Speaker – George Kelling<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The British acquired Cyprus for strategic reasons in 1888, and the island has provided a valuable strategic base up to this day. During World War II, Cyprus faced the danger of a German invasion. The loyalty of the Greek population on the island could not be taken for granted. According to the Governor: \u201cMorale of the majority of Cypriots is at its lowest ebb. In event of invasion we can expect little help from [the Greek Cypriots] and some might even turn against us.\u201d What was the British response to a situation that posed the danger of revolt from within and invasion without? The answer has a bearing on the war in the Mediterranean and elsewhere. George Kelling served in the army from 1958 to 1978. On retiring, he entered graduate school, earning a doctorate in history at the University of Texas in 1988, with a dissertation dealing with Cyprus in the period 1939\u20131955. He has had a second career as a civilian historian with the air force. He has maintained a vigorous interest in the history of the British Empire, particularly Cyprus and the eastern Mediterranean, in World War II.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Speaker – George Kelling The British acquired Cyprus for strategic reasons in 1888, and the island has provided a valuable strategic base up to this day. During World War II, Cyprus faced the danger of a German invasion. The loyalty of the Greek population on the island could not be taken for granted. According to […]","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"http:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/british-studies-lecture-series\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/02\/19-02-08-British-Studies.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"63.29M","filesize_raw":"66361988","date_recorded":"08-02-2019","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":""},"tags":[53,40,105,46,107,106,62],"categories":[],"series":[2],"class_list":{"0":"post-99","1":"podcast","2":"type-podcast","3":"status-publish","5":"tag-british-studies","6":"tag-british-studies-lecture-series","7":"tag-cyprus","8":"tag-dr-roger-louis","9":"tag-greek","10":"tag-mediterranean","11":"tag-world-war-ii","12":"series-bsls","13":"entry"},"acf":{"related_episodes":"","hosts":[{"ID":949,"post_author":"10","post_date":"2021-01-20 19:50:06","post_date_gmt":"2021-01-20 19:50:06","post_content":"\n
Wm. Roger Louis is head of the British Studies Lecture Series. He is an American historian and a professor at the University of Texas at Austin<\/a>. Louis is the editor-in-chief of The Oxford History of the British Empire<\/a><\/em>, a former president of the American Historical Association<\/a> (AHA), a former chairman of the U.S. Department of State's Historical Advisory Committee, and a founding director of the AHA's National History Center in Washington, D. C.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Wm. Roger Louis","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"wm-roger-louis","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2021-01-20 19:50:06","post_modified_gmt":"2021-01-20 19:50:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/british-studies-lecture-series\/?post_type=speaker&p=949","menu_order":0,"post_type":"speaker","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"guests":[{"ID":890,"post_author":"40","post_date":"2020-06-24 17:20:22","post_date_gmt":"2020-06-24 17:20:22","post_content":"\n George Kelling served in the army from 1958 to 1978. On retiring, he entered graduate school, earning a doctorate in history at the University of Texas in 1988, with a dissertation dealing with Cyprus in the period 1939\u20131955. He has had a second career as a civilian historian with the air force. He has maintained a vigorous interest in the history of the British Empire, particularly Cyprus and the eastern Mediterranean, in World War II.<\/p>\n","post_title":"George Kelling","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"george-kelling","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2020-06-24 17:20:22","post_modified_gmt":"2020-06-24 17:20:22","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/british-studies-lecture-series\/?post_type=speaker&p=890","menu_order":0,"post_type":"speaker","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"transcript":" Our guest this afternoon is George Kelling should perhaps say Colonel.<\/p>\n Doctor in the German fashion, Colonel Dr. George Kelling,<\/p>\n he began spent most of his career<\/p>\n in the United States Army beginning in the 1950s. The dark days<\/p>\n of the 1950s when General Eisenhower, President Eisenhower warned us of an<\/p>\n invasion of by the Soviet Union. John Foster Dulles<\/p>\n was trying to rollback the Iron Curtain from there.<\/p>\n Dr. Kelling spent a good deal of his time in Vietnam. From there,<\/p>\n he came back to graduate school at the University of Texas and wrote<\/p>\n his dissertation on, of all subjects, Cyprus.<\/p>\n And this is the topic that he’s going to talk about, soft noon. But, George, I have the feeling<\/p>\n that not many people here have actually been to Cyprus, including my regrettably,<\/p>\n myself. Has anyone else been to. Oh, well, we have a lot of people who have<\/p>\n been to Cyprus. Great.<\/p>\n But I do think he’d be a good idea if we could persuade Dr. Kelling to say a few words. First,<\/p>\n just about Cyprus where it is and the nature of the island<\/p>\n first. Okay. Can anybody hear me? Yeah, in the back. If I if you can’t hear me, hold<\/p>\n up your head and I’ll go. I’ll talk louder. I was older. I can do that.<\/p>\n Just a couple of words. Reformers are in Cyprus, but there is one of these<\/p>\n islands in the eastern Mediterranean. With a Greek and a Turkish background<\/p>\n and maybe the one place that has not been resolved from the<\/p>\n exchange of populations and their resettlements after the First World War,<\/p>\n they retained in the period I’m looking at and still retains a Turkish<\/p>\n and Greek element in their population. And they have two different<\/p>\n governors to two separate governments, plus a British sovereign<\/p>\n base area, which is which is not part of the island of Cyprus. So<\/p>\n the theme of Cyprus is a Greek Greek typer,<\/p>\n a Greek, a Turkish relations. There are more rich Turkish soup of<\/p>\n conflict. And it goes on today, although it’s much more subdued for what it used<\/p>\n to be. To start.