Plan Giralda
Encyclopedia
Plan Giralda was a British
plan for military intervention in Zanzibar
following the 1964 revolution
. Giralda was intended to be launched if the radical left-wing Umma Party
attempted to launch a coup against the government of President Julius Nyerere
's newly formed Tanzania. It was the fifth and final British plan for such an eventuality, following Operations Parthenon
, Boris
, Finery
and Shed
. Giralda would have required British Army
units, Royal Marines
and Royal Navy
vessels from the Far East to be deployed to Zanzibar if a request was received from Nyerere. Follow on units would be sent after the main assault from the British garrison in Kenya. The operational constraints of sending troops over such long distances, the reluctance of the Kenyan government to weaken the British presence in their country, the reduction of Western presence in Zanzibar and the strengthening of the political situation in Tanzania made intervention unlikely and the plan was suspended in October 1964. The newly elected Labour government cancelled the plan in December.
staged a coup to overthrow President Abeid Karume
's moderate Afro-Shirazi Party
which controlled the governing Revolutionary Council. Plan Giralda was the fifth British plan for this eventuality, following Operations Parthenon
, Boris
, Finery
and Shed
. The other four operations had been cancelled by the time that Giralda was put into place. Giralda was designed as a replacement for Operation Shed and was introduced around 23 September 1964. Since the revolution Zanzibar had merged with the African mainland country of Tanganyika
to form Tanzania
and Giralda was designed as a means of intervention in case the Zanzibar-based Umma Party attempted a coup against President Julius Nyerere
of Tanzania.
and the Far East
to launch a military intervention in Zanzibar. Troops from British garrisons in Kenya had been designated for previous intervention plans but they were cancelled due to security and secrecy concerns. Giralda called for an infantry battalion and a tactical headquarters unit to be shipped from Aden to the British naval and air base on Gan
in the Maldives
where they would rendezvous with a Royal Marines
commando unit and vessels of the Royal Navy
drawn from the Far East. Because of the long distances involved it was estimated that it would take 11 to 15 days for the entire force to reach Zanzibar following the initial order. Once the force had reached the island it was capable of remaining embarked and out of sight of land for up to 15 days before operational efficiency would be compromised. One of the problems facing the plan was that President Nyerere's agreement had to be given for the operation to go ahead and the 11 to 15 day delay between this agreement and the arrival of troops may have weakened his resolve for action. If, however, the troops were sent in anticipation of this agreement they could only remain onboard the ships for a finite time before they would have to be publicly disembarked. Resource constraints meant that an amphibious assault force with attendant ships could not be kept permanently ready in the theatre as this capability had been ruled out in the 1961 strategy paper "British strategy in the 1960's".
Giralda would have relied on follow on forces drawn from bases in Kenya or transported through Kenya from Aden to maintain security after the initial assault. The movement of these troops was subject to the agreement of the Kenyan government and so put the safety of British troops at the discretion of a foreign government. Similar political problems had affected the reinforcement of Kuwait in 1961. The support of the Kenyan government might have been difficult to obtain as the reinforcements may have come from the British garrison there which had recently been required to quell mutinies in the Kenyan army. By the autumn Western interests in Zanzibar were practically non-existent and in October the British Chiefs of Staff
were informed that Nyerere was very unlikely to request intervention and as a result the plan was suspended. The October 1964 British general election
brought in a Labour government which scrapped Giralda in December. The government decided not to inform Nyerere that it no longer considered itself bound to respond to any request for intervention. Giralda was the last plan for British military intervention in Zanzibar.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
plan for military intervention in Zanzibar
Zanzibar
Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
following the 1964 revolution
Zanzibar Revolution
The Zanzibar Revolution by local African revolutionaries in 1964 overthrew the Sultan of Zanzibar and his mainly Arab government. An ethnically diverse state consisting of a number of islands off the east coast of Tanganyika, Zanzibar had been granted independence by Britain in 1963...
