The Daily Telegraph Tuesday 6 August 2019 *** 25had been a battalion commander in
the organisation and many senior and
middle-ranking figures in national and
regional government were former
members of the group.
When asked at the time who was to
blame for the massacres under his
regime, Nuon Chea told a news
conference: “Let’s consider that an old
issue.” Deaths had occurred, he
admitted, but only “because we
wanted to win the war”. In a bizarre
half-apology he insisted: “We are sorry
not only for the lives of the people, but
also for the animals.”
When the journalist Phil Rees paid a
visit to Nuon Chea in 2002 for a BBC
Two documentary he found Brother
Number Two enjoying a quiet
retirement in the countryside with his
wife and grandchildren, next door to
Khieu Samphan. He claimed ignorance
of the scale of the carnage under the
Khmer Rouge and showed no guilt or
remorse: “I have never stayed awake at
night or shed any tears.”
In later interviews Nuon Chea
insisted that he had been mainly in
charge of legislative matters and often
did not know what policies were being
implemented by Pol Pot. “I was notinvolved in the killing of people,” he
told AFP in 2007. “I don’t know who
was responsible.”
But, like the Nazis in Germany, the
Khmer Rouge kept meticulous
archives which charted, among other
things, activities in the infamous Tuol
Sleng – or S-21 – prison, a torture
centre in Phnom Penh run by Nuon
Chea’s infamous subordinate Kaing
Guek Eav, known as Comrade Duch,
where some 16,000 men, women and
children were tortured and executed.
As Vietnamese troops advanced on
the city in 1979 Nuon Chea wrote to
Duch, ordering him to kill the final
prisoners and flee. Duch complied, but
there was no time to destroy the
archives, a lapse that would cost Nuon
Chea dear when, after much pressure,
in November 2007 the Cambodians
finally arrested him and Khieu
Samphan on charges of crimes against
humanity.
Nuon Chea was reportedly furious
that Duch had not carried out his
orders to burn the archive before the
Khmer Rouge fled Phnom Penh,
though Duch later complained that
Nuon Chea had not told him the
Vietnamese were coming.As it was, prosecutors found copious
records of the day-to-day goings-on at
Tuol Sleng – including descriptions of
torture and photographs of victims
before and after they were, as the
Khmer Rouge put it, “smashed to
pieces”. The files revealed that
confessions extracted under torture
were sent to “Brother Nuon’’ before
the prisoners were executed, and
prosecutors were able to present
evidence that he had personally
ordered torture and executions on a
massive scale.
When he appeared before a special
UN-backed tribunal for the first time
in June 2011, Nuon Chea, an old and
withered man adorned in what looked
like an oversized tea-cosy and
sunglasses, seemed an unlikely
mass-murderer. But it soon became
clear that age and captivity had not
softened his resolve. He remained
defiant throughout his trial, refusing
to recognise the legitimacy of the
court and blaming any deaths that
took place on the Vietnamese.
But in video clips of a 2007
interview played at his trial, he was
heard acknowledging the purges.
“Believe me, if these traitors were
alive, the Khmers as a people would
have been finished,” he said. “So I dare
to suggest our decision was the correct
one. If we had shown mercy to these
people, the nation would have been
lost. We didn’t kill many. We only
killed the bad people, not the good.”
In 2014 Nuon Chea was convicted of
crimes against humanity and
sentenced to life imprisonment. After
a second trial, in November last year
he was found guilty of genocide
against minority Cham Muslims and
ethnic Vietnamese and given a second
life sentence.
He was born Lao Kim Lorn on July 7
1926 in Cambodia’s western
Battambang province, the third of nine
children of a corn farmer and a
seamstress. He studied law at
Thammasat University in Thailand,
where in 1950 he joined the
Communist Party of Thailand. Later
that year he abandoned his studies,
joined the Vietnamese-led Communist
Party of Indo-China and returned to
Cambodia to participate in the
struggle against the French colonial
government. He adopted Nuon Chea
as his nom de guerre.
In the early 1960s he and Pol Pot
(real name Saloth Sar) were said to
have led the way in creating a home-
grown movement free from the
influence of Vietnam.
