Caught In a Cold War Trap
Page 13
Finally, I express my thanks to the Russian State for their gifts and without whom this book would not have been written…even although it does not show the Russian Government in a favourable light.
Interview with the Author
What made you write this book?
After writing A Reluctant Spy, I thought about my own brief encounter with the Soviets and spying when I was a schoolboy on holiday on Jura. Yes, the first chapter is true, as is the first part of the second. Once that was written, the brakes were off and a story emerged.
Why did you set the story mainly in Ghana?
Tamale airport in the north of Ghana, during the Cuban Crisis in the cold war, granted landing rights to the Russians. It seemed remote but ideal as a base for espionage. Of course, I did live in Ghana between the years 1972-78 and have visited Sandema, Navrongo, and Tamale in the north, as well as many towns in the south. I worked in Tema where I lived at the Presbyterian Church in Kortu Gon (Community 1). Authors often write about what they have experienced.
Why is the book a novella?
A book is not enhanced by writing more than is necessary. Did I know when I started if it would have been a novella? Yes, I knew the limitations of the storyline and so it is a novella. It also keeps the book very active. The chapters are short. It is easy to read a chapter before going to sleep. Novellas are at last having their day too. It seems we have no appetite for the 500 page novels these days.
Do you distrust Russians?
I admire the Russian people. They suffered much during WW2. They are a responsible peace loving people, as they showed during the World Cup of 2018. Their Government, however, bends the truth and has a hostile attitude to many parts of the world today.
What will your next book be?
After writing A Reluctant Spy I had a break from writing. I could not think of a storyline. Then quite by accident I realised my great aunt was not the only spy in the family and this book emerged. I have written twenty-three books. Sometimes two books a year. At present, I have started to write Love Amidst the Flanders Trenches. Then perhaps a comedy book? I’m open to that idea. That should be fun.
However, I have also started work as a Jane Austin Literary mentor supporting evolving writers all over the world. A writing career offers many opportunities. I am delighted to be working with children from Saudi Arabia and Qatar so far. Perhaps I will be reading what Ghanaian children have written soon.
Other books by Miller Caldwell
Novels
Operation Oboe
A Scottish widow becomes a Second World War spy in West Africa
ISBN 0755200090-X New Generation Publishers
The Last Shepherd
An arrogant city banker clashes with the rural ways of the last shepherd in south-west Scotland.
ISBN 978-07552-0643-4 New Generation Publishers
Restless Waves
A writer-in-residence aboard a cruise ship faces daemons onboard and onshore.
ISBN 0-7552-0260-0 New Generation Publishers
Miss Martha Douglas
Martha, a nurse and seamstress obtains a royal position but becomes a suffragist. When released from prison she serves in the trenches, where she finds true love.
ISBN 978-0-7552-0689-6 New Generation Publishers
The Parrot’s Tale
The comic tale of an escaped parrot in the Scottish countryside sits alongside the tragedy of a missing girl.
ISBN 978-1-910256-05-3 New Generation Publications
Betrayed in the Nith
In this modern romantic novel set in south-west Scotland, fraternal devotion turns to an unexpected romance as the mystery of Danny Kimber’s death comes to light.
ISBN 978-07552-0625-4 New Generation Publishing
The Crazy Psychologist
Set on Rousay in The Orkney Islands, the childhood difficulties of Dr Angle Lawrence come to light, explaining her bizarre treatment programmes, while her fragmented family come to terms with their past, placing her marriage in jeopardy.
ISBN 978-1-910667-24-8 Matador Publishers
The Trials of Sally Dunning and A Clerical Murder
Two novellas in one book
Sally Dunning is autistic. Bullied, defrauded and drugged, she is not likely to be the best witness as she sees goodness in everyone. However, a chance meeting on holiday when her home is burgled turns Sally’s life around in a spectacular way.
ISBN 978 1788038 126 Matador Publishers
A Lingering Crime
Jack Watson is arrested and charged with murder. Extradition takes him to Florida but he has never been there before. Florida still has the death penalty and his thoughts turn to the electric chair. But did he know the victim? How could he be linked to the deceased? As Jack’s story emerges we learn of his troubled past and his need to right wrongs.
ISBN 978 1789014 150 Matador Publishers
A Reluctant Spy
The life story of Hilda Campbell, who became Frau Hilda Büttner Richter before Lady Hilda Simpson. A double agent in World War 2. Published by Clink Street.