<\/p>\n Roger Hirsch has off to answer for. In 1978, I retired<\/p>\n from the Army in 1980 and 80 became a returning student at the University of Texas<\/p>\n in 1984. I’d finally clawed my way to the stage of<\/p>\n choosing a dissertation topic. All bright eyed and bushy tailed. I went in to see<\/p>\n him with a bunch of good ideas. He told me politely but firmly that while these were good ideas,<\/p>\n it would be Cypress. My heart sunk. But like a good soldier,<\/p>\n I marched off the cipher studies. It turned out extremely well,<\/p>\n and there been an excellent choice. What he didn’t tell me, however, was the<\/p>\n cypresses addictive. Since Aphrodite landed on the island in prehistory,<\/p>\n she has cast her spell. All those who have come there,<\/p>\n crusaders Templars, Franks, Venetians, Ottomans<\/p>\n and generations of oyster scholars have all been under her magic<\/p>\n cypresses. Hotel California, you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave<\/p>\n as proof. Thirty five years later, I’m still fooling with Cyprus history.<\/p>\n The topic which captured my attention was another example of<\/p>\n the spill of the island in 1940, when defense plan based on mountain out outports<\/p>\n outpost with a medieval name off of keeps.<\/p>\n Unfulfilled plans for military operations. It could be the dry ice does that blows.<\/p>\n Reading memoirs and narratives of the build up to the 1944 invasion of France,<\/p>\n I have to admit that my eyes glaze over and at the analysis of early and<\/p>\n never consummated plans and I’ve just turned the pages. These planes<\/p>\n lie on the shelf, though, can give it an insight into the state of mind at the time they<\/p>\n were devised. The plan for the defense of Cyprus in 1941 is one such example.<\/p>\n It’s also arguable that the marked a change in the.<\/p>\n In the tempo of the war, in the early years of World War 2,<\/p>\n Cyprus was secure, tidy and geopolitically with its of the<\/p>\n Levant. Now in this Garret Harrison by a French colonial radio regiment<\/p>\n under command of the French headquarters in Lebanon and Syria, and the French fleet added to<\/p>\n the to the security of the island. So long as the French alliance was<\/p>\n healthy. Invasion of Cyprus was hard to imagine. In 1940, however,<\/p>\n the situation began to change dramatically. The springtime collapse<\/p>\n of Normandy in of Norway and Denmark were prelude to the rapid, rapid fall of France<\/p>\n and the low countries France accepting an armistice in 1940.<\/p>\n The security of Cyprus was turned on its head with France and the French Covanta. It transformed from allies<\/p>\n to unfriendly neutrals fresh 070. It was enhanced<\/p>\n by the do.I third 1940 British attack on the French fleet Amercia. Kabeer<\/p>\n the French garrison was withdrawn with a few of its soldiers joining the nation forces<\/p>\n of de Gaulle. The peril increased with the German invasion of Amane increased<\/p>\n Greece, followed by a dramatic airborne landing in Crete, both<\/p>\n accompanied by Luftwaffe superiority and British evacuations.<\/p>\n Thus, in the few months, the outlook for the for the nation. Changed from<\/p>\n that of a comfortable base, deep, deep in friendly territory to an endangered outpost<\/p>\n surrounded by hostile powers and unfriendly neutrals nearby Syria and Lebanon<\/p>\n were where, at least in the informal cooperation with the Germans.<\/p>\n Well, after the stunning subsect success of the airborne forces in Corinth and Crete, it seemed<\/p>\n that Cyprus would would be the next item on Hitler’s menu. At<\/p>\n the same time, the jackals were starting to circle their campfires. It always saw<\/p>\n herself as and as a great power<\/p>\n and was notorious for picking up the pieces of other other campaigns,<\/p>\n having carved pieces out of Yugoslavia, Greece and France with territories in<\/p>\n nearby Delta Cooney’s. Mussolini. Consider him himself heir to the eastern Mediterranean<\/p>\n domain. And we have and we’ve seen seen EISEMANN<\/p>\n scheming, supposedly neutral. France was was not an uninvolved.<\/p>\n The Outten the its first air raid was conducted by the Italian Air Force. It did<\/p>\n little harm, but was the beginning of a series of air raids which continued for several years. On one<\/p>\n occasion, the owner received attacks from German, Italian and Vichy French aircraft.<\/p>\n Softer but more dangerous threats to British sovereignty came from out<\/p>\n friends and allies, even an abject defeat. Greece<\/p>\n and ambitions for the island. The Greek stated, had been wrested from the Turks<\/p>\n through through a series of struggles of shared determination.<\/p>\n Despite the execution of many patriots. What?<\/p>\n What? By 1940, 40 was called the mcgaughey idea, or the great idea was a dream<\/p>\n of uniting all Greek speaking peoples under the Greek flag. The idea added<\/p>\n that at a Greek Crete and thrice and in<\/p>\n the dream and involved emesis or union with northern FPO epigraphs or southern<\/p>\n Albania though to Kinney’s and of course, cyphers. Greek policy<\/p>\n turned his talks to Cyprus even before the fall of Greece.<\/p>\n On April 14th, 10 days before the evacuation of the mainland, but when the end of the campaign<\/p>\n was obvious, the American ambassador in Athens, we received reports that<\/p>\n the king, the king of Greece, had visited him, knowing that the king<\/p>\n would prefer to evacuate the court to Cyprus rather than Crete.