Let's go Down Under, shall we? The year is 1967 and Harold Holt is prime minister of Australia. Let's take a look at his mysterious disappearance. First, some background. Holt was a lawyer and politician who served as Australia's 17th PM, and the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. He became the third Australian prime minister to die in office, following Joseph Lyons in 1939 and John Curtin in 1945.
Harold Edward Holt was born in Stanmore, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, on August 5, 1908. He was the eldest of the two sons born to Thomas James Holt, a schoolteacher, and his wife, Olive May, née Williams. Harold's younger brother, Clifford was born in 1910. His parents eventually separated, and his mother died in 1925 when Harold was 16.
In 1920, Holt began boarding at Wesley College in Melbourne. In 1927, he started studying law at the University of Melbourne, where he lived at Queen's College. He excelled in sports, especially cricket, and football (soccer)/and he was also active in student activities and debating. His fine oratory skills and essay writing won him prizes.
In 1930, Holt graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree. As a young lawyer in Melbourne during the early 1930s, he developed an interest in politics. He joined the United Australia Party (UAP), the forerunner of the Liberal Party, and was elected to the federal Parliament in 1935 in the secure UAP seat of Fawkner. Holt was 27 years old when he entered Parliament as its youngest member. According to the Australian Dictionary of Biography, the new member for Fawkner "was a dashing figure: of middle height, fit and handsome, with thick black hair swept back, well-tailored clothes, ready smile and a natural charm."
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| Holt as a young man in the 1930s |
In 1939, Holt's mentor, Sir Robert Menzies, became prime minister and Holt was appointed a minister without portfolio. In 1941, under Prime Minister Menzies, Holt organized the Department of Labour and National Service for wartime mobilization. However, Menzies' government was defeated that year and the UAP was sent into opposition.
Holt joined the new Liberal Party upon its creation in 1945. When the Liberals came into office in 1949, Holt became a senior cabinet minister for the new government. From 1949 to 1956, he held the important position of Minister for Immigration. During his tenure as Minister for Immigration, Holt dealt with post-war immigration to Australia. He relaxed the White Australia policy (based on the Immigration Restriction Act of 1901) for the first time.
Holt's reforms evened the playing field between Europeans and non-Europeans seeking citizenship, setting a 5-year wait time for both groups. The criteria for non-European migrants applying for permanent residence.
From 1949 to 1958, Holt served as Minister of Labour and National Service, where he took care of labour disputes. In 1956, he was elected deputy leader of the Liberal Party. After the 1956 election, he also became Treasurer.
Harold Holt was the most experienced cabinet minister in the Australian government, and the heir apparent to Robert Menzies. Upon Menzies' retirement, Holt was elected unanimously as Liberal Party leader. On January 26, 1966, Holt succeeded Menzies as prime minister.
Holt's new government continued to tear down the White Australia policy, which restricted immigration based on race, and his government also assumed responsibility for indigenous affairs. Sadly, Holt never completely dismantled the racist White Australia policy, but his initiatives were absolutely instrumental in bringing about its end, since it was formerly abolished in stages. Prime Minister Gough Whitlam definitively renounced the policy in 1973, and its last vestiges were finally removed in 1975 when the Racial Discrimination Act was passed.
Harold Holt promoted a stronger relationship with Asia and the Pacific and made several visits to East Asian countries. As prime minister, Holt developed a close relationship with the United States. He created controversary by increasing Australian troops in aid of the South Vietnam. Holt strongly supported American policies in Vietnam, stating that "without the American shield, most of us who live in Asia and the South Pacific would have a continuing sense of insecurity."
Under Holt's leadership, Australia's co-operation with the Americans went beyond support for the Vietnam War. He approved the construction of several Earth stations to be used by NASA and U.S, intelligence agencies. According to Tom Frame, Holt's biographer, Australia became "the most substantial centre for American missile and space operation outside the continental United States."
Harold Holt was a personal friend of U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson. They were the same age (both men having been born in August of 1908. The two first met in 1942 during World War II, when Johnson served as a member of the U.S. Naval Reserve in Australia and New Zealand. During a July 1966 White House visit, Holt famously declared that he was "all the way with LBJ," a slogan Johnson used during the 1964 presidential election campaign.
Holt also sponsored LBJ's October 1966 visit to Australia. Johnson was the first American president to travel Down Under while in office, but his visit was fraught with tension over the Vietnam War. Protests took place during several appearances by the U.S. president, including throwing paint at, and lying in front of Johnson's car.
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| Holt with LBJ in 1966 |
In the federal election of November 26, 1966, Harold Holt's Liberal-Country coalition government won an increased majority in the House of Representatives in a landslide victory over the opposition Labor Party. 1966 was a good year for Holt, but things started to go wrong for him personally and politically in 1967, including the death of his brother Cliff and the emergence of Gough Whitlam, a tough challenger, as leader of the opposition. Gough's Labor Party won by-election victories in July and September.
On Friday, December 15, Holt left the Australian capital of Canberra for a much-needed restful weekend at the holiday home he owned in Portsea, Victoria on Mornington Peninsula, on the outskirts of Melbourne. His wife, Zara, did not accompany him. She stayed behind in Canberra. Holt intended to return on Monday for ministerial changes in the New Year.
