Colin Campbell Mitchell (17 November 1925 – 20 July 1996) was a
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
soldier and politician. He became a public figure in 1967 as the commanding officer of the 1st Battalion of the
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland.
Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...
. Forces under his command reoccupied the
Crater district of
Aden
Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...
which had been taken over by local police mutineers in what became known as
"the last battle of the British empire". The reoccupation and subsequent control of the Crater were controversial and Mitchell resigned his army commission in 1968. Subsequently, he became a Conservative Member of Parliament and served one term from 1970 to February 1974. After participation in a failed business venture he subsequently worked as a security and military consultant. In 1989 Mitchell took a leading role in the
Halo Trust
The HALO Trust (Hazardous Area Life-support Organization) is a non-political and non-religious registered British charity and American non-profit organization which removes debris left behind by war, in particular land mines. With over 10,000 staf ...
, a not-for-profit organisation undertaking mine clearance in former war zones.
Early life
Mitchell's father (also called Colin) came from an Argyllshire fishing family. Mitchell (Snr) worked in a solicitor's office and for the
MacBrayne ferry company before serving in the 10th Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Mitchell (Snr) achieved the rank of captain (commissioned 'in the field') and was awarded the
Military Cross
The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries.
The MC i ...
at the
Second Battle of Ypres
During the First World War, the Second Battle of Ypres was fought from for control of the tactically important high ground to the east and south of the Flemish town of Ypres in western Belgium. The First Battle of Ypres had been fought the pre ...
, but when the young Colin asked him how he would only say, 'Oh, shooting rabbits'. He was badly gassed in 1918. After the war, he worked in the City of London and married a
Glaswegian
The Glasgow dialect, popularly known as the Glasgow patter or Glaswegian, varies from Scottish English at one end of a bipolar linguistic continuum to the local dialect of West Central Scots at the other. Therefore, the speech of many Glaswegian ...
woman (née Gilmour) whose father worked as a manager for the
LMS LMS may refer to:
Science and technology
* Labeled magnitude scale, a scaling technique
* Learning management system, education software
* Least mean squares filter, producing least mean square error
* Leiomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer
* Lenz ...
Railway company. The couple took up residence in the South London suburb of
Purley where they had two children – Colin and Henrietta. The family lived in a modest semi-detached house and Colin would attend services at the local
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
Church wearing a
kilt
A kilt ( gd, fèileadh ; Irish: ''féileadh'') is a garment resembling a wrap-around knee-length skirt, made of twill woven worsted wool with heavy pleats at the sides and back and traditionally a tartan pattern. Originating in the Scottish Hi ...
.
Mitchell received his formal education at the
Whitgift Grammar School in
Croydon
Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...
.
Military career
In 1940, at age 15, Mitchell enlisted in the
Home Guard
Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense.
The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting wi ...
, and may have been the youngest Home Guard soldier. In May 1943 he joined the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
, enlisting as a private in the
Royal West Kent Regiment
The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army based in the county of Kent in existence from 1881 to 1961. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, originally as the Quee ...
. He soon became a Lance-Corporal and instructed newcomers in physical training. One of his fellow instructors was
Stan Cullis
Stanley Cullis (25 October 1916 – 28 February 2001) was an English professional footballer and manager, primarily for Wolverhampton Wanderers. During his term as manager between 1948 and 1964, Wolves became one of the strongest teams in the En ...
who had been the captain of the
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
cup side at Wembley in 1939 and was the captain of
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
at the time. Mitchell was commissioned into the
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland.
Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...
in 1944. He fought in the final battles of the
Italian campaign, and was lightly wounded in the advance on
Ferrara
Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...
. Despite this, his wartime experience inclined him to take up a military career.
He was appointed to a regular commission on 21 December 1946.
Following the war, he saw action against Jewish guerrillas during the
Palestine Emergency
A successful paramilitary campaign was carried out by Zionist underground groups against British rule in Mandatory Palestine from 1944 to 1948. The tensions between the Zionist underground and the British mandatory authorities rose from 1938 an ...
. While in Palestine, he participated in operations to arrest Jewish militants. During
Operation Agatha
Operation Agatha (Saturday, June 29, 1946), sometimes called Black Sabbath ( he, השבת השחורה) or Black Saturday because it began on the Jewish sabbath, was a police and military operation conducted by the British authorities in Mandator ...