<\/p>\n He suggested that Britain might want to see know an enclave in Cyprus<\/p>\n to Greece. So the king could continue to reign from Greek soil. On May<\/p>\n And I’m sorry, in Crete suggesting that too encouraging the Greeks at<\/p>\n their time of a crisis. The British might grant Cyprus to Greece as a personal<\/p>\n present, according to the proposal during<\/p>\n the war. Britain would continue to administer the island under the egis of the Greek king,<\/p>\n but with full with full administration being takeover by Greece after the peace.<\/p>\n Although he is right and rightly remembered as uncontracted,<\/p>\n Victorian imperious Winston Churchill did not object to such ideas out of hand<\/p>\n even before the king’s approach of them to the American ambassador. Churchill, perhaps<\/p>\n considering the Greeks would be support subservient to British influence.<\/p>\n Cable abrasion M.D. Commander. If, however,<\/p>\n the king or any part of the Greek army is forced to do it, Greece,<\/p>\n every facility will be afforded to them and cyphers way better. So the governor of Cyprus<\/p>\n immediately cable the Konya office of such an act would make Cyprus ungovernable and in fact,<\/p>\n mark the end of British rule on the island. Doubts about the future<\/p>\n of the island. We’re not we’re not confined to them to the Atlantic world. Australian<\/p>\n Prime Minister Robert Menzies had been extremely critical of Churchill and<\/p>\n his conduct, the war in the Pacific, or what he viewed as Churchill’s cavalier willingness<\/p>\n to sacrifice Australian troops to his adventures<\/p>\n with the dispatch of the Australian Light Armored Regiment to Cyprus.<\/p>\n The Australian prime minister saw it all happening again.<\/p>\n It appears the intention is the whole Cyprus, at least for the time being. But no<\/p>\n further troops can be made available in Cyprus to Menzies. The forecast<\/p>\n was clear. You will, of course, appreciate what this means. Another forced the evacuation<\/p>\n will have serious effect on public opinion in America and elsewhere. Well,<\/p>\n elsewhere within Australia, there are certain to be serious reactions. His conclusions<\/p>\n were logical, given his knowledge of the situation. Greece should be held and<\/p>\n to that and then should be garrisoned by a sufficiently strong force. Or if such a force<\/p>\n is not available, the enterprise should be abandoned. Governor Barter sells<\/p>\n gloomy prognostication, reflected that of the Australian prime minister,<\/p>\n reflecting his insight on as the man on the spot, he met the minuted<\/p>\n Marella, the majority of Cyprus Cypriots. It was at its lowest ebb being so rapidly<\/p>\n over or after Crete. There are many mutterings in the event of invasion.<\/p>\n We can expect a little help from from the population and some might even turn against us responsible<\/p>\n for the colony. He did. He deplored the course of those under under his administration<\/p>\n for what he perceived to be a military of no built military benefit. The battle would involve,<\/p>\n inter alia, the destruction of main towns and<\/p>\n villages with much loss of life. We shall gain nothing and prestige,<\/p>\n but we shall cause untold suffering to two civilian Cypriots.<\/p>\n At the center of the government. Well, Churchill maintained a stiff upper lip concerning<\/p>\n who plans for for the island. There were stirrings there up and down Whitehall.<\/p>\n Opinions different in different parts of the Foreign Office. But the trend was toward<\/p>\n realpolitik. Her view of the possession of Cyprus and part of the as part<\/p>\n of the overall postwar society for defense of the Mediterranean. One example<\/p>\n of the dozens of Foreign Office Office memos on the topic is perhaps typical<\/p>\n of Foreign Office thinking is most likely that we shall be able to, in practice, to be<\/p>\n able to maintain our sovereignty over Cyprus and the political conditions likely to secede after the war.<\/p>\n Bowing to what the minister Foreign Office official S. Walker saw as the inevitable,<\/p>\n the best thing, of course, was to make what would make what capital was possible. Other than<\/p>\n the inevitable evacuation, we should do everything possible.<\/p>\n To art and to safeguard our strategic intentions. Perhaps the memo, which<\/p>\n best reveal the Foreign Office official mind was by official original Bulker on May<\/p>\n it is possible that on taking Cyprus, the government will decide<\/p>\n well declared to be a part of greater Greece.<\/p>\n The colonial office was was left out of the evacuation of speculation, ostensibly due to oversight.<\/p>\n But their objections were not decisive. The final word, not for the first time, was in the hands of the Prime Minister<\/p>\n on June 6, 1941. He sent a note to the Foreign Secretary, bringing discussion to a close.<\/p>\n It’s much better to leave all all mentions of test cast or<\/p>\n re-adjustment till after the war. I do not think we should see an inch of British territory during the<\/p>\n war. Even this dark hour, Churchill’s innate<\/p>\n optimism shown through tempered by healthy realism. It does not<\/p>\n follow that Cyprus will be immediately taken. If they if the Germans take<\/p>\n it, they will probably give it normally to the Greek quisling government. Well,<\/p>\n well, using it. It won’t make much difference in what happens.<\/p>\n With that decision, the discussion ended with the war<\/p>\n began. The war continued, as did the crisis. The ball passed<\/p>\n into the court of the military command, which they had to plan for them before what was seen as the assault<\/p>\n on the island. Well, considering the plans, the contrast<\/p>\n with those for the defense of Cyprus, with plans for defense of England were notable.<\/p>\n Churchill envisioned defensive of England to contest every every block<\/p>\n in every field, every city with the entire population.<\/p>\n Its finest hour speech delivered in almost exactly a year earlier, was rightly considered<\/p>\n evocative of the air, of the spirit of the time, the raising<\/p>\n of the Home Guard and stay behind parties to to wreak havoc behind behind German lines<\/p>\n made it clear that it was a people’s war to be vision and<\/p>\n and would certainly have had been put into effect had the Germans invaded.