title: House of Bernadotte

text: When elected to be Swedish royalty the new heir had been called "Prince Bernadotte" according to the promotions he received from Emperor Napoleon I, culminating in sovereignty over the Principality of Pontecorvo. Some Swedish experts have asserted that all of his male heirs have had the right to use that Italian title, since the Swedish government never made payments promised Charles John to get him to give up his position in Pontecorvo.


title: House of Bernadotte

text: Some members of the house who lost their royal status and Swedish titles due to unapproved marriages have also been given the titles Prince Bernadotte and Count of Wisborg in the nobility of other countries.


title: House of Bernadotte

text: Bernadotte, born in the town of Pau, in the province of Béarn, France, had risen to the rank of general during the French Revolution. In 1798, he married Désirée Clary, whose sister was married to Joseph, Napoleon's elder brother. In 1804, Napoleon promoted Bernadotte to a Marshal of France. Napoleon also granted him the title "Prince of Pontecorvo".


title: House of Bernadotte

text: As the Crown Prince of Sweden, he assumed the name Charles John () and acted as regent for the remainder of Charles XIII's reign. In 1813, he broke with Napoleon and led Sweden into the anti-Napoleon alliance. When Norway was awarded to Sweden by the Treaty of Kiel, Norway resisted and declared independence, triggering a brief war between Sweden and Norway. The war ended when Bernadotte persuaded Norway to enter into a personal union with Sweden. Instead of being merely a Swedish province, Norway remained an independent kingdom, though sharing a common monarch and foreign policy. Bernadotte reigned as Charles XIV John of Sweden and Charles III John of Norway from 5 February 1818 until his death on 8 March 1844.


title: House of Bernadotte

text: The House of Bernadotte reigned in both countries until the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905. Prince Carl of Denmark was then elected as King Haakon VII of Norway. Carl was a grandson of King Charles XV of Sweden and a great-great-grandson of Charles XIV.


title: House of Bernadotte

text: King Charles John's first known paternal ancestor was Joandou du Poey, who was a shepherd. He married Germaine de Bernadotte in 1615 in the southern French city of Pau and began using her surname. Through her the couple owned a building there called "de Bernadotte".


title: House of Bernadotte

text: His son Henri Bernadotte (1711–1780) married Jeanne de Saint-Jean (1728–1809) and with her was the father of the future Swedish–Norwegian king. Henri was a local prosecutor, from a family of artisans, who had once been imprisoned for debt. This was a modest family which occupied only one floor of the house in a cross street in a popular and peripheral district of Pau.


title: House of Bernadotte

text: Two branches of the French Bernadotte family survive. The elder descends from Andrew ("André") Bernadotte, an older granduncle of Carl John's, with descendants today in the general population of France. The younger branch divided in two, one branch descending from the king's older brother John ("Jean Évangéliste") Bernadotte (1754–1813), the heads of which were French barons as of 1810 with Louvie Castle in the south of Pau as their seat (branch extinct with the death of Baron Henry Bernadotte in 1966), and the other branch being the Swedish Royal House.


title: House of Bernadotte

text: This is a list only of the royal house, not of the royal whole family. It excludes in-laws and living persons (2022) who were royal, that is members of the royal house, when they were born but no longer are that today. Royalty currently alive is listed in "italics". All are listed primarily as Swedish royalty unless otherwise noted.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: Dame Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland, (9 July 1901 – 21 May 2000) published as Barbara Cartland was an English writer, known as the Queen of Romance, who published both contemporary and historical romance novels, the latter set primarily during the Victorian or Edwardian period. Cartland is one of the best-selling authors worldwide of the 20th century.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: Many of her novels have been adapted to films for television including "A Hazard of Hearts" and "Duel of Hearts".


title: Barbara Cartland

text: Her novels have been translated from English into numerous languages, making Cartland the fifth most translated author worldwide. Her prolific output totals some 723 novels and she is credited in the "Guinness World Records" for the most novels published in a single year (1977).


title: Barbara Cartland

text: Although best known for her romantic novels, she also wrote non-fiction titles including biographies, plays, music, verse, drama, operettas, and several health and cook books. She also contributed advice to TV audiences and newspaper magazine articles.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: She sold more than 750 million copies of her books, though other sources estimate her total sales at more than two billion. The covers of her novels featured portrait-style artwork, usually designed by Francis Marshall (19011980).


title: Barbara Cartland

text: Cartland was also a businesswoman who was head of "Cartland Promotions". She was a London society figure, often dressed in a pink chiffon gown, a plumed hat, blonde wig, and heavy make-up.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: Born at 31 Augustus Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, Cartland was the only daughter and eldest child of an Officer of the British Army, Major James Bertram "Bertie" Falkner Cartland (1876–1918), and his wife, Mary Hamilton Scobell, known as "Polly" (1877–1976). Cartland had two brothers: Major Ronald Cartland, a Member of Parliament (MP) who served as a Army Major in World War II (1907–1940), and James Anthony "Tony" Hamilton Cartland (1912–1940). Both were killed in war conflict in Flanders.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: Though she was born into upper middle-class comfort, the Cartland family's finances rapidly deteriorated shortly after her birth. Cartland would later attribute this downturn to the suicide of her paternal grandfather, James Cartland, who, she stated, was a financier who shot himself in the wake of bankruptcy. However, according to the entry in the probate registry, James Cartland, the proprietor of the brass foundry firm James Cartland & Son Ltd, left an estate of £92,000, suggesting that Barbara Cartland's version of events is to a degree fanciful.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: This was followed soon afterwards by her father's death in Berry-au-Bac in World War I. Cartland's mother opened a London dry goods store to make ends meet, and to raise Cartland and her two brothers, both of whom were eventually killed in battle in 1940.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: Cartland was educated at private girls' schools: The Alice Ottley School, Malvern Girls' College, and Abbey House, an educational institution in Hampshire. She became successful as a society reporter after 1922, and a writer of romantic fiction; she stated she was inspired in her early work by the novels of the Edwardian author Elinor Glyn, whom she idolised and eventually befriended.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: According to an obituary published in "The Daily Telegraph", Cartland reportedly broke off her first engagement, to a Guards officer, when she learned about sexual intercourse. This claim fits with her image in later life as a representative of a generation for whom such matters were never discussed, but sits uneasily with her having produced work in the 1920s which was controversial at the time for its sexual subject matter. She claimed to have declined 49 marriage proposals before marrying Captain Alexander "Sachie" George McCorquodale, on 23 April 1927, a British Army officer from Scotland and heir to a printing fortune. They divorced in 1933, and he died from heart failure in 1964.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: Their daughter, Raine McCorquodale (9 September 1929 – 21 October 2016), who Cartland later alleged was the daughter of George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 5th Duke of Sutherland, or Prince George, Duke of Kent, became "Deb of the Year" in 1947. After the McCorquodales' divorce in 1933, which involved charges and counter charges of infidelity, Cartland married her former husband's cousin, Hugh McCorquodale, on 28 December 1936. Cartland and her second husband, who died in 1963, had two sons: Ian McCorquodale (born 11 October 1937), a former "Debretts" publisher, and Glen McCorquodale (born 1939), a stockbroker.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: Cartland maintained a long friendship with Lord Mountbatten of Burma, whose death in 1979 she said was the "greatest sadness of my life". Mountbatten supported Cartland in her various charitable works, particularly for United World Colleges, and even helped her write her book "Love at the Helm", providing background naval and historical information. The Mountbatten Memorial Trust, established by Mountbatten's great-nephew Charles, Prince of Wales, after Mountbatten was assassinated in Ireland, was the recipient of the proceeds of this book on its release in 1980.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: When Cartland learned that young Diana Spencer loved reading her novels, Cartland began to send early copies. However, as an adult, Diana, her step-granddaughter, did not invite Cartland to her wedding to the Prince of Wales. Cartland was later openly critical of Diana's subsequent divorce, though the rift between them was mended shortly before Diana's fatal car crash in Paris, in 1997. According to Tina Brown's book on the Princess, Cartland once remarked, "The only books Diana ever read were mine, and they weren't awfully good for her."


title: Barbara Cartland

text: After a year as a gossip columnist for the "Daily Express", Cartland published her first novel, "Jigsaw" (1923), a risqué society thriller that became a bestseller. She also began writing and producing somewhat racy plays, one of which, "Blood Money" (1926), was banned by the Lord Chamberlain's Office. In the 1920s and 1930s, Cartland was a prominent young hostess in London society, noted for her beauty, energetic charm and daring parties. Her fashion sense also had a part, and she was one of the first clients of designer Norman Hartnell; she remained a client until he died in 1979. He made her presentation and wedding dresses; the latter was made to her own design against Hartnell's wishes, and she admitted it was a failure.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: In 1950, Cartland was accused of plagiarism by author Georgette Heyer, after a reader drew attention to the apparent borrowing of Heyer's character names, character traits, dialogue and plot points in Cartland's early historical romances. In particular, "A Hazard of Hearts" (1949) replicated characters (including names) from Heyer's "Friday's Child" (1944) and "The Knave of Hearts" (1950) which, Heyer alleged, "the conception ... , the principal characters, and many of the incidents, derive directly from an early book of my own, entitled "These Old Shades", first published in 1926. ... For minor situations and other characters she has drawn upon four of my other novels." Heyer completed a detailed analysis of the alleged plagiarisms for her solicitors, but the case never came to court.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: As well as writing novels, Cartland wrote a guide to married life in the 1950s, which was banned in Ireland.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: Despite their tame story lines, Cartland's later novels were highly successful. By 1983, she rated the longest entry in "Who's Who" (though most of that article was a list of her books), and she was named the top-selling author in the world by the "Guinness Book of Records". Additionally, in 1976, Cartland wrote 23 novels, earning her the "Guinness World Record" for the most novels written in a single year. The 1970s and 1980s were her most prolific period; she also regularly appeared on television in that era.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: In 2000, her publishers estimated that since her writing career began in 1923, Cartland had produced a total of 723 titles.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: In the mid-1990s, by which time she had sold over a billion books, "Vogue" called Cartland "the true Queen of Romance". She became a mainstay of the popular media in her trademark pink dresses and plumed hats, discoursing on matters of love, marriage, politics, religion, health, and fashion. She was publicly opposed to the removal of prayer from state schools, and spoke against infidelity and divorce, although she admitted to being acquainted with both of these subjects.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: Privately, Cartland took an interest in the early gliding movement and in 1931 created and devised a 200-mile (360 km) tow in a glider carrying mail. In 1984, she was awarded the Bishop Wright Air Industry Award for this contribution.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: She regularly attended Brooklands aerodrome and motor-racing circuit during the 1920s and 30s, and the Brooklands Museum has preserved a sitting-room from that era and named it after her.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: Cartland wrote several biographies of major figures, including "Metternich: The Passionate Diplomat" in 1964, "The Outrageous Queen: A Biography of Christina of Sweden" in 1956, "The Private Life of Charles II: The Women He Loved" in 1958, and "Josephine, Empress of France" in 1961. Her biography of Klemens von Metternich focused on his many love affairs and contained passages such as: "He was a virile, experienced and satisfying lover... Even the most sophisticated women felt as if in his arms they learnt something they had never known before. Every woman rose with him to heights of emotional ecstasy beyond the power of expression."