, which saw most of the Jewish political leadership in Palestine detained, Mitchell's mission was to arrest
Moshe Shertok
Moshe Sharett ( he, משה שרת, born Moshe Chertok (Hebrew: ) 15 October 1894 – 7 July 1965) was a Russian-born Israeli politician who served as Israel's second prime minister from 1954 to 1955. A member of Mapai, Sharett's term was b ...
(a future
Prime Minister of Israel
The prime minister of Israel ( he, רֹאשׁ הַמֶּמְשָׁלָה, Rosh HaMemshala, Head of the Government, Hebrew acronym: he2, רה״מ; ar, رئيس الحكومة, ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief exec ...
). Initially, his unit raided the wrong house. However, they were later able to find and arrest him. In July 1946, he witnessed the
King David Hotel bombing
The British administrative headquarters for Mandatory Palestine, housed in the southern wing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, were bombed in a terrorist attack on 22 July 1946 by the militant right-wing Zionist underground organization the ...
: he and his company commander were within 300 feet of the building when the bombing occurred. While on a personal reconnaissance mission, he was shot and wounded by one of his own Bren gunners, who mistook him for a guerrilla. After recovering from his injuries, he was transferred from his regiment to become
aide-de-camp to General
Gordon MacMillan
General Sir Gordon Holmes Alexander MacMillan of MacMillan and Knap, (7 January 1897 – 21 January 1986) was a professional soldier who rose to become a general in the British Army. As a young officer during the First World War, he displayed o ...
, the commander of British forces in Palestine and Transjordan. He spent a total of three years in Palestine. While there, he made friends among both the Arabs and Jews, including
Moshe Dayan
Moshe Dayan ( he, משה דיין; 20 May 1915 – 16 October 1981) was an Israeli military leader and politician. As commander of the Jerusalem front in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1953–1958) du ...
, a future Israeli general who would become one of Mitchell's heroes, as well as future Israeli Prime Minister
Moshe Sharett
Moshe Sharett ( he, משה שרת, born Moshe Chertok (Hebrew: ) 15 October 1894 – 7 July 1965) was a Russian-born Israeli politician who served as Israel's second prime minister from 1954 to 1955. A member of Mapai, Sharett's term was b ...
, then named Moshe Shertok, who developed a cordial relationship with Mitchell after his arrest and corresponded with him for years afterward, when he became a senior Israeli government official.
In 1950, with the outbreak of the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
, he was allowed to rejoin his regiment so he could deploy to Korea. He participated in the initial advance into
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
, seeing close-quarters combat along the way. His regiment ultimately reached
Taechon
T'aechŏn County or Thaechŏn County (''in North Korean romanization'') is a ''kun'', or county, in central North P'yŏngan province, North Korea. It borders Taegwan and Tongch'ang to the north, Unsan and Nyŏngbyŏn to the east, Pakch'ŏn and ...
, near the Chinese border on the
Yalu River
The Yalu River, known by Koreans as the Amrok River or Amnok River, is a river on the border between North Korea and China. Together with the Tumen River to its east, and a small portion of Paektu Mountain, the Yalu forms the border between ...
. When the Chinese Army intervened and crossed the Yalu River in overwhelming numbers, the regiment was forced to take part in the retreat of UN forces, and later helped hold the line against Communist forces when UN forces consolidated. The regiment held a position known as "Frostbite Ridge", where they had to endure freezing conditions. They held the area through the winter until the thaw, and in 1951, they began to advance. However, shortly afterward, they were relieved and withdrawn.
Following his service in Korea, Mitchell was posted in Britain, but in late 1957, he returned to the Argylls as a company commander with the 1st Battalion, and was posted to
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
. At the time, the
Cyprus Emergency
The Cyprus Emergency ( gr, Απελευθερωτικός Αγώνας της Κύπρου 1955–59), also known as the Greek Cypriot War of Independence or Cypriot War of Independence, was a conflict fought in British Cyprus between November 19 ...
was in full swing. Mitchell was placed in charge of the coastal towns of
Paphos
Paphos ( el, Πάφος ; tr, Baf) is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and New Paphos.
The current city of Pap ...
and Ktima, where his men engaged in counter-insurgency operations against
EOKA
The Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston (EOKA; ; el, Εθνική Οργάνωσις Κυπρίων Αγωνιστών, lit=National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters) was a Greek Cypriot
Greek Cypriots or Cypriot Greeks ( el, Ελληνο ...
guerrillas. They faced both conventional EOKA raids and forest fires deliberately lit by EOKA fighters and local villagers who were motivated by the money they would receive to fight them.
