The Tragedy of Cyprus -rescue by US marines of FBIS staff in a military coup

THE TRAGEDY OF C Y P R U Sanswers to any of the many relevant as well as
~by A. Djev. Basharan (1974)irrelevant questions.
-author & formerly of the FBISMrs. Weiss, Mrs. Clegg, Miss. Pat Werrell, as well as
A memory of the day of a military coupMiss. Elizabeth Seely did their best to make an even
I had gone through this before. But it was notdistribution of the food available. Allen Clegg, a very
accompanied by bombs, shells, and bombardment,small boy, who maintained a remarkable composure,
and the war was not waged right on top of us ordid a wonderful job in helping the ladies in their
around us.difficult task of feeding the hungry crowd. He was
The coup which ousted President Makarios tookalmost always around with a tray asking “Have
place on a Monday morning. Shells dropped on CYTAyou been served?” When I asked him for another
which is only 100 yards from my house in Nicosia, fellvery small helping, he sharply retorted “No second
in dozens into our street. I knew then that the islandhelpings, Sir.”
was in for endless trouble. I could not bear to hearBut the highest credit goes to the Marines in general
Greek Cypriots call their president a traitor, a tyrant.and to their chief Ernesto (Gutierrez) in particular. I
This was unbelievable.have never seen such a self-sacrificing young man in
In the afternoon of the same day when a curfewmy life. He was on duty almost 24 hours a day. He
was imposed throughout the island, Chief editornever ran into a temper. He always gave us the best
Henne and another American picked me up frompossible advice and kept us informed of the tragedy
Nicosia and took me to FBIS where I stayed on dutythat was going on outside the station. He was so
until the hours of evacuation.efficient that we soon felt and acted like disciplined
It was obvious to me that what the Greek officerssoldiers under his command. I would like to call him a
from Greece tried to do was to bring about anshepherd and us his flock.
unproclaimed Enosis. In fact, all courting trouble, andAs to the tragedy itself, apart from the intensive
trouble it was.bombing and shooting that went on around and over
Ankara had pretended to be seeking powers fromus, I was not much scared, because the Marines
the Grand National Assembly to send troops tocontinually advised us on exactly what was going on.
foreign countries, though the Government hadOn Sunday night Mr. Weiss gathered us in the
already been vested with such powers earlier. Thiscorridor and told us that he had received instructions
move fooled many people.to evacuate only the Americans and the third
On Friday evening, asked whether he expected anycountry nationals. When we asked him what would
sad development, Prime Minister Ecevit cheerfullyhappen to us, the locally hired monitors and others,
answered in the negative. And yet early nextwho had borne the brunt of the past week as far as
morning Turkish planes started coming in rapidmonitoring was concerned, he was so moved that he
succession. Most of us had spent the night at thecould hardly say, “I wish I could take you all with
station as a precautionary measure. It was 05.15 inme. I will try to take you all with me.” But no
the morning on Saturday 20 July when we all rushedsooner did he utter these words than he choked up.
into the corridor in utter amazement. Some of usThat very moment alone proved how sincere he
looked more horrified than others.was. Our confidence in him was reinforced.
On Sunday night shells from the warships and bombsAt Mare Monte, where the evacuation took place by
and strafing from the planes came down thick andhelicopters, Mr. Weiss was the last to board the
fast. Some exploded within the precincts of FBIS,helicopter, because he was struggling over an
damaging doors and shattering windows. Someimpossible telephone to obtain approval for us. When
explosions were simply as much deafening as theywe met on board the British aircraft carrier off-shore,
were horrifying. At times, death was not around thewe all wept for joy. We were all out of danger and
door. It was inches away.Mr. Weiss was the proudest man on earth because
Our bureau Chief Mr. Tom Weiss, exhausted as hehe had saved lives by defying rules and regulations.
was, kept praying not only for himself but for all ofOn board the British aircraft carrier Hermes and the
us. I will never forget that tried but determined figureU.S. warship Trenton we were excellently treated. No
continuing to operate in various capacities under thetreatment could be more humane. I am over 60 and
most trying circumstances. His wife, a formidable ladyshould know by now how important praying is. But I
I thought, was always by his side.will never abandon the kind of intense and devoted
On the last day, our Bureau Chief looked like a ghostpraying I have learned from Mr. Weiss.
of himself, and yet he was bombarded with all sortsI thank God, I thank Mr. Weiss, and I thank the
of questions to which he tried to provide answers. IMarines. I thank the warships and I thank the FBIS as
do not recollect having seen him in a bad mood. Ia whole from the very depth of my heart.
don’t recollect having heard him give vexed