Yet another member of the small staff which set up and ran the first UN Headquarters in Katanga in 1960 has left us. Only two remain.
The writer underwent a Command and Staff Course with Basil. Behind a deceptively quiet exterior he had a first-class brain. Facts, map information, figures and problems went in. Solutions emerged, with everything in proper sequence - organised, tabulated and sensible. This never made him dull company. Indeed, his ability to dispose of work quickly gave time for his puckish sense of humour.
He enlisted in the Volunteer Force in November 1939 and was commissioned in January 1941. He spent several years with the Anti-Aircraft and Coast Defence Artillery in the Southern Command. His sense of duty and meticulous attention to detail emerged early.
He went to the Congo with the 33rd Infantry Battalion which was to join 32 Inf Bn in the province of Kivu. Col Harry Byrne and the skeleton brigade staff assigned to run those battalions were suddenly handed the UN command of Katanga and Kivu (nine times the size of Ireland), with seven battalions.
The Force Commander, Gen Von Horn, advised Col Byrne to get in staff officers from the units and to keep the HQ small. Basil was one of those brought in. The provincial commanders were then told to send an officer each to a short Air Operations course, run in Leopoldville (Kinshasa) by the Canadian Air Force.
This involved the control of aircraft and planning the despatch of suitable planes and helicopters for varied missions in turbulent North Katanga. Cut-off and threatened families had to be evacuated. These included Greek traders, a Talmudic scholar (wheel-chair bound because he had no legs), wounded Ba-Luba warriors, Father Peeters (rescued by Lieut. Gleeson just before the Niemba ambush). Mr Rew, a Methodist pastor with long experience, was a fount of sound advice on claims of distress.
Some UN posts had to be supplied by air as road-blocks multiplied. This included moving petrol - heavy, bulky and dangerous - in aircraft not specially suitable. Basil had a good rapport with the pilots (mostly Argentines). They hated fuel cargoes, but never failed to deliver.
Some airfields were deteriorating. Landing at Kabalo (Central Katanga) during the rainy season was an experience. When the wheels touched down, the windows blacked out with the mud thrown up by the wheels and propellor. One sat in darkness as the plane ran on, hoping the pilot could see.
Basil was ever-adaptable. Some years later, the writer met a Canadian Air Force officer involved in the training. He said the trainees were a mixed bunch. But Katanga, the place with the most severe requirements, produced the most capable officer. We agreed that this was a rare military coincidence.
He was Personal Staff Officer to Lieut-Gen. McKeown both at home and when the General was UN Force Commander in the Congo. His wife Vera predeceased him some years ago.
He eventually retired to become Secretary of the Bankers' Institute. His Scottish opposite number came to the funeral. How well he described Basil's efficiency and sense of humour - and their custom of trading genial insults. E.D.D.