Mitchell was subsequently posted to the
British Army of the Rhine
There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War and the other after the Second World War. Both formations had areas of responsibility located a ...
with the rest of the regiment, and then joined the
King's African Rifles
The King's African Rifles (KAR) was a multi-battalion British colonial regiment raised from Britain's various possessions in East Africa from 1902 until independence in the 1960s. It performed both military and internal security functions withi ...
, and was posted to
East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa:
Due to the historical ...
. Soon afterward, he saw action in
Zanzibar
Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...
with the KAR in breaking up disturbances between the island's Arab and African populations, which had begun during a general election and had descended into widespread rioting and clashes. He also participated in operations on the
Northern Frontier District
The North Eastern Province ( so, Gobolka Woqooyi Bari, 𐒌𐒙𐒁𐒙𐒐𐒏𐒖 𐒓𐒙𐒎𐒝𐒕𐒘 𐒁𐒖𐒇𐒘) is one of the former provinces in Kenya. It has a land area of 127,358.5 km2, with its capital at Garissa. Previ ...
. At the time, Somali guerrillas were launching raids as part of a campaign to unite the region with Somalia, and the frontiers with other neighbouring states were also volatile. In one incident, Mitchell was searching for Somali guerrillas in a low-flying helicopter, and an elephant attempted to attack the helicopter, nearly clipping it with its tusks. It has been claimed that while with the KAR Mitchell was instrumental in obtaining a commission for
Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...
, who later became President of
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
. Mitchell's familiarity with the Scottish
clan system
A Scottish clan (from Gaelic , literally 'children', more broadly 'kindred') is a kinship group among the Scottish people. Clans give a sense of shared identity and descent to members, and in modern times have an official structure recogni ...
made him more comfortable with African tribal issues than was the case with his English contemporaries. Impressed by Mitchell and other Scottish officers, Amin would later adopt the title
''King of Scotland''.
Following his service in Kenya, Mitchell rejoined the Argylls, which was sent to
Borneo
Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...
to participate in the
Indonesian-Malaysian Confrontation. Mitchell participated in a series of clashes with Indonesian forces. After six months of jungle warfare, the regiment was sent back to
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
to recuperate. Mitchell was posted back to the UK as a staff officer. Throughout all this time Mitchell was making a reputation as a bold and efficient officer, passing out top of
Staff College
Staff colleges (also command and staff colleges and War colleges) train military officers in the administrative, military staff and policy aspects of their profession. It is usual for such training to occur at several levels in a career. For ex ...
and serving as GSO1 on the staff of
Chief of the Defence staff,
Lord Mountbatten
Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) was a British naval officer, colonial administrator and close relative of the British royal family. Mountbatten, who was of German ...
. Mitchell was promoted
lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...
in 1947,
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
in 1952,
major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
in 1959, and his success in a wide range of appointments won him
brevet rank
In many of the world's military establishments, a brevet ( or ) was a warrant giving a commissioned officer a higher rank title as a reward for gallantry or meritorious conduct but may not confer the authority, precedence, or pay of real rank. ...
as a lieutenant-colonel in 1964.
Mitchell was promoted to substantive lieutenant-colonel on 31 December 1966, and made
Commanding Officer
The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...
1st Battalion, The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (the 'Argylls') on 12 January 1967.
Aden
In 1967 the British Aden colony consisted of the City of Aden and attached Protectorate areas, with a total land mass similar to that of the United Kingdom. These territories enjoyed a degree of self government as the
Federation of South Arabia
The Federation of South Arabia ( ar, اتحاد الجنوب العربي ') was a federal state under British protection in what would become South Yemen. Its capital was Aden.
It was formed on 4 April 1962 from the 15 protected states of ...
. Within the City itself was the old quarter known as "The Crater", so called because it was sited in an
extinct volcano
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...
. The Crater district had an area of approximately one square mile and housed approximately 80,000 inhabitants. Between 1963 and 1967 the British administration faced a low intensity
insurgency
An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregu ...
from groups of armed Arab nationalists who were seeking independence for Aden and competing for future power after the inevitable British withdrawal. This insurgency was designated the "
Aden Emergency
The Aden Emergency, also known as the Radfan Uprising (), was an armed rebellion by NLF and FLOSY during the Cold War against the Federation of South Arabia, a protectorate of the United Kingdom, which now forms part of Yemen.