Biographies
Untied Laces
The author’s autobiography
He confronted Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, brought an African dictator to tears, and has two international sporting caps. So why did untied laces trip him up?
ISBN 978-07552-0459-5 New Generation Publications.
Jim’s Retiring Collection
The illustrated cartoons and musings of a city and then rural Church of Scotland minister. Gathered and set in a biblical context.
ISBN ASIN B00ND 3F7PM New Generation publications
Poet’s Progeny
A line of descent of the national bard, Robert Burns maintains his influence over succeeding generations.
ISBN 0-7552-0178-7 New Generation Publishing
7 point 7 on the Richter Scale
The diary of the camp manager in the NWFP of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan following the 2005 earthquake. (Profits have gone to Muslim Hands for earthquake relief)
ISBN 978-0955-47370-8 Alba Publishers
Take the Lead
The quirks of dogs, as experienced by the author over his life in Scotland, Pakistan and Ghana, together with canine poetry with a record of medical advances made by our canine friends understanding human conditions.
ISBN 9-781910256213 Netherholm Publications
Children’s books
Chaz the Friendly Crocodile
Chaz the Nigerian crocodile visits a Scottish river to help people keep their towns tidy. Set as a poem, this is a book parents can use to teach their growing children the value of good manners.
ISBN 978-1-84963770-1 Austin Macauley
Lawrence the Lion Seeks Work
There are no more animals in the circus. So what happened when Lawrence the lion went in search of a new job?
ISBN 978-0-75521656-7 Netherholm Publications
Danny the Spotless Dalmatian
Dalmatian puppies have no spots at birth; they appear after three weeks. But Danny’s spots never appeared. Follow him as he searches for spots to make him a real Dalmatian.
ISBN 978-1-91066715-6
e-pub ISBN 978-1-910667-16-3
mobi ISBN 978-1-910667-17-0
Self-Help
Have You Seen My Ummm… Memory?
An invaluable booklet for all whose memories are declining. Student memory tips as well as advice for those more senior moments to get through life.
ISBN 0-7552-0146-9 New Generation
ISBN American edition 978-1-4327-3364-3 Outskirts Press
Ponderings IN LARGE PRINT
Poems and short stories, as it says, in large print.
ISBN 0-7552-0169-8 New Generation Publishing.
It’s Me, Honest It Is
Commissioned by the NHS nursing service, this is an end-of-life handbook for individuals to complete.
Coming in 2020
Love in Flanders Trenches
A World War 1 saga of a
nurse imprisoned as a suffragist and released to serve in the trenches, where she eventually finds love.
Murder at Blackwaterfoot
When a body is discovered on the island of Arran, the community are impatient to have the case resolved but when another body is found on the beach, the pressure is on Constable Rory Murdoch to find the killer.
The truth of this book dies after chapter 1. Now at the end, some more remarkable truth about my life, not as a spy but in a very unusual encounter.
Your extra story
The day I confronted Usama bin Laden
Our border collie, Tâche, died in the first few days of October 2005. I mention this for two reasons. Firstly that it made me feel low and I was not taking in the news every day. Secondly, I was no longer under a canine regime of regular walks. However, at the end of the year, I was reminded about the dreadful earthquake in South Asia on 8th October 2005 by a friendly part-time special police officer who ran a successful Indian restaurant in town. Farooq Ahmed lost his niece in this disaster which killed 75,000, injured as many again and left thousands widowed, orphaned and abandoned. He told me he was going out to the capital Islamabad to manage aid which was arriving in deluge proportions. He knew I had been placing children on supervision or having them fostered in my professional work for Dumfries and Galloway and also knew I had retired recently. He asked if I would be willing to go to the North West Frontier Province of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to assist in the care of the children in a large camp at Mundihar. With no dog and an un-protesting wife who was prepared for me to go, I set off.
I arrived in Islamabad on 7th January 2006 with a case full of balloons, colouring-in books, exercise jotters, string, and my mouthorgan which security staff both at Heathrow and Islamabad insisted I played to the amusement of other travellers. That was a relief. It showed up on their radar as a gun-sized metal object. They applauded in London as did the staff in Islamabad.
