finalized. Information about the precise arrangements will however be circulated to all members and supporters in due course.
In September the Swinton Circle will be giving its full support to New Britain’s big “Keep the United Kingdom United” rally in London, the full details of which are given in the New Britain News section below.
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Membership fees and donations to the Swinton Circle can be made via PayPal on the organisation’s web-site home page at www.swintoncircle.co.uk - simply 'click' on the line "PayPal = the safer, easier way to pay online" at the bottom of the home page; if the error message "This content cannot be displayed in a Frame" appears then simply 'click' on the line "Open this Content in a New Window".
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NEW BRITAIN NEWS
Details regarding New Britain’s long-awaited “Keep the United Kingdom United” rally have now been finalized, and are as follows :-
Date : Saturday 13th September 2014
Assembly point : Paternoster Square, next to St.Paul’s Cathedral
Assembly time : 12.00 noon
At approximately 12.10 hrs the procession will march off through the streets of the City of London to St.Sepulchre’s Church where the rally will take place, which will feature bagpipes, Scottish dancers and speeches by two prominent supporters of the Better Together campaign.
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LATEST REPORT FROM THE ZIMBABWE CONSERVATION TASK FORCE
We have recently received the following long but very informative report from the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF). In spite of its length we thought that readers might be very interested in the information which it contains :-
“ARMY GENERALS BOOTED OUT OF CONSERVANCY
“There has been a guarded welcome of a decision by the ZANU-PF politburo to rescind all offer letters, granted to top party and army officials, for land in the Save Valley Conservancy.
”A politburo meeting chaired by Robert Mugabe on Monday also resolved to remove all beneficiaries of the wildlife-based land grab from properties that were meant to be protected under Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (BIPPAs). This reportedly includes the Sango, Sabi, Chishakwe, Masapasi, Makore, Gunundwe and Chamurwe ranches.
”Other conservancy land gazetted by the state for takeover will now come under the ownership of the National Parks authority.
”During the Monday meeting Mugabe criticised what he called "double dipping" by his officials, who already benefitted during ZANU-PF's commercial farm grab campaign. Party spokesperson Rugare Gumbo reportedly confirmed that this was the politburo position too.
” ‘The issue was if you did not yet have a farm, then government will give you one elsewhere and not in Save Valley. Most of them are multiple land owners which is what the politburo said should not happen. That was the decision, and their removal must be expedited as per the politburo (resolution),’ Gumbo said.
”National Parks in 2012 issued hunting permits to 25 so-called indigenous ‘farmers' who were given land in the Conservancy under the government's ‘Wildlife Best Land Reform Policy'. This was in spite of a damning parliamentary report in 2012, which said that the forced seizure of Save land by top political and military figures with ‘no interest (or) experience in wildlife conservation’ had resulted in massive destruction there.
”The officials who benefitted included war vets leader Joseph Chinotimba, Major General Gibson Mashingaidze, Major General Engelbert Rugeje, Masvingo Governor Titus Maluleke, then ZANU-PF Masvingo provincial chair Lovemore Matuke, then Deputy Health Minister Douglas Mombeshora, ZANU-PF's central committee member Enock Porusingazi, as well as ZANU-PF MPs Alois Baloyi, Abraham Sithole, Samson Mukanduri and Noel Mandebvu.
”ZANU-PF's Gumbo said that the government has withdrawn all 25-year leases offered to the top officials ‘with immediate effect.’
" ‘The politburo made a decision to remove all those that had been allocated leases in Save Valley. It does not matter whether you are a politburo member or not, all beneficiaries were ordered out of that place,’ Gumbo said.
”We believe the decision is ‘overdue’, because local Zimbabweans have not benefitted since top chefs took over the Save land.
”The owners of the conservancies originally came up with an idea that the rural folk would become shareholders, but the big boys didn't like it and they took over. Now that is being withdrawn and it's about time. They need to be held accountable for the greed and corruption going on.
