ABSTRACT: Relying on already available and newly accessible British archival sources, as well as memoirs of some of the participants, the authors reconstruct the events surrounding the so-called Cairo Affair, with special emphasis on the position of some generals and the support they received from military circles in the United Kingdom. The attempted coup, known as the Cairo Affair, and the extent of British involvement in it, have not previously been fully described and analyzed.

KEYWORDS: United Kingdom, Government-in-Exile, Second World War, Dušan Simović, Cairo Affair, Coup, Slobodan Jovanović, Yugoslavia.

SUMMARY: The historical events of World War II are fairly well known, but few have been as profoundly disregarded in historiography as the Cairo Affair. The event, involving unconstitutional actions with the elements of a coup, took place in 1942 in a part of the Yugoslav Army outside the Fatherland, largely in Egypt. The affair began with a political crisis and the fall of Simović, later exhibiting all the elements of a rebellion within parts of the military, and ultimately evolving into an inter-state dispute. In the early stages of the war, it was the greatest challenge both the Government of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in exile and the Crown itself faced. Although some of the stakeholders touched on the events in the Royal Yugoslav Army in their memoirs, largely those in Egypt, only a few delved into the background and the core of the rebellion. For decades, the prevailing theory was that what happened in Egypt was a dispute between two generations responsible for the coup d’état of March 27 (generals and the so-called “majors’ league”) or, perhaps, between the Mirković brothers and the Knežević brothers, with the latter ultimately prevailing. The situation, however, was quite different. That entire affair, a rebellion in a part of the military, deeply unfortunate and fundamentally harmful for the government-in-exile of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, did not unfold exactly as described by Slobodan Jovanović and diplomat Kosta St. Pavlović. They accurately observed (as major actors in the affair) that the aims of the groups involved were quite inconsistent, linked only by basic principles, but each with its own particular interests and ambitions. Among the rebels, some were likely driven by a desire to preserve the acquired order of things rather than their own positions (Ilić), while others sought absolute political or actual power (Simović and Mirković, respectively). Yet it is only access to the British archival materials that can provide a comprehensive understanding of the events in the run-up to and during the Cairo Affair and, even more so, reveal precisely those circles in the British military that, in light of this research, were the initiators and main supporters of General Borivoje Mirković, who spearheaded the reckless venture that had considerable consequences for the position of the Yugoslav government in the United Kingdom. The newly available material helps identify the members of the British military who were the principal protectors and mentors of the coupists. They were led by Tom Mapplebeck, the former British air attaché in Belgrade, who operated in Cairo, enjoying the full support of the British military leadership.