I was driven 130 kilometres into the NWFP to reach the Camp at Mundihar. The ground had been donated by a farmer and lay in snow-covered tiered circles around a gentle hill. 24,500 people lived in tents on this farmland which lacked hygiene, sufficient food and warmth. On the second day, I was called to a meeting outside the farmhouse in temperatures below zero. The atmosphere was tense. A Brigadier of the Pakistani army chaired the meeting. The farmer’s wife had been found donating aid to the townsfolk who had not been affected by the disaster. It was a serious matter and the Brigadier made no bones about the situation. I raised my hand. The Brigadier looked up and gave me his attention. I spoke of world disasters and how people instinctively donated food, clothing and money to aid charities. Such aid came flying out to where it was needed but there was often no administration on hand to deliver it. I saw this as a similar situation. What was needed was a responsible structure and rotas so everyone receives aid and knows when it is arriving.
The brigadier stood up and pointed at me. ‘Sir, you are not a Muslim.’ I acknowledged his statement with a nod. ‘You are independent. I make you the camp manager.’ Suddenly and unexpectedly I found myself with a job, one which required my attention 24/7 and so my role changed dramatically. It became a job to prioritise the distribution of food and blankets – a priority in the cold and frosty January weeks. There were feuds to resolve amid pointed Kalashnikovs but I kept mine safe in the tent I slept in, as it was suggested to me by the Brigadier who provided it for me. Rain seeping down the terraces caused fury again when arms were the way the residents resolved disputes. Then I took ill.
I lost all energy and came down with influenza-like symptoms. I was taken to a building to recover in Mansehra where underneath a banner, Muslim Hands Eye Clinic, I lay on a mattress semi-conscious. After two days I was beginning to feel better and sat up on my floor bedding. Then I heard a car enter the compound. Two car doors closed, one after the other.
There did not seem to be anyone else around, so I got up and went to the door. On the compound ground before me stood a very tall man. The tallest man I had seen in Pakistan by far. He was about my height, as I stood on the raised forecourt step. He wore a cream chemise. His face was long with a straggly grey beard and piercing eyes. He looked very familiar. ‘Salaam Alaikum’ (Peace be unto you) I said bringing my beard close to his bearded cheek. ‘Alaikum Salaam’ (And unto you, Peace) he replied. That was when I suspected the most feared man in the world was standing before me. There was a stand-off silence for a moment before he asked of someone of whom I had no knowledge. I told him so.
‘Then who are you?’ he asked with contorted brows. There was a hint of accusation in his voice as if perhaps he thought I was trying to identify him.
‘I am the camp manager at Mundihar. I am recovering here from flu.’
His eyes narrowed as he asked his final question. ‘Where are you from?’
I told him ‘Scotland’ and on hearing this, without any further conversation, he turned and moved as quickly as his lame left leg could travel back to the car with the driver’s engine still running. It was a light blue four seated car. He sat in the back, bent double. His associate sat with the driver in the front. The car left the compound at speed and left me dazed as I saw it turn right. I saw the road sign above the compound indicate the direction he was taking – it was the road to Abbottabad. Yes, there was no doubt whatsoever in my mind. Not only by his sudden departure but his stature and perfect English, I had met Osama bin Laden. I returned to my mattress and saw my Kalashnikov. A thought ran through my head of having used it but the consequences I’d face would have been dire.
There was much respect shown to Usama bin Laden locally as one who had stood up to the might of the USA. Furthermore, when I received some visitors that night I was told he was often seen around the shops in Mansehra and Mundihar, towns with a joint population of 4 million people. The date was Sunday 26th February 2006 and Usama had just acquired his home in Abbottabad.
On my return to Scotland, I informed my member of parliament and the Chief Constable about the world’s leading terrorist in Abbottabad but they thought I was wrong. Both told me he was hiding in an Afghan mountain retreat. I suspect they thought I was deluded.
On 2nd May 2011 Usama bin Laden paid the price. He was shot by US Seals, in Abbottabad, and buried at sea under strict Islamic laws.
Occasionally I wonder what might have happened had I taken my Kalashnikov with me to the door? Might I have, almost by accident, arrested the world’s most wanted man? Or shot him, perhaps fatally? And in the end would whatever might have happened, have made any difference? Osama bin Laden is dead now, but at that moment when we met, he was just another man, like me. In my heart I can not begrudge him those extra five years—clearly, he lived in constant fear of capture or worse, and some might say that was punishment in itself.
Miller Caldwell
Copyright
Published by Clink Street Publishing 2020
Copyright © 2020
First edition.
The author asserts the moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior consent of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that with which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
ISBN: 978–1–913136–78–9 Paperback
978–1–913136–79–6 Ebook
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