On 17 December 1967, Harold Holt, the 17th prime minister of Australia, disappeared while swimming in the sea near Portsea, Victoria. An enormous search operation was mounted in and around Cheviot Beach, but his body was never recovered. Holt was presumed to have drowned, and his memorial service five days later was attended by many world leaders.
It is generally agreed that Holt's disappearance was a simple case of an accidental drowning, the only other plausible explanation being that he could have been attacked by a shark. However, a number of conspiracy theories surfaced. The most famous suggestion was that he was a spy for China and had been collected by a Chinese submarine. However, this theory was quickly proven false. Holt was the third Australian prime minister to die in office, after Joseph Lyons in 1939 and John Curtin in 1945.
Holt was initially replaced in a caretaker capacity by John McEwen, and then by John Gorton following the 1968 Liberal Party leadership election. Holt's death has entered Australian folklore, and was commemorated by, among other things, the Harold Holt Memorial Swimming Centre.
Background
Harold Holt became the 17th prime minister of Australia in January 1966, following the retirement of Sir Robert Menzies. Holt was a career politician, entering parliament at the age of 27 and becoming a government minister at the age of 31.
As with Menzies, Holt refused a security detail upon taking office, considering it unnecessary and potentially alienating to the general public. His stance changed after two incidents in mid-1966 – a window in his office was shattered by a sniper, and then an assassination attempt was made on Arthur Calwell, the Leader of the Opposition. Holt grudgingly accepted a single bodyguard for his official duties, but refused any protection while on holiday, regarding it as a violation of his privacy. His wife Zara later suggested that this was so he could hide his extramarital affairs.
Holt and the ocean
Holt was a keen outdoorsman and had beach houses at Portsea, Victoria, and Bingil Bay, Queensland. He was introduced to spearfishing in 1954, and it soon became his preferred holiday activity. Holt wore a wetsuit so he could fish year round, and preferred either skin diving or snorkelling as he found air tanks burdensome and inauthentic. Once he had speared a fish, he would unzip his suit and place it inside (still bleeding), allowing him to continue fishing. According to his companions, Holt had "incredible powers of endurance underwater" and sometimes kept himself amused during parliamentary debates by seeing how long he could hold his breath. Although he could tread water for long periods, he was not a strong surface swimmer.
Several of Holt's friends confronted him about the dangers of his hobby, including his press secretary, Tony Eggleton, to whom Holt responded, "Look Tony, what are the odds of a prime minister being drowned or taken by a shark?" On 20 May 1967, Holt had a close call while diving at Cheviot Beach on the Mornington Peninsula, where he became distressed and called for help. Pulled ashore by his diving companions, he remained conscious, but turned purple and vomited a large amount of seawater. Holt attributed the incident to a leaking snorkel and supposedly remarked, "That's the closest I have ever been to drowning in my life!" A few months later, on 5 August, which was also his 59th birthday, he was spearfishing at Dunk Island on the Great Barrier Reef. He spent twenty-five minutes chasing a large coral trout, but eventually had to abandon the pursuit due to extreme shortness of breath.
Holt's health
Holt had been in reasonably good health throughout his life, although he had a family history of premature death – his father had died at the age of 59 and his older brother at the age of 57. Holt himself suffered a severe concussion in a road accident in November 1955, in which the driver of his ministerial car was killed. In September 1967, Holt began treatment for a painful shoulder injury that he had originally suffered playing football in his youth; he was prescribed painkillers and twice-weekly physiotherapy. A few days before his death, he had been briefly examined by his personal physician, Marcus Faunce, who advised him to avoid overexerting himself and to cut back on swimming and tennis.
The Prime Minister is Missing, a 2008 docudrama, suggested that Holt's judgement on the weekend of his death had been impaired by his medication, in combination with work-related tiredness and stress. Morphine was named as the drug that he had been prescribed, although "no direct evidence" indicated that he had taken any on the day of his death.
Lead-up to 17 December
Holt's final cabinet meeting of 1967 began late on Thursday, 14 December and ended early the following morning. He returned to The Lodge for a few hours of sleep, and then returned to his Parliament House office at 8:30 am to finalise a press release. At 11 am, Holt left Parliament House and was driven to RAAF Base Fairbairn, where he boarded a military jet to Melbourne. His wife Zara stayed in Canberra to finalise preparations for the annual Christmas party. On arriving in Melbourne, Holt and his personal secretary, Patricia De Lacy, were driven to his constituency office. After dictating a few letters, he went on to his home at St Georges Road, Toorak. There, he informed his housekeeper, Edith "Tiny" Lawless, that he would be spending the weekend at his beach house in Portsea. He also carried with him a letter from the Liberal Party whip expressing concern at the performance of the government.
While driving to Portsea in his red Pontiac Parisienne, Holt stopped in Sorrento, where he saw Marjorie Gillespie, a neighbour with whom he had been having an affair. Holt then had drinks with Gillespie and her husband Winton. That night he had dinner with Lawless, who had driven down separately, bringing Holt's clothes and provisions for the weekend.
On Saturday, 16 December at Portsea, Holt rose early and ate a light breakfast. He did some gardening, and made phone calls to Eggleton and his stepson Nicholas, inviting the latter down to Portsea. Holt played tennis in the afternoon, and then spent some time with Nicholas and his family. In the evening he attended a neighbour's cocktail party for about an hour, and then returned home to host a dinner party with about a dozen guests.