title: Barbara Cartland

text: After the death during World War II of her brother Ronald Cartland, a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), Cartland published a biography of him with a preface by the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: The war marked the beginning of a lifelong interest in civic welfare and politics for Cartland, who served the War Office in various charitable capacities as well as the St John Ambulance Brigade. In 1953, she was invested at Buckingham Palace as a Commander of the Order of St John of Jerusalem for her services.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: In 1955, Cartland was elected a councillor on Hertfordshire County Council as a Conservative and served for nine years. During this time she campaigned successfully for nursing home reform, improvement in the salaries of midwives and the legalisation of education for the children of Romani.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: A radio operetta, "The Rose and the Violet", broadcast by the BBC in 1942, was composed by Mark Lubbock with book and lyrics by Cartland. It was set against the Edwardian background of Rotten Row.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: Cartland recorded an EP vinyl in conjunction with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1978, titled "An Album of Love Songs" released through State Records, and produced by Norman Newell. The album featured Cartland performing covers of a series of popular standards including "I'll Follow My Secret Heart" and "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square".


title: Barbara Cartland

text: In January 1988, Cartland received the Médaille de Vermeil de la Ville de Paris, the highest honour of the city of Paris, for publishing 25 million books in France.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: In 1991, Cartland was invested by Queen Elizabeth II as a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in honour of the author's almost 70 years of literary, political, and social contributions.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: A waxwork of Cartland was on display at Madame Tussauds, though according to her son Ian, Cartland was displeased because it was not "pretty enough".


title: Barbara Cartland

text: She was the subject of "This Is Your Life" on two occasions, in March 1958 when she was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the BBC Television Theatre, and in December 1989, when Michael Aspel surprised her at Elstree Studios.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: The former residence of Cartland, named "River Cottage", and located in Great Barford, Bedfordshire in which she resided between 1941 until 1949, will be honoured with a heritage Blue Plaque


title: Barbara Cartland

text: Cartland died in her sleep on 21 May 2000, seven weeks before her 99th birthday, at her residence, Camfield Place, near Hatfield, Hertfordshire. She had been suffering from ill health and dementia for six months beforehand, and was subsequently bedridden and sequestered. Both of her sons, Ian and Glen McCorquodale, were present at her bedside when she died. Shortly afterwards, Cartland's daughter from her first marriage, Raine, travelled to the family home.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: After Cartland originally had decided she would like to be buried in her local parish church, featuring a coffin of marble construction, covered in angels, this was later changed; she was buried in a cardboard coffin, because of her concerns for environmental issues. She was interred at her private estate in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, under an oak that had been planted by Queen Elizabeth I. Cartland left a gross estate of £1,139,123, but following debts and liabilities, the net sum was nil. She had once admitted: "I have no idea what I make...Occasionally I ask, 'Are we in debt?' We always are."


title: Barbara Cartland

text: Cartland left behind a series of 160 unpublished novels, known as the "Barbara Cartland Pink Collection". These are being published in ebook format by her son, Ian McCorquodale; each month, a new novel is published from that collection.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: In 2010, to mark the 10th anniversary of her death, Cartland's first novel, "Jig-Saw" (first published in 1925), was reprinted.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: "As a tribute to Her Majesty the Queen on her Diamond Jubilee and to Barbara's enduring appeal to romantics everywhere, her publishers have re-released her catalogue collection, entitled – "The Eternal Collection". This collection, released beginning in November 2013, includes some novels published at the time Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the throne in 1952.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: BBC Four aired a biopic drama film, titled "In Love with Barbara" (26 October 2008), starring Anne Reid as Cartland and David Warner as Lord Mountbatten. The film was written by Jacquetta May.


title: Barbara Cartland

text: Her last project was to be filmed and interviewed for her life story (directed by Steven Glen for Blue Melon Films). The documentary, "Virgins and Heroes", includes early home ciné footage and Dame Barbara launching her website with pink computers, in early 2000.


title: The Guard (2011 film)

text: The Guard is a 2011 Irish buddy cop comedy film written and directed by John Michael McDonagh, starring Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Mark Strong and Liam Cunningham.


title: The Guard (2011 film)

text: The film received critical acclaim and was a box office success. Both Gleeson and Cheadle received acclaim for their performances, with Gleeson receiving a Golden Globe Award nomination. McDonagh was in turn nominated for a BAFTA Award for his writing achievement. It is the most successful independent Irish film of all time in terms of Irish box-office receipts, overtaking "The Wind that Shakes the Barley" (2006).


title: The Guard (2011 film)

text: Sergeant Gerry Boyle is an officer of the Garda Síochána (police) in the Connemara district in the west of Ireland. He is crass and confrontational, regularly indulging in drugs and alcohol even while on duty. He is also shown to have a softer side, showing concern for his ailing mother, Eileen.


title: The Guard (2011 film)

text: Boyle and his new subordinate, Aidan McBride, investigate a murder, with evidence apparently pointing to an occult serial killer. Shortly after, Boyle attends a briefing by an American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent Wendell Everett, sent to liaise with the Garda in hunting four Irish drug traffickers led by Francis Sheehy-Skeffington, who is believed to be awaiting a massive seaborne delivery of cocaine from Jamaica. Boyle recognises one of the men in Everett's presentation as the victim of the murder he and McBride had been investigating. McBride pulls over a car driven by Sheehy and his lieutenants Clive Cornell and Liam O'Leary and is shot dead. McBride's wife, Gabriela, reports McBride's disappearance to Boyle, who promises to look into it.


title: The Guard (2011 film)

text: The strait-laced Everett suggests that he and the unorthodox Boyle team up to track down Sheehy and his men. Everett makes the rounds, encountering Irish-speaking residents who pretend not to understand English rather than deal with an outsider. Boyle has a sexual encounter with a pair of sex workers at a hotel in town. On his way back from the hotel, Boyle spots McBride's Garda car at a "suicide hotspot" along the coast but does not believe that McBride killed himself. McBride's wife, Gabriela, an immigrant from Croatia, reports him missing and tells Boyle that McBride is gay and that she married him to obtain an Irish visa as well as to make McBride "look respectable".


title: The Guard (2011 film)

text: Meeting Everett at a local pub, Boyle notices a Closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera and remembers that the original suspect in the murder case claimed to be frequenting it at the time of the killing. Looking over the footage from the time of the murder, they see that the suspect's alibi is valid – and Everett also spots Sheehy and Cornell at the pub. Cornell delivers a payoff to the Garda inspectors to keep them off the case but Sheehy believes that Boyle will not be so easily swayed, after he meets with Boyle to half-heartedly attempt blackmail and then to offer a bribe, which is refused. Tipped off by a young boy named Eugene, Boyle discovers a cache of weapons hidden in the bog by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and says he will arrange its return. (It is later revealed that Boyle kept a few of the guns.) Shortly after having her last wish to hear a live pub band fulfilled, Boyle's mother kills herself by overdosing on pills.


title: The Guard (2011 film)

text: Meeting at the bar again, Everett tells Boyle that Garda sources indicate Sheehy's shipment will be coming into County Cork and that he is leaving to investigate. Returning home, Boyle is confronted in his living room by O'Leary. Boyle pulls a Derringer (from the IRA cache) and kills O'Leary, then calls Everett to tell him that the Cork lead is a decoy arranged by corrupt officers. Boyle drives to the local dock where Sheehy's vessel is berthed and Sheehy's men are unloading the cocaine. Everett arrives and Boyle hands him an automatic rifle and persuades him to provide covering fire as he moves to arrest Sheehy and Cornell. Boyle kills Cornell before leaping onto the boat to deal with Sheehy. Everett's gunfire sets the boat alight. Boyle shoots Sheehy and leaves him for dead in the main cabin as the boat explodes.


title: The Guard (2011 film)

text: The next day, Everett looks out on the water where the boat sank, believing Boyle to be dead. Eugene, standing nearby, mentions that Boyle was a good swimmer, having placed fourth at the 1988 Summer Olympics, a claim that Everett had dismissed. A young photographer comments that it would be easy enough to look up to verify as true. Everett remembers Boyle's remark that Sheehy's backers would not forget Boyle's actions and that Boyle would have to disappear were he to continue living, and smiles.


title: The Guard (2011 film)

text: Film producers include Chris Clark, Flora Fernandez-Marengo, Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe, with executive producers Paul Brett, Don Cheadle, Martin McDonagh (brother of John Michael), David Nash, Ralph Kamp, Lenore Zerman and associate producer Elizabeth Eves. Director John Michael McDonagh is known for his screenplay for the 2003 film "Ned Kelly" and as writer/director of the 2000 film "The Second Death". Cinematographer Larry Smith is known for his work on "Eyes Wide Shut" and production designer John-Paul Kelly for his work on "Venus".


title: The Guard (2011 film)

text: Principal filming began on 29 October 2009, in Lettermore County Galway. Filming took place over a six-week period in Connemara, Lettermore, Lettermullan, Spiddal, and Barna with some scenes for filming in Wicklow and Dublin. Companies involved were Reprisal Films and Element Pictures in association with Prescience, Aegis Film Fund, UK Film Council and Crescendo Productions, with the participation of the Irish Film Board.


title: The Guard (2011 film)

text: International sales were handled by Metropolis Films and the film was released by Element Pictures Distribution in Ireland, Optimum Releasing in the United Kingdom, Sony Pictures Classics in the United States and Alliance Films in Canada.