”The previously gazetted land, now set to be handed over to National Parks, should instead be given back to the original land owners.
”We don't believe that Parks will be able to do a good job. They should leave the land with the actual owners. They are the best conservationists; they employ professional people to make things work. At the moment National Parks can't even pay their employees. So it's doomed to fail.
”He also added that the planned ‘indigenisation' of conservancy land owned by White Zimbabweans would have a negative impact on Save Valley. Former Indigenisation Minister Saviour Kasukuwere has said that only White Zimbabweans will be required to comply with ZANU-PF's indigenisation laws in the Conservancy. This is despite the fact that the indigenisation policy was originally meant to only target foreign owned investments in Zimbabwe.
"’Foreign-owned properties will not be affected as they are protected under investment laws, but those [properties] of local Whites will be,’ Kasukuwere said.
”This doesn't make any sense. They have to come up with a definite ruling (on indigenisation) because we need the foreign investment.
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COMMONWEALTH GAMES FEVER
The 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games were, as we predicted, a great triumph, both organisationally and as far as sporting excellence were concerned. There is still much debate about whether the UK should compete as one united country in the Commonwealth Games, or to continue sending separate teams from all the component parts of the British Isles. There are good arguments both for and against the two sides of the debate, but one thing is for certain, and that is that the forthcoming Scottish “independence” Referendum should never have been allowed to be held so close to so much massive enthusiasm being generated for a separate Scottish team competing on home soil! This was of course a cunning plan devised by Alex Salmond and the SNP, and all the Unionist parties at Westminster must be severely castigated for letting them get away with such an obvious ploy!
As far as South Africa was concerned they won 13 gold medals compared to 12 at Delhi in 2010, but dropped from 5th to 7th place in the medal table. Clap, clap. So how do these “new” South African performances compare to South African results during the era of civilized rule (an era when it must be remembered there were far few events where medals were awarded)? At the first ever British Empire Games held at Hamilton, Canada in 1930 South Africa won 6 gold medals and finished 3rd in the medal table, and this rose to 16 at Vancouver in 1954 and 13 at Cardiff in 1958, when on both occasions the country finished 3rd. Surely the conclusion which must be drawn is obvious?
The next 2018 Commonwealth Games will be held at the Gold Coast in Australia, an advanced first world country where another professional efficient spectacular is bound to be staged (unlike at Kingston, Jamaica in 1966, Kuala Lumpur in 1998 and Delhi in 2010, all of which Games in third world countries were plagued with problems). The venue of the 2022 Commonwealth Games has still to be decided however, but there are two candidate cities, Edmonton in Canada and – wait for it – Durban in the “new” South Africa! Surely the powers that be can’t be stupid enough to stage the Games in yet another third world city? Every effort must therefore be made to persuade the Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly to choose Edmonton as the venue for 2022!
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SEARCH SERVICES FOR THOSE SEEKING LOST RELATIVES
Find any South African, even those who have emigrated. We also search Botswana, Namibia and ex-Rhodesia/Zimbabwe.
Please use the search request form at :-
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BOOK OFFERS
"LIEUTENANT COLONEL ALFRED JAMES TOMLINSON: MEMOIRS OF AN AFRICAN PIONEER AND BSAP OFFICER" is now available at Amazon.com, and can be shipped to anywhere in the world. This book contains excerpts from Lieut. Tomlinson's writings detailing his experiences as a member of the BSAP in Southern Rhodesia, where he rose from the rank of an ordinary trooper to retire as the commanding officer. It also includes the personal story of Majaqaba Ncube, a man who was enslaved by Lobengula when his entire village was massacred by the chief's soldiers. After he escaped, Lieut. Tomlinson saved him from certain death and gave him a job. They lost contact and were reunited after 45 years, when Majaqaba presented Lieut. Tomlinson with an earthenware jar.
