The disappearance of Harold Holt

Harold Holt took over as Prime Minister of Australia in January 1966, replacing the retired Robert Menzies . Holt was a professional politician, became a member of parliament at the age of 27, and a minister at 30 ^[1] . He refused protection upon assuming office, not considering it necessary, but repulsive to the public. His position changed after two incidents: in mid-1966, a sniper broke the glass in his office, and then an assassination attempt was made on opposition leader Arthur Colwell. Holt reluctantly agreed to be escorted by a guard in the line of duty, but on vacation refused protection, considering it an encroachment on personal freedom ^[2] . His wife Zara later suggested that such a move was dictated by Holt's desire to hide his extramarital affairs ^[3] .

On the coast

Holt liked to go camping, relax in the houses on the coast in Portsey (Victoria) or Bingley Bay (Queensland). In 1954, he became interested in spearfishing , which became his favorite pastime even in the cold seasons when he wore a wetsuit. He preferred free diving or snorkeling to normal diving, not burdened with oxygen tanks ^[2] . He thrust the killed fish into his bosom and continued fishing ^[4] . According to his associates, Holt was incredibly hardy under water and sometimes during the parliamentary debate he had fun, detecting how long he was able to hold his breath. He could stay on the water for a long time, but was not a great swimmer ^[2] .

Proving the danger of a hobby, several of his friends quarreled with Holt and a spokesman, Tony Eggleton, who said: “Listen, Tony, does it matter if the prime minister drowns or a shark comes across?” ^[2] . On May 20, 1967, Holt nearly died while diving off the Mornington Peninsula. He called the damaged pipe the cause of the incident, noting that “during his life he was closest to drowning!” ^[2] . A few months later, on August 5, he was engaged in spearfishing on the island of Dank near the Great Barrier Reef . For 25 minutes he hunted for large coral trout, but refused to pursue because of severe shortness of breath ^[2] .

Health Status

Holt was in good health, although some members of the family died prematurely - his father died at the age of 59 years, and his older brother - at 57 years old ^[2] . In December 1955, Holt suffered a concussion as a result of an accident, and the driver of a ministerial car died ^[2] . In September 1967, Holt began to have pains in the liver, which were the result of a sports injury to his youth. He was prescribed pain medication and exercise therapy twice a week. A few days before his death, his personal doctor Marcus Founces advised avoiding excessive stress and less swimming and tennis ^[2] . The 2008 documentary, The Prime Minister is Missing, suggests that Holt's death is caused by stress, work fatigue combined with medication. Among them was called morphine , regarding the intake of which the day before death “there is no direct evidence” ^[5] . A senior civil servant, Sir Lenox Hewitt, in an interview in 1994, reported that by the time Holt disappeared, depression and mood swings prevailed: “The last time I saw and spoke with Harold Holt in Canberra and I remember the words he said:“ Len, man is not made to live like this “” ^[6] .

Until December 17th

The final meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers of 1967 began late on Thursday, December 14, and ended the next morning. Holt took a nap for a few hours at the residence and returned to the Parliament Building at 8:30 to finalize the press release. At 11 o'clock Holt left the parliament building and was taken to Fairburn Air Force Base, where he boarded a military plane to Melbourne . His wife Zara stayed in Canberra to complete preparations for the annual Christmas party. In Melbourne, Holt and his secretary, Patricia de Lacy, were brought to the office. Holt dictated several letters and headed home to St. George Street, Turak District. He told his housekeeper Edith “Taini” Lawless that he would spend the weekend in a beach house ^[2] . He was accompanied by a letter from the Liberal Party expressing dissatisfaction with the work of the government ^[6] .

In Porsi, Holt drove his red Pontiac Parisienne . On the way, he stopped in Sorrento, where he met neighbor Margery Gillespie and received an invitation to drink in the evening. After an hour-long conversation with her and her husband Winton, Holt dined with Lawless, who drove his clothes separately for the weekend. On Saturday, December 16th, Holt woke up early and had an easy breakfast, worked a little in the garden, made several phone calls to his press secretary Tony Eggleton and stepson Nicholas, inviting the latter to Portsey. Holt played tennis in the afternoon, then spent time with Nicholas and his family. In the evening, Holt was at a neighbour's cocktail party for about an hour and returned home to dine with a dozen guests. ^[2]

On Sunday, December 17th, Holt woke up early and after breakfast he called his wife. I bought bait, peanuts and a newspaper at a local store. One of The Australian's headlines read: “The Prime Minister is advised to swim less,” which included Dr. Fawns’s last tip. It is unclear whether Holt bought or read this particular newspaper. Returning home, Holt began to gather for a barbecue in Point Nepean and for spearfishing. At 11:15 he, with four companions (Margery Gillespie, her daughter Weiner, two friends of the Gillespie family - Martin Simpson and Alan Stewart) hit the road. It was a hot day, and the yacht of the circumnavigator Alec Rose, whom the travelers wanted to see along the way, was barely visible. Therefore, the stop turned out to be short ^[2] .