title: The Guard (2011 film)

text: The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 94% approval rating with an average rating of 7.65/10 based on 134 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "A violent, crackerjack comedy with a strong Irish flavor and an eminently likable Brendan Gleeson in the main role." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 78 out of 100, based on reviews from 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: The Guard (2011 film)

text: In "The Hollywood Reporter", Todd McCarthy wrote: "Scabrous, profane, violent, verbally adroit and very often hilarious, this twisted and exceptionally accomplished variation on the buddy-cop format is capped by a protean performance by Brendan Gleeson a defiantly iconoclastic West of Ireland policeman." "Vanity Fair"s John Lopez wrote: "So far, "The Guard" has been the most thoroughly enjoyable film experience at Sundance, a nice change of pace from the anomie, alienated angst and melancholy of other films." In "Screen International", David D'Arcy wrote: "As a director, McDonagh avoids the grand gesture and focuses on his web of odd characters that call to mind the comedies of Preston Sturges." Justin Chang of "Variety" wrote: "The film making crackles with energy, from Chris Gill's crisp editing and Calexico's ever-inventive score to d.p. Larry Smith's dynamic camerawork, alternating between bright, almost candy-coloured interiors and shots of Galway's grey, rugged landscape."


title: The Guard (2011 film)

text: In "The Times", Wendy Ide wrote: "Without doubt the strongest debut film of the year so far, this sly, witty and provocative Irish black comedy is an exceptionally funny crowd-pleaser and a playful cine-literate exercise, laced with arcane movie references... Gleeson must be thanking whatever guardian angel oversees his career for the brothers McDonagh giving him two of his meatiest roles yet." Georgie Hobbs of "Little White Lies" wrote: "Unexpectedly hilarious, "The Guard" is the triumphant directorial debut of "Ned Kelly" screenwriter (and brother of "In Bruges" director Martin), John Michael McDonagh... This confident film knows full well how funny it is, daring to provoke with unfettered 'unPCness' a-plenty."


title: Cymru Premier

text: The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 2002, the league was known as the League of Wales (LoW), but changed its name as part of a sponsorship deal to the Welsh Premier League. The league was rebranded as the Cymru Premier for the 2019–20 season.


title: Cymru Premier

text: The league was formed in October 1991 by Alun Evans, Secretary General of the Football Association of Wales (FAW), as he believed that the Welsh international football team was under threat from FIFA. The FAW, along with the other three home nations' associations (The Football Association, Irish Football Association and Scottish Football Association), had a permanent seat on the International Football Association Board (IFAB) and it was thought that many FIFA members were resentful of this and pressing for the four unions to unite into one combined side for the whole of the United Kingdom.


title: Cymru Premier

text: The new league was formed for the 1992–93 season, and officially launched on 15 August 1992. At the time, despite the FAW being a FIFA and UEFA member it had not previously organised a national league, only the Welsh Cup. Traditionally, the strongest teams in Wales had always played in the English leagues. Aberdare Athletic, Cardiff City, Merthyr Town, Newport County, Swansea City and Wrexham have all been members of the Football League, while many other Welsh based clubs have competed in the Northern Premier League and Southern Football League.


title: Cymru Premier

text: Because of historically poor north–south transport links within Wales (although these have improved in the post World War II years), it was often easier for Welsh clubs to travel east–west, so Welsh clubs tended to look east to England for competitors and many of the top semi-professional sides in Wales played in the English football league system; Bangor City were founder members of the Alliance Premier League (now the National League) in 1979 and reached the FA Trophy final in 1984, before transferring to the new League of Wales in 1992.


title: Cymru Premier

text: The formation of the League of Wales saw the start of a bitter dispute between the Football Association of Wales (FAW) and those non-League clubs who wanted to remain part of the English football pyramid. The 'Irate Eight', as they were dubbed, consisted of Bangor City, Barry Town, Caernarfon Town, Colwyn Bay, Merthyr Tydfil, Newport, Newtown and Rhyl. At the time, Cardiff City, Swansea City and Wrexham were playing in The Football League, and the FAW decided to allow those teams to continue to play in the English system, although they continued to compete in the Welsh Cup for a few more seasons. The success of these clubs in the Welsh Cups meant that they frequently competed in the European Cup Winners' Cup despite the fact that Wrexham had never played above the Second Division and Swansea had spent just two seasons in the First Division during the early 1980s, while Cardiff had been semi-regular members of the First Division from the 1920s up to 1962.


title: Cymru Premier

text: Prior to the inaugural season, Bangor City, Newtown and Rhyl reluctantly agreed to play in the League of Wales. However, as Rhyl's application to join the league was late, they were placed in the second level of the pyramid system. Because of FAW sanctions, the remaining five clubs were forced to play their home matches in England. Following a season in exile at Worcester City, five became four, as Barry Town joined the Welsh pyramid in time for the 1993–94 season.


title: Cymru Premier

text: A court ruling in 1995 allowed the remaining four clubs to return to Wales to play their home matches while still remaining within the English system; despite this victory, Caernarfon Town decided to join the League of Wales for the 1995–96 season. Colwyn Bay continued in the English pyramid for a further 24 years before transferring to the Welsh pyramid in 2019, leaving only two of the Irate Eight remaining - Newport County, who won promotion to the Football League in 2013, and Merthyr Town, the successor club to Merthyr Tydfil following its liquidation in 2010. In 2008, Wrexham were relegated from the Football League and more than 13 years later have still yet to return.


title: Cymru Premier

text: Conversely, in 1996 now-defunct English team Oswestry Town were accepted by the League of Wales and currently The New Saints are based in Oswestry (having moved from Llansantffraid, Powys in 2007). Another English club, Chester City, whose stadium sits on the England–Wales border, applied to join the Welsh Premier League after being expelled from the Football Conference in 2010 but were wound up almost immediately afterwards (their successor team, Chester F.C., opted to reapply within the English system).


title: Cymru Premier

text: Welsh football Teams that currently play in the English football system include: Cardiff City F.C. and Swansea City A.F.C (both in the EFL Championship), Newport County A.F.C (EFL League Two), Wrexham A.F.C. (National League) and Merthyr Town F.C. (Southern League Premier Division South).


title: Cymru Premier

text: Some have called for all Welsh teams to be recruited into Cymru Premier, but in particular the lower ranked teams Merthyr Town F.C. and Wrexham A.F.C. as they are both in the English non-league setup.


title: Cymru Premier

text: An online poll by "Y Clwb Peldroed' on Twitter found 56.7% in favour of Merthyr Town F.C. joining the Welsh football system.


title: Cymru Premier

text: Clubs are promoted to the Cymru Premier from the Cymru North in the north/ central Wales and the Cymru South in the south/ central Wales. Clubs who finish as champions of the feeder leagues, or as runners-up if the champions decide not to seek promotion, are promoted subject to an application for membership being received and accepted and the stadium and infrastructure safety criteria of the Cymru Premier being met.


title: Cymru Premier

text: No teams were promoted to the Welsh Premier League following the 2005–06 season. However, Cardiff Grange Quins, who finished bottom of the Welsh Premier League resigned leaving the league to operate with an odd number of clubs for 2006–07.


title: Cymru Premier

text: Eighteen clubs competed in the Welsh Premier League for the 2007–08 season as both Neath Athletic (Welsh Football League Division One) and Llangefni Town (Cymru Alliance) were promoted whilst Cwmbran Town were relegated to Welsh Football League Division One.


title: Cymru Premier

text: For 2008–09, Prestatyn Town played in the Welsh Premier League for the first time after promotion from the Cymru Alliance, whilst Llangefni Town were relegated to the Cymru Alliance after only one season.


title: Cymru Premier

text: The 2009–10 season saw Bala Town promoted to the Welsh Premier League after they won the Cymru Alliance in 2008–09. They replaced Caernarfon Town who were relegated to the Cymru Alliance.


title: Cymru Premier

text: At the end of the 2009–10 season, due to league restructuring Connah's Quay, Porthmadog, Welshpool Town, Caersws and Cefn Druids were relegated to the Cymru Alliance league. Rhyl were also relegated to the Cymru Alliance, despite finishing 6th in the Welsh Premier League, as they failed to meet the financial criteria required to gain the Welsh Premier League domestic licence. No teams were promoted to the Welsh Premier League from the feeder leagues.


title: Cymru Premier

text: The 18 Welsh Premier League clubs met on 13 April 2008 and voted to support a restructuring proposal put forward by Welsh Premier League secretary John Deakin which would replace the single Welsh Premier League with a First and Second Division with 10 teams in each Division for the 2010–11 season. A further proposal was accepted that the Football Association of Wales should take full control of the Welsh Premier League and the existing Company, 'Football League of Wales Limited' should be dissolved. These proposals were forwarded to the Football Association of Wales for their consideration.


title: Cymru Premier

text: In June 2009 the clubs voted to accept an alternative proposal to reduce the premier League from 18 clubs to 12 for the 2010–11 season onwards.


title: Cymru Premier

text: The season is split into two phases, and concludes with an end of season Playoff to determine Wales' fourth European side for the following year.


title: Cymru Premier

text: Phase 1 runs from MD1 in August through to MD22 in mid-January. Each team plays the other sides in the league twice, once at home and once away, making a total of twenty-two games.


title: Cymru Premier

text: After the conclusion of Phase 1, the league splits in two, with the top six teams forming the Championship Conference, and the bottom six teams forming the Playoff Conference. All points accumulated by teams in Phase 1 are brought forward into Phase 2


title: Cymru Premier

text: Phase 2 then runs from MD23 at the start of February through to MD32 at the end of April. Each side plays the other five in their conference twice more, home and away, to bring up a total of thirty-two games played.


title: Cymru Premier

text: The side finishing top of the Championship Conference after thirty-two games is the League Champion, and will qualify for the UEFA Champions League. To date six teams have won the title in twenty-six seasons.


title: Cymru Premier

text: The Runners-Up in the Championship Conference qualify automatically for the UEFA Europa League, whilst the remaining teams qualify for the end of season European Playoffs.


title: Cymru Premier

text: The bottom two sides in the Playoff Conference are relegated. Meanwhile, the side finishing top of the Playoff Conference (seventh place in the league table) advances to the European Playoffs.