<\/p>\n Perception and reality on the ground in Cyprus presented a contrast, Governor Battersea<\/p>\n and the common authorities realized that the Cypriots could not be relied upon to assist in the defense of the island.<\/p>\n Well, at the same time, images of the French roads of 1940 40 clogged with refugees, making<\/p>\n military deployments all but impossible. We’re still clear in the military official mind.<\/p>\n On May 23rd, the call your administration sent guidance to the population in case of invasion.<\/p>\n The short message told the population three times, stay where you are. Putten<\/p>\n pointing out that the enemy with machine gun refugees from the air and make the screams of those in flight<\/p>\n would clog the roadways needed for the fence of the island. There was no mention of resisting<\/p>\n invader on the beaches or in the interior. Without a doubt, the governor<\/p>\n and staff were well aware of the situation on the island and the outlook of the Cypriots.<\/p>\n In addition, the later experience of civilian resistance in Western Europe or for that matter,<\/p>\n in mainland Greece and Greece in Crete, we’re still in the future.<\/p>\n Cyprus. Cyprus will have its people’s war in 1950<\/p>\n Ten years later. Even so, some some voices noted the typical<\/p>\n arms.<\/p>\n G G O Toit Anguish resident, the colony Rotworld, the English language newspapers<\/p>\n that on the day of Governor Better SIL’s advice of the population, saying<\/p>\n I search your page, your pages for some some inspiring official message to be a good<\/p>\n cheer. And what do I find? Two notices, one promises showing currency notice<\/p>\n in the near future. The other, the population of the 50 point of the Cyprus Commission on the Preservation of<\/p>\n Official Monuments. His frustration was clear. Ye gods,<\/p>\n when or someone arrives and. Inspires with with who<\/p>\n will for the present fasion of the Cyprus. Cyprus, the empire and our heritage of freedom. Never once<\/p>\n a flesh and blood. Personal appeal to the Cypriot and the impassioned language with the<\/p>\n Cypriots in pretty particular expect to understand hard<\/p>\n not to sympathize with toit. But he doesn’t seem to apply to the fire.<\/p>\n Churchill reassured the foreign and colonial officers sparred.<\/p>\n Australia carped. The governor expected the invasion<\/p>\n and Geo Toit fulminated, but the understaffed Garrison had.<\/p>\n Of the island have had a bell to prepare for. The German juggernaut appeared to have been all but<\/p>\n inevitable with the dramatic German village victories through Denmark and Norway, the whole countries,<\/p>\n France and Rio. Recent weeks. Assaults on cottonelle Greece and create<\/p>\n the are three resulting in costly British evacuations<\/p>\n appeared that the British airborne assault on Crete could could be easily unleashed on Cyprus.<\/p>\n I’ve found nothing in the records to indicate that there was a conscious design to have more evacuations.<\/p>\n But the defense plan call for defense of the interior, which would preclude evacuation,<\/p>\n even had the British had the air and naval power to make<\/p>\n such an act possible. Coast defense was not entirely neglected.<\/p>\n For example, I found the remains of a machine gun posts overlooking the rocks near paphos,<\/p>\n where Aphrodite came out of the sea. There were coastal outposts,<\/p>\n but domain system of to repel invaders. As noted above,<\/p>\n it was to be offense and a defense by British forces, not a people’s war.<\/p>\n The garrison included an infantry behind the Cypress regiment and some part timers,<\/p>\n the Cyprus volunteer force. But the local units were not prominent in the defense<\/p>\n game breaks thinking did not see the Cypriot as a fighter. A review<\/p>\n of the records really shows a number of comments on the suitability of the Cypriot military<\/p>\n life. For example, a pre-war War Office study<\/p>\n noted climate effect on natives, although probably in gradings out<\/p>\n in great measure, responsible for the constitutional laziness and thrift with nature<\/p>\n of the Aboriginal Cypriot climate could not be said to have any marked the fifth effect on the native population.<\/p>\n The War Diary of a Pack transport group explained it may prove of interest that the peculiarity<\/p>\n of Cyprus Cypriot troops their grandfathers were were in all probability brigands<\/p>\n living in mountain villages.<\/p>\n Murders unfold, unfortunately, not unheard of. Men with knife<\/p>\n each other over a gambling debt at cards and we’ll shoot the regimental police and kill them.<\/p>\n Gambling is popular, popular and very difficult to control. And before night<\/p>\n fortnightly pay, Amandla may lose all his money. And leads to selling kit.<\/p>\n It is obvious that the British command did not expect to raise any reliable units from Cyprus villages.<\/p>\n You know, somewhat halfhearted attempt to use the cyphers for the islands of Cypriots, for<\/p>\n the islands, the fence, the Cyprus commando was formed in Nicosia<\/p>\n on on June twenty twenty fifth nineteen forty one, despite<\/p>\n the early urges that a standard view of their Cypriot. As a brigand<\/p>\n with traits, one who expected to be. Exploit it<\/p>\n for your regular warfare. The headquarters saw the first act as making<\/p>\n proper soldiers out of the approximately 60 commandos. The commander<\/p>\n gave them basic military training with emphasis on teaching him how to shave on day five of training.