On the way to Portsey, Holt offered to stop at Cheviot Beach. The clock was about 12:15, Holt wanted to cool off and whet his appetite before dinner. He swam here many times and knew the area well. In 1960, he even found the porthole of the Chevyot steamer, the wreck of which gave the name to the beach. Despite the high waves, strong currents and visible craters, Holt was not afraid to enter the water. Alan Stewart also followed suit when others thought it was dangerous. Stuart stopped off the coast, but even there he felt a strong undercurrent . Holt swam to the depths of the sea. They shouted at him, but he did not raise his hands, did not call for help. A wave arose, and he disappeared from sight ^[2] .

After Holt disappeared, Alan Stewart drove to the Portsey Military School nearby. The school was empty, as most of the employees were on vacation, but managed to call the police of Victoria . This marked the beginning of a search operation, named one of the largest in the history of Australia. In search of the body of Harold Holt at 13:30, three amateur divers plunged into troubled water. Soon, helicopters, jet skis, police divers and two naval teams were involved in the search. By the end of the day, more than 190 military school students were involved in the operation. This number later increased to more than 340 ^[2] .

Searches resumed at 5 a.m. on December 18, despite a strong wind, raining rain and sea swell. Working in shifts, 50 divers looked for the body at the cliffs and ledges, near which Holt was last seen. They had to use free equipment so as not to be injured when diving, as the current carried them to the rocks. Due to the ebb at 8 a.m., searches were postponed until the afternoon. Weather again prevented the search the next day. On Wednesday, December 20, conditions improved, but most employees were recalled. A new operation to search for Holt was scheduled for January 5, 1968, but it boiled down to daily patrolling the beach. Lieutenant Captain Phil Hawke later stated that “by Sunday evening, the chances of finding a prime minister were lost.” ^[2]

The media learned about Holt's disappearance an hour after the incident. The first statement was made at approximately 1:45 p.m. on the 3DB Melbourne Radio Station. Dawn Holt, one of his secretaries, Peter Bailey, reported the disappearance of her husband. ^[2]

Memorial service

A funeral service for Holt was held on Friday, December 22, in St. Paul’s Cathedral . Due to the lack of a body, the funeral prayer was not uttered. The cathedral was attended by 2,000 people, thousands of people lined up nearby streets and listened to loudspeakers. 30 journalists, one photographer were accredited. Famous guests included Lyndon Johnson from the United States, Harold Wilson and Edward Heath from the United Kingdom, Keith Holyoke from New Zealand and leaders of six Asian countries ^[a] . After the requiem, an official reception was held at the Government House in Melbourne ^[2] .

Succession Issues

John McEwan (leader of the National Party of Australia and de facto Prime Minister) was resting on his Stanhope farm when he learned of Holt's disappearance. He immediately went to Canberra and in the evening of December 17 met with Governor General Richard Casey . They understood the need for the Provisional Government, drawing on the experience of 1939, when Earl Page temporarily took over as prime minister in connection with the death of Joseph Lyons . The next day, Casey made an official statement, and McEwan was appointed Acting Prime Minister on the afternoon of December 19th. ^[2]

With Holt's disappearance in the liberal party, the question arose of his successor. The situation was complicated after a public statement by McEwan that the party would quit the coalition if the liberal party elected William McMahon , who served as deputy. Elections for the leader were not held until January 9, which marked the 23rd day from the day Holt disappeared. Four candidates were identified: John Gorton , Paul Hazlack , Billy Snidden and Bari Forest. Gorton went around Hazlack in the second round of voting and took over the prime minister the next day. ^[2]

According to biographer Tom Frame, “there is no doubt that Harold Holt drowned - he was one of many ordinary Australians who drown each year out of carelessness or bad luck” ^[2] . Holt probably overestimated his ability to swim and inappropriate conditions for this. Also, he could suffer a heart attack, injure himself on a snag, sting with a jellyfish or meet a shark. Holt's body probably drowned or was carried away to the sea by ebb , which is not surprising: three men drowned in the same places a few years earlier - one body was missing, the other two were found in other places. It has been suggested that Holt entered the water to show off in front of Margery Gillespie, with whom he was rumored to have an affair ^[3] . In 1988, Gillespie publicly announced their love affair, although she had previously denied it. ^[2]

Official Investigations

Victoria Police launched a formal investigation into Holt's disappearance the day after the incident. The head of the investigation was appointed a former murder investigator Jack Ford, and his assistant was Aubrey Jackson of the Commonwealth of Police ^[2] . The police report of January 5, 1968 did not provide final conclusions due to lack of evidence. Senior pathologist James McNamara suggested that Holt may have become entangled in algae and later become a victim of marine life (e.g. sharks, spiny lobsters, sea lice). In this situation, Holt's body turned into a skeleton in 24–48 hours. Some involved in the investigation later stated that some of the information was not included in the final report. Martin Simpson admitted that Holt had several cans of beer in his bag ^[7] .

