Lord Duncan-Sandys, 79, Dead; Smoothed Way to End of Empire
Lord Duncan-Sandys, the longtime British politician and diplomat who negotiated the independence of nearly a dozen British colonies and territories in the 1960's, died yesterday at his home in London. He was 79 years old.
A statement issued by his family said Lord Duncan-Sandys had been ill for some time. No further details were provided.
Lord Duncan-Sandys (pronounced sands) was a leading figure in his country's political affairs for nearly four decades. A tall, elegantly tailored man with red hair and a notorious temper, he also enjoyed special prominence as the husband of Winston Churchill's eldest daughter, Diana.
Elected a Conservative member of Parliament at the age of 27, Duncan Sandys, as he was known before he was made a peer in 1974, made a name for himself as an advocate of military preparedness in the late 1930's, and directed key military actions as a junior member of Winston Churchill's Cabinet during World War II. Held High Government Posts
After the war, Mr. Sandys, who was mentioned as a possible candidate for Conservative party leader, held a variety of high Government posts, handling such issues as the denationalization of Britain's state-owned steel industry, the amalgamation of many of the country's aircraft companies and the restructuring of its nuclear policies.
He won particular praise for his tenure as Britain's Secretary for Commonwealth Relations from 1960 to 1964, when his work as a tough but masterful negotiator helped smooth the way for the dismantling of Britain's Empire.
''His theory seems to be: if you can't convince them, batter at them until they agree out of sheer weariness,'' said one press account in 1964. ''In the Malaysian independence talks last year, he kept delegates up all night again and again, until they finally slumped together in blinking unity.''
Under Mr. Sandys's supervision, 11 colonies gained independence, including Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Cyprus, Malta, Malaysia, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Tanganyika (now Tanzania) and Sierra Leone. Supported Smith of Rhodesia.
In the late 1960's, Mr. Sandys became embroiled in controversy over his strong support for Prime Minister Ian D. Smith of Rhodesia, and his position that Britain should bar entrance to black and other minority group immigrants from Commonwealth countries.
He also came into growing conflict with other members of his party, and when Edward Heath was elected Prime Minister in 1970, he forced Mr. Sandys from the party leadership.
Born Jan. 24, 1908, Duncan Edwin Sandys was the only son of Capt. George John Sandys, a wealthy Conservative member of Parliament, and the former Mildred Cameron, a New Zealander. He was educated at Eton and at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he gained a reputation as a playboy, staging practical jokes and upsetting staid parties by having his Indian servant wear a brilliantly colored turban and sash.
Upon his graduation in 1930, Mr. Sandys entered the diplomatic service, serving for almost three years at the British Embassy in Berlin before returning to England to enter politics in 1933. Critical of Chamberlain
After winning election to Parliament from Norwood in a by-election in 1935, he met and married one of his opponent's supporters, Diana Churchill, with whom he had one son and two daughters. He also became a close personal and political ally of his wife's father, the future Prime Minister, a relationship that provoked charges of nepotism as Mr. Sandys began his rise through the Conservative Party ranks.
As his country drifted toward war with Germany, Mr. Sandys charged that Britain's anti-aircraft defenses were inadequate, and was sharply critical of Neville Chamberlain's policy of appeasement.
When war broke out, Mr. Sandys served in the British expedition to Norway in 1940. He was incapacitated in 1941 by leg injuries he received in an automobile accident in Wales. Confronted with the option of amputation, he instead chose to undergo a series of operations that kept his feet intact but left him in near-constant pain and forced him to walk with a pronounced limp for the rest of his life.
After the accident, Mr. Sandys worked in a variety of military posts, and was credited with persuading his superiors to undertake a massive raid against German rocket installations in Peenemunde in 1943, an action that Allied leaders later described as vital to the success of the war effort.
Mr. Sandys lost his seat in Parliament in the Labor Party landslide of 1945, and helped found the European Union, a forerunner of the European Community. He was re-elected in 1950 and served without interruption until his resignation in 1974.
After his resignation from Parliament, Mr. Sandys was elevated to the House of Lords, taking the name Duncan-Sandys. After his resignation, he devoted himself to his position as chairman of Lonrho Ltd., an international conglomerate, a post he held until 1984.
Mr. Sandys's first marriage was dissolved in 1960. In 1962, he married Marie Claire Schmitt, with whom he had one daughter.
