Sultans Of Swing
By windrose
This story tells about a British submarine sinking a British trawler on purpose - THAT NEVER HAPPENED
- 369 reads
01.1 A Broken Wing
When the island falls asleep, I wander to the wharf where the waves wash gently on the shore. Surrounding lit in a glow of amber from beacon lights...
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- 311 reads
01.2 A Broken Wing
“Central government posted spies and officials to defy and infringe the course of the republic formed in January of fifty-nine and waving an...
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- 137 reads
01.3 A Broken Wing
I mentioned about this spy to my Addu friends. Nobody heard of a woman spy. It was like the Maldivia Gardens in Saint Helena. Ten near perishing...
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- 198 reads
02.1 Vultures from the West
Major Phyllis entered the room, “Good Evening, sir!” “It happens to be four in the morning. Don’t you sleep, WW?” uttered Richard Whyte , Head of the...
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- 176 reads
02.2 Vultures from the West
Sky turned cloudy over Moscow. Newly appointed Colonel General Sergei Shtemenko took a glimpse at the reports of nuclear tests taking place around...
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- 157 reads
02.3 Vultures from the West
Dirk Wyse Dwire saw the ship beyond Gadu. He picked his binoculars and stepped on the beach. In his focal view, he caught the hazing image in a full...
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- 170 reads
03.1 The Staging Post
A row of to-lets stood by the west wall and doors painted blue. Inside the confines of a whitewashed wall, forecourt covered of thick white sand, a...
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- 146 reads
03.2 The Staging Post
RAF Gan – the British acquired base in Addu Atoll in the southernmost island in the Maldive Archipelago was used for transit operation. In 1956, Sri...
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- 150 reads
03.3 The Staging Post
Virgo was appointed as prime minister by Sultan Mal Vatta on 12 th December 1957. Virgo was thirty-one years old. His immediate demand was that the...
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- 155 reads
03.4 The Staging Post
The Defence Minister of Wizarat-Al-Aman-Am, or the Ministry of Public Security, Manan Rock , was twenty-nine years old. He sat behind the desk...
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- 174 reads
04.1 Bird Watcher
First meeting with the Commandant took place on the evening Major W W Phyllis arrived in Gan that was 18 th October 1957. It was a very wet day...
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- 141 reads
04.2 Bird Watcher
The approach from the inlet waters of the atoll to Hittadu was spectacular with a vast lagoon glowing in turquoise as far as the eye could see. Wind...
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- 139 reads
05.1 Birds of Paradise
Messenger reached the western shore to find the girls ravelling in the sand playing bìbala – a game of tackling that often played on the beach. He...
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- 131 reads
05.2 Birds of Paradise
Mala entered a faintly lit room with a couple of white sofas and a rug under. A working desk and shelves by the walls. On a side, there stood a...
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- 161 reads
05.3 Birds of Paradise
Moosa Manik saw her play tennis at the National Park with some royal ladies wearing sari. They don’t run. They tossed the ball over the net until it...
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- 179 reads
06.1 Deeni
Her tan was gone, her fashion changed and looked young with a new hairstyle parted in the middle. She wore no makeups and no gold chains. She...
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- 196 reads
06.2 Deeni
Two months later, towards the end of April, Footloose Habib returned shortly after Ramadan. He stayed at a house called Askeni on Vinamathi Higun in...
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- 172 reads
06.3 Deeni
It didn’t take long. Mala was called to attend Gan for an interview. She wore a beige midi dress and climbed a boat with many men and women wearing...
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- 191 reads
07.01 A Nest in the Woods
Rainy days and sunny days occurred in between. Flight Lieutenant Marvin Edward was getting busier day by day. More locals arrived for treatment at...
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- 182 reads
07.2 A Nest in the Woods
Shakir returned to the foreground and the girl had gone into the annex. He sat down and dug into the stuff she brought. She appeared from the north...
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- 211 reads
08.1 Dhekunu Mala
Habib rolled through the arch over the stone pathway and parked by the front door. He heard a noise like a wet towel slapped on stone during wash...
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- 174 reads
08.2 Dhekunu Mala
By now they dropped a Styrofoam box into the brook and attached a rope to pull it up and down so they could cross without getting wet. Habib carried...
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- 157 reads
08.3 Dhekunu Mala
It was raining on Tuesday. Shakir was with Habib at Askeni. At dawn, they went for prayer at a mosque next to the Atoll Office on Mahan Magu. Habib...
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- 262 reads
09.1 First Infiltration
8 th November turned out to be a bright day and Mariam Mala was off duty. Footloose Habib biked up and down to make necessary arrangements. They took...
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- 177 reads
09.2 First Infiltration
Don Raha joined Shakir by the pond. “The magic of orchids makes a woman invisible. Nobody can see when she is without a dress,” explicated Raha...
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- 158 reads
09.3 First Infiltration
Mala began to walk on barefoot in the dark over the grass, wet ground and lumps of sand, scattered pipes and fallen logs. Sharp wire, nails, tools,...
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- 152 reads
10.1 Strange Brew
Next day Mariam Mala entered the dark room and placed the Negative 100, black and white film, in the tank. She began a process to wash in chemical...
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- 149 reads
10.2 Strange Brew
On 14 th Friday, Adaran summoned the public to deliver his update on new developments. Savari Shakir entered the crowd and listened outside the...
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- 217 reads
10.3 Strange Brew
Officer Gold, Ali Takhan and Defence Minister Rock sat impatiently in the garden at Hakra House. Lance Corporal Moosa Manik entered through the gate...
