Announcements

**Tim Cullis** · #1 1 Apr 2008

Sir Mark Thatcher was in Gatwick's passport control queue behind me today together with his new wifie whom he had married in Gibraltar last week. I mentioned that we had something in common. "What's that?" he asked. I replied that my brother had been involved in the Fredrick Forsyth atempted coup in Equatorial Guinea. Somewhat flustered, and with wifie clearly not following the connection, Thatcher replied there was no connection as he was innocent. Yeah, right...

Previous admission: Mark Thatcher admits coup role in plea bargain | World news | guardian.co.uk

Forsyth connection: Forsyth: my real life Dogs of War coup - Times Online

My brother, Roger, and I had been living in Fuengirola in 1973 and had become friends with 'Andy' Anderson whose father owned the Albatross, a 120+ foot motor boat. Roger agreed to act as crew on an end-of-season charter. The intended coup was somewhat of an open secret, especially as the arms were being supplied by the Spanish army (Equatorial Guinea was previously a Spanish colony) and Roger ended up in prison with the rest of the mercenaries.

Forsyth's subsequent 'Dogs of War' book drew heavily on the real facts, though casting Roger Moore in the film version as the head of the mercenaries was a bit offside.

New wifie: New Lady Thatcher on the scene as Sir Mark weds - Europe, News - The Independent

PJ · #2 2 Apr 2008

Ha that's fantastic! I'd loved to have seen his face. Probably looked as awkward as he did when they found him hiding underneath his car after he got lost in the Dakar that time.