Humphrey Gibbs - Additional Notes

Additional Notes

• According to Ian Smith's memoir Bitter Harvest, Smith had left instructions immediately after the UDI that Gibbs was not to be harassed or to be forced out of Government House. Smith – in the same memoir – made no mention of Gibbs giving either him or any member of his cabinet a dismissal notice. Indeed, he stated that Gibbs had intended to leave Government House and return to his farm, but the day after the UDI, decided to stay at his post after London instructed him to do so.
• Clifford Dupont's recollection of meeting Gibbs on 11 November 1965 was that he noticed that Gibbs was 'visibly distressed' and said "Gentlemen, you realize that I cannot agree or condone your decision". Dupont went on to fill Gibbs' position (in the eyes of the Rhodesian Government) as Officer Administering the Government, then later when Rhodesia was declared a republic, the first President.
• Gibbs accompanied Smith and his entourage in the 1966 and 1968 Gibraltar conferences at the invitation of British Prime Minister Harold Wilson. According to Bitter Harvest, Gibbs was broadly supportive of Smith's stance in those negotiations.