Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Wars and ConflictsΒ  permalink

fighting against 'kith and kin'

• Message 1.Β 

  Posted by Elkstone (U3836042) on Monday, 9th November 2009

  Harold Wilson famously said that he could not send troops to put down the rebelious Ian Smith's UDI in Rhodesia, after they sent troops to quel the Kenyan uprisings, because he could not 'fight against our own kith and kin'. Was that a political cop out or ploy? How come that argument was not used in Northern Ireland or even earlier in the 13 colonies?

  Link to this forum: fighting against 'kith and kin'

  Report message1

• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by White Camry (U2321601) on Monday, 9th November 2009

  Elkstone,
  
  My guess would be part cop-out, part budgetary reasoning, part currents-of-history, part diplomacy:
  
  * Slashing the MoD's budget had become a shibboleth.
  
  * After 1945, waging colonial wars was anachronistic in an age of imperial decline and dissolution.
  
  * Fighting white colonists who'd declared independence wouldn't have sat well with Britain's Anglophone allies and trading partners.

  Link to this forum: fighting against 'kith and kin'

  Report message2

• Message 3

  , in reply to message 2.

  Posted by Grand Falcon Railroad (U3267675) on Monday, 9th November 2009

  Rhodesia was hundres of miles away from where either the RAF or RN FAA could get to bomb useful targets.....and a lot of people in HM Forces tho not exactly racist I don't think would have been happy fighting in Africa when they were still serving alongside decendants of Rhodesians and South Africans that would have been in the ranks.....

  Link to this forum: fighting against 'kith and kin'

  Report message3

• Message 4

  , in reply to message 3.

  Posted by Elkstone (U3836042) on Monday, 9th November 2009

  Well in Northern Ireland, Im sure they would be fighting against fellow 'white' kith and kin, and some of the soldiers could be of Irish descent from both communities.. I wondered did this fact cause anxieties before troops were sent in?
  
  During the Kenyan uprisings, the British did not just use 'white' soldiers from England or the Empire, but also black African units such as Kings African Rifles, which Idi Amin served. Couldnt Wilson use them in Rhodesia to get over the 'kith and kin' problem? Or would that cause a major problem espeically with Aparthied South Africa on the borders and would feel threatended?

  Link to this forum: fighting against 'kith and kin'

  Report message4

• Message 5

  , in reply to message 4.

  Posted by giraffe47 (U4048491) on Tuesday, 10th November 2009

  More practical financial that 'kith', I feel, although that would have been a factor as well
  
  Rhodesia is a landlocked country, with the best way in through S.Africa, which would hardly have been willing to co-operate. It is also a big country, with widely spread out villages, farms, etc.
  
  Another Boer War, with endless manpower demands and supply problems, against people who would be seen by many of the soldiers (especially the Officers) as 'friends'?
  
  Sounds too EXPENSIVE an option for old Harold!
  
  

  Link to this forum: fighting against 'kith and kin'

  Report message5

Back to top