<\/p>\n The record notes that the recruits lack coordination<\/p>\n and suppleness. It’s hard to read between the lines<\/p>\n of the barebones ordinary diary, but it appears that the intent was for was to train<\/p>\n soldiers within a band of guerrillas. The unit was issued<\/p>\n with the prestigious commando Green Beret, but their armament<\/p>\n was captured Italian rifles and with apparently no automatic weapons<\/p>\n or grenades or demolition materials. The unit made reconnaissance<\/p>\n of nearby mountains and established established<\/p>\n ammunition and fuel depots in the forest. But there seems to be little enthusiasm<\/p>\n for or realism in the projects. The Cyprus commando was quietly disbanded<\/p>\n after about six months. After all, after which time<\/p>\n had stood up and perhaps influenced by the headier of the Cyprus of Aphrodite,<\/p>\n the Crusaders, Richard the Lionheart and others, the strong points were given<\/p>\n the evocative name of keeps. The plan calls for a series of eleven, keeps<\/p>\n most of them on high ground to be garrisoned by one or more companies supported by mobile and armored<\/p>\n units. A large central reserve would be available to go the hate<\/p>\n of the keeps under attack and some fighter airfields will be defended<\/p>\n to be used in support of the keeps. The intent was not<\/p>\n for the keeps to be static fortresses, but rather the bases for mobile columns roaming outside<\/p>\n the perimeters. The mobile Collins would scream the keeps and keep the roads open for the central reserve.<\/p>\n The plane, Leighton, made an evacuation all be impossible. In fact, assume<\/p>\n that the enemy could land from the sea it will and supply Thompson and insulations<\/p>\n near the coasts were being prohibited. It’s easy to pick holes in the plan.<\/p>\n There’s a certain unreality about medieval keeps out of range for mutual support,<\/p>\n fire support and opening and defeat in detail. It appears<\/p>\n that the keeper who have been invaders dream such speculations will die. You know, shows showed the accuracy<\/p>\n of 75 years hindsight, full understanding of the effects of the power and the<\/p>\n inability of airfields to ground attack as well as on underground and guerrilla<\/p>\n warfare were to come.<\/p>\n As it turned out, the crisis over.<\/p>\n It turned out the crisis, if it ever existed, who was leading the abrasions Asian side of Syria<\/p>\n began on July 10th, the date of the Australian Prime Minister’s disparaging letter<\/p>\n with the Syrian and Palestine airfields in allied hands, air support<\/p>\n against any invader was assured. The always the facts remain weak and the Italian<\/p>\n German invasion was not it not impossible. We saw sort of little strategic purpose.<\/p>\n Other humans were also favorable by Midford 1941, the British ultra program<\/p>\n of breaking German codes was becoming reliable. Although well aware of the danger<\/p>\n of over reliance on ultra Britain, strategists knew<\/p>\n that the credit pyramid that the crypto German<\/p>\n signals traffic made almost no reference to the attack on Cyprus. Perhaps more safe<\/p>\n significant. The British were aware of the upcoming invasion of the Soviet Union.<\/p>\n Highly classified information was only available to the London Command Post and the highest levels of the military<\/p>\n command. The beleaguered planners on Cyprus were unaware of these impending<\/p>\n events. In addition,<\/p>\n it now seems that the threat of a German invasion never existed<\/p>\n in the eyes of the of the Nazi authorities in the aftermath of the successful<\/p>\n invasion of Crete. The German juggernaut appeared in Invincible. The commander<\/p>\n of the German German airborne assault on Crete was right continue<\/p>\n to turn a curt student commander. The 11th Air Corps, which had conducted the assault, was raring<\/p>\n to go and propose an early assault on Cyprus to follow up the dramatic victory<\/p>\n in Crete. He did not speak for the Nazi power structure.<\/p>\n The Greek Greek campaign had been a Pyrrhic victory, with German casualties so heavy.<\/p>\n That Hitler opportunity was never attempted. Another attempted airborne coup.<\/p>\n The Germans did not totally disarm, discard the idea of an attack on Cyprus. But such an assault would<\/p>\n have been little we’llsee. Sexual assault. We’ve been theory theoretically possible during 1943.<\/p>\n The fog of war was thick. Was. With 77<\/p>\n years after the fact, we know we know that the threat of a German invasion of the island never really<\/p>\n existed. It was not so clear that time in London<\/p>\n or in Nicosia. It appears that the British officials assumed<\/p>\n the island had been been lost. Even Winston Churchill, for all his optimistic pronouncements,<\/p>\n appearsto felt the Germans would attack and conquer. It’s difficult to criticize their analysis at the time.<\/p>\n No responsible official could realistically have ruled<\/p>\n out a German attack on Crete. On Cyprus. The British<\/p>\n defense plan is more difficult to evaluate since the invasion did not take place. It’s impossible<\/p>\n to say how the plan and the keeps would have worked in practice.<\/p>\n It’s hard and it’s hard to banish the concept of the …keep as a crusader castle<\/p>\n from which armored vehicles like the Knights of Old were Sally forth over the drawbridge. Despite<\/p>\n the foe, despite the melanoma culture, the idea is not particularly<\/p>\n unusual and is quite similar to the boxes in the Japanese offensives and in India,<\/p>\n In the second Chindia IPO operation in Burma, I quote in a close<\/p>\n reading, is more interesting for the leaves out than when its says the Cyprus defensor<\/p>\n scheme more or less assumes German air superiority. An appendix dealing<\/p>\n with the with the concept of the keeps does not mention friendly or enemy air power.<\/p>\n There is no mention of logistics or stocking up the keeps in advance of battle.<\/p>\n It is notable that keeps her out of range from one another and unable to provide mutual<\/p>\n fire support. Also, weather, while not mentioned dispersion keeps across<\/p>\n the island, appears to assume that the Germans will be able to land by sea or air at will.<\/p>\n After the battles of France and Greece, there could be no doubt the potential for these types of attack<\/p>\n that they were possible and affected. Since the troops available.<\/p>\n For the defense of the island, where in any case, insufficient. The plan appears to be one of despair<\/p>\n to make the best of an impossible situation.