title: Cymru Premier

text: The five teams finishing in 3rd–7th contest the end of season European Playoffs. 6th host 7th in a Quarter-Final, with the winner travelling to the 3rd placed side for the first Semi-Final, whilst 4th host 5th in the other.


title: Cymru Premier

text: The winners then meet at the ground of the highest ranked side in the Final, with the winner qualifying for the UEFA Europa League.


title: Cymru Premier

text: If one of the five teams has already qualified for Europe by winning the JD Welsh Cup, then the remaining four sides will contest the Playoffs directly from the Semi-Final stage.


title: Cymru Premier

text: If one of the top two sides wins the JD Welsh Cup, then the third placed side will automatically take up a UEFA Europa League spot. The remaining four sides will then contest the Playoffs directly from the Semi-Final stage.


title: Cymru Premier

text: The champions of the Welsh Premier League qualify, along with the champions of every European domestic league, for the UEFA Champions League. The second placed team qualifies for the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League. The teams in places 3 to 7 then play-off for the second Europa spot.


title: Cymru Premier

text: A place in the second round of the Europa League is also awarded to the winners of the Welsh Cup. If the winners of the Welsh Cup have already qualified for Europe via their league placing (i.e., finishing in the top two and winning the Cup), or if the Welsh Cup winners have finished in a playoff position, then the remaining four sides contest the playoff.


title: Cymru Premier

text: Results in Europe have been mixed – some notable successes, such as Barry Town's run to the first round proper of the UEFA Cup, drawing 3–3 with Aberdeen at Jenner Park, Bangor City's win over FC Sartid of Yugoslavia and Barry's 3–1 victory over FC Porto in the UEFA Champions League (albeit losing 3–9 on aggregate), stand alongside some heavy defeats, such as The New Saints' 12–1 aggregate defeat to Amica Wronki of Poland.


title: Cymru Premier

text: For the first four seasons of the league's existence, its results were not featured on the Press Association's vidiprinter service and consequently had not appeared on the BBC's "Final Score" or Sky's "Soccer Saturday". The PA added the league's results at the start of the 1996–97 season, which was also when the PA began providing the results for the Northern Irish league.


title: Cymru Premier

text: The advent of the League has brought increased media coverage for its member clubs, notably from the "Western Mail" and "Daily Post", as well as local press.


title: Cymru Premier

text: Since the start of the 2007–08 season goals and results from the league have appeared on the Press Association vidiprinter service. Prior to this only the full-time score had been displayed although the half time score had also been shown from around 2000. Both "Final Score" and "Sports Report" now include the Cymru Premier results as part of their classified football results sequence and for a while "Soccer Saturday" also included the WPL results but has not done so in recent seasons.


title: Cymru Premier

text: On television, brief highlights from one of the day's games were featured on BBC Wales' sports results programme "Wales on Saturday" whilst the BBC also provided a 30-minute highlights programme for Welsh-language broadcaster, S4C, entitled "Y Clwb Pêl-droed". When the corporation lost the international broadcast rights to BSkyB at the end of the 2003/4 season, S4C won the secondary rights package which included highlights of the national team and all domestic rights. "Sgorio" took over the "Clwb Pêl-droed" slot previously produced by the BBC and in 2010/11 the half-hour highlights programme was dropped in favour of one live game per week. S4C broadcasts in Wales and throughout the rest of the UK via digital satellite with an interactive option for English-language commentary available via digital satellite.


title: Cymru Premier

text: As of the 2018/19 season, S4C show one live game per matchweek from either the league, Welsh Cup or Scottish Challenge Cup if a Welsh team is involved. They also stream all live televised matches on the Sgorio Facebook page, as well as streaming an additional ten per season from these competitions exclusively online.


title: Cymru Premier

text: Weekly highlights of all league games are shown on S4C on a Monday night at 17:30, and thereafter on Sgorio's social media and YouTube channels.


title: Cymru Premier

text: Of the 20 clubs that played in the inaugural season of the League of Wales, ten have since been relegated yet to return, with one, Ebbw Vale, folding in 1998. For a list of all clubs past and present see List of Cymru Premier clubs. For a list of winners and runners-up of the Cymru Premier since its inception, and top scorers for each season, see List of Welsh football champions.


title: Cymru Premier

text: Only two clubs have played in every season League of Wales/Cymru Premier since its inception. These two clubs are Aberystwyth Town and Newtown.


title: Cymru Premier

text: "For the champions of the top division of the Welsh League from 1904 to 1992, see Welsh Football League"


title: Cymru Premier

text: Marc Lloyd Williams scored 319 goals in 467 appearances, making him the most prolific goalscorer in the league's history.


title: Mikey Williams (basketball, born 2004)

text: Michael Anthony Williams (born June 26, 2004) is an American high school basketball player from San Diego, California who attends San Ysidro High School. He previously played for Vertical Academy, an extension of Lake Norman Christian High School, in North Carolina after originally attending and transferring from San Ysidro. As a combo guard(shooting guard, point guard), he stands 6 foot 2inches and weighs 185 pounds. He is a four-star recruit.


title: Mikey Williams (basketball, born 2004)

text: Williams first held a basketball when he was 11 months old and grew up playing under the guidance of his father and mother. In his childhood, he mainly played on an outdoor court in his apartment complex. In elementary school, Williams was often involved in fights with bullies. He worked as a ball boy for San Ysidro High School head coach Terry Tucker, who said that "he couldn't keep (Williams) out of the gym." In sixth grade while playing with the San Diego Sharks, Williams had his first official game dunk at 12 years old (April 15, 2017). He went on to play for the Malcolm Thomas All-Stars travel team. In seventh and eighth grade, he was ranked the number one player in the 2023 class by the Naismith National Youth All-American Report. In eighth grade, Williams joined the North Coast Blue Chips Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team, where he rose to fame while playing alongside Bronny James, the son of basketball player LeBron James. In 2019, he played for the Compton Magic on the AAU circuit.


title: Mikey Williams (basketball, born 2004)

text: As a freshman, Williams played for San Ysidro High School in San Diego. On November 20, 2019, he made his high school debut, recording 41 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals in a 98–46 win over El Cajon Valley High School. In his next game, an 85–77 victory over Mission Bay High School, Williams scored 50 points. On December 13, he scored a career-high 77 points, making nine three-pointers, in a 116–52 win over Kearny High School. He broke the CIF San Diego Section (CIF-SDS) single-game scoring record, previously held by Tyrone Shelley since 2005, and set the state freshman record for single-game scoring. On January 10, 2020, Williams recorded 35 points in a 103–71 loss to top 2020 recruit Evan Mobley and Rancho Christian School, one of the best high school teams in the country. He led San Ysidro to the CIF-SDS Division III title on February 27. As a freshman, Williams averaged 29.9 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game and was named MaxPreps National Freshman of the Year.


title: Mikey Williams (basketball, born 2004)

text: Entering his sophomore season, Williams transferred to Lake Norman Christian School in Huntersville, North Carolina.


title: Mikey Williams (basketball, born 2004)

text: On April 9, 2022, Williams announced that he would return home to San Diego and play for his original high school, San Ysidro High School, for his senior year.


title: Mikey Williams (basketball, born 2004)

text: Williams is considered a four-star recruit in the 2023 class by 247Sports, ESPN and Rivals . He received offers from many NCAA Division I programs, including Arizona and Arizona State, before starting his high school career. In June 2020, Williams was offered by several historically black college and universities (HBCU) basketball programs after showing interest in playing for an HBCU on social media.


title: Mikey Williams (basketball, born 2004)

text: On November 5, 2022, Williams committed to play for the University of Memphis for head coach Penny Hardaway, starting in 2023–24.


title: Mikey Williams (basketball, born 2004)

text: Williams' father, Mahlon, played basketball for Sweetwater High School, where he was an All-CIF-SDS selection. His mother, Charisse, played softball for Kearny High School and Hampton University.


title: Mikey Williams (basketball, born 2004)

text: Williams has established a large social media following. He had over one million Instagram followers before starting high school. By the end of his freshman year of high school, he had almost 2 million followers on Instagram, including musician Drake and basketball players LeBron James and Kevin Durant. Williams had accumulated 3.2 millions followers on Instagram by the end of his sophomore year in high school.


title: Mikey Williams (basketball, born 2004)

text: On July 22, 2021, Williams signed a contract with Excel Sports Management to pursue Name, Image and Likeness endorsement opportunities.


title: Mikey Williams (basketball, born 2004)

text: On October 28, 2021, Williams signed a multiyear endorsement deal with Puma, making him the first American high school basketball player to sign a sneaker deal with a global footwear company, at 17 years old.


title: Legendary (TV series)

text: Legendary is an American voguing reality competition streaming television series, exploring the world of ball culture. It premiered on HBO Max on May 27, 2020. The series follows LGBT house members—predominantly from eight to ten houses—as they navigate through nine balls (dancing/voguing/walking events), with US$100,000 prize for the winning house. As such, the series was praised by GLAAD for featuring queer and trans artists "from the New York ballroom scene."


title: Legendary (TV series)

text: In July 2020, HBO Max renewed the series for a second season. On April 17, 2021, HBO Max announced that the second season would premiere on May 6, 2021.


title: Legendary (TV series)

text: In June 2021, HBO Max renewed the series for a third season. On April 27, 2022, HBO announced that the third season would premiere on May 19, 2022.


title: Legendary (TV series)

text: Each episode features a fashion and performance coaches responsible for polishing the houses' looks and moves on the dancefloor.


title: Legendary (TV series)

text: The contestants compete in groups named Houses, from which members perform individually or in groups in pre-assigned categories in front of a panel of judges. For seasons 1 and 2, each House is allowed to include five members, including a leader called the Mother or Father of the House. The panel is composed by four permanent judges and a fifth guest judge that changes on each episode.


title: Legendary (TV series)

text: Most categories involve a qualifying round, in which the member or group representing each house first perform for the judges, who according to ballroom terminology show their approval by giving them a "ten", or their disapproval by giving them a "chop". To advance, a contestant must receive no chops from any judges. In the second round, contestants face each other in knockout battles until only one of them remains, who is named the winner of the category. The winner of each battle is decided by a majority of the votes from the judges.


title: Legendary (TV series)

text: As an exception, when a category involves all the members of a House, instead of a qualifying round and a battle round each house performs in front of the judges and receives critiques, and then a winner is determined by consensus from the judges.