Disappearance
Holt again rose early on Sunday, 17 December and, after breakfast, telephoned his wife. He drove to the local general store mid-morning, where he bought insect repellent, peanuts, and the weekend newspapers. One of the headlines in The Australian was "PM advised to swim less", which detailed the latest advice from Holt's doctor, but whether Holt bought or read that particular paper is unknown. On returning home, Holt made plans for the rest of the day, which included a visit to Point Nepean, a barbecue lunch, and an afternoon spearfishing trip. At 11:15 am, he and four others set out for Point Nepean, where they hoped to watch solo circumnavigator Alec Rose pass through The Rip into Port Phillip Bay. He was accompanied by Gillespie, her daughter Vyner, and two family friends of the Gillespies, Martin Simpson and Alan Stewart. It was a hot day, and Rose's yacht was barely visible, so the group stayed only a short while before leaving.
On the drive back to Portsea, Holt suggested that the group stop at Cheviot Beach for a swim – it was about 12:15 pm, and he wanted to cool down and work up an appetite before lunch. Holt knew the area well and had swum there many times before, in 1960 even salvaging a porthole from the SS Cheviot, the shipwreck that had given the beach its name. Holt did not hesitate in entering the water, despite a large swell and visible currents and eddies. Stewart was the only other swimmer, as the others considered it unsafe. Stewart stayed close to shore, and even in the shallows felt a strong undertow. However, Holt swam into deeper water and was dragged out to sea. The others called out to him, but he did not raise his arms or cry for help. He soon slipped under the waves and out of sight, in a manner which Gillespie described as "like a leaf being taken out [...] so quick and final".
Search
Following Holt's disappearance, Stewart drove to the nearby Officer Cadet School, Portsea, an Australian Army training facility. The school was virtually deserted, as most personnel were on annual leave, but the Victoria Police were contacted and initiated what became "one of the largest search operations in Australian history". The entire Australian Defence Force was put on high alert. The search for Holt's body began at 1:30 pm, when three amateur divers entered the water and found it too rough. They were soon joined by helicopters, watercraft, police divers, and two naval diving teams. Little progress was made, however, because of the rough conditions and limited equipment available. By the end of the day, more than 190 personnel were involved, with operations based out of the Officer Cadet School; this number eventually increased to more than 340.
The search resumed just before 5:00 am on 18 December, despite strong wind, heavy seas, and occasional rain. Working in shifts, fifty divers focused on the rock pools and ledges near where Holt had last been sighted. They were forced to free dive to minimise injury, as they were continuously being driven against the nearby cliff face. A change in the tide suspended the search at 8:00 am; it resumed in the midafternoon. The following day's operations were again hampered by the weather. Conditions improved on Wednesday, 20 December, but by the following day, most personnel were being withdrawn. The search for Holt's body was officially called off on 5 January 1968, although it had been gradually scaled back to the point where it consisted only of a daily beach patrol. Lieutenant-Commander Phil Hawke, who led the HMAS Lonsdale diving team, later stated, "any chance of finding the prime minister was lost by the Sunday night".
Aftermath
Rumours of Holt's disappearance reached the media just over an hour after it occurred, and the first conclusive report was made at about 1:45 pm on Melbourne radio station 3DB. Holt's wife Zara was told of the disappearance by Peter Bailey, one of the prime minister's secretaries.
Memorial service
A memorial service for Holt was held on 22 December at St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne. It was led by Tom Thomas, the Dean of Melbourne, with a single eulogy given by Philip Strong, the Anglican Primate of Australia. Due to the absence of a body, no prayers of committal were made. Within the cathedral were 2,000 attendees, with many thousands more lining the nearby streets and listening through a public-address system. Thirty newspaper reporters were given seats, but only one official photographer was allowed, as was a single movie camera at the back of the building.
The service was attended by:
- United Kingdom: Charles, Prince of Wales, Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Leader of the Opposition Edward Heath
- United Nations: Secretary General U Thant
- United States of America: President Lyndon B. Johnson
- New Zealand: Prime Minister Keith Holyoake
- Philippines: President Ferdinand Marcos
- Singapore: Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew
- South Korea: President Park Chung Hee
- South Vietnam: President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
- Taiwan: Premier C. K. Yen
- Thailand: Prime Minister Thanom Kittikachorn
Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, and Western Samoa sent their foreign ministers as representatives, while numerous other countries sent their ambassadors. After the service, there was a formal reception at Government House, Melbourne.
Succession issues
John McEwen, the leader of the Country Party and de facto deputy prime minister, was at his farm in Stanhope, Victoria, when he was informed of Holt's disappearance. He immediately made his way to Canberra, and on the evening of 17 December met with Lord Casey, the governor-general, at Yarralumla. Casey had already conferred with Chief Justice Garfield Barwick and Attorney-General Nigel Bowen, and agreed with McEwen that he should be commissioned to form a caretaker government while the Liberal Party elected a new leader. This was based on the precedent set in 1939, when Earle Page was made temporary prime minister after the death of Joseph Lyons. Casey issued a statement announcing his intentions the following day, and McEwen was sworn in as prime minister on the afternoon of Tuesday 19 December.