By Chukwuemeka Chimerue, Chief Editor, The Biafra Times
May 29, 2018
During the Nigeria-Biafra War (1967–1970), a westerner, Lynn Garrison joined a group of mercenaries fighting on the side of Biafrans in their effort to sustain and salvage the newly-declared independent state from the clutches of her enemies.
In May 1969, Carl Gustaf Von Rosen formed a squadron of five Malmö MFI-9 MiniCOIN, small piston-engined aircraft (armed with rocket pods and machine guns) widely known as the Babies of Biafra, which attacked and destroyed Nigerian aircrafts to the ground and delivered food aid to famished Biafran people. Garrison coordinated the attacks, destroying an Ilyushin Il-28 bomber and a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 fighter aircraft.
Garrison also introduced a supply-dropping procedure (learned in northern Canada). A bag of grain was enclosed in a larger bag before dropping. When the load hit the ground, the inner bag would rupture while the outer bag contained the contents. Many lives were saved through air drops using this simple concept by Garrison.
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During the Biafran war, a DC-6 operated from Shannon, Ireland to Sao Tome with food and relief supplies. It was flown by Garrison. It would fly into Uli in the present Anambra state or other spots, to drop off the loads. It would return to Sao Tome, pick up weapons, and fly these into Biafra. It would then return to Ireland for another load, sponsored by the Catholic group concern.
Garrison led the first 4 attacks at very low-level, with some successes recorded. The 5th attack was to be against troop concentrations and he declined this mission. Garrison had some vocal debates about committing the aircraft against targets of low-value.
He mapped out the tracks for the team but the formation got lost and didn’t find the target. He wanted to disrupt the Nigerian infrastructure along with that of the Shell installations. To this end, Garrison targeted a number of petroleum facilities that effectively shut down a great deal of their productive capabilities. Having grown up in Calgary, Alberta, Canada’s oil centre, he was very familiar with refineries, pipeline, pumping stations, and their vulnerabilities.
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SHELL/BP was largely responsible for Nigerian support and hitting them made Shell reconsider its position when Nigeria had them cut off payments to Biafra for oil being exported.
The first 4 missions of Garrison are:
May 22 Port Harcourt
May 24 Benin
May 26 Enugu
May 28 Ughelli Delta
Garrison was indeed a hero of rare calibre and dexterity. And as we remember other heroes who fought on the side of justice for Biafra, we shall never forget the heroic efforts of this great icon.
The Biafra Times 2018
This was a moment in history that should have ended differently.
ReplyDeleteIt was an honour to have played some small part in an attempt to create a sovereign state - BIAFRA.
It would seem the spirit, of the past, remains strong.
My thoughts are with you.
Lynn Garrison
[email protected]
Gentlemen,
ReplyDeleteI have had ongoing contact with the Nobel Prize people with regard to nominating Count von Rosen for a Nobel Prize. Unless they make an exception, he does not qualify, because he is dead and they do not recognize people who have died.
However, they have suggested an alternative, that will at least tie him to a nomination of a very worthy living person, who was one of the giants in Biafra during the 1967 - 1970 period.
Bernard Kouchner was also responsible for the creation of Medicins sans Frontiere and Medicins du Monde. MSF has been a major factor, here in Haiti, ove the past years with their response to the earthquake disaster - that claimed 320,000 people, and recent hurricane emergencies.
Kouchner is a very acceptable candidate. File a nomination for him, with Count von Rosen as number 2.
It would be wonderful if they received the award but your main focus should be on gaining as much publicity for your interests, as possible. With this in mind, the nomination should be a well-written piece that could be a chapter in a book.
Lots of photographs.
Then release it to the world as you submit it to the Nobel Committee.
The world’s media will pick this up, creating a revived interest in the entire Biafran situation.
If the nomination is filed before September, it will be in line for an award during February, 2019 - the 50th Anniversary year of von Rosen’s Biafran Babies.
This is an unusual opportunity to put Biafra, and The Lost Generation, on the world stage.
I am personally giving some though to writing a book, "BIAFRA- The Lost Generation," covering the historical background, and some of the events during your 1967 - 1970 effort to gain independence. I would plan to finish this in early 2019 so it could coincide with the 50th anniversary of von Rosen's concept.
Lynn Garrison
[email protected]
Carl Gustaf von Rosen
Carl Gustaf von Rosen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Kouchner
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and Médecins du Monde