SUBSEQUENT SEARCHES

SUBSEQUENT SEARCHES AND REPORTS

Did any searches of the area take place after the 18 April 1971 when WO Maher and his party recovered the bodies of Blackhurst and Albertson?

302 RF Battalion.

Although the Battalion HQ and one company of the 302nd RF Battalion (2nd Company until 22 April 1971 followed by the 4th Company) continued operations in the Long Hais until the 26 April 1971 there is no evidence to indicate that the crash site was revisited. Major Simon Hearder, the senior man present during the period 18 to 26 April 1971, made the decision that since Gillespie had been incinerated, any expedition to the site under the potentially hazardous conditions that existed would be an unwarranted and fruitless venture.

Messages.

Correspondence originated by HQ 1 ATF indicates that no operations were mounted to investigate the crash site or to recover any remains of GILLESPIE. Copies of the relevant correspondence can be viewed in the Gillespie file.
22 April 1971. In a message five days after the incident Commander 1 ATF points out the dangers of conducting any operation to recover any remains from the crash site. There is no mention of any troops having been put into the area in the week after the incident.

23 April 1971. On 23 April 1971 the Commander AFV sent a message to the AAG at Army Office giving additional detail from Warrant Officer MAHER and Corporal STEPHENS. "MAHER could not get