. Giralda was intended to be launched if the radical left-wing Umma Party
Umma Party (Zanzibar)
The Umma Party was a political party in Zanzibar. It was founded in 1963 from disaffected socialist Arabs from the ruling Zanzibar Nationalist Party. It was led by Abdulrahman Muhammad Babu and supported the Afro-Shirazi Party during the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution. Babu was made Minister of...
attempted to launch a coup against the government of President Julius Nyerere
Julius Nyerere
Julius Kambarage Nyerere was a Tanzanian politician who served as the first President of Tanzania and previously Tanganyika, from the country's founding in 1961 until his retirement in 1985....
's newly formed Tanzania. It was the fifth and final British plan for such an eventuality, following Operations Parthenon
Operation Parthenon
Operation Parthenon was a British plan for military intervention in Zanzibar following the 1964 revolution. The operation was authorised by the British Commanders Committee East Africa on 30 January. The main objectives were to restore law and order in Zanzibar and to prevent the radical...
, Boris
Operation Boris
Operation Boris was a British plan for military intervention in Zanzibar following the 1964 revolution. It was devised around 20 February to be used of the radical left-wing Umma Party attempted to take power. It replaced the earlier sea-based Operation Parthenon with a parachute assault launched...
, Finery
Operation Finery
Operation Finery was a British plan for military intervention in Zanzibar following the 1964 revolution. It was a replacement for the earlier operations Parthenon and Boris, amphibious and airborne assaults. Finery circumvented the reliance of the earlier plans on bases in Kenya, where government...
and Shed
Operation Shed
Operation Shed was a British plan for military intervention in Zanzibar following the 1964 Zanzibar revolution. It was one of a series of operations devised by the British to be implemented in the case of an attempt to seize power from President Abeid Karume by the radical left-wing Umma Party...
. Giralda would have required British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
units, Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
and Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
vessels from the Far East to be deployed to Zanzibar if a request was received from Nyerere. Follow on units would be sent after the main assault from the British garrison in Kenya. The operational constraints of sending troops over such long distances, the reluctance of the Kenyan government to weaken the British presence in their country, the reduction of Western presence in Zanzibar and the strengthening of the political situation in Tanzania made intervention unlikely and the plan was suspended in October 1964. The newly elected Labour government cancelled the plan in December.
Objectives
The Zanzibar Revolution had occurred on the 12 January and since then British forces had kept a presence in the area to safeguard European citizens. Since 30 January British forces had also been kept on standby to launch a military intervention in the event that the radical left-wing Umma PartyUmma Party (Zanzibar)
The Umma Party was a political party in Zanzibar. It was founded in 1963 from disaffected socialist Arabs from the ruling Zanzibar Nationalist Party. It was led by Abdulrahman Muhammad Babu and supported the Afro-Shirazi Party during the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution. Babu was made Minister of...
staged a coup to overthrow President Abeid Karume
Abeid Karume
Sheikh Abeid Amani Karume , was the first President of Zanzibar. He obtained this title as a result of a popular revolution which lead to the deposing of the last Sultan in Zanzibar during...
's moderate Afro-Shirazi Party
Afro-Shirazi Party
The Afro-Shirazi Party was the union between the mostly Shiraz Party and the mostly African Afro Party in the island of Zanzibar. The formation of ASP led to the ouster of the Arabs from power with the Zanzibar Revolution in 1964. The party joined with the Tanganyika African National Union to...
which controlled the governing Revolutionary Council. Plan Giralda was the fifth British plan for this eventuality, following Operations Parthenon
Operation Parthenon
Operation Parthenon was a British plan for military intervention in Zanzibar following the 1964 revolution. The operation was authorised by the British Commanders Committee East Africa on 30 January. The main objectives were to restore law and order in Zanzibar and to prevent the radical...
, Boris
Operation Boris
Operation Boris was a British plan for military intervention in Zanzibar following the 1964 revolution. It was devised around 20 February to be used of the radical left-wing Umma Party attempted to take power. It replaced the earlier sea-based Operation Parthenon with a parachute assault launched...