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- 166 reads
11.1 Gadu Badu
An open Land Rover braked to a halt in front of the magistrate’s house on Nares Road. Major W W Phyllis and Wing Commander John Knet, who was posted...
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- 139 reads
11.2 Gadu Badu
A large community stayed back in the islands. They grew desperate and sentiments towards the central government heard. Trouble was brewing. On 30 th...
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- 144 reads
11.3 Gadu Badu
A supervisor grabbed Amrish sleeping in a bunk on the top floor at the liaison office in Gan. He whispered, “Orchard wants you to remove breakable or...
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- 177 reads
11.4 Gadu Badu
Rebel boats that headed towards the cargo ship to capture Orchard could hardly reach the vessel. The RAF powerboat 1374 circled around the vessel...
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- 143 reads
11.5 Gadu Badu
Adaran sent delegations to Fua Mulak and the Suvadives carrying invitation letters to join the newly formed independent state. Major Phyllis looked...
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- 162 reads
12.1 Second Infiltration
“What is this?” enquired the Minister of Defence, Deccan Sanders, to find a note on his table. Secretary of State Chris Seamus said, “A letter from...
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- 157 reads
12.2 Second Infiltration
Elisabeth Boye, a boat lent by the Government of Ceylon, arrived at Fua Mulak on 30 th March with a force under the command of Sardar Bigfoot. First...
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- 119 reads
12.3 Second Infiltration
There were lots of stories about sighting spooky things in the woods, spirits and ghosts, in the beliefs of the native islanders and folklore. For...
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- 311 reads
13.1 Rahne Mari
An image of Moyler cast on the screen. Educated at Rugby School and Queen’s College, Arthur Moyler was appointed to the India Office in 1930. Then he...
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- 148 reads
13.2 Rahne Mari
HMS Strategy shadowed the trawler, observing surreptitiously on its periscope and grabbing ground. It dived deep and passed the ship to surface on...
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- 125 reads
13.3 Rahne Mari
Sayye Saeed switched on the lights. Seated separately on three cane seat wooden armchairs were Prime Minister Virgo, Defence Minister Rock and...
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- 139 reads
14.1 Suvadiva Uprising
Everyone had to play a crafty role with mistrust towards the other and wary not to fall into a trap. Jealousy ruled, hate ruled, two islands on far...
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- 182 reads
14.2 Suvadiva Uprising
Dirk Wyse Dwire observed the crowd by the waterfront in Malé through his binoculars. C-Queen, a steam-powered boat, reached the island to pick him...
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- 136 reads
14.3 Suvadiva Uprising
Under the clouds, a mountain of waves rose and swept below the vessel carrying its deadweight into the trough. Maldive Star was doing six knots...
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- 126 reads
15.1 S-O-S
Conga Nasr saw a flashing light of a bike rolling down the narrow path in the woods. It was Sardar Lahuth approaching with a police patrol. Nasr...
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- 201 reads
15.2 S-O-S
Muskan and Nuzhan among the topless brown girls were bathing in the water. Muskan noticed a boat approaching and it didn’t stop at the reef or slow...
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- 125 reads
15.3 S-O-S
USIR flags flew high over Addu Atoll and on doni carrying commuters to work in Gan. Their currency was pound sterling. Some English teachers came to...
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- 149 reads
16.1 Third Infiltration
At this juncture of deadlock and oral confrontation, Lord Bandon, ‘The Abandoned Earl’, Commander-in-Chief of the Far East Air Force, stepped in and...
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- 162 reads
16.2 Third Infiltration
There stood six tube houses built of metal and canvas fabric, doors to the ends and no windows. A separate shed housed a generator to supply...
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- 170 reads
17.1 In Flagrante Delicto
Footloose Habib received a directive from Sayye Saeed to look for the letter that granted asylum to Adaran and remove it from his possession urgently...
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- 136 reads
17.2 In Flagrante Delicto
Marvin Edward arrived with medicine that Adaran asked for. He said that he’d be at his office and to drop it there. Marvin went to fetch it from the...
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- 127 reads
17.3 In Flagrante Delicto
The moon shone bright. Mariam Mala went to Feydu to pack her clothes and stuff, including a black and white album. Then they brought her to Maradu...
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- 181 reads
18.1 Along with the Birds
Mala was taken to a tiny island called Madihéra in Villingili lagoon, lying northeast of Gan Island, inhibited by birds – the White Fairy Terns. She...
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- 143 reads
18.2 Along with the Birds
Group Captain H D Newton arrived in Gan and sat meeting with Tony Cooper and the CO, John Knet, over concerns of invasion and to reinstate troops...
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- 154 reads
18.3 Along with the Birds
Habib and Shakir sat on the bank of rising dunes and white sandy beach, literally in hiding, sheltered in the yellow branches and waxy leaves of...
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- 152 reads
19.1 Havaru
Arthur Moyler received a wire and not a call. It read that a Maldivian woman was held in detainment by the RAF in Gan for stealing things from the...
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- 190 reads
19.2 Havaru
Petty Cash ran into the office room and buzzed the director, “Minister is coming, sir!” Minister of Defence H Walton entered, “Director!” and left...
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- 206 reads
19.3 Havaru
Three months later, there were talks in the atoll about an invisible woman sighted by many sources. Bryan Williams reported seeing a topless woman...
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- 194 reads
20.1 Independence
On a very rainy day, it was the end of January 1962, island folks meandered on the beach seeing no clear sky to cut the harvest. Someone saw a boat...
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- 154 reads
20.2 Independence
Mr D C Ron Waite, appointed political official by Secretary Sanders, scrambled within the atoll and walked in through the doors without knocking...
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- 140 reads