Partly inspire ...
".
Uprising in Aden City
In late June 1967 the 1st Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders was due to take over responsibility for security in Aden's Crater district from the
Royal Northumberland Fusiliers
The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army. Raised in 1674 as one of three 'English' units in the Dutch Anglo-Scots Brigade, it accompanied William III to England in the November 1688 Glorious Revolution an ...
. However, before this took place, on 20 June 1967 elements of the locally recruited Aden Police
mutinied
Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military, of a crew or of a crew of pirates) to oppose, change, or overthrow an organization to which they were previously loyal. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among members ...
, seizing control over the district in alliance with insurgent forces, staging several ambushes of British troops in the Crater district's streets. Eight British soldiers from a transport unit were attacked and killed by the mutineers, and other British troops were killed in coordinated separate attacks. Three men from the Argylls (its Officer Commanding 'D' company, along with two privates) were killed when a patrol of the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers that they were accompanying was ambushed. All but one of the patrol were shot and killed.
For some days a stand-off around the Crater existed between British Forces and the mutineers, with the authorities hesitating. Then, just before sunset on 3 July 1967 Mitchell commanded an operation that
reoccupied the Crater. The Argylls and other units entered and reoccupied the Crater, accompanied by 15 bagpipers playing "
Scotland the Brave
"Scotland the Brave" ( gd, Alba an Àigh) is a Scottish patriotic song, one of three often considered an unofficial Scottish national anthem (the others being "Flower of Scotland", and "Scots Wha Hae").
History
The tune probably originated in ...
" and the Argylls' regimental charge, "Monymusk".
Mitchell subsequently used what were described as "strong arm methods" to maintain order in the Crater district for the remaining months before British withdrawal from Aden. The reoccupation itself was almost bloodless. One local man was killed and control of the Treasury building holding the
Federation's currency reserves was restored.
Mitchell then used an integrated system of observation posts, patrols, checkpoints and intelligence gathering to maintain the Crater as a pacified area whilst security conditions elsewhere in Aden began to deteriorate. However, British troops in the Crater became subject to sniper and grenade attacks.
Allegations were made of abuses by Mitchell and the troops under his command. There were also allegations that British troops had engaged in some looting within the district.
Mitchell used the Chartered Bank building in the Crater district as his headquarters, and army snipers positioned upon its roof would shoot at anyone thought to represent a threat in the streets below. A
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reporter stated "Once we stood together in Crater watching the Argylls stacking, as in a butcher's shop, the bodies of four Arab militants they had just shot and Mad Mitch said: 'It was like shooting grouse, a brace here and a brace there'." Mitchell (nicknamed 'Mad Mitch' by sections of the press) imposed what was described as "Argyll law" on the Crater.
The reoccupation of the Crater made Mitchell popular with sections of the British press and public. At the same time it brought disapproval from Mitchell's superiors in both the Army and the High Commission.
He was criticized for being a publicity-seeker, and there were accusations that the troops under his command lacked discipline. One High Commission official in Aden describing the Argylls as "a bunch of Glasgow thugs" (a statement for which he later apologised).
The reoccupation and subsequent control of the Crater district were controversial. General-Officer-Commanding Middle East Land Forces, Major-General
Philip Tower
Major General Philip Thomas Tower, (1 March 1917 – 8 December 2006) was a British Army officer who held high command in the late 1960s.
Military career
The only son of Vice Admiral Sir Thomas Tower, Tower was born in Rhu, Dunbartonshire. Edu ...
, feared that it would merely provoke trouble. He was of the view that engaging in a full reoccupation of the Crater, with its risk of casualties, was pointless given that British withdrawal from Aden was imminent and British strategy was moving to the role of neutral peacekeeping. Tower had authorized a probe into the Crater but Mitchell had used this authority to carry out a full military reoccupation. Tower subsequently ordered Mitchell to "throttle back" on the operation.
Mitchell stated that he considered Tower's approach to be "wet hen tactics". The situation that developed was described in ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' as follows:
['']The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'', 24 July 1996
Questions were raised in the House of Commons about the events in Aden.
Tam Dalyell
Sir Thomas Dalyell, 11th Baronet, , ( ; 9 August 1932 – 26 January 2017), known as Tam Dalyell, was a Scottish Labour Party politician who was a member of the House of Commons from 1962 to 2005. He represented West Lothian from 1962 to 1983 ...