<\/p>\n There was no battle and we will never know. It appears the German invasion, backed by sheer<\/p>\n airpower, will become a series of last stands, with the German forces wiping out the keeps one by one<\/p>\n in the location that keeps was all but precluded evacuation. I found no document Tasso state,<\/p>\n but once again, after the Agami ignominious evacuation to Norway, Dunkirk,<\/p>\n Greece and Crete, it’s possible the Cyprus commander<\/p>\n then, given the order, that there would be no more evacuations to do or die.<\/p>\n Whether his opposition is correct or not. Mid nineteen forty one saw the end<\/p>\n of the nosedive of British fortunes that had taken had taken since this spring of 1940.<\/p>\n Successes in Syria and Iraq. When parties to stabilize the eastern Mediterranean<\/p>\n and the German invasion of Russia made an invasion of Britain unlikely mid<\/p>\n The invasion trache threat came and went and the war moved on.<\/p>\n Although establishes a strategic base in the eastern Mediterranean and it fulfills it continues<\/p>\n to fulfill that role in the years before and and and those today with the sovereign base areas<\/p>\n which are not part of the Republic of Cyprus. British, but the British possession of<\/p>\n Cyprus was a strategic deficit in 1939 1945.<\/p>\n The answer is forgotten, but perhaps it took a new life in the 1950s. Since the site’s partially<\/p>\n prepared for the keeps my Welborn seen later, I’ve seen waiter service as<\/p>\n Hydes with the Yoko revolt, in which the view of the Cypriot as a passive non<\/p>\n fighter was put through put to the test like.<\/p>\n I found several points of this talk very engaging about the war itself, but I would like to<\/p>\n pick up at the end because I, for one, have always thought<\/p>\n that the British should have simply ceded Cyprus<\/p>\n to Greece after the war. That would have solved the problem. And the Turks were then too weak<\/p>\n to have done anything about it. And I know there’s some support for this, but why didn’t it work?<\/p>\n Cyprus is always seen as a strategic base, which could not be ceded.<\/p>\n And it’s been a long time since my dissertation, but the famous.<\/p>\n The famous Hopkins endeavor. About 1954. Say<\/p>\n there are some colonies which will never be given up because of their strategic importance.<\/p>\n And I think that you see that point of view still<\/p>\n still going on, that even after Cyprus won, it was ungovernable<\/p>\n after the Okah rising. The final.<\/p>\n Arrangement. Still have two areas as British territory,<\/p>\n and these are specifically not not British bases in Cyprus. They<\/p>\n are British British territories apart from Cyprus. Now<\/p>\n I can see that maybe 20, 30. When there’s an overall<\/p>\n reunification of of Greek and Turkish Cyprus<\/p>\n and a call for the removal of foreign troops, we shall see how that whether that’s<\/p>\n going to stand up or not. But we won’t know until then.<\/p>\n David, I was just thinking that probably the best known family member of the Greek royal<\/p>\n family is Prince Philip. Yes, he has something directly from his father’s<\/p>\n side. Absolutely. You know, despite the fact that he took his mother’s name,<\/p>\n Mountbatten was turned into Mountbatten. But I’m wondering if there’s any and he will<\/p>\n during World War Two. Well, he served at the Royal Navy. He was also part of the battle creed and battled Kitimat<\/p>\n and received the Greek Work Prize. And so I’ve been wondering since given that the British royal family<\/p>\n actually has a very strong connection to Greece through him and there is apparently an official Greek royal<\/p>\n family that I don’t think very many people know about. Is there any possible role for a monarchy in particular<\/p>\n or maybe like a less used member of the British royal family, like Prince Harry is the sort of<\/p>\n royal family that might be in some way to have seriously potentially useful to griefer in Greece or Cyprus<\/p>\n or Macedonia, whatever they’ve agreed to call Macedonia. Is there any way that you simply participated?<\/p>\n Werman Let me give you a good guess so I don’t think I can support a very, very quick. But<\/p>\n when Philip. Became became British,<\/p>\n especially when they married. It was with. They made every possible effort to<\/p>\n separate him from anything to do with the Greek throne. And I<\/p>\n think at that time, the Greek king, Greece, was still on. It was still on the throne.<\/p>\n And if he had any interest in the future of Cyprus. I’ve never seen it.<\/p>\n I can’t say he did. And I’ve never seen<\/p>\n anything on that one. It makes you wonder, though. Yes, sir.<\/p>\n Churchill was very interesting during the war, trying to get the Turks to<\/p>\n join the allied side of Cyprus ever in any way<\/p>\n possible bargaining chip. I don’t think<\/p>\n that the British mind in the 40s earned during the war<\/p>\n ever saw Cyprus as anything but a a Greek island with some Turks on it.<\/p>\n Now, he did a lot of things to bring Turkey into the war, but. And,<\/p>\n you know, we were just talking about cute. There’s a lot of records in queue. But I<\/p>\n have to say, I’ve never seen anything on that line. They were always dealing.<\/p>\n With with the Greeks. But the Turks said that if there’s ever a<\/p>\n change in the status of the island since it was originally Turkish, they expected to be consulted.<\/p>\n Yes, sir. Oh, I got a series of related questions,<\/p>\n sir. First of all, what was the size of British military forces<\/p>\n and what kind of units composed the force? Tanks, artillery, infantry?<\/p>\n What are we talking about here? Talking about. Probably<\/p>\n for. Medium grade British battalions<\/p>\n and a light armored light armored regiment. Plus, a lot of<\/p>\n a lot of this and that. I say there’s a there was a 1st Battalion, Cyprus Regiment,<\/p>\n which pretty much was designed to go through a<\/p>\n guard. The Copperfield’s on the on the western part of the island. But<\/p>\n it was never it varied. You know, as the war went on,<\/p>\n but never more than than six battalions. What you<\/p>\n say, 700 to battalion.<\/p>\n I can’t count the site.