J.D.Ward
Donor
An OTL source for what might have happened
The following quotation is from "The Time of My Life", Dennis Healey's autobiography:
I also paid several visits to Libya, which under King Idris had good relations with Britain, and depended on us for military equipment. It was obvious that the monarchy was likely to fall at any moment to an army coup, and I tried to guess which of the young colonels I met was most likely to lead it. In the end I decided it would probably be Colonel Shelhi, an intelligent young man who was said to be influenced by Nasser. I was wrong - but not very wrong. I was told by our Ambassador, Donald Maitland - whom I had first known as George Brown's courageous Private Secretary - that Shelhi had been woken by his batman on the morning of the coup with the words "Excuse me sir, the Revolution has begun.'
"Don't be silly," was the reply. "It's tomorrow."
The following quotation is from "The Time of My Life", Dennis Healey's autobiography:
I also paid several visits to Libya, which under King Idris had good relations with Britain, and depended on us for military equipment. It was obvious that the monarchy was likely to fall at any moment to an army coup, and I tried to guess which of the young colonels I met was most likely to lead it. In the end I decided it would probably be Colonel Shelhi, an intelligent young man who was said to be influenced by Nasser. I was wrong - but not very wrong. I was told by our Ambassador, Donald Maitland - whom I had first known as George Brown's courageous Private Secretary - that Shelhi had been woken by his batman on the morning of the coup with the words "Excuse me sir, the Revolution has begun.'
"Don't be silly," was the reply. "It's tomorrow."