, Finery
Operation Finery
Operation Finery was a British plan for military intervention in Zanzibar following the 1964 revolution. It was a replacement for the earlier operations Parthenon and Boris, amphibious and airborne assaults. Finery circumvented the reliance of the earlier plans on bases in Kenya, where government...
and Shed
Operation Shed
Operation Shed was a British plan for military intervention in Zanzibar following the 1964 Zanzibar revolution. It was one of a series of operations devised by the British to be implemented in the case of an attempt to seize power from President Abeid Karume by the radical left-wing Umma Party...
. The other four operations had been cancelled by the time that Giralda was put into place. Giralda was designed as a replacement for Operation Shed and was introduced around 23 September 1964. Since the revolution Zanzibar had merged with the African mainland country of Tanganyika
Tanganyika
Tanganyika , later formally the Republic of Tanganyika, was a sovereign state in East Africa from 1961 to 1964. It was situated between the Indian Ocean and the African Great Lakes of Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika...
to form Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
and Giralda was designed as a means of intervention in case the Zanzibar-based Umma Party attempted a coup against President Julius Nyerere
Julius Nyerere
Julius Kambarage Nyerere was a Tanzanian politician who served as the first President of Tanzania and previously Tanganyika, from the country's founding in 1961 until his retirement in 1985....
of Tanzania.
Operation
Plan Giralda was to have used British troops from AdenAden
Aden is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea , some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a...
and the Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
to launch a military intervention in Zanzibar. Troops from British garrisons in Kenya had been designated for previous intervention plans but they were cancelled due to security and secrecy concerns. Giralda called for an infantry battalion and a tactical headquarters unit to be shipped from Aden to the British naval and air base on Gan
Gan (Seenu Atoll)
Gan is the southernmost island of Addu Atoll, as well as the southernmost island of the Maldives. It is relatively large by Maldive standards....
in the Maldives
Maldives
The Maldives , , officially Republic of Maldives , also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and...
where they would rendezvous with a Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
commando unit and vessels of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
drawn from the Far East. Because of the long distances involved it was estimated that it would take 11 to 15 days for the entire force to reach Zanzibar following the initial order. Once the force had reached the island it was capable of remaining embarked and out of sight of land for up to 15 days before operational efficiency would be compromised. One of the problems facing the plan was that President Nyerere's agreement had to be given for the operation to go ahead and the 11 to 15 day delay between this agreement and the arrival of troops may have weakened his resolve for action. If, however, the troops were sent in anticipation of this agreement they could only remain onboard the ships for a finite time before they would have to be publicly disembarked. Resource constraints meant that an amphibious assault force with attendant ships could not be kept permanently ready in the theatre as this capability had been ruled out in the 1961 strategy paper "British strategy in the 1960's".
Giralda would have relied on follow on forces drawn from bases in Kenya or transported through Kenya from Aden to maintain security after the initial assault. The movement of these troops was subject to the agreement of the Kenyan government and so put the safety of British troops at the discretion of a foreign government. Similar political problems had affected the reinforcement of Kuwait in 1961. The support of the Kenyan government might have been difficult to obtain as the reinforcements may have come from the British garrison there which had recently been required to quell mutinies in the Kenyan army. By the autumn Western interests in Zanzibar were practically non-existent and in October the British Chiefs of Staff
Chiefs of Staff Committee
The Chiefs of Staff Committee is composed of the most senior military personnel in the British Armed Forces.-History:The Chiefs of Staff Committee was initially established as a sub-committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence in 1923. It remained as such until the abolition of the CID upon the...
were informed that Nyerere was very unlikely to request intervention and as a result the plan was suspended. The October 1964 British general election
United Kingdom general election, 1964
The United Kingdom general election of 1964 was held on 15 October 1964, more than five years after the preceding election, and thirteen years after the Conservative Party had retaken power...
brought in a Labour government which scrapped Giralda in December. The government decided not to inform Nyerere that it no longer considered itself bound to respond to any request for intervention. Giralda was the last plan for British military intervention in Zanzibar.