Chapter 668: The Disappearance of the DC-3 Airliner

The middle of 1952 was destined to be a time to remember for supporters of Pan-Africanism.

While the Air France DC-3 was in transit on its route to French Africa, Nkrumah, the leader of the Unity Congress Party on the Gold Coast, and a group of top brass disappeared into the blue skies after a diversion in Algiers.

Little did anyone know that inside the DC-3 over the Sahara Desert, there was a suitcase that would take everyone’s life, a suitcase that was quietly brought on board and would lead the passengers and crew of the plane into the arms of death.

Thirty-two minutes after takeoff, at one point 10,000 feet above the vast Sahara desert, the plane suddenly explodes. The plane was reduced to a ball of fire, and the wreckage of the plane fell, leaving a crater fifty feet deep and ninety feet long.

It was impossible for anyone to survive an explosion of this intensity, not to mention that even if someone had survived, their life would have been taken by the ensuing heat.

Long before the plane lifted off, Marina and Savyevich, who had met in Algiers from Paris and Cairo, respectively, had left Algiers separately, very much in the essence of the guerrilla warfare of the Balkan days, when one shot missed and one fled at once.

“Sunny in the Mediterranean!” Alan Wilson, who received this brief telegram, knew that the action had begun.

If you take away any tiny chance, Nkrumah should have said goodbye to the world, and judging by the timing of the time bomb’s explosion, the plane should have crashed in the middle of the great desert between Algeria and Mali.

“Wow!” Alan Wilson, who let go of one thing in his heart, couldn’t help but feel relieved and poured a glass of red wine to celebrate with Grace, “Grace my friend, thank you very much for your help.”

“The airplane is still not safe, it looks like in the future we must be diligent in overhauling the airliners in our hands, otherwise it would be too wrong if someone did the same to me.” Grace said with feeling as she took the glass.

“Wronged is not wronged, but I agree with more overhauls!” Alan Wilson flicked his wrist and clinked a glass with the other party, and turned his words around, “However, the main reason for this isolated incident lies in the DC-3 airliner’s age and dilapidation, which is what led to the tragedy that none of us would like to see, so choosing a safe means of transportation is extremely important.”

It’s still uncertain what the final outcome of this incident will be, and until the wreckage is found, it can only be judged as a disappearance.

As for whether or not the wreckage could be found, it would depend on whether the place where the plane crashed was the Gobi or the desert. If it happened to be a sand dune, it would only take a few days for a storm to cause the dunes to move and almost all traces would be covered up.

All in all if the most favorable outcome for Britain came to pass, it was expected that the wreckage of the plane would not be found at all in the future, and nature would help the guilty culprits to erase all traces of it.

“Alan, will it be possible to squash the independence movement on the Gold Coast?” Grace inquired, fighting drunkenness, personally concerned about how long Britain would be able to maintain its colonial system.

“Suppression is not possible, but I’ll try to buy time for Northern Rhodesia.” Alan Wilson shook his wine glass and analyzed very sincerely, “To be honest, with the proportion of whites in South Africa and Rhodesia, maybe at the end of the day, you Northern Rhodesia will be the last bastion of white African settlers.”

Giving the Chetnik’s future chief a handout indicated that Grace might want to think a little more. Could he help the other two bastions of white settlers hold out longer while he stood his own ground.

Such a constructive suggestion had rightly piqued Grace’s interest; how to hold Northern Rhodesia for a long time had always been his concern.

“If Britain is going to build a nuclear silo, if you can maintain the population advantage in Northern Rhodesia at that time, you might be able to accomplish it.” Alan Wilson revealingly stated that the most trusted weapon in the world was the nuclear bomb.

The white South African government had, in the end, put its hopes on nuclear weapons in a desperate attempt, and it had come close to succeeding.

As for South Africa’s partners in the development of nuclear weapons, there are two main partners, one is Israel and the other is Fraud Island. The main advantage of South Africa over the other two partners is that South Africa itself has abundant uranium mines.

When World War II was coming to an end, South Africa began exporting uranium out of the country. A small portion of it has also been supplied to the Manhattan Project.

In 1948, South Africa passed an act of parliament creating the Atomic Energy Commission, which had overall responsibility for nuclear energy research and development. The United States agreed to provide South Africa with technology and promised to help train researchers and reactor technicians. This laid a good foundation for South Africa to develop civil nuclear energy development.

In this regard, the United States is much more concerned about South Africa than the United Kingdom, the difference is because South Africa is still the world’s main supplier of gold, gold is extremely important under the Breston Woods system.

As for the United Kingdom that is just an over the top world hegemony, if not the threat of the Soviet Union is too great, the United States to fight the first step after the Second World War, is along the way to the United Kingdom and France packaged to solve the problem.