Trish also writes romantic suspense and romantic comedy fiction. www.trishjaxon.com
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"P.K. VAN DER BYL - AFRICAN STATESMAN" by Hannes Wessels
ISBN: 978-1-920143-49-7 / paperback / illustrated
Retail price: R250.00, Web-site price: R200.00 + postage
The narrative gives the reader an overview of the history of the White man in southern Africa with detailed emphasis on the Rhodesian story through the life and times of PK van der Byl, one of the major players in a political drama that ended in the accession to power of Robert Mugabe under the auspices of the British government. By his very nature PK was controversial and confrontational. This account is likely to give offence to some because it portrays him as bluntly as he was in real life. Much can be contested about PK van der Byl but few will dispute he was an extremely colourful character with a devilish sense of humour. This memoir covers his life with a full flourish while doing nothing to detract from the seriousness of the international political and military conflict in which he was engaged. The reader will glean new information on a highly controversial subject and emerge with a more sympathetic understanding of what PK van der Byl and his colleagues did and strove for. The human tragedy that has followed the removal from power of Ian Smith and his Rhodesian Front party will almost certainly force the reader to deal with some uncomfortable conclusions, of value to anyone sincere about grappling with the volatile and deeply troubling challenges that confront all Africans today.
This book and others of interest can be purchased from 30 Degrees South via their web-site: www.30degreessouth.co.za
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"BLUE WATCH" by Gwyn Fford-Osborne
Rhodesia, in 1975 and a bloody vicious civil war is at its height. A war between the White minority supported by the Black majority and the ZAPU and ZANU terrorist groups, supported by Zambia and Mozambique. Kensington, a small town in the farming belt has been the subject of several terrorist attacks but with only a small police force for defence, the local T.A. unit having been called up for service on the Zambia border the situation appears grim. Until Iffor Meredith turns up on a pilgrimage to meet up with his wife and son of his old army buddy, recently murdered by terrorists. A deadly ambush on the "Dix" family and his escape from a land mine attack makes Iffor determined to offer resistance of some form or other to the terrorists. His application to join the Rhodesian Army has been accepted and he sets about forming a small militia. With all the fit men already on call up, who can he recruit from. Then he's invited to a darts match at the Moth Club and meets up with the remnants of the town's Fire Brigade, the men considered too old for call up. Blue Watch.
Available from: www.diadembooks.com
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CREST PUBLISHING BOOKS
Crest Publishing retails books by Glenn MacAskill (ex-BSAP Special Branch) entitled "King's Gold", "Crime Lords", "Kill Victoria!", "Hunt the Assassin" and "MacKinnon's Diamond", and by the late Michael Bowery including "Canham's Run", "The Sligo Piper" "Kill the President", "Al Qaeda Armageddon" and his autobiography "Shred when Read", as well as novels by David Ruppert entitled "The Seven Watchmen" and "The Greater Glory" - all of which will be of great interest to South Africans and ex-Rhodesians.
For more information, or to make an order, please contact Crest Publishing at: P.O.Box, 4178, Honeydew, Johannesburg, 2040, South Africa, e-mail: glennallanmacaskill@gmail.com, or visit the Crest Publishing web-site at: www.crestpublishing.co.za. Special discounts are available to ex-servicemen, Rhodies and Springboks!
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"THE SAINTS" - DVD versions of the book about the history of the RLI
Now available from Msasa Enterprises. Contact: msasasa@iafrica.com or UK tel.: 07732 685400.
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WHERE ARE THEY NOW ?
No.189 : Mr. MIKE WEBB of Oxfordshire.
Mike Webb served in the Royal Tank Regiment before turning up in Durban during mid-1981, where he worked as a barman at the Riviera Hotel on the Victoria Embankment – a job which he was clearly way over-qualified for. The reason for this soon became apparent however, as he was involved in the failed Seychelles coup attempt of November 1981 – which was hatched and planned at the Riviera Hotel. After escaping from the Seychelles on the hijacked Air India jet he was sentenced to imprisonment in South Africa, and after this all contact with him ceased – until we met him again unexpectedly at a reception for the Hon. Ian Douglas Smith at the RAF Club in London during the late 1990s. He informed us then that he was living at Thame in Oxfordshire, but alas we never received any reply from him to several pieces of correspondence sent to the address which he had given. We wonder therefore whether anyone knows whether he’s still living in Thame, or if not where he is now based?