(Labour, West Lothian) asked whether it was true that: "Mitchell disobeyed operational and administrative orders of his senior officers during the recapture of the Crater"? Mitchell himself later stated that he had been rebuked over the reoccupation by General Tower. The nature of this rebuke was explained by British Government's Defence Minister
Denis Healey
Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey, (30 August 1917 – 3 October 2015) was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979 and as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970; he ...
as follows:
The final British withdrawal from Aden took place in November 1967. Mitchell and the Argylls arrived back at their Plymouth garrison on 27 November. Between July and November the regiment had suffered 5 dead and 25 wounded in Aden, a near 5% casualty rate. Unlike all the other battalion commanders from Aden, Mitchell was not decorated, receiving instead only a Mention in Despatches.
It was also indicated to him that further career advancement within the army was unlikely. Interviewed by the BBC in 1985, General Tower said "Colonel Mitchell, for reasons of his own, wanted to cut a dash with the Argylls in the Crater" thereby accepting unnecessary casualties. Reports began to circulate to the effect that the Argylls were to be disbanded as part of a general cutback in defence spending. In July 1968, Mitchell gave notice of his intention to resign his commission at the end of the year. Although he had not given the customary 7 months' notice required of senior officers, his resignation was accepted with effect from 1 October 1968.
Political career
Once he was a civilian, Mitchell assumed a prominent public role in a "Save the Argylls" campaign to stop the abolition of the regiment. He published a memoir entitled ''Having Been a Soldier'', undertook some freelance journalism and briefly took a job as management trainee with Beaverbrook Newspapers. However, he had become a popular public figure from his time in Aden, and turned this to his advantage when he started a new career in politics. In 1969 he was adopted as the
Conservative Party's parliamentary candidate for
Aberdeenshire West. This was a Liberal Party-held seat, although the sitting member was retiring at the next election. Mitchell took the seat with a 5,000 vote majority in the
1970 general election. His main opponent in that election was
Laura Grimond
Laura Miranda Grimond, Baroness Grimond (''née'' Bonham-Carter; 13 October 1918 – 15 February 1994) was a British Liberal Party politician, and the wife of party leader Jo Grimond.
Background
She was born in Marylebone, London, the daughter o ...
, wife of former Liberal leader
Jo Grimond
Joseph Grimond, Baron Grimond, (; 29 July 1913 – 24 October 1993), known as Jo Grimond, was a British politician, leader of the Liberal Party for eleven years from 1956 to 1967 and again briefly on an interim basis in 1976.
Grimond was a lo ...
.
Mitchell was considered to be an energetic and effective constituency MP. He also served for a year as
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...
to the
Secretary of State for Scotland
The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the Unit ...
. However, it became apparent that he was not likely to develop a ministerial career. His main political interest was the British Army, and he was frequently critical of its leadership. In August 1970 he was quoted as having referred to "... those bastards in Whitehall". He gravitated towards the right wing of the Conservative Party, opposing the United Kingdom's membership of the
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...
, economic sanctions being placed upon
Rhodesia
Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...
, and the arms embargo on Israel. He also became a prominent member of both the
Monday Club
The Conservative Monday Club (usually known as the Monday Club) is a British political pressure group, aligned with the Conservative Party, though no longer endorsed by it. It also has links to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Ulster Unioni ...
and the 'Anglo-Rhodesian Society'. Mitchell became known as a maverick M.P., and was one of 39 Conservatives who defied the Party whip to vote against entry to the
EEC
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...
in the Commons vote on 28 October 1971. Although never promoted to ministerial office, Mitchell was a high-profile backbench M.P., in demand by society and the media. He was a popular member of the
Garrick Club
The Garrick Club is a gentlemen's club in the heart of London founded in 1831. It is one of the oldest members' clubs in the world and, since its inception, has catered to members such as Charles Kean, Henry Irving, Herbert Beerbohm Tree, A ...
, and was reported to enjoy a "gregarious social life" in London.
In 1973 he was approached by a consortium that was planning to establish a large sporting and agricultural estate in Scotland, which invited him to take a stake in the project and become the project's General-Manager with a generous salary. Mitchell accepted and announced he would not be seeking re-election to Parliament on the basis that he “…could not afford to be an MP". — a remark that would come back to haunt him. He left Parliament at the time of the
February 1974 general election, against the advice of both his wife Sue and fellow maverick M.P
Tam Dalyell
Sir Thomas Dalyell, 11th Baronet, , ( ; 9 August 1932 – 26 January 2017), known as Tam Dalyell, was a Scottish Labour Party politician who was a member of the House of Commons from 1962 to 2005. He represented West Lothian from 1962 to 1983 ...