In 1957, in a marriage arranged by
the party, Nuon Chea married Ly Kim
Seng, who survives him with three
daughters and a son.Nuon Chea, born July 7 1926, died
August 4 2019Comrade of Pol Pot seen as one of the architects of the Khmer Rouge’s brutal regime in Cambodia
Nuon Chea
Colourful tennis player who with Paul McNamee formed one of the game’s great doubles partnerships
Peter McNamara
F
LIGHT LIEUTENANT
ARCHIE MCINNES,
who has died a few
hours after celebrating his
100th birthday, was one of
the last six surviving Battle
of Britain veterans.
Archibald McInnes was
born on July 31 1919. He
joined the RAF Volunteer
Reserve in 1938 when he
received some training as a
pilot. He was called up at the
outbreak of the war and
completed his training on
August 30 1940; he was
commissioned the next day.
After converting to the
Hurricane he joined 601
Squadron, which had
suffered heavy losses during
the main fighting and had
been withdrawn to Exeter to
rest and train new pilots.
Once McInnes had gained
more experience he joined
238 Squadron, which was
based at Chilbolton in
Hampshire. By the time of
his arrival on October 8, the
Luftwaffe had been reduced
to making daylight attacks
on a small scale. McInnes
flew on defensive patrols
and by October 31 the Battle
of Britain was over.
The squadron routine of
remaining a high state of
readiness continued and
standing patrols were flown
along the south coast. In the
early months of 1941 Fighter
Command went on the
offensive and the squadron
ventured across the English
Channel escorting bombers
attacking targets in
northern France.
In May 1941 the squadron
made preparations to head
for the Middle East and on
May 16 it embarked on the
aircraft carrier Victorious.
The carrier was diverted to
join the hunt for the German
battleship Bismarck and
after the action it headed for
the Western Mediterranean.
McInnes and his fellow pilots
were launched from the
carrier on June 14 and
headed for Malta. After
refuelling they set off for a
landing ground in Egypt. By
the end of July the squadron
was ready for action.
McInnes flew escort
missions and fighter patrols.
On October 30 he was
escorting aircraft on a
reconnaissance over
Gambut and Bardia when
Messerschmitt Bf 109sattacked the formation. He
was shot down and as a
result of the engagement he
lost his left arm.
He returned to Britain,
and after recovering worked
in the air fighting tactics
division of the Air Ministry.
He was later fitted with a
false arm, which had an
adaptor that allowed him to
operate the throttle of a
Hurricane. On his first flight
the “arm” broke but he
managed to land the fighter.
He gave advice on a
modification, which proved
successful and allowed him
to continue flying.
In February 1944 he
joined 691 Squadron near
Plymouth, which provided
targets for fighter affiliation
exercises for the Royal
Navy. He later joined other
squadrons to tow targets for
gunnery practice and at the
end of the war he was based
at Tangmere, flying
Hurricanes with the RAF’s
Fighter Leader’s School. He
left the RAF in 1946.
He first joined the family
laundry business in the
London area, but after
moving near Cambridge
joined the luxury travel
goods department of
Papworth Industries.
Shortly after his 99th
birthday, Archie McInnes
flew in a Spitfire when the
aircraft was escorted by a
Hurricane.
He was predeceased by
his wife Helen and is
survived by their daughter.Flight Lieutenant Archie
McInnes, born July 31 1919,
died July 31 2019Flt Lt Archie McInnes
Battle of Britain pilot who flew
Hurricanes having lost an arm
McInnes, and, below, in the
back seat of a Spitfire during a
flight after his 99th birthday
escorted by a HurricaneN
UON CHEA, who has
died aged 93, was deputy
secretary general of the
Communist Party of
Democratic Kampuchea,
as the Khmer Rouge
called themselves; known as “Brother
Number Two”, he was the closest
comrade of Pol Pot, one of the 20th
century’s most bloody dictators, for
more than 30 years.
After Pol Pot’s forces seized control
of Cambodia in April 1975 they
declared “Year Zero”, abolishing
religion, schools and currency, and set
about turning the country into a
peasant society: towns and cities were
emptied as more than two million
people were driven from the capital,
Phnom Penh, in a matter of days.
Those too old or sick to move were
executed, as were the country’s
intellectuals and the soldiers and
officials of the former republican
government. In new collectives
children were separated from parents,
husbands from wives. Everyone
belonged to a new family – the party- and those judged not to belong were
killed.
From 1975 to 1979 when the
Vietnamese invaded, putting an end to
the revolution, the group’s fanatical
efforts to usher in utopia led to the
deaths of some 1.7 million people –
more than a quarter of the country’s
population at the time – from
starvation, disease, overwork and
executions.
A sinister, shadowy figure, Nuon
Chea had played a pivotal role as Pol
Pot came to dominate the
underground communist movement
in the 1950s and 1960s. After the
Khmer Rouge took power he was seen
as one of the key architects of its
ideology and also ran the state security
apparatus.
After being ousted from power in
1979, the group, from bases in the
jungles of western Cambodia, waged
guerrilla warfare for another two
decades before disintegrating. Pol Pot
died in 1998, and on Christmas Eve
that year Nuon Chea and his comrade
Khieu Samphan, the former Khmer
Rouge head of state, surrendered.
In spite of international calls for
them to be put on trial, however, two
of the leading architects of the “killing
fields” were welcomed back to Phnom
Penh with a promise of amnesty by the
Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen,
who met the duo at his home and gave
them and family members a beach
holiday and security escorts.
They had, he claimed, “defected”
from the Khmer Rouge and should be
welcomed not with handcuffs but with
“a bouquet of flowers”. Previously,
Hun Sen had supported demands for
an international court to try Khmer
Rouge war criminals. But he himself
Nuon Chea, alias
‘Brother Number
Two’ being escorted
to a Phnom Penh
hotel in 1998; an
estimated 1.7
million people lost
their lives between
1975 and 1979, but
he claimed: ‘We
only killed the bad
people, not the
good’P
ETER MCNAMARA, the tennis
player, who has died aged 64 of
prostate cancer, was among the
leading doubles exponents of
his generation and a favourite with
crowds for his rollicking partnership
with his childhood friend, Paul
McNamee.
During the 1970s and 1980s the pair
defeated the world’s best, including
John McEnroe and Peter Fleming, to
win a string of doubles titles, among
them the Australian Open and two
Wimbledon crowns. After retiring
from the circuit he coached several
talented young players and became a
fixture on the seniors tour.
Peter McNamara was born on July 5
1955 in Melbourne, the elder child of a
shopkeeper in the city’s eastern
suburbs. A sporty, outdoorsy boy, he
gravitated to the nearby Glen Iris
Tennis club and joined its strong
squad of ambitious youngsters.
Despite a gloriously stylish
backhand and exquisite touch, he
enjoyed only patchy success in
tournaments thanks to his jovial,
easy-going attitude – until at 17 he
defeated McNamee, then one of
Australia’s best juniors, in the West
Australian championships.
This boosted his self-belief and he
gradually climbed the rankings, then
turned professional aged 21 and began
travelling the world with a
freewheeling group of cash-strapped
young Australian and South African
players, including Mark Edmondson,
Bernie Mitton and Johan Kriek. Two
years later, he and McNamee decided
to try their luck as a doubles pair.
Their results were transformed
when they started training at the
academy in Bardmoor, Florida, run by
the architect of Australia’s postwar
tennis success, Harry Hopman, who
had coached many of the greats, from
Frank Sedgman and Neale Fraser to
John Newcombe and Tony Roche.
After years of warming up for big
matches with a cigarette to calm his
nerves, McNamara became fitness-
obsessed, lifting weights, running
10 km most days and building himself
into an outstanding physical
specimen.
He and McNamee won a string of
prestigious titles and took their first
major, the Australian Open doubles, in
1979, followed by Wimbledon titles in
1980 and 1982.
That last victory was a particular
highlight as they thrashed the
American favourites, “Superbrat” JohnMcEnroe and Peter Fleming, 6-2 6-3,
after McEnroe, still furious at losing a
marathon five-set singles final to
Jimmy Connors earlier that day, had
insisted that the doubles final be the
best of three sets rather than five
because of fading light.
In 1981 they also captured the WCT
Masters title, essentially the world
championship of doubles, with a
fighting victory over Hank Pfister and
Victor Amaya.
The following year McNamara also
emerged as a fine singles exponent andwas named the ATP’s most improved
player, thanks in part to his new-found
focus and attention to detail.
Though a natural grass-courter, he
had taken the time to learn his craft on
slow clay, driving thousands of miles a
year to tournaments in France and
Germany in an ancient, battered
Mercedes.
This paid dividends when he
sensationally upset Connors to win the
1981 German Open and outlasted the
world No 1, Ivan Lendl, in the final of
the 1983 Brussels Indoor
Championship.
Much loved throughout the tennis
world for his friendliness, love of a
party and wicked sense of humour, he
was revered by the rising star Mats
Wilander, who modelled his slice
backhand on the Australian’s. In 1982,
McNamara had invited him to a
players’ party at his home when the
young Swede was only 17.
“We shared a few beers,” recalled
Wilander, “and I found myself singing
loudly with a lampshade on my head.
It was an amazing night for me, to be
invited into their world despite being
so young and from another country.
“I lost twice to him in close matches
but I heard he went back to the locker
room and told the guys: ‘Watch out for
this kid Wilander. He never makes a
mistake and he’ll be a great player.’ I
was so encouraged, a few weeks later I
won the French Open.”
The pair became lifelong friends,
McNamara introducing Wilander and
his Swedish comrades to his own
brand of Crocodile Dundee-style banter
and revelry.
They proved adept pupils, and at
McNamara’s surprise 50th birthday
party, Wilander and his fellow Swedes,
Joakim Nystrom and Mikael Pernfors,
performed a subtle ditty they had
composed for the occasion which
made up in brio what it lacked in
political correctness: “Poofter, poofter
Macca!”
McNamara was kept out of the game
for a time by a severe knee injury in
1983, and although he made a partial
comeback after surgery and
represented the Australian side that
won the 1986 Davis Cup, he retired the
following year.
Always a driven workhorse, he
began coaching the young Australians
Mark Philippoussis and Matt Ebden,
worked at the Moratoglou Academy in
Paris mentoring Grigor Dimitrov, and
later masterminded the meteoric rise
of the young Chinese star Wang Qiang.Physically fearless, he would
counsel his young pupils to attack the
net, ignoring the barrage of shots to
the body, then “stick at it and stare the
opponent down”.
Famed for his eye for a pretty girl,
McNamara convulsed his friends with
his amorous exploits, admitting during
one tournament: “Can’t believe what I
just did. I was crossing the players’
lounge, checking out [the Australian
grand slam winner] Pat Rafter’s
gorgeous wife – and I walked straight
into a wall!”
One British player revealed how he
had propositioned her in a car, and
after she diplomatically fended him off
he continued the conversation with
the utmost good humour as though
nothing had happened.
He kept his 2009 diagnosis of
prostate cancer secret from all but his
closest confidants and only gave up
coaching Wang in February this year
when his health deteriorated. His wife,
Petra, cared for him during his final
months at their home in Sonthofen in
the Bavarian Alps.
His close friend Sara Woolland,
former tournament director of the
Royal Albert Hall Champions event,
where he was a huge draw, paid
tribute to his engaging, maverick
personality.
“His pro-am partners always had the
best time,” she said. “He had this
amazing blue gaze and was a great
gentleman with hilarious stories of life
on the road and he invariably made
you feel you were the only person in
the room.
“He was an enigma, though –
gregarious but insecure, a party
animal but a loner, stubborn and
grumpy, kind and thoughtful. But
most of all the best friend. There will
be glasses of red being raised all across
the world tonight.”
Unsurprisingly, McNamara’s
peripatetic life was not conducive to
lasting relationships. He had two sons
with his first wife, the psychologist
Catie Raynor, and after that marriage
was dissolved in the early 1980s, a
daughter and son with his partner, the
Australian model Isabella Cowan.
Two decades later, while playing
and coaching in Germany, he met a
fellow tennis enthusiast, Petra Leiner,
who became his second wife.
Peter McNamara is survived by his
wife and his daughter and three sons.Peter McNamara, born July 5 1955,
died July 20 2019McNamara at the
French Open in
1982: a friend
described him as
‘an enigma –
gregarious but
insecure, a party
animal but a loner’REUTERSJONNY CRACKNELLSTEVE POWELL/GETTY IMAGESObituaries
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