Missives, Memos and Secrets
Huggins flew over to Britain again in early summer for discussions with the British Government. Edgar arranged a number of functions during his visit.
They jointly launched an appeal to start a Rhodesian Fairbridge organization for child migrants with a strong committee from the City with the Lord Mayor of London's support.
Edgar had another big party for Huggins to meet the Servicemen and hear their views. Edgar's sister, Frances, acted as his official hostess at these parties. They were a great success.
Huggins was followed everywhere by his Scotland Yard detective. Edgar asked him, "Is there fear the Prime Minister might be assassinated?"
He said, "Good Heavens, no! My job is to watch that briefcase of his. It contains all the secrets of the last meeting at Chequers and he keeps leaving it on tables forgetting all about it."
Huggins method of dealing with Rhodesia House was peculiar to him. His instructions normally reached Edgar in the form of very long manuscript letters, not seen by any Civil Servant. Each letter covered about ten different subjects, some official instructions, some suggestions for official action leaving Edgar to make the decision, some chatty political attacks on the opposition, and some purely personal.
On receipt of one of these, Edgar would cut the letter into sections. Official instructions were sent for typing. Comments on the opposition were usually so libelous that he burnt them. His strict administrative training that one letter must be about one subject meant his having to send at least ten replies.
The historical novel Whitewashed Jacarandas and its sequel Full of Possibilities are both available on Amazon as paperbacks and eBooks.
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- Sir Edgar Whitehead's Unpublished Memoirs, Rhodes House, Bodleian Library, Oxford, by permission.
- Photo Credit: Chequers at Wikimedia Commons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chequers