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RECOMMENDED WEB-SITE OF THE MONTH
We have recently been contacted by the publishers of eNONGQAI - a Police & National Security magazine mainly for Veterans of the South African Forces. eNongquai Publications maintain a very informative web-site dedicated to preserving the history of the South African Police (SAP) from 1913 until 1994, which can be accessed at :-
http://www.enongqaipublications.com/
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
FATTY FOAMS
Sir,
I was reading an Internet blog a while ago and spotted that Allan Robertson [the former Organiser of the Swinton Circle who was expelled from the organization in early 2009 for gross misconduct – Ed.] had accused you of misuse of power and position in the Swinton Circle. Even one of his own former supporters had then reported that whenever he hears your name he flies into a tantrum and almost foams at the mouth!
Yours etc.,
Richard Windsor, Canterbury, U.K.
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MISSION IMPOSSIBLE
Sir,
My wife and I worked for 25 years without a salary, lived on donations of friends and churches, firstly at Jubilee Mission Hospital, Hammanskraal, then Mission Aviation Fellowship/South Africa in Edenvale, lastly Shekinah Care Foundation, New Hanover, Natal. All those years we worked 24/7 amongst Blacks & Whites. I can write a thousand stories about our work, not once did we see the same tragedy that is now taking place. Yes, there were sad shameful stories, but not on the scale in the stories we now receive from you and the Freedom Front Plus. My brother was left to die on the side of the road in Cato Ridge; not one Black man went to his aid. Mine is one of ten thousand stories.
Yours etc.,
Ray Absalom, New Zealand
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DEFENDING THE RIGHT
Sir,
The Conservatives are prepared to do even more damage to our defences, slashing even the Paras because of the sacred cow of "saving taxpayers' money." This taxpayer heard a lecture on the great Admiral Beatty recently - in the 1920s he complained about politicians jeopardising our defences for the sake of a shilling off the Income Tax. Some things never change.
They should save money by cutting spending on the EU and slashing it on overseas aid. Defence should be restored to Thatcher-era levels, and I am sticking with UKIP. This is what comes of replacing officers and gentlemen with accountants and spin-doctors as Conservative MPs.
Yours etc.,
M. Taylor, London, U.K.
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IVOR BENSON – A RETROSPECTIVE
A supporter recently wrote to us asking whether we knew anything about Mr. Ivor Benson, the late South African journalist and political analyst, specifically regarding the allegation that he was anti-Semitic. Mr. Benson was well known to our movement when we were still based in Natal during the late 1970s and 1980s, and so we replied giving a full account of our knowledge of the man to this supporter. It was afterwards suggested that this review of the man’s life might be suitable for a wider audience, so we therefore repeat it below :-
“We knew Ivor Benson well in South Africa during the late 1970s and early 1980s. His National Forum organization had been recommended to us by a colleague from the UK, and we successfully managed to make contact with the organisation through Duncan du Bois of the Save Rhodesia Campaign (a long-standing member), and started attending their meetings regularly in 1977. Over the following few years we came to know Ivor and his wife Joan very well, and liked them both a lot. They were both very friendly and affable, with Ivor himself having an “impish” sense of humour. Both were also clearly highly intelligent and well-read, but we never detected that Ivor harboured any anti-Semitic sentiments at that time. We alas recall Joan making somewhat anti-Semitic comments on at least one occasion however, and there were occasional surreptitious anti-Semitic questions from the floor at National Forum meetings – which were highly embarrassing, and we believe led to at least one member leaving the organization as a result.
