Sheep magazine Archive 2: issues 10-17

BRITAIN’S SECRET WARS
For more than 100 years, Britain has been perpetually at
war. Some conflicts, such as the Falklands, have become
central to our national narrative, but others, including
the brutal suppression of rebels in Oman, have been
deliberately hidden
by Ian Cobain
Taken from The Guardian
35
Artwork: unknown
In the months after the surrender of Japan on 14 August 1945, the British
people were ready to believe that war was behind them. The newspapers
were full of stories about possible home rule for India, and dockers going
on strike in London, Liverpool and Hull. It is questionable how many
readers of the Manchester Guardian on 6 December 1945 saw, let alone
read, a short item that was tucked away at the foot of page six, nestled
between a reader’s letter about the Nuremberg war crimes trials and a
leading article about the foundation of the United Nations.
Under the headline “British in Indo-China” appeared a copy of a letter
that had also been sent to Ernest Bevin, the foreign secretary. “It appears
that we are collaborating with Japanese and French forces against the
nationalist forces of Viêt Minh,” the letter read. “For what purpose is this
SEPTEMBER 2016