William Harper | |
|---|---|
| Minister of Internal Affairs of Rhodesia | |
| In office 14 April 1964 – 4 July 1968 | |
| Prime Minister | Ian Smith |
| Preceded by | Jack Howman |
| Succeeded by | Lance Smith |
| Minister of the Public Service | |
| In office 14 April 1964 – 4 July 1968 | |
| Prime Minister | Ian Smith |
| Preceded by | Winston Field |
| Succeeded by | Jack Howman |
| Minister of Irrigation | |
| In office 17 December 1962 – 15 February 1963 | |
| Prime Minister | Winston Field |
| Preceded by | Geoffrey Ellman-Brown |
| Succeeded by | Himself (Water Development) |
| Minister of Water Development | |
| In office 15 February 1963 – 14 April 1964 | |
| Prime Minister | Winston Field |
| Preceded by | New title |
| Succeeded by | Philip van Heerden |
| Minister of Roads and Road Traffic | |
| In office 17 December 1962 – 14 April 1964 | |
| Prime Minister | Winston Field |
| Preceded by | Geoffrey Ellman-Brown |
| Succeeded by | Harry Reedman (Roads) |
| Minister of Transport and Power | |
| In office 29 November 1963 – 14 April 1964 | |
| Prime Minister | Winston Field |
| Preceded by | Leslie Cullinan |
| Succeeded by | George Rudland |
| Member of the Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly for Gatooma | |
| In office 5 June 1958 – 11 July 1968 | |
| Preceded by | Max Buchan |
| Succeeded by | George Munro |
| Personal details | |
| Born | William John Harper 22 July 1916 Calcutta, British India |
| Died | 8 September 2006 (aged 90) |
| Political party |
|
| Spouse | Elizabeth[1] |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Branch/service | |
| Years of service | 1937–49 |
| Rank | Wing Commander |
| Battles/wars | Second World War |
William John Harper (22 July 1916 – 8 September 2006) was a politician, general contractor and Royal Air Force fighter pilot who served as a Cabinet minister in Rhodesia (or Southern Rhodesia) from 1962 to 1968, and signed that country's Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) from Britain in 1965. Born into a prominent Anglo-Indian merchant family in Calcutta, Harper was educated in India and England and joined the RAF in 1937. He served as an officer throughout the Second World War and saw action as one of "The Few" in the Battle of Britain, during which he was wounded in action. Appalled by Britain's granting of independence to India in 1947, he emigrated to Rhodesia on retiring from the Air Force two years later.
Harper contended that British rule in the subcontinent should never have ended and took a similar stance regarding his adopted homeland, reportedly declaring that it, South Africa, and the neighbouring Portuguese territories would "be under white rule forever".[2] He entered politics with the Dominion Party in 1958 and became Minister of Irrigation, Roads and Road Traffic in the Rhodesian Front (RF) government in 1962. The head of a far-right group within the RF, he called for Rhodesia to abolish black representation in parliament and adopt "a form of political apartheid".[3] When the Prime Minister Winston Field resigned in 1964, Harper was a front-runner to succeed him, but lost out to Ian Smith, who moved him to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Each breakdown or setback during the early years of Smith's premiership prompted press speculation that Harper might replace him. In 1966, when Smith brought a working document back from the HMS Tiger talks with the British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, Harper led opposition to the terms in Cabinet, contributing to their rejection. Harper resigned from the Rhodesian Front in 1968, soon after Smith dismissed him from the Cabinet, reportedly because Harper had had an extramarital affair with a British agent. He subsequently became a vocal critic of the Prime Minister, greeting each step Smith made towards settlement with black nationalists during the Bush War with public indignation. By the time black majority rule began in Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979, following the Internal Settlement of the previous year, Harper had left for South Africa, being unwilling to accept majority rule in Rhodesia. He died in 2006 at the age of 90.