“We got to know quite a bit about Ivor’s background and history over the following years. Contrary to popular belief he was not of completely British stock. Either his father or his grandfather was a Norwegian seaman who had ‘jumped ship’ in Durban Harbour and landed up at Bethlehem in the O.V.S./O.F.S., where Ivor was born. We are uncertain about the ethnic origins of his other ancestors, but as Bethlehem is/was a 95% Afrikaner town we would imagine that they were more likely to have been Afrikaners rather than British-South Africans – though the family did Anglocize their name from Bjornsen (or some such similar spelling) to Benson. Ivor evidently excelled at school, and entered journalism as a profession, where he eventually worked his way up to become Deputy Editor of the Rand Daily Mail – the premier English-language daily newspaper in the Transvaal at the time. It is interesting to note in this regard that the RDM always had a very liberal reputation – but this didn’t stop Ian Smith from ‘head-hunting’ Ivor to become head of the Rhodesian Government’s Information operations during the run-up to UDI in 1965 (this would certainly imply that Ivor was not particularly right-wing prior to his time in Rhodesia). Ivor stayed in this position for only just over a year however, resigning not for ideological reasons but because of a strategic disagreement, as he totally disagreed with Ian Smith’s desire to reach a negotiated settlement with Harold Wilson’s Labour Government even after UDI was declared, believing instead that Rhodesia should simply ‘get on with independence’.
“In spite of only being in Rhodesia for just over a year something very fundamental happened to Ivor during this period – namely he met and married Joan. He was well into his middle-age at the time, and had never previously been married – whereas Joan had been married at least once before. It is certainly our belief that Joan became a great influence on Ivor’s political thinking, and probably caused him to veer towards anti-Semitism during the twilight years of his life – something which of course was most regrettable. After leaving Rhodesia Ivor and Joan moved to Pinetown where Ivor never again seemed to have any regular employment – spending all his time launching his magazine Behind the News, writing books and founding the National Forum. The speculation was that Joan either had or inherited money, and that they lived on this. We were once informed that the print-run for Behind the News was only 1000 (S.A.Patriot’s was initially 3000, though subsequently reduced to 2000), and that the Bensons’ garage was full of piles of unsold copies of Behind the News - and that whilst parking their car they had apparently knocked down these piles several times, leaving them on the oily ground and never bothering to pick them up. Quite clearly therefore, especially as it never carried any adverts, Behind the News never made any money!
“Meetings of the National Forum continued to be held regularly throughout the 1970s however, and after we made contact in 1977 always seemed to be well-attended and featured very interesting guest speakers (including Harvey Ward, the former head of Rhodesian Television). In about 1981 Ivor announced that he was moving from Pinetown to Krugersdorp because ‘at such a vital stage in South African history it was important to be in the Transvaal, the fulcrum of political activity’. With Ivor gone the National Forum collapsed in Natal, and although Ian Long and David Bell (whose wife, incidentally, was Jewish) tried to carry on operations under the title of the Vanguard Association, this was still-born. We therefore founded our own Patriotic Forum (the predecessor of today’s Springbok Club), which was named with ‘Patriotic’ from ‘S.A.Patriot’ and ‘Forum’ from the ‘National Forum’. We continued to receive copies of Behind the News even after Ivor moved to Krugersdorp, but became increasingly concerned by some of its nuttier ‘conspiracy theory’ contents. There are conspiracies and cover-ups in this world of course – but Ivor’s ‘grand conspiracy theories’ went so far over the top that they were unbelievable. When he claimed that the Falklands War was fought ‘for oil’ and not to protect the liberty of the Falkland Islands’ people it became too much for us, so we cut all contact as a result.
“Evidently during the late 1980s Ivor and Joan moved to the UK (apparently because Ivor was seriously ill and they had no medical insurance, so therefore wanted to make use of the NHS), staying initially with a certain Mr. Don Martin in Suffolk. Don Martin is/was a total ‘conspiracy theory’ crank, so far off the edge it appears that he was too much for Ivor and Joan, so they moved away from him and severed all links. Ivor died in the early 1990s, but alas we don’t know whatever became of Joan.”
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