Simon wrote:insan wrote:One more slap into the faces of 2 Aunt Sallies:"Shortly afterwards the Turkish prime minister, Bulent Ecevit, arrived in London for urgent consultations and met the prime minister. After he left, Wilson instructed the ministry of defence assessment staff to draw up contingency plans for a British invasion.
Marked "Secret UK Eyes A'" and entitled Re-instatement of President Makarios in Cyprus by means of British military support, the document warns of the dangers involved in such an operation.
"This paper considers the general forces level necessary to achieve this," it begins. "It does not address itself to the possibility [of intervention] by Greece, Turkey or another nation ... However, the attempted intervention by air or sea of Greek forces could be deterred by our own forces given about 10 days notice.
"The threat will not only consist of the Cyprus national guard, Greek national contingent, EOKA B [paramilitary Greek loyalists] ... there will be sizeable elements who will actively oppose us by resorting to guerrilla warfare."
The total strength of "Greek loyal forces" was estimated at 55,000, but "standards of training are poor".
The assessment concluded that three brigades - as many as 15,000 soldiers - would be needed.
Close air support would also be necessary, but added: "Bitter experience has shown us that even a small number of dedicated men from the local population can pin down an inordinately large force for an indefinite period and we might well end up by facing an open-ended and expensive situation, like in Northern Ireland.
"Our chances of ever fully subduing the island as a whole ... must be extremely low."
Up to 23,000 service families, UK citizens and friendly nationals would be vulnerable to hostage-taking but evacuating them before an intervention "would make our intentions plain", it said.
The government hesitated and events moved faster than anticipated. In the early hours of July 20 Turkish troops invaded north Cyprus and in effect partitioned the island on the grounds of protecting the Turkish Cypriot population.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/jan/0 ... larchives1
insan, what has the above got to do with anything? This is referring to guerilla warfare if the British opposed Greek forces and reinstated Makarios. All major powers struggle with guerilla warfare, because you can't fight your enemy head on. That has nothing to do with the conventional naval warfare I am referring to.
I think Insan has been taking some serious drugs again!