<\/p>\n How were they supplied? What were the needs of civilian<\/p>\n military at this time? Was were supplied with Jordan, from<\/p>\n Egypt, from the Middle East, where I come from, a lot of stuff<\/p>\n was coming from from Egypt to the Famagusta. Yeah, from Gershon<\/p>\n on the extreme Scheuring eastern coast was was the best port.<\/p>\n Any good food? Yes. Food both ways.<\/p>\n They also. Tie<\/p>\n a tie and bomber landed in Cyprus and of still flyable,<\/p>\n so they loaded up with Cypriot potatoes and sent it to Egypt to sell<\/p>\n Hurum. So it goes both ways. But the island was generally,<\/p>\n generally fed itself and self-sufficient basic.<\/p>\n Basically are they have one of the first innovations of the<\/p>\n of the Cyprus government when when the war broke out, when they diverted<\/p>\n the grape crop or part of it from wine to bread and made<\/p>\n Raisin Bran raisin bread to make the wheat go further and say<\/p>\n such things as that. But generally they generally they fed themselves. There’s some things they didn’t raise,<\/p>\n but there were a. There was no family on the island.<\/p>\n Walter Yeah, I haven’t been to Cyprus yet, but I’m wondering if it’s similar to<\/p>\n Haiti, Dominican Republic. Is there a division between the Greek side and the Turkish?<\/p>\n Yes. All intermingled? No, no.<\/p>\n And in 1974 at the time, first degree, so they had then.<\/p>\n Then the Turks invaded and they had a very bloody exchange of populations,<\/p>\n Turks going north, Greeks going south. And they established what they call the Green<\/p>\n Line, which was really just a green magic marker, a map<\/p>\n which became the frontier. And in my days when I was in Cyprus,<\/p>\n it was a guarded frontier where soldiers on both sides, a<\/p>\n buffer zone in between and U.N. soldiers patrolling in between.<\/p>\n Now, it’s still two states and the line is still there,<\/p>\n but it’s much more over. For example, a Turk can take a taxi to<\/p>\n A and can work in the south and in Greek Cyprus, Greek can take a taxi. They are to<\/p>\n the airport and fly to somewhere. They couldn’t do that when I was there. You don’t really need<\/p>\n a passport. You need a passport. Yeah. It is. It is<\/p>\n a frontier. But it’s not like the Berlin Wall now anymore. It’s more more<\/p>\n something you can go through. John,<\/p>\n part of Nicosia on this young Turkish<\/p>\n Youngsville, north coast on the hill. And<\/p>\n you just joined the United Nations. Yes. See you. Yes.<\/p>\n Yeah. OK. A school.<\/p>\n And we could only go. Yes. Because the arrangements been made. But I remember<\/p>\n the U.N. soldiers in that year. Yes. Stay with me.<\/p>\n I hate to devolve into the war story, but one thing, my show here is what it was like then. It was a guarded<\/p>\n frontier. No doubt. No doubt about it. But it went through Nicosia.<\/p>\n The buffer zone was it was a kilometer wide. We’re going through Nicosia. It was<\/p>\n one street and one time. I told some of the old people this<\/p>\n arrived up on a checkpoint on the Greek side. And there<\/p>\n on the Greek side, there was a Greek Cypriots older with rival. Bored<\/p>\n stiff, sir. And you. Oh, and.<\/p>\n Khoza Street. The Turkish Cypriots older and<\/p>\n bored stiff in the center of the Canadian u._n.’s older, sitting on a chair<\/p>\n with a with a tennis ball thrown at the tennis ball, catching<\/p>\n this cap. The Thinkwell kitchen is camp now. There was a separation. I mean,<\/p>\n they weren’t shooting at you either. Oh, the time. There was some<\/p>\n violent night. They blew up the hotel. We stayed made<\/p>\n of hydropower, hydropower since the late 90s.<\/p>\n And they’re always into it. I mean, always.<\/p>\n What I say was was typical. But you didn’t see it everywhere. There was always.<\/p>\n You know, mining. In fact, when things loosen up a little bit,<\/p>\n the I’ve got a European effort. They joined the European Union.<\/p>\n They got a European grant to de-mine the Green Zone. The Green Line.<\/p>\n But but they are still separate, but not like not as hostile as they were.<\/p>\n Yeah. Yes, ma’am.<\/p>\n Yeah.<\/p>\n Yeah. The story just told.<\/p>\n I can only give you a heavy dose. I’ve lost a wolf start to Cyprus.<\/p>\n So that’s my day, which has changed a lot. Well, since they do<\/p>\n since the demise of the whole of the Cold War, I am told<\/p>\n that the ten million dollars a day in the 90s was coming in the Cyprus<\/p>\n inns and briefcases by Russians. I<\/p>\n don’t know the line between money laundering and offshore investment,<\/p>\n I can’t say, but it’s totally has totally changed since<\/p>\n my days. And for example, the Cyprus bank we hear so much about in my day.<\/p>\n That was where Middle-Class people get to have their savings account. And so it changed.<\/p>\n But the bank from Cyprus, Wilbur Ross.<\/p>\n And there was so much so much I know money there that<\/p>\n when they when the Greek economy collapsed, Cyprus collapsed with it.<\/p>\n And they put a tax on on the bank accounts.<\/p>\n George, I have a question about the early years of the war when the British<\/p>\n actually faced a pretty dangerous situation. They didn’t know that there was going to be a diversion of German troops<\/p>\n towards the Soviet Union and the danger of invasion seemed very real. And the governor<\/p>\n seemed to think that the morale of the Cypriot population<\/p>\n was very low, in fact. I believe he said that we can’t really depend<\/p>\n on the day the Cypriots not turning against us. Now, how do you explain such<\/p>\n a low morale on the part of the British population, of the population of Cyprus,<\/p>\n that this is not a very good example of effective colonial administration?<\/p>\n I’ve seen all of nationalism, and I think I think the point packed was that<\/p>\n the. The British took over Cyprus from the Turks.<\/p>\n Never. You know, the Greeks were not who were not consulted.<\/p>\n I’m not pro-green, I’m just giving my my analysis. But the Greeks never felt that this was there,<\/p>\n that the Clinton administration was there. Their war had very<\/p>\n little loyalty to it or whatever. And<\/p>\n there they felt that they were Greeks living living in Cyprus. And<\/p>\n so they they never had any particular interest in furthering British<\/p>\n interest. Now, there were a couple of prominent Cypriot families<\/p>\n who were very pro-British for their own loyally pro-British. And a couple<\/p>\n of them were trying to mediate.