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| - Winston Joseph Field MBE (1904 - 1969) was a Rhodesian politician. Field was a former Dominion Party MP who founded the Rhodesian Front political party with Ian Douglas Smith. Field was born and brought up in Bromsgrove in the United Kingdom, and moved to Southern Rhodesia in 1921. A tobacco farmer near Marandellas, in Mashonaland East, Field was President of the powerful Rhodesian Tobacco Association from 1938 to 1940, when he left for military service during the Second World War.He was elected Federal MP for Mtoko in 1957 under the Dominion Party banner. The Federation Minister of Justice, Julian Greenfield, found him 'somewhat impulsive and opioninated but entirely straightforward'. When the Rhodesian Front was formed in early 1962 by Ian Smith and 'Boss' Lilford, a very wealthy and Right wing tobacco farmer they needed an Establishment figurehead. Field was chosen. He was a solid, trustworthy figure and no racist, even though "nearly everyone else in the new party was to the right of him". His wife said "he didn't really want to take it on, he wasn't really a political animal". The "imperious and intolerant" Field was elected, to his and many others surprise, as Rhodesia's first Rhodesian Front Prime Minister in the 1962 general election and served until he was replaced by Ian Smith in 1964. Field lent an air of respectability to the Rhodesian Front government, though his Cabinet was derided by one newspaper as "by no means an inspiring list". At the time of Field's election it was assumed that Britain would delay the process of independence for Rhodesia until "an African majority assumed power in Salisbury" . Many in the Rhodesian Front felt that Field did not fight hard enough for independence, in particular that the British had hoodwinked him on visits to London in June 1963 and January 1964 over promises of independence. His relatively short time in office saw the dissolution of the Central African Federation on 31st December 1963 though he did win the majority of the Federation's military and other assets for Southern Rhodesia. His Cabinet included John Gaunt a former Federal MP for Lusaka and a former District Commissioner in Northern Rhodesia. Aware of discontent in Cabinet fomented by Gaunt, Field demanded his resignation in the spring of 1964. Gaunt asked him to wait over the weekend whilst he cleared up some matters in his office. In that time Gaunt and Ian Smith organised a plot against Field, now seen as ineffectual after his failure to win independence. Ken Flower, head of Rhodesia's Central Intelligence Organisation, an organisation Field had ordered be set up, had in fact warned him sometime previously there was a conspiracy against him, involving several of his ministers. The caucus of the Rhodesian Front decided to ask for his resignation on 2nd April 1964 and the decision was conveyed to Field the next day, though the formal demand was not made until a Cabinet meeting a few days later. Field was replaced as leader of the Rhodesian Front and as Prime Minister by Smith on 14th April 1964, despite the Governor Sir Humphrey Gibbs urging him to fight the rebels against him in his party.He died in Rhodesia in 1969. (en)
- Winston Joseph Field (1904-1969) est un homme politique de Rhodésie du sud, membre fondateur du Front Rhodésien au côté de Ian Smith et premier ministre de cette colonie britannique du 17 décembre 1962 au 13 avril 1964. Winston Field est né en 1904 et a grandi à Bromsgrove au Royaume-Uni. C'est en 1921 qu'il émigre dans la colonie britannique de Rhodésie du Sud. Fermier, il cultive le tabac dans la région de Marandellas dans la région est du Mashonaland et est de 1938 à 1940 le président du puissant syndicat des planteurs de tabac. En 1940, il rejoint l'armée pour participer à la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Winston Field est élu député fédéral pour la circonscription de Mtoko en 1957 sous les couleurs du parti du Dominion. Il rejoint le Front rhodésien à sa formation en 1962 et est choisi pour mener le parti aux élections générales en raison de sa notoriété locale et de sa bonne réputation. En décembre 1962, un peu à la surprise générale, le front rhodésien remporte les élections et Winston Field est nommé premier ministre de Rhodésie du sud. Son gouvernement comprend alors John Gaunt, ancien député fédéral de Lusaka et Ian Smith qui seront tous deux responsables de l'éviction de Field deux ans plus tard. En effet, peu convaincu par la prestation de Field dans la défense des intérêts des blancs de Rhodésie face au gouvernement britannique, ils obtiennent du caucus du Front rhodésien de voter une motion de défiance envers Winston Field. Celui-ci est désavoué par son parti le 2 avril 1964 et laisse son poste de premier ministre à Ian Smith le 14 avril 1964, en dépit du soutien du gouverneur de Rhodésie. Retiré de la vie politique, Winston Field meurt en Rhodésie en 1969. Catégorie:Personnalité politique de Rhodésie Catégorie:Naissance en 1904 Catégorie:Décès en 1969 (fr)
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