title: Legendary (TV series)

text: After all categories are judged, the judges deliberate to decide which House had the best performance overall and name them the Superior House of the Week, and which two Houses had the worst performance. The Mother or Father of each House in the bottom names a member of the House to participate in a vogue redemption battle to be decided by the judges. The House of the winner of the redemption battle is allowed to remain in the competition, while the House of the loser of the battle is eliminated.


title: Legendary (TV series)

text: In the second season, a format change was introduced, with judges scoring each performance and the sum of the scores from the judges being used to determine the standing of the Houses.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: The Uganda–Tanzania War, known in Tanzania as the Kagera War (Kiswahili: "Vita vya Kagera") and in Uganda as the 1979 Liberation War, was fought between Uganda and Tanzania from October 1978 until June 1979 and led to the overthrow of Ugandan President Idi Amin. The war was preceded by a deterioration of relations between Uganda and Tanzania following Amin's 1971 overthrow of President Milton Obote, who was close to the President of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere. Over the following years, Amin's regime was destabilised by violent purges, economic problems, and dissatisfaction in the Uganda Army.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: The circumstances surrounding the outbreak of the war are not clear, and differing accounts of the events exist. In October 1978, Ugandan forces began making incursions into Tanzania. Later that month, the Uganda Army launched an invasion, looting property and killing civilians. Ugandan official media declared the annexation of the Kagera Salient. On 2 November, Nyerere declared war on Uganda and mobilised the Tanzania People's Defence Force (TPDF) to retake the salient. Nyerere also mobilised Ugandan rebels loyal to Obote and Yoweri Museveni to weaken Amin's regime. After Amin failed to renounce his claims to Kagera and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) failed to condemn the Ugandan invasion, the TPDF occupied the towns of Masaka and Mbarara in southern Uganda.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: While the TPDF prepared to clear the way to Kampala, the Ugandan capital, Muammar Gaddafi, the leader of Libya and an ally of Amin, dispatched several thousand troops to Uganda to assist the Uganda Army. The Palestinian Liberation Organisation also sent a number of guerrillas to aid Amin. In March the largest battle of the war occurred when the Tanzanians and Ugandan rebels defeated a combined Ugandan-Libyan-Palestinian force at Lukaya. The loss of Lukaya led the Uganda Army to begin to collapse. Nyerere believed that Ugandan rebels should be given time to organise their own government to succeed Amin. He sponsored a conference of rebels and exiles in Moshi later that month, where the Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF) was founded. Libya ended its intervention in early April and its troops fled the country. On 10 April a combined TPDF-UNLF force attacked Kampala, and secured it the following day. Amin fled into exile while a UNLF government was established. In the following months, the TPDF occupied Uganda, facing only scattered resistance. It secured the Uganda–Sudan border in June, bringing the war to an end.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: The war severely harmed Tanzania's fragile economy and inflicted long-lasting damage to Kagera. It also had severe economic consequences in Uganda, and brought about a wave of crime and political violence as the UNLF government struggled to maintain order. Political disagreements and the persistence of the remnants of the Uganda Army in the border regions ultimately led to the outbreak of the Ugandan Bush War in 1980.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: In 1971 Colonel Idi Amin took power following a military coup that overthrew the President of Uganda, Milton Obote, precipitating a deterioration of relations with neighbouring Tanzania. Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere had close ties with Obote and had supported his socialist orientation. Amin installed himself as President of Uganda and ruled the country under a repressive dictatorship. Nyerere withheld diplomatic recognition of the new government and offered asylum to Obote and his supporters. As Amin launched a massive purge of his enemies in Uganda that saw 30,000 to 50,000 Ugandans killed, Obote was soon joined by thousands of other dissidents and opposition figures. With the approval of Nyerere, these Ugandan exiles organised a small army of guerillas, and attempted, unsuccessfully, to invade Uganda and remove Amin in 1972. Amin blamed Nyerere for backing and arming his enemies, and retaliated by bombing Tanzanian border towns. Though his commanders urged him to respond in kind, Nyerere agreed to mediation overseen by the President of Somalia, Siad Barre, which resulted in the signing of the Mogadishu Agreement. The accord stipulated that Ugandan and Tanzanian forces had to withdraw to positions at least away from the border and refrain from supporting opposition forces that targeted each other's governments.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: Nevertheless, relations between the two presidents remained tense; Nyerere frequently denounced Amin's regime, and Amin made repeated threats to invade Tanzania. During the same time, relations between Tanzania and Kenya grew sour, and the East African Community collapsed in 1977. Uganda also disputed its border with Tanzania, claiming that the Kagera Salient—a stretch of land between the official border and the Kagera River to the south, should be placed under its jurisdiction, maintaining that the river made for a more logical border. The border had originally been negotiated by British and German colonial officials before World War I.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: Meanwhile, in Uganda, Amin announced an "Economic War" in which thousands belonging to the Asian minority were expelled from the country in 1972 and their businesses placed under the management of Africans. The reform had disastrous consequences for the economy, which were further exacerbated by a United States boycott of Ugandan coffee on account of the government's failure to respect human rights. At the same time, Amin expanded the power of the armed forces in his government, placing many soldiers in his cabinet and providing those loyal to him with patronage. Most of the beneficiaries of his actions were Muslim northerners, particularly those of Nubian and Sudanese extract, who were increasingly recruited into the army. Amin violently purged southern ethnic groups from the armed forces and executed political opponents. In the following years, he survived several assassination attempts, thus becoming increasingly distrustful and repeatedly purging the senior ranks of the Ugandan military.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: In 1977 a split in the Uganda Army developed between supporters of Amin and soldiers loyal to the Vice-president of Uganda, Mustafa Adrisi, who held significant power in the government and wanted to eject foreigners from the military. In April 1978 Adrisi was severely injured in a suspicious car accident. When he was flown out of the country for treatment, Amin stripped him of his ministerial portfolios. He also announced the arrest of multiple police officials, and during the following month he dismissed several ministers and military officers. The shakeup strained Amin's already narrow base of power in the military that was also declining in the face of the worsening economic situation, which eliminated patronage opportunities. Fearing for his personal safety and less confident in his charismatic abilities to diffuse the growing tension, Amin began withdrawing from the public sphere and conducting fewer visits with his troops. At around the same time, he began accusing Tanzania of violating Uganda's border.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: War broke out between Uganda and Tanzania in October 1978, with several Ugandan attacks across the border culminating in an invasion of the Kagera Salient. The circumstances surrounding the outbreak of the war are not clear, and numerous differing accounts of the events exist. Obote wrote that the decision to invade Kagera was "a desperate measure to extricate Amin from the consequences of the failure of his own plots against his own army." Several Uganda Army soldiers blamed Lieutenant Colonel Juma Butabika for starting the war, including Colonel Abdu Kisuule, who accused Butabika of engineering an incident at the border to create a pretext for invading Tanzania. According to Amin's son, Jaffar Remo, rumours of a potential Tanzanian invasion led members of the Ugandan high command to call for a preemptive attack on Tanzania. The Tanzanian military later argued that Amin's ultimate aim was to annex a large part of northern Tanzania, including the city of Tanga, in order to gain access to the sea for trading purposes. Ugandan journalist Faustin Mugabe found no evidence for this theory in Ugandan sources.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: Several other Uganda Army officers have offered more mundane explanations for the invasion, according to which isolated conflicts along the border resulted in a spiral of violence that culminated in open warfare. Among the incidents identified as possible start points for the war are cases of cattle rustling, tribal tensions, a fight between a Ugandan woman and a Tanzanian woman at a market, as well as a bar fight between a Ugandan soldier and Tanzanian soldiers or civilians. Several Ugandan soldiers who endorsed the bar fight theory disagreed on the confrontation's exact circumstances but concurred that the incident occurred on 9 October in a Tanzanian establishment. They also agreed that after Butabika was informed of the altercation, he unilaterally ordered his unit, the Suicide Battalion, to attack Tanzania in reprisal. The soldiers stated that Amin was not informed of this decision until later and went along with it to save face. One Ugandan commander, Bernard Rwehururu, stated that Butabika lied to Amin about his reasons for attacking Kagera, claiming that he was repulsing a Tanzanian invasion. According to American journalists Tony Avirgan and Martha Honey, the bar incident occurred on 22 October, when a drunken Ugandan intelligence officer was shot and killed by Tanzanian soldiers after firing on them. That evening Radio Uganda declared that the Tanzanians had abducted a Ugandan soldier, and reported that Amin threatened to do "something" if he was not returned.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: Another theory describes the invasion as the result of Ugandan troops chasing mutineers over the Tanzanian border. There are several different variations of this account, which was mostly circulated by non-Ugandan sources. Ugandan diplomat Paul Etiang and the local managing director for Royal Dutch Shell reported that soldiers of the Simba Battalion had shot new Sudanese recruits and that when other Ugandan forces were sent to contain them, they fled over the border on 30 October. Other versions attribute the mutinies to elements of the Chui Battalion or the Suicide Battalion. Political scientist Okon Eminue stated that about 200 mutineers reportedly took refuge in the Kagera salient. According to this version of events, Amin ordered the Simba Battalion and the Suicide Battalion to pursue the deserters, whereupon they invaded Tanzania. A Ugandan soldier interviewed by "Drum" claimed that the initial actions of the invasion were in fact a three-way fight between loyalist Uganda Army soldiers, Ugandan deserters, and Tanzanian border guards, with most of the deserters and a number of Tanzanians being killed. A few surviving mutineers reportedly found shelter in Tanzanian villages. Researchers Andrew Mambo and Julian Schofield discounted this theory as unlikely, noting that the battalions that are said to have mutinied remained relatively loyal to Amin's cause throughout the war, and instead supported the notion that Butabika escalated a dispute at the border into an invasion.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: The Tanzania People's Defence Force (TPDF) had received only very limited intelligence about a possible Ugandan invasion, and was unprepared for this eventuality, as the Tanzanian leadership generally believed that Amin would not consider attacking Tanzania while his own country was affected by political, economic, and military instability. Even beyond the demilitarised zone established by the Mogadishu Agreement, there were almost no defences. Tanzania had tense relations with Zaire, Kenya, and Malawi, and the only forces defending the land along the Ugandan border was the 202nd Brigade based in Tabora. Near the frontier was the understrength 3rd Battalion. In early September the Tanzanians reported unusually large numbers of Ugandan patrols near the border—some equipped with armoured personnel carriers—and a high volume of air reconnaissance flights. By the middle of the month, the Ugandan aircraft began crossing into Tanzanian airspace. The local commanding officer reported the unusual activity to the brigade headquarters in Tabora, and was assured that anti-aircraft guns would be sent to him. These never arrived, and by October the officer's warnings had become increasingly panicked.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: In the middle of the day on 9 October, Ugandan troops made their first incursion into Tanzania when a motorised detachment moved into Kakunyu and set two houses on fire. Tanzanian artillery retaliated, destroying a Ugandan armoured personnel carrier and a truck, and killing two soldiers. Ugandan artillery returned fire but caused no damage. In the evening Radio Uganda reported that a Tanzanian invasion had been repulsed. The following day Ugandan MiG fighters bombed Tanzanian forests. Ugandan artillery continuously bombarded Tanzanian territory, so on 14 October the Tanzanians brought their mortars into action, and the Ugandan guns subsequently stopped firing. Over the next few days, both sides exchanged artillery fire, gradually expanding across the whole border. Tanzanian leaders felt that Amin was only making provocations.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: On 18 October Ugandan MiGs bombed Bukoba, the capital of the West Lake Region. Despite facing ineffectual Tanzanian anti-aircraft fire, the bombings caused little damage. However, the explosions' reverberations shattered windows and incited the population to panic. In contrast to Tanzania's silence, Radio Uganda reported a Tanzanian "invasion" of Ugandan territory with accounts of fictional battles, and detailed that Tanzanian troops had advanced into Uganda, killing civilians and destroying property. Amin told residents in Mutukula that in spite of the "attack", he still hoped for good relations with Tanzania. At the same time, Radio Uganda's Kinyankole language broadcasts—which were closely monitored and understood by West Lake residents—virulently criticised Nyerere and claimed that Tanzanians wished to fall under Ugandan jurisdiction to escape the former's rule. Meanwhile, the Ugandan regime came under increased internal strain. Dozens of soldiers of the Masaka garrison deemed disloyal were executed, rival government agents got in a shootout in Kampala, and more agents were killed while attempting to arrest a former finance minister.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: At dawn on 25 October Tanzanian observers equipped with a telescope noticed large amounts of Ugandan vehicular activity in Mutukula. Ugandan artillery then opened fire while ground forces advanced. All Tanzanian troops broke and fled under fire except for a platoon which was quickly withdrawn. Over 2,000 Ugandan soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Marajani, Lieutenant Colonel Butabika, and Colonel Kisuule attacked Kagera. The Ugandan forces were equipped with T-55 and M4A1 Sherman tanks, along with OT-64 SKOT armoured personnel carriers (APC), as well as Alvis Saladin armored cars, and advanced in two columns under the direct command of Butabika and Kisuule respectively. Despite encountering no or only light resistance, the Ugandan advance was slowed by the terrain, as Butabika's column got stuck in mud near Kabwebwe, and had to wait for hours before being able to get any further.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: The Tanzanians began monitoring Ugandan radio frequencies, and were able to overhear transmissions between Marajani and Republic House, the Uganda Army's headquarters in Kampala. Marajani reported heavy resistance despite the fact that all TPDF personnel had withdrawn from the border area. The Tanzanians set up their artillery from the Ugandans and fired several shells, causing them to retreat across the border. Throughout the rest of the day Ugandan MiGs crossed into Tanzanian airspace, where they were harassed by inconsequential anti-aircraft fire. Having been defeated, the Ugandans prepared a new attack.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: On 30 October approximately 3,000 Ugandan troops invaded Tanzania along four routes through Kukunga, Masanya, Mutukula, and Minziro. Commanded by Uganda Army Chief of Staff Yusuf Gowon and equipped with tanks and APCs, they only faced ineffectual rifle fire from several dozen members of the Tanzania People's Militia. Despite the minimal resistance from Tanzanian forces, Ugandan troops advanced with caution. They slowly occupied the Kagera Salient, shooting at soldiers and civilians alike, before reaching the Kagera River and the Kyaka Bridge in the evening. Though the land between the river and Bukoba was left virtually undefended by the TPDF's withdrawal, the Uganda Army halted its advance at the north end of the bridge. The Kagera Salient thus occupied, undisciplined Ugandan soldiers started to loot in the area. Approximately 1,500 civilians were shot and killed, while an additional 5,000 went into hiding in the bush. On 1 November Radio Uganda announced the "liberation" of the Kagera Salient and declared that the Kagera River marked the new border between Uganda and Tanzania. Amin toured the area and posed for photographs with abandoned Tanzanian war materiel. Ugandan commanders feared that the Kyaka Bridge could be used in a counterattack, so on 3 November a demolitions expert set explosive charges on the crossing and destroyed it.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: After initial reports of the 30 October attack reached Dar es Salaam, Nyerere convened a meeting with his advisers and TPDF commanders at his beach residence. He was unsure of his forces' ability to repel the Ugandan invasion, but TPDF Chief Abdallah Twalipo was confident that the army could eject the Ugandans from Tanzania. Nyerere told him to "get started" and the meeting ended. On 31 October Radio Tanzania declared that Ugandan troops had occupied territory in the northwest portion of the country and that the TPDF was preparing a counterattack. On 2 November Nyerere declared war on Uganda, saying in a radio broadcast, "We have the reason, we have the resources, and we have the will to fight him [Amin]."