.
1974-1989
The Scottish estate project failed and Mitchell became unemployed. He later stated that giving up his seat in Parliament had been a disastrous mistake. Mitchell spent much of the next 10 years trying to get back into Parliament. He applied to several constituency Conservative Associations, including
Bournemouth East
Bournemouth East is a parliamentary constituency in Dorset represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Tobias Ellwood, a Conservative.
Constituency profile
The seat is mostly home to White British people and covers ...
in August 1977, but at every selection interview the question was raised as to why he had given up Aberdeenshire West in 1974. No winnable constituency would adopt him. He remained on the fringes of Conservative Party politics, ''The Times'' Diary columnist reporting on a meeting of the Monday Club at the 1976 Conservative Party conference where he had made a speech on the subject of Rhodesia:
During this period Mitchell remained sporadically active in a series of consultancies, mostly of a military or security nature. He is known to have provided services to backers of the
Mujahideen
''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term th ...
insurgents in
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
and
Contra
Contra may refer to:
Places
* Contra, Virginia
* Contra Costa Canal, an aqueduct in the U.S. state of California
* Contra Costa County, California
* Tenero-Contra, a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland ...
rebels in
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...
.
In November 1980, Mitchell praised the Mujahideen as "gallant fighters... expressing themselves, as Afghans know best, in the romantic tradition of sniping, raiding and brigandry." He urged Western leaders to provide them with military training and equipment, and to select "proven guerilla fighters" from their ranks for training as future leaders of Afghanistan. However, Mitchell became increasingly dissatisfied with his situation.
The Halo Trust
In 1989, Mitchell co-founded the
Halo Trust
The HALO Trust (Hazardous Area Life-support Organization) is a non-political and non-religious registered British charity and American non-profit organization which removes debris left behind by war, in particular land mines. With over 10,000 staf ...
(the hazardous areas life-support organization). This non-profit making organization undertook de-mining operations in former war zones. It employed a core of (mostly British and Commonwealth) de-mining experts and a large number of locally recruited and trained personnel. Most of the Halo personnel were former servicemen. Halo became active around the world in areas such as
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
,
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...
and Afghanistan. Mitchell thrived in his work with Halo. It raised his public profile once again, and in a manner that was both positive and uncontroversial.
Death
Mitchell died in his 71st year on 20 July 1996 at
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...
in London, after a short illness. His obituary in ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' was written by his friend the Labour MP
Tam Dalyell
Sir Thomas Dalyell, 11th Baronet, , ( ; 9 August 1932 – 26 January 2017), known as Tam Dalyell, was a Scottish Labour Party politician who was a member of the House of Commons from 1962 to 2005. He represented West Lothian from 1962 to 1983 ...
. Dalyell stated :
Personal life
Mitchell married Jean Hamilton (Sue) Phillips in April 1956. Phillips was the daughter of Wing Commander Stephen Phillips, R.A.F., and was a native of Meikleour, Perthshire. The couple had three children (2 sons and 1 daughter), the youngest of whom (Colina) was born in 1965. Their son, Dr. Angus Mitchell, is a noted authority on the life of Irish revolutionary
Roger Casement
Roger David Casement ( ga, Ruairí Dáithí Mac Easmainn; 1 September 1864 – 3 August 1916), known as Sir Roger Casement, CMG, between 1911 and 1916, was a diplomat and Irish nationalist executed by the United Kingdom for treason during Worl ...
.
One observer later described Phillips as: "his marvellous wife ... who backed him through thick and thin - mostly thin".
References
External links
* Army Histor
The Argylls, 1945 to 1971* 700
Glengarried Men
The Argylls' 1967 tour of duty in Aden* BBC report, 1 December 200
a return to Aden without Mad Mitch* Army History
* "Tartan kitsch"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Colin
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders officers
British Army personnel of World War II
British military personnel of the Aden Emergency
British military personnel of the Cyprus Emergency
British Army personnel of the Korean War
British military personnel of the Palestine Emergency
Scottish Conservative Party MPs
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies
People educated at Whitgift School
UK MPs 1970–1974
1925 births
1996 deaths
King's African Rifles officers
Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley
People from Croydon
Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment soldiers
British Home Guard soldiers
English people of Scottish descent
Military personnel from Surrey