William Harper (Rhodesian politician) (original) (raw)

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William John Harper (22 July 1916 – 8 September 2006) was a politician, general contractor and Royal Air Force fighter pilot who served as a Cabinet minister in Rhodesia (or Southern Rhodesia) from 1962 to 1968, and signed that country's Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) from Britain in 1965. Born into a prominent Anglo-Indian merchant family in Calcutta, Harper was educated in India and England and joined the RAF in 1937. He served as an officer throughout the Second World War and saw action as one of "The Few" in the Battle of Britain, during which he was wounded in action. Appalled by Britain's granting of independence to India in 1947, he emigrated to Rhodesia on retiring from the Air Force two years later. Harper contended that British rule in the subcontinent should never have ended and took a similar stance regarding his adopted homeland, reportedly declaring that it, South Africa, and the neighbouring Portuguese territories would "be under white rule forever". He entered politics with the Dominion Party in 1958 and became Minister of Irrigation, Roads and Road Traffic in the Rhodesian Front (RF) government in 1962. The head of a far-right group within the RF, he called for Rhodesia to abolish black representation in parliament and adopt "a form of political apartheid". When the Prime Minister Winston Field resigned in 1964, Harper was a front-runner to succeed him, but lost out to Ian Smith, who moved him to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Each breakdown or setback during the early years of Smith's premiership prompted press speculation that Harper might replace him. In 1966, when Smith brought a working document back from the HMS Tiger talks with the British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, Harper led opposition to the terms in Cabinet, contributing to their rejection. Harper resigned from the Rhodesian Front in 1968, soon after Smith dismissed him from the Cabinet, reportedly because Harper had had an extramarital affair with a British agent. He subsequently became a vocal critic of the Prime Minister, greeting each step Smith made towards settlement with black nationalists during the Bush War with public indignation. By the time black majority rule began in Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979, following the Internal Settlement of the previous year, Harper had left for South Africa, being unwilling to accept majority rule in Rhodesia. He died in 2006 at the age of 90. (en)

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1916-07-22 (xsd:date)

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William John Harper (en)

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2006-09-08 (xsd:date)

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dbr:Harry_Reedman
Himself (en)

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William Harper at an airport, wearing a hat (en)

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Minister of Roads (en)
Minister of Water Development (en)

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Second World War (en)

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William John Harper (en)

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Royal Air Force (en)
Royal Australian Air Force (en)
(en)

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Harper, photographed in 1965 (en)

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William Harper (en)

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dbr:Ministry_of_Agriculture_(Rhodesia)
Minister of Roads and Road Traffic (en)
Minister of Transport and Power (en)
Minister of the Public Service (en)
Minister of Internal Affairs of Rhodesia (en)
Member of the Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly for Gatooma (en)

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(en)
Rhodesian Front (en)
Dominion (en)
United Conservative (en)

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1937 (xsd:integer)

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Elizabeth (en)

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1964-04-14 (xsd:date)
1968-07-11 (xsd:date)

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1958-06-05 (xsd:date)
1962-12-17 (xsd:date)
1963-02-15 (xsd:date)
1963-11-29 (xsd:date)

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1963-02-15 (xsd:date)
1968-07-04 (xsd:date)

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1964-04-14 (xsd:date)

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dbr:Minister_of_Internal_Affairs_(Rhodesia)
dbr:Ministry_of_Agriculture_(Rhodesia)
dbr:Leader_of_the_Opposition_(Rhodesia)
Minister of Roads and Road Traffic (en)
Minister of Transport and Power (en)
Minister of the Public Service (en)
Member of Parliament for Gatooma (en)

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1958 (xsd:integer)
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19641968 (xsd:integer)

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William John Harper (22 July 1916 – 8 September 2006) was a politician, general contractor and Royal Air Force fighter pilot who served as a Cabinet minister in Rhodesia (or Southern Rhodesia) from 1962 to 1968, and signed that country's Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) from Britain in 1965. Born into a prominent Anglo-Indian merchant family in Calcutta, Harper was educated in India and England and joined the RAF in 1937. He served as an officer throughout the Second World War and saw action as one of "The Few" in the Battle of Britain, during which he was wounded in action. Appalled by Britain's granting of independence to India in 1947, he emigrated to Rhodesia on retiring from the Air Force two years later. (en)

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William Harper (Rhodesian politician) (en)

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William Harper (en)

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