Eventually, though, the US cut off support for South Africa before it could take a substantial step forward. During the same period the U.S. also airlifted Fraud Island and scrapped its nuclear program.

Grace was able to hear that Alan Wilson meant that Northern Rhodesia could remain a part of Britain.

In the future it would be possible for the UK to cover Northern Rhodesia with a nuclear umbrella to keep Northern Rhodesia safe.

There was also the caveat that Northern Rhodesia had to remain a majority white landscape, and surely Britain was not interested in protecting a black country.

The disappearance of the DC-3 airliner over the Sahara finally became familiar to some two days later. The delay in the return of Nkrumah, the leader of the Unity Congress Party on the Gold Coast, worried the Unity Congress Party hierarchy left on the ground.

This was explained in Davies’ telegram, and Allen Wilson’s reply said that according to the procedure, he would take the lead in assembling a transnational investigation report, and finally inform the Unified Congress Party of the Gold Coast of his speculations.

Transnational investigation is a prerequisite, absolutely can not be omitted, because once involved in different countries, it is easy to shift the blame to each other to pull the wool over their eyes, the United Kingdom said that the responsibility for the transit station in Algiers, France can be put the blame on the DC-3 airliner above.

If the wreckage of the DC-3 airliner is accidentally found, it will be said that an abnormal magnetic field was encountered, and if not, it will be said that the DC-3 airliner is in disrepair, and in the end, it will be taken out of an air disintegration investigation report.

Davis very much endorsed this program, with a heavy heart said to take out a responsible response to open the truth investigation, as for the results of the investigation, it is nothing more than a short-circuit in the wires caused by a fire, or the engine was hit by a flying bird, the

First, of course, was the pacification of the local Unity Congress Party leader, and the united consensus of the two men was to focus on cracking down on Pan-Africanist supporters in Nkrumah, marginalizing the Pan-Africanists if possible.

As for Allen Wilson himself, he was busy with something else, literally using Grace, the future head of the future Chetniks, as livestock, since Allen Wilson himself was holed up at the embassy, unwilling to step forward.

Instead of Allen Wilson, Grace then took charge of his own investigation into the Free Officers organization and delivered it to King Farouk I of Egypt. Indicating that the level of danger could no longer be solved by the investigation, and that the members of the Free Officers Organization must be apprehended. Since Farouk I was aware of the existence of this organization, he should have acted on the spot.

“Your great Majesty, this is not the time to show mercy to the Free Officers Organization that is undermining Egypt’s position as the leader of the Arab world, and the reality of the British investigation is that there is a possibility that this organization is plotting a coup d’état.” Upon arriving at the bedchamber where Farouk I was staying, Grace expressed his determination to make sure to strike a heavy blow.

“But how will I convince the Egyptian people if there is no reason?” Farouk I fell into hesitation.

“It’s this kind of hesitation that many kings fall into, wanting to express enlightenment and wishing to maintain authority, that gives some opportunities to exploit.” Grace said unperturbed, “That’s how the Kingdom of Yugoslavia disappeared, and Britain doesn’t want Egypt to be next. As for the charges, the Free Officers Organization was developed by Israel to subvert Egypt, funded by Israel, but most of the adult groups were hoodwinked by the leaders, then the leaders were punished severely, and pardoned for the general membership, and those who survived were thankful to be allowed to carry on with the meeting, and then the Egyptian population was accounted for as well.”

When mentioning the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Grace’s attitude became very complex all of a sudden, even if there was a language barrier, it also instantly made Farouk I feel out that the foreigner in front of him was very sincere.

In the Egyptian side of the communication at the same time, the disappearance of the DC-3 airliner, finally by the Gold Coast Commissioner Davis, reported to London, London attaches great importance to this, asked Davis and France to communicate, the disappearance of this time to launch a joint investigation.

London’s instructions and Alan Wilson judgment exactly the same, already have a draft Davis immediately said no problem. He himself would immediately liaise with French Algeria and French Mali to get the assistance of the local colonial governments to find the whereabouts of the DC-3 airliner.

The hearts of the people of the Gold Coast were heavy with grief, they had lost a leader, even Davis and the British colonial government were very heavy with grief, on that day the stock of alcohol in the administrative office had dropped quite a bit, the grief of the people of the Gold Coast who had lost their leader, the colonizers also felt the same.

But as a member of the civilized world, they would not show their grief and could only numb themselves with alcohol. It seemed that this was the only way to ease the pain inside a bit.

Bang! In the midst of pushing and drinking, the colonists in the administrative office came up with a consensus to build on their efforts and completely defeat Nkrumah’s supporters, replacing them with moderates in the conversation.