On the fateful day of December 17, 1966, Harold Holt decided to go to the local beach. The Prime Minister had just finalized his last cabinet meeting for the year, and he was was eager to relax and unwind. So, he headed out to Cheviot Beach near seaside home he owned.
On the afternoon of December 17, Holt and a group of four other adults arrived at Cheviot Beach. It was a Sunday afternoon and Christmas celebrations were in full swing. Holt and his companions strolled along the Bass Strait, enjoying the sunshine.
Harold Holt was an outdoorsman and and an enthusiast of water sports. He enjoyed swimming, spearfishing and snorkeling. However, the PM wasn't in perfect health as he had undergone shoulder surgery on Friday and had been advised by his doctor to take it easy after the operation. Disregarding his his doctor's advice, he had played tennis with friends on Saturday.
Despite the high tide, he was eager for a swim, so he changed into his swim suit, claiming that he knew the beach like the back of his hand. He then walked into the surf and began swimming away from the beach. It was a gusty afternoon and Holt disappeared from sight in the rough waters. Holt's four companions climbed a rocky cliff and search for signs of him, but to no avail.
When Harold Holt disappeared, Australia launched one of the largest search operations in its history, Two hours after he went missing, dozens of police, search and rescue squads had already converged on Cheviot Beach. Despite their best efforts, no trace of Holt's body was ever found, and he was presumed to have drowned. On December 10, 1967, Governor General Lord Casey terminated Holt's commission as prime minister. The search exhaustive search was finally called off on January 6th. All that was left was a pile of Holt's clothes on the sand at Cheviot Beach.
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| Search party combing Cheviot Beach |
The news of Harold Holt's disappearance and presumed drowning sent shock waves throughout the Australian nation. Television and radio broadcasters across the country proclaimed, "It is feared the prime minister has drowned." The question of security was raised, since Holt's death had occurred just four years after John F, Kennedy's assassination. It was difficult to believe that the prime minister, who had a sore shoulder, could have acted so foolishly as to enter dangerous waters.
After Holt's death, a number conspiracy theories surfaced. The lack of a formal inquiry added fuel to the notion that there had been a coverup. Tom Frame, Holt's biographer,, told CNN that the conspiracy theories "have become so well-known and almost part of Australian folklore on there own." According to John Warhurst, emeritus professor of politics at the Australian National University, there was wild speculation in the media that Holt had committed suicide. Some theorized that he was upset over his allegedly rocky marriage or worn out by the rigours of his job.
Since this was the Cold War era, there was speculation that a foreign power, probably Russia or China, was involved Holt's disappearance. A book titled The Prime Minister Was A Spy, by British journalist Anthony Grey, was published. Grey alleged that Holt had been a Chinese spy and that he had evacuated to a Chinese submarine at the completion of his mission. The book was received with mockery and disdain. Years later, Zara dismissed the theory saying, "Harry? Chinese submarine? He didn't even like Chinese cooking."
Harold Holt's funeral service was held at St. Paul's Anglican Cathedral in Melbourne. The service was attended by President Lyndon Johnson, Prince Charles, and U.K. Prime Minister Harold Wilson, and senior representatives of 12 Asian nations.
It wasn't until 2005 that a Victorian coroner opened a formal inquiry into Harold Holt's disappearance. State Coroner Graeme Johnstone concluded that Harold Holt had drowned at Cheviot Beach and that his remains had been either swept out to sea or taken by sharks.
END NOTES
* On October 8, 1946, Harold Holt married Zara Dickins Fell in her parents' home in Toorak, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. Holt was first was introduced to Zara in 1926, through a university student she was dating at the time. Zara and her friend Betty James opened a dress shop called Magg in Melbourne in 1929. After about a year, Betty left the partnership to get married. Zara continued alone for another year until, at her mother's insistence, the shop was closed.
During World War II, Zara worked for her father's food manufacturing business. In 1949, Zara and Betty resumed their partnership, opening a new shop in Toorak, a suburb. Two more shops Magg shops were opened and the two women became successful fashion entrepreneurs. Zara was the head designer, while Betty took care of business matters.
Zara's first husband was Colonel James Fell, with whom she had three children. She and Fell wed in 1935 and Zara gave birth to three sons, Nicholas in 1937 and twins Sam and Andrew in 1939. The couple divorced in 1946 and Zara married Harold Holt. Holt legally adopted Zara's children and gave them his surname. According to Tom Frame in his book The Life and Death of Harold Holt, Holt was the twins' biological father.
In June of 1968, Zara was created a Dame Commander of the British Empire for her "devotion to the public interest." On February 19, 1969, about two years after Holt's drowning, she married Jeff Bate, a farmer and Liberal politician. Thereafter, she became known as Dame Zara Bate. After Bate's death, Zara retired to the Gold Coast of Queensland Australia, She died there on June 14, 1989, at the age of 80.
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| Zara in 1966 |
* Harold Holt's nickname was "Gunner." In May of 1940, holt enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force and trained as a gunner.
SOURCES: Enccylopaedia Britannica; CNN, "Hoe Australia's PM went swimming 50 years ago and vanished forever," by Ben Westcott, December 17, 2017; ABC News, "Inside the disappearance of Harold Holt- one of the largest search operations in Australian history," by Bridget Judge for RetroFocus, October 31, 2020; Wikipedia; Australian Dictionary of Biography; National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, "Holt Hosts Australia'a First Presidential Visit
- Joanne
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