Mum – Hot. Work all day. R exam in am. P off all day. V busy at work. Mr S away. Barbara leaving on July 26. V v tired. Just sat & knitted all evening. Roger’s bike missing – E went round her friends to try to find it.
Roger – I couldn’t go to see Dr Roy at the time planned as I had my maths exam at that time. His secretary will contact me to arrange an interview. This evening Tricia went for another river walk but was back by about 20 past 8. Of the 13 Mercenaries on trial in Angola, 4 have been sentenced to death the rest have received long jail sentences. Two explosions yesterday one at King’s Lynn in which a man was killed and one at Trowse where a fireman was injured.
Parliament debate the shipbuilding nationalisation bill again tonight. The hijackers of the French plane at present in Uganda have demanded the release of 53 arab prisoners. 40 are in Israel, others are in Kenya and Switzerland. In the men’s semi-final Ili Nastase bt Charlie Pasarell, Ral Ramirez bt Vitas Gerulaitis, Bjorn Borg bt Guillermo Vilas and Roscoe Tanner bt Jimmy Connors. Nastase plays Ramirez and Tanner plays Borg. In the women’s Evert plays Navratilova and Wade plays Cawley.
Notes
A Note on the Weather
Mum simply noted that it was hot. This is not surprising as 1976, is well-known for having had a very hot and dry summer, see Chapter 129.
Mum Worked for Mr Ashken and Mr Stephens
During this period, mum worked as part-time medical secretary for the private practice of two surgeons, Mr Ashken and Mr Stephens, see Chapter 121. This practice was based at 41 Newmarket Road. She worked all day on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and half day on Fridays. On this occasion, as it was Tuesday, she worked all day. She noted that it was very busy even though Mr Stephens (Mr S) was away. Mum also noted that the other secretary, Barbara, who worked there largely for Dr Batty-Shaw was leaving in July.
O levels
R refers to me. I was taking my O levels at this time, see Chapter 118. Mum noted that I had an exam that morning (am). In passing, I noted in my diary that this was a maths exam.
A levels
P refers to my older sister Tricia (Patricia). She was sitting her A levels, see Chapter 118. Like me, she only had to go into school when she had exams. Mum noted that she was home all day which presumably means she had no exams.
Tired
Mum noted she was very very tired. She often complained of tiredness at this time. Partly, this was just a reflection of a very busy schedule. However, it also reflected the interaction between her mental and physical health, see Chapter 116.
Sitting and Knitting
Mum noted that she spent the whole evening sitting and knitting, see Chapter 126. I am not sure what she was knitting.
Missing Bike
Mum noted that my bike was missing, see Chapter 127. It is odd that I do not mention it at all given that it was my bike! I am not entirely sure which bike this was. I had inherited grandad’s bike from him in the early/mid 1970s. It was a small-wheeled Raleigh RSW16. I recall this bike fairly clearly. However, I am not sure if it was red or green. I seem to recall both.
I can’t say I loved it! The small wheels were odd and I craved getting a racing bike which I did at some point in the 1970s, a black Puch, ten-speed bike.
On balance, I think it must have been grandad’s bike that had gone missing. This would explain why mum was interested in it and why I appeared largely indifferent!
E refers to my younger sister Liz (Elizabeth). I am not sure why she got involved! Perhaps she knew something or thought she might know someone who did. I don’t know if anything came of this or if the bike was ever recovered.
A Level Choices
I was having difficulty deciding what subjects I was going to study for A level. I wanted to take at least one science and a language but the Head of Upper School had told me that this was not possible, see Chapter 118. Mum had seen Dr Roy, the school’s overall head, the previous day. I was due to see him on this day but could not as the time I had been given clashed with my maths exam. I noted that his secretary would get in touch with me with an alternate time.
River Walk
I noted that my older sister Tricia went for “another” river walk. The earlier on had been on Sunday with the church youth group Spotsoc, see Chapter 124. She was not out very late as she was back by 20.20.
Angolan Mercenaries
I had noted the trial of Western mercenaries captured in Angola earlier in June, see Chapter 129. This is now referred to as the Luanda trial involving 14 Western mercenaries, of whom nine were British, four American and one Irish. They had been fighting for the US-backed National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA). They were captured by forces of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and were charged with acting as mercenaries, war crimes and crimes against peace. The trial lasted from 11 to 16 June. All were found guilty with sentences delivered the previous day, that is on 28 June 1976. As noted in my diary, four were given death sentences while the remainder received prison sentences of between 16 and 30 years.
The four who were given death sentences, Britons Costas Georgiou (Tony Callan), Andrew Gordon McKenzie and John Derek Baker, and American Daniel Francis Gearhart, were executed on 10 July 1976. Following negotiations by the respective governments, the remaining prisoners were released between 1982 and 1984.
Explosion in King’s Lynn
I noted there had been two explosions relatively locally the previous day. The first of these was in King’s Lynn and I noted that a man was killed.
This explosion occurred at the Dow chemicals complex in a plant that was used to manufacture Clopidol, a drug that is added to chicken feed to prevent liver fluke disease, see Chapter 129. However, the plant was not in use at the time of the explosion. The man killed was 24-year old David Charles Walker. Apparently, he was a member of the plant’s fire service and he was responding to the alarm that had been raised. The complex was extensively damaged and initial assessments put costs at around £1m. Following an internal enquiry, the company blamed decomposition of the chemical 3.5 Dinitro-2-Toluamide (DOT) for the explosion. An inquest, in September 1976, recorded a verdict of accidental death.
Explosion in Trowse
The second explosion occurred at May Gurney’s, now Kier, in Trowse and followed a fire, see Chapter 129. I noted that a fireman was injured. Local news reports identify him as R B Hubbard. However, although he was taken to hospital, he was allowed home the same day.
Shipbuilding Nationalisation Bill
I noted that Parliament were debating the shipbuilding nationalisation bill again that night. Apparently, this bill was adopted in 1977 as the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act. It established two nationalised bodies, British Aerospace, which became BAE Systems in 1999, and British Shipbuilding which was reduced in size and then largely privatised in the eighties. The bill was very contentious and its passage was stormy. Original plans to include ship repairing were dropped and Michael Heseltine famously seized the mace when the bill was finally passed because the government had failed to honour the tradition of parliamentary pairs, see Chapter 129.
Entebbe Hijacking
Two days earlier, an Air France flight between Tel Aviv and Paris was hijacked during a stopover in Athens by two members of the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine – External Operations (PFLP-EO) and two members of the German group Revolutionäre Zellen (RZ). They diverted the flight to Libya and then to Entebbe in Uganda where they were joined by three other hijackers and where they received support from the then Ugandan leader Idi Amin.
I noted that the hijackers were demanding the release of 53 “Arab” prisoners. Most were held in Israel but I noted there were some in other countries including Kenya and Switzerland. News reports confirm that other prisoners whose release was demanded were in Germany and France. Gradually, most of the non-Israeli hostages were released leaving the hijackers holding 94, mostly Israeli, passengers and 12 air crew.
On 3 July 1976, Israel launched a mission to rescue the hostages. Almost all the hostages (102) were rescued although three were killed. Jean-Jacques Maimoni was killed by Israeli forces when they mistakenly identified him as a hijacker. Others killed include Pasco Cohen and Ida Borochovitch. One, Dora Blotch, was left in Uganda as she had been taken to hospital. She was later murdered by Ugandan forces. One Israeli commando, Yonatan Netanyahu, was killed and a further five were wounded. All the hijackers were killed as were 45 Ugandan soldiers, see Chapter 129.
Wimbledon – Men’s Quarter Finals
I noted the winners of the men’s quarter finals. Ilie Nastase beat Charlie Pasarell [6-4, 6-2, 6-3], Raúl Ramirez beat Vitas Gerulaitis [4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4] , Björn Borg beat Guillermo Vilas [6-3, 6-0, 6-2] and Roscoe Tanner beat Jimmy Connors [6-4, 6-2, 8-6]. I did not note the scores but I have added them here. The results were probably as expected with the exception of Roscoe Tanner’s victory over Jimmy Connors. I noted that Ilie Nastase would play Raúl Ramirez and Björn Borg would play Roscoe Tanner. see Chapter 123.
Women’s Semi Finals
I noted the line-up for the women’s semi-finals with Chris Evert playing Martina Navratilova and Virginia Wade playing Evonne Cawley. see Chapter 123.
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