The federal government refused to conduct its own investigation, since the disappearance was considered indisputable, and the Holt family opposed it. Until 1985, state law prohibited an investigation without a body. In August 2003, State Investigator Graham Johnston announced that his agency had compiled a list of 103 unsolved crimes related to drowning when no bodies were discovered ^{[8] [9]} . In November 2004, 82 cases, including the Holt case, were found fit for investigation ^[10] . Formally, the investigation resumed in August 2005 ^[11] , and at the beginning of next month, Johnston stated that “ Mr. Holt took a rash risk and drowned in the stormy water near Cheviot Beach [...] nothing in the collected materials indicates anything other than drowning " ^[12] . Johnston also criticized the decision not to conduct government investigations after Holt disappeared, which gave rise to unconfirmed rumors and unusual theories. ^[13]

Possible suicide

Proponents of the suicide theory argue that Holt was depressed and mentally unstable, afraid of a collapse of his political career, which killed himself. But this is refuted by the cheerfulness of Holt, who loved his family and made plans for the future. In 1968, a police report ruled out the possibility of suicide, since Holt lived the usual routine a few days before disappearance, and suicide is extremely rare with witnesses ^[2] . The 2007 documentary “Who Killed Harold Holt?” Raised the issue of suicide. Holt's son Sam said in an interview that no one believes in the idea of ​​suicide in his family. Zara Holt previously described her husband as "too selfish" for suicide. Holt's two colleagues, Tony Eggleton and Malcolm Fraser, also rejected any suggestion of suicide. Alik Downer and James Killen expressed a similar point of view in their memoirs ^[b] . Edward St. John, however, admitted the possibility of suicide, believing that Holt did not care - to live or die ^[2] . Peter Butt, producer of the 2008 documentary The Prime Minister is Missing, said: “No one thought that was his character, and everyone who knew him completely rejected this idea.” ^[5]

Conspiracy Theories

Holt's disappearance has spawned numerous conspiracy theories, most of which involve concealment by government structures. In 1968, the Sunday Observer claimed that Holt was killed by the CIA so that he would not lead Australia out of the Vietnam War. It was also assumed that Holt was killed by a representative of North Vietnam (in retaliation for bullying with nerve gas ); or Holt staged his own death for his mistress. In 1983, British journalist Anthony Gray published the book “The Prime Minister was a Spy,” claiming that Holt was a Chinese spy and pretended to die to move to China. He was allegedly caught by divers and put on a waiting submarine. Reviewers noted many factual errors in the book, in particular, the physical impossibility of stopping submarines so close to the coast. Zara Holt noted that her husband “did not even like Chinese food” ^[2] .

Holt was remembered mainly in connection with the fact of his death, rather than political achievements. In Australia there was only one prime minister (Menzies) from 1949 to 1965, then in 1966-1972 there were six of them ^[2] . Peter Bowers believes that Holt’s death ended the “era of innocence” in Australia, when national leaders could no longer hide their privacy from the public ^[15] .

Monuments

On the first anniversary of Holt's death, a memorial plaque was attached to a reef at a depth of about 15 meters on Chevyot Beach ^{[16] [17]} . Monuments to Holt were erected on the rock of the beach, in the main cemetery of Melbourne (with the inscription "he loved the sea") ^{[18] [19]} . In September 1968, the naval communications station in Western Australia was renamed in honor of Holt ^[20] . The following year, his widow in Los Angeles (USA) attended a launch ceremony for a ship named after her husband, one of the few who received the name of a foreign leader ^[21] . In March 1969, the Harold Holt Swimming Center opened in the suburbs of Melbourne ^[22] . The basin of the Australian army at the military base in Vung Tau (Vietnam) is also named after Holt ^[23] .

In popular culture

Holt's death entered Australian folklore and is used as an example of black humor ^[24] . Writer and traveler Bill Bryson called it “a swim where you don't need a towel” ^{[c] [25]} . Holt's name has become a household word for any sudden or unexplained disappearance. In the Australian version of the rhymed slang the phrase to do a Harold Holt appeared with the meaning to bolt (run away, get away) ^{[26] [27]} . Holt's death was played out in the Australian TV series Neighbors and a number of others ^[28] . in 1988, ex- Kronall-Sutherland Sharks coach Jack Gibson, commenting on a rugby competition, said: “waiting for Kronall to win the final is like leaving the lights on for Harold Holt on the porch” ^[d] . Over the next thirty years, fans supporting the rival Cronalla team waved Holt posters in stadiums and dressed in wetsuits. The club first won the Premier League in 2016 ^[29] .

• Commonwealth Police Report by the Commonwealth and Victoria Police on the Disappearance of the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Harold Edward Holt, CH, MP, Cheviot Beach, Portsea, Victoria, Sunday, December 17, 1967. Canberra, January 1968 (neopr.) . National Archives of Australia (January 1968). —Includes eyewitness statements