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: Six African leaders condemned the invasion of Kagera as Ugandan aggression: Mengistu Haile Mariam of Ethiopia, Didier Ratsiraka of Madagascar, Agostinho Neto of Angola, Seretse Khama of Botswana, Samora Machel of Mozambique, and Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia. The governments of Guinea, Mali, Senegal, and several other African states refrained from condemnation, instead calling for a cessation of hostilities and requesting that both sides respect the charter of the OAU. The OAU itself remained neutral on the issue, while representatives of the organisation attempted to mediate between Uganda and Tanzania.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: Nyerere ordered Tanzania to undertake full mobilisation for war. At the time, the TPDF consisted of four brigades. Among them, only the Southern Brigade, which had just performed well in war games, was ready to be moved to the front line. It was headquartered in Songea, farther from Kagera than the other brigades. After a long trek via rail and road, the unit reached the Bukoba–Kyaka area and established camp. Additional soldiers were sent from Tabora. Prime Minister Edward Sokoine handed orders to Tanzania's regional commissioners to marshal all military and civilian resources for war. In a few weeks, the Tanzanian army was expanded from less than 40,000 troops to over 150,000, including about 40,000 militiamen as well as members of the police, prison services, and the national service. Most of the militiamen were deployed to Tanzania's southern border or sent to guard strategic installations within the country. Machel offered Nyerere the assistance of a Mozambican battalion as a gesture of support. The 800-strong unit was quickly flown to Tanzania and moved to Kagera.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: In the months before the war's outbreak, the Uganda Army had suffered from extensive purges as well as infighting, and had recruited about 10,000 new troops. According to a Ugandan soldier interviewed by the "Drum" magazine, the new recruits had little training and were not capable of taking part in actual combat. In addition, the Uganda Army reportedly suffered from extensive defections as early as late 1978. Overall, the strength of the Ugandan military was estimated at 20,000 or 21,000 personnel by 1978/79, of which fewer than 3,000 were deployed at the front lines at any given time.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: Despite having been informed of the Tanzanian preparations for a counter-offensive, the Ugandan military did not set up any proper defences or entrench their positions. Most of the commanders on the front line and members of the high command ignored the intelligence reports and instead focused on looting the Kagera Salient. Tanzania initially aimed for its counter-offensive, called Operation Chakaza, to begin on 6 November, but it had to be delayed. By the second week of November, it had assembled a substantial force on the southern bank of the Kagera River. TPDF Chief of Staff Major General Tumainie Kiwelu took command of the troops, and the Tanzanians initiated a heavy artillery bombardment of the northern bank, triggering the flight of many Uganda Army soldiers. On 14 November Amin, sensing that other African states did not support his position and irrationally fearing that the Soviet Union was about to give Tanzania new weapons, declared the unconditional withdrawal of all Ugandan troops from Kagera and invited OAU observers to witness it. The Tanzanian government denounced the statement as a "complete lie", while foreign observers were unable to reach a consensus on the veracity of the supposed withdrawal. The OAU reacted by claiming that its mediation had succeeded.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: On 19 November the Tanzanians assembled a pontoon bridge across the Kagera River, and over the following days dispatched patrols into the salient. Ugandan command and control descended into chaos amid the counter-offensive, and only a few officers attempted to organise any resistance. On 23 November three TPDF brigades crossed the pontoon bridge and began reoccupying the Kagera Salient. The Ugandan government announced in late November that it had withdrawn all forces from the Kagera Salient and that all fighting had ceased. It flew 50 foreign diplomats to the border, and they reported that there was little evidence of ongoing conflict. Tanzanian officials denounced the withdrawal statement, asserting that Ugandan troops had to be forcibly removed from Tanzanian territory, and announcing that some remained in the country. On 4 December the TPDF's 206th and Southern Brigades secured Mutukula on the Tanzanian side of the border without incident, while the 207th Brigade retook Minziro. By early January all Ugandan troops had been ejected from Kagera.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: The morale and discipline of the Uganda Army deteriorated as the Tanzanians pushed it out of Kagera and attacked it along the border. After the invasion was repulsed, the Tanzanians feared that the Uganda Army would try again to seize their territory. Tanzanian commanders felt that as long as Ugandan troops controlled the high ground at Mutukula, Uganda, along the frontier they posed a threat to the salient. Nyerere agreed and ordered his forces to capture the town. While preparing for this operation, the TPDF was preoccupied with training and organising its massively expanded forces. As a result, fighting in December 1978 was mostly limited to "trench warfare" along the border, marked by sporadic clashes and air raids. By this point, militants belonging to the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) were serving alongside the Ugandans at the frontline. The PLO had been allied to Amin's government for years, and about 400 Palestinian fighters were stationed for training in Uganda. These militants were sent to the border to assist the Uganda Army, as the PLO considered the war with Tanzania as a possible threat to their own presence in the region. The journal "Africa" stated that "informed sources" claimed that "Pakistani technicians and air force personnel" were supporting Amin's forces during the war. About 200–350 Pakistani experts had been stationed in Uganda since early 1978. "African Review" stated that Saudi Arabia had provided "military assistance" to Amin's government in 1978/79. Amin reportedly travelled to Saudi Arabia twice to ask for financial aid during the Uganda–Tanzania War.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: The inactivity at the border led the Ugandan high command to believe that no Tanzanian offensive was imminent, despite reports to the contrary from the frontlines. The Uganda Army was consequently surprised when the TPDF began a large-scale artillery bombardment along the border using BM-21 Grad rocket launchers on 25 December. The Ugandans lacked weaponry which was able to counter the Tanzanian artillery, and were terrified by the destructive capabilities of the BM-21 Grads which they nicknamed "Saba-Saba". The Ugandans' fears were heightened by their initial inability to identify the weapon, until an unexploded rocket was recovered from Lukoma airstrip. The TPDF shelled the border for weeks, demoralising the Ugandans. Attempts by the Uganda Army Air Force to destroy the Tanzanian rocket launchers failed due to effective anti-aircraft fire. Amin dispatched a team of officers to Spain to investigate the purchase of aircraft and napalm bombs to counter the rockets, but ultimately no munitions were acquired. Tanzanian-led troops occupied some minor border settlements near Kikagati on 20 January 1979, prompting Amin to schedule a counter-offensive. The TPDF'S Southern Brigade—renamed the 208th Brigade—finally crossed the border on the night of 21 January and attacked Mutukula the following day. The Ugandan garrison was easily overwhelmed and fled the scene, allowing the Tanzanians to secure Mutukula and capture much abandoned weaponry. The TPDF soldiers proceeded to destroy the entire town and killed several civilians to avenge the pillaging in Kagera. Nyerere was horrified upon being informed, and ordered the TPDF to refrain from harming civilians and property from then on.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: The Ugandan government mostly ignored the loss of Mutukula. It sent only the 1st Infantry Battalion to reinforce the frontline, while focusing on celebrating Amin's eighth anniversary as president. This behavior further demoralised the Ugandan population. The TPDF used the lull in fighting to prepare for further operations, constructing an airstrip at Mutukula and sending additional forces to the border region. As a gesture of support, Mozambique, Zambia, Angola, Ethiopia, and Algeria sent Tanzania small quantities of arms. According to researcher Gerald Chikozho Mazarire, Ethiopia actually sent "troops and Russian ground-to-ground missiles" that assisted Tanzania in fighting Uganda. There were also claims about ZANLA militants fighting alongside the TPDF. The Tanzanian government also asked China for military aid. The latter wanted to stay out of the conflict as far as possible without alienating the Tanzanians. Though the Chinese advised negotiation, they sent a "token" arms shipment and expedited the delivery of some previously ordered equipment. The United Kingdom also wanted nothing to do with the war, but cooperated with the Tanzanians in speedily delivering the non-lethal military supplies they purchased from them. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union stopped shipping arms to Uganda and announced the withdrawal of all of its military advisers.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: Shortly after the invasion of Kagera, Nyerere indicated that with the Mogadishu Agreement being rendered obsolete his government would finance, train, and arm any Ugandans willing to fight to overthrow Amin. A diverse group of exiles responded from across the world as well as opposition members in Uganda. The larger armed rebel movements included Kikosi Maalum, a militia loyal to Obote and commanded by Tito Okello and David Oyite Ojok; the Front for National Salvation (FRONASA) led by Yoweri Museveni; and the Save Uganda Movement (SUM) commanded by Akena p'Ojok, William Omaria, and Ateker Ejalu. In addition, a few smaller groups including the Catholic Group and the Uganda Nationalist Organization claimed to have armed wings.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: These groups were very weak at the conflict's start, but rapidly expanded later on. Although nominally allied, the Ugandan rebels were actually political rivals and operated independently from each other. Whereas Kikosi Maalum and FRONASA contributed frontline troops and guerrillas that acted as auxiliaries and scouts to the TPDF, SUM conducted bombings and raids to destabilise Amin's regime from within. The Zambia-based Uganda Liberation Group (Z) encouraged their members to donate money to support the Tanzanian war effort. Ugandan exiles attempted to organise resistance efforts in Kenya, but Kenyan authorities disrupted these efforts, arresting some guerillas and in a few instances turning them over to the Ugandan government. In January Obote broke his public silence and made an open appeal for Ugandans to revolt, reportedly causing great consternation to Amin's government. In the war's early stages, several rebel factions, including Obote's, FRONASA, and SUM, loosely unified under the umbrella group "National Revolt".


