Carnation Revolution

Dear Editor,
I have just read the article written by your contributor David Thomas. I think that he should have prepared his article, having completed accurate research on the subject, before daring to inform your readers of the wrong information.
The first important factor was signalled to start by the playing of a particular song on the radio. My brother was on his way to catch a plane from Lisbon to Madeira very early on that morning and was turned back by a roadblock of armed revolutionary forces as he approached the Marquês de Pombal well before 9am.
Secondly, it is completely incorrect to say that the only victims of the Revolution were only the four people killed near the PIDE Headquarters. There was an officer and his mistress later shot at an army barracks (possibly by mistake as the officer would not halt his car when challenged).
Portuguese friends of mine told me that their eldest son committed suicide within days of the event. Another Portuguese friend told me that their mother had died in prison as COPCON denied her the essential medicine. I am sure there were others! Happily, under the circumstances, it was probably the most civilised Revolution in history and says a tremendous amount for the Portuguese people.
Michael Tannock
By email
Editor’s note: We asked David Thomas to reply: “I would like to thank your correspondent for reading the feature entitled ‘From evolution to revolution’. There is a great deal of research material available and most only refer to the four deaths. I am sure many readers therefore will be very interested to know about the additional information provided by your correspondent from people who lived through it at the time, which certainly I and I am sure others were not previously aware of. Despite these deaths, I agree with your correspondent that this was probably the most civilised revolution, which shows a tremendous amount for the Portuguese people, and was a turning point in Portugal’s history.”