<\/p>\n But they were sort of frozen, frozen out. No sympathy with<\/p>\n me. I’m sorry. No sympathy with mainland. Yeah. The ship to with mainland.<\/p>\n They feel we are Greeks. Yeah. What about the Turks? Turks.<\/p>\n They are a little more ambivalent. They never think<\/p>\n they were a minority. They did what they had to go button to get by.<\/p>\n They never.<\/p>\n I don’t think they felt they were hyper shirks and they expected me<\/p>\n to be recognized as such, but they never had the feeling<\/p>\n that the Greeks did that they were just really Greeks who are in the wrong place. Did they resent the Brits? The Turks?<\/p>\n Not much. They.<\/p>\n You probably saw the Brits as a. Guarding against the Greeks.<\/p>\n Yes, sir. For an hour or so before<\/p>\n I go to the library and catch up on the periodicals today,<\/p>\n I’ve sold one titled Cyphers Today. I thought perfect I’d never seen before.<\/p>\n So I pointed out that the last issue was from 2014.<\/p>\n So it depends on how you define today, I guess. And then leafing through it,<\/p>\n it seemed to be all Greek. Yeah. And so I’m wondering, are<\/p>\n there any efforts to integrate or accommodate or include<\/p>\n the two nationalities at all? Not really. Publication? Not really. It’s like United<\/p>\n States and Canada. There are two separate countries represented. The U.N.,<\/p>\n right. Representing the U.N. Is Greek Cyprus. OK.<\/p>\n And the what they call the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus has<\/p>\n diplomatic relations with. With Turkey. And<\/p>\n they’re talking about a couple of the Turkic states and the. post-Soviet Union?<\/p>\n I don’t think so. Solidify that or not, but there are they’re isolated.<\/p>\n An interesting thing to me. I don’t really understand all these things,<\/p>\n but the EU considers the Turkish Cypriots as<\/p>\n as members of the EU.<\/p>\n Based on the fact that as far as you’re concerned, the island, the island joined the EU.<\/p>\n What’s the breakdown of life? I can’t<\/p>\n give you numbers. It’s about. Sixty five percent, 35<\/p>\n percent. About the<\/p>\n happened at the time of the collapse of the economy and they quit doing that. That was the last that was the last copy. Yes,<\/p>\n ma’am.<\/p>\n I’m sorry. Yeah.<\/p>\n There’s there’s a lot of other religions in the<\/p>\n in Cyprus besides a besides a mostly Greek, Greek, Cypriot, Greek<\/p>\n Orthodox. And they’re broken. They they know who they are and they’re very concerned about their rights.<\/p>\n And I can name a few and there’s probably some. I’ll miss them there with a couple. The Latvians<\/p>\n who are Catholics who are descendants of the crusaders. There’s the eastern<\/p>\n right Catholics. There’s<\/p>\n what they call the middle bimbo coin, which is Lindsay Willman Woolsey, which was sort of a<\/p>\n mix Turkish or Greek Orthodox<\/p>\n Muslim. And there’s there’s nurses, there’s a few of these. These are small<\/p>\n in numbers, but they’re very, very. They know exactly<\/p>\n who they are. And they’re out there are part of these other communities. And I’ll tell you so I think<\/p>\n we’re coming to our last question. Just after my comment,<\/p>\n January 2013 went on a tourist to North Cyprus. And I was<\/p>\n I was surprised to hear you say that the E.U. considers Turkish Cypriots as citizens,<\/p>\n because as we are going across the street about if we got our passport<\/p>\n stamped by the northern Cypriot side, then the EU wouldn’t go in.<\/p>\n And this week, I got. But I’m just right<\/p>\n that they consider the Turkish Cypriot. Right. They.<\/p>\n I can’t get into the citizenship, but they can tell him there’s a lot of EU aid projects<\/p>\n and Turkish Cyprus. But they they give the EU considers<\/p>\n that the. The whole island<\/p>\n is in the EU. I don’t know which you’ll be a Turks it or not.<\/p>\n George, Alaska. Next to the last question, I guess I<\/p>\n thought back in the day the Turkish population was much more of<\/p>\n It depends on who you ask. I think today I’ll think about today because there’s hope<\/p>\n that all the Turks have moved into knowing more. It was more like a.<\/p>\n But there’s been a lot of immigration in the Turkish Cyprus and one that I<\/p>\n know it. Of Bulgaria, Bulgaria and Turks were expelled from Bulgaria<\/p>\n and they were relocated in the Turkish Cyprus. Of course, there’s a good there’s<\/p>\n a Turkish garrison for my forty thousand year, 4000 soldiers there. George,<\/p>\n last question, an entirely different subject. The literary dimension. Tell us your<\/p>\n views about Lawrence Durrell. They’re not going to be very popular.<\/p>\n OK. I write. Of course, every time you<\/p>\n got it, you got to read better weapons. Go do it.<\/p>\n I thought he was the typical condescending British<\/p>\n journalists wonder. Yeah, that’s my<\/p>\n opinion. I can’t prove it. You know it. That’s why I got out of it.<\/p>\n You’re very, very condescending. I remember some one time he said yes.<\/p>\n And with great difficulty, I maintain my size as a fairly lean. And<\/p>\n everything you said was showing that there’s difference in sort of cute little people down there.<\/p>\n I didn’t like it. Tell me tell me if I’m wrong.<\/p>\n"},"episode_featured_image":false,"episode_player_image":"https:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/british-studies-lecture-series\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/09\/british-studies.png","download_link":"https:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/british-studies-lecture-series\/podcast-download\/99\/cyprus-and-world-war-ii-a-turning-point-in-the-war-in-the-mediterranean.mp3","player_link":"https:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/british-studies-lecture-series\/podcast-player\/99\/cyprus-and-world-war-ii-a-turning-point-in-the-war-in-the-mediterranean.mp3","audio_player":"