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: At first Nyerere only sought to wage war in defence of Tanzanian territory. After Amin failed to renounce his claims to Kagera and the OAU failed to condemn the Ugandan invasion, he decided that Tanzanian forces should occupy southern Uganda, specifically the two major towns there: Masaka and Mbarara. The Tanzanians decided to seize them as revenge for the devastation wrought by Ugandan troops in their country and in order to incite a rebellion. Obote assured Nyerere that if the towns were taken a mass uprising against Amin's regime would occur, deposing the government in a few weeks and allowing the Tanzanians to exit the war. Obote was also certain (and Nyerere was partly convinced) that the Uganda Army would disintegrate if Masaka were captured. The Tanzanians began careful planning for an offensive on the two towns. Major General David Musuguri was appointed commander of the TPDF's 20th Division and tasked with overseeing the advance into Uganda. It was originally hoped that the Ugandan rebels could spearhead the attack, but there were only about 1,000 of them, so the Tanzanians had to lead the operation. Between the TPDF's positions and Masaka was a series of locations occupied by Ugandan troops that needed to be cleared out, including the airstrip at Lukoma and various artillery batteries. The 201st, 207th, and 208th Brigades were ordered to clear the way.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: The Tanzanians launched their offensive in mid-February. They steadily advanced, killing dozens of Ugandan soldiers, destroying large amounts of their materiel, and seizing the airstrip on 13 February. Meanwhile, Amin claimed that Tanzanian forces and mercenaries had seized a large portion of Ugandan territory. Facing questions from the international community, Tanzania insisted that its troops had only occupied land just over the Ugandan border. Tanzanian diplomats repeated Nyerere's proclamation that "Tanzania does not desire an inch of Ugandan territory" but evaded more specific questions about their troops' movements. While the Tanzanian forces advancing on Masaka were speedily moving forward, the TPDF's 206th Brigade encountered more difficult resistance as it pressed towards Mbarara. The Uganda Army successfully ambushed a battalion from the brigade near Lake Nakivale, killing 24 Tanzanians. This was the TPDF's single largest loss during the war, and thereafter it slowed its offensive. Along the Masaka axis of advance, the TPDF dislodged the garrison of Kalisizo, a town south of Masaka, inflicting heavy casualties. The Ugandans that retreated to Masaka were in a panicked state and demoralised the troops stationed there. As the Tanzanians pushed through southern Uganda they were cheered on by groups of civilians they passed.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: The TPDF proceeded to encircle Masaka on three sides, but were ordered not to move in, as an OAU meeting was convened in Nairobi in an attempt to provide mediation between the belligerents. Ugandan Brigadier Isaac Maliyamungu saw an opportunity for a counter-attack, so his troops launched a number of probes against the Tanzanian positions on 23 February. The TPDF easily repelled the assaults, and that night initiated a large bombardment of Masaka, focusing their fire on the Suicide Battalion's barracks. Most of the garrison subsequently fled, and in the morning the Tanzanians occupied the town. To avenge the destruction caused in Kagera, Tanzanian troops proceeded to raze most of the surviving structures with explosives. On 25 February the TPDF and several dozen Ugandan rebels led by Museveni bombarded Mbarara and, after seizing it, destroyed what buildings remained with dynamite. No mass uprising against Amin materialised. Following the capture of the two towns, the TPDF halted to reorganise. Silas Mayunga was promoted to major general and given charge of a newly formed "Task Force", a unit consisting of the 206th Brigade and the Minziro Brigade, which was to operate semi-autonomously from the 20th Division. While the 20th Division moved out of southeast Uganda and attacked major locations in the country, the Task Force advanced north into western Uganda in the following months, engaging Ugandan troops conducting rearguard defensive actions. Meanwhile, the Uganda Army Air Force had suffered such heavy losses during operations in February that it was effectively eliminated as a fighting force.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, an ally of Amin, felt that Uganda—a Muslim state in his view—was being threatened by a Christian army, and wished to halt the Tanzanians. He also felt that Uganda under Amin served as a crucial counterbalance in northeast Africa to Sudan and Egypt, which had strained relations with Libya. Libyan mediation attempts in November 1978 and February 1979 failed to bring about any resolution between Tanzania and Uganda. Gaddafi reportedly decided to initiate a military intervention without consulting other Libyan officials and over the objections of his army commander, Major Farak Suleiman. In mid-February, Libyan troops were flown into Entebbe to assist the Uganda Army, though in early March the Libyan government denied that its forces were being sent to Uganda. Meanwhile, the PLO high command had assessed that Amin's government was under imminent threat due to the Tanzanian military victories. Chairman Yasser Arafat, and top aides Khalil al-Wazir and Saad Sayel discussed their options, and resolved to send more PLO forces to Uganda in order to protect Amin's regime. Colonel Mutlaq Hamdan, alias "Abu Fawaz", and a few other commanders were sent as the first batch of reinforcements to help the Ugandan high command with organising the war. On 18 March, Arafat confirmed that there were Palestinian guerrillas fighting on Amin's behalf in Uganda.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: Meanwhile, the TPDF's 20th Division prepared to advance from Masaka to Kampala. The only road from Masaka to Kampala passed through Lukaya, a town to the north of the former. From there, the route continued on a causeway that went through a swamp until it reached Nabusanke. The swamp was impassable for vehicles, and the destruction of the causeway would delay a Tanzanian attack on Kampala for months. Though the TPDF would be vulnerable on the passage, Musuguri ordered his troops to secure it. The TPDF's 207th Brigade was dispatched through the swamp to the east, the 208th Brigade was sent west to conduct a wide sweep that would bring it around the northern end of the swamp, and the 201st Brigade bolstered by a battalion of Ugandan rebels was to advance up the road directly into the town. Also as part of the plan to take Kampala, the TPDF's 205th Brigade was to advance on Mpigi in early March and then to Mityana and launch an attack on the capital from there. Amin made a radio broadcast, boasting that his forces were about to surround the TPDF. Curious as to whether the claim had any merit, Tanzanian commanders analysed their plans and realised that the Tiger Regiment at Mubende was unaccounted for. Believing the unit was heading south, they dispatched the 205th Brigade from its position in Masaka north to intercept it. The 205th Brigade encountered entrenched Uganda Army troops in Sembabule, marking the beginning of a three-week-long battle.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: Meanwhile, a plan to destroy the Lukaya causeway was presented to Amin in Kampala, but he rejected it, saying that it would inhibit his army's ability to launch a counteroffensive against the Tanzanians. He also believed that with Libyan support the TPDF would soon be defeated, and thus destroying and then rebuilding the causeway later would be unnecessary. On 2–4 March, the Uganda Army defeated a rebel attack during the Battle of Tororo, heartening Amin. Along with his commanders urgings, the victory at Tororo persuaded the President to order a counter-offensive. On 9 March over 1,000 Libyan troops and about 40 PLO guerrillas belonging to Fatah were flown into Uganda. The Libyan force included regular units, sections of the People's Militia, and members of the Pan-African Legion. They were accompanied by 15 T-55 tanks, over a dozen armoured personnel carriers, multiple Land Rovers equipped with 106 mm (4.2 in) recoilless rifles, one dozen BM-21 Grad 12-barrel Katyusha rocket launcher variants, and other large artillery pieces, such as mortars and two batteries of D-30 howitzers. Over the course of the war a total of 4,500 Libyan troops were deployed in Uganda. Amin ordered the Libyans, together with some Ugandan troops and PLO guerrillas, to recapture Masaka.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: On the morning of 10 March the TPDF's 201st Brigade occupied Lukaya to await crossing the causeway the next day. In the late afternoon the Ugandan-Libyan-Palestinian force began its advance toward Lukaya, with orders to take Masaka within three hours. Upon seeing the Tanzanians, the Libyans initiated a barrage of Katyusha rockets. The artillery overshot them, but the mostly inexperienced Tanzanian soldiers of the 201st Brigade were frightened, and many of them broke rank and fled. The rest quickly withdrew into the swamp along the Masaka road after seeing the Libyan T-55s and Ugandan M4A1 Sherman tanks advancing toward them. Despite its orders to recapture Masaka, the Ugandan-Libyan-Palestinian force halted in Lukaya.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: Tanzanian commanders decided to alter their plans to prevent the loss of Lukaya from turning into a debacle. The 208th Brigade under Brigadier Mwita Marwa, which was north-west of the town, was ordered to reverse course and as quickly as possible cut off the Ugandans and Libyans from Kampala. The 208th Brigade reached its flanking position at the Kampala road at dawn on 11 March and began the counter-attack. The regrouped 201st Brigade attacked from the front and the 208th from behind, thereby putting great pressure on the Ugandan-Libyan-Palestinian force. Precisely aimed Tanzanian artillery fire devastated their ranks. Most of the Libyans subsequently began to retreat. The Ugandan commander at the battle, Lieutenant Colonel Godwin Sule, was killed, possibly by being accidentally run over by one of his tanks. His death prompted the collapse of the Ugandan command structure, and the remaining Ugandan troops abandoned their positions and fled. After the battle, Ugandan forces counted over 400 dead soldiers in the area, including about 200 Libyans. The Battle of Lukaya was the largest engagement of the Uganda–Tanzania War.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: Following the Battle of Lukaya, the Uganda Army began to completely collapse. Shortly thereafter, the TPDF launched Operation Dada Idi, and in the following days the 207th and 208th Brigades cleared the Kampala road and captured Mpigi. Ugandan and Libyan troops fled away from the front line towards the capital. Amin dismissed Gowon from his position as chief of staff, and facing the hostility of resentful troops Gowon fled to Zaire. He was replaced by Ali Fadhul. In early April the TPDF captured Sembabule, marking the end of the longest battle of the war. The supply of many Uganda Army units collapsed, resulting in a lack of ammunition, fuel, and provisions. Many Ugandan soldiers went rogue, pillaging, murdering and raping as they fled into Zaire and Sudan. According to researcher Alicia C. Decker, the behavior of the deserted troops was not just motivated by the collapse of discipline, but also strategic considerations: by spreading chaos and causing civilians to flee, they gained better cover for their own retreat. Those soldiers who stayed at their posts often began to carry out revenge attacks on those suspected of rebel sympathies, terrorising, abusing and executing people without due process. Realising that the war was lost, other members of the Uganda Army plotted to overthrow Amin. Rumours circulated about members of the President's inner circle being involved in these coup plans. At this point, most Ugandan civilians were opposed to Amin's government and hoped for a quick end of the war. They began calling the Tanzanians "bakombozi" ("liberators").


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: Following the capture of Mpigi, Nyerere ordered the TPDF to halt its advance. Though he felt that after the Libyan intervention at Lukaya it was no longer possible to count on the Ugandan rebels being able to capture Kampala by themselves, he believed that it was highly important they should be given time to organise their own government to succeed Amin. Tanzanian officials began making preparations for the establishment of a new government as did the Ugandan rebels, led by Obote and Dani Wadada Nabudere in their own respective circles. The rebels and exiles had been preparing for this for several months, making contact with one another since the outbreak of the war. While discussions among the factions were underway, Museveni proposed that his FRONASA—purportedly larger due to recruitment efforts around Mbarara—unite with Obote's Kikosi Maluum to form a unified army. Obote rejected the suggestion and tried to unify his forces with other armed groups, but Museveni's idea gained traction with other exile leaders. As the Tanzanians began organising a conference for the rebels and exiles, Nyerere was reconsidering Obote's role in the movement. He did not want to give the impression that Tanzania was going to install a government of its own choice in Uganda by facilitating Obote's assumption of leadership of the rebel movement, and there was hostility to Obote from the Baganda people in southern Uganda as well as other countries such as Kenya. Nyerere also feared that Obote would stifle cooperation at the meeting and cause it to break up without success. He convinced Obote to refrain from attending and instead send a delegation from the Uganda People's Congress, Obote's political party. In place of Obote, many Ugandan exiles began favouring Yusuf Lule, a retired Muganda academic and political moderate.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: The conference opened on 24 March in the Tanzanian town of Moshi, following an intense debate over which factions and persons could be admitted. That afternoon the delegates announced the formation of the Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF), which was to be governed by a 30-strong National Consultative Committee (NCC) and an 11-strong National Executive Committee, the latter including three special commissions—Finance and Administration, Political and Diplomatic Affairs, and Military Affairs. The next two days were spent debating the balance of power among the governing bodies and the selection of a chairman for the organisation, which was hotly contested between Lule and Paulo Muwanga. After heated argument a consensus was reached whereby Lule would be given the chair and Muwanga would be made head of the Military Affairs Commission. The conference dissolved on 26 March 1979. The armed rebel militias represented in Moshi were united as the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA). The unified rebel force was initially about 2,000 fighters strong.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: The day after the closing of the Moshi Conference the Libyan ambassador to Tanzania passed Nyerere a note from Gaddafi, which threatened Libyan military involvement on Amin's behalf if Tanzania did not withdraw its troops from Ugandan territory in 24 hours. Nyerere was surprised by the ultimatum, since he knew that Libyan soldiers had fought with the Ugandans at Lukaya. He broadcast a message over radio, declaring that while Gaddafi's threat added "new dimensions" to the war, it did not alter Tanzania's view of Amin. Four days later Gaddafi, in an attempt to intimidate Nyerere, ordered a Tupolev Tu-22 bomber to attack a fuel depot in Mwanza. The bomber missed its target and instead struck a game preserve. Tanzanian jets retaliated by attacking fuel depots in Kampala, Jinja, and Tororo.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: In early April Tanzanian forces began to concentrate their efforts on weakening the Ugandan position in Kampala. By this point, the Uganda Army had mostly disintegrated. Diplomats believed that only the soldiers of Nubian and Sudanese origin remained loyal, while Amin's regime held onto power thanks to the Libyan support. "The New York Times" reporter John Darnton estimated that just 2,500 Uganda Army soldiers remained loyal. Tanzanian commanders had originally assumed that Amin would station the bulk of his remaining forces in the capital, and their initial plans called for a direct attack on the city. But from the high ground in Mpigi they could see the Entebbe peninsula, where there was a high volume of Libyan air traffic and a large contingent of Ugandan and Libyan soldiers. If the TPDF seized Kampala before securing the town of Entebbe, TPDF positions in Kampala would be vulnerable to a flanking attack. Taking Entebbe would cut off Uganda's Libyan reinforcements and permit an assault on the capital from the south. Thus, Musuguri ordered the 208th Brigade to seize the peninsula. The TPDF set up artillery and subjected the town to a light, three-day bombardment. Amin was at the Entebbe State House at the time but fled via helicopter to Kampala. His departure instigated the flight of many Ugandan troops, but the Libyans remained.


title: Uganda–Tanzania War

text: On 6 April the bombardment was intensified, with several hundred artillery rounds fired. The 208th Brigade advanced on Entebbe the following morning. A single Libyan convoy attempted to escape down the Kampala road but was ambushed and destroyed. By the afternoon the TPDF had secured the town, seizing large stockpiles of Libyan weapons. The next morning, hundreds of Uganda Army Air Force personnel surrendered to the TPDF. The battle marked the de facto end of the Uganda Army Air Force. Most of its aircraft were destroyed or captured, and the air force personnel that managed to escape to the air fields in Jinja and Nakasongola spread panic among the Ugandan forces there. Mass desertions and defections resulted. Nyerere decided to allow the Libyan forces, who had suffered heavily during the battle, to flee Kampala and quietly exit the war without further humiliation. He sent a message to Gaddafi explaining his decision, saying that the Libyan troops could be airlifted out of Uganda unopposed from the airstrip in Jinja. Many fleeing Libyans were targeted by Ugandan civilians who misled them, betrayed them to the TPDF or outright murdered them. The survivors mostly withdrew to Kenya and Ethiopia, from where they were repatriated. The defeat of Libyan troops in Uganda was a serious setback for Gaddafi's foreign policy, and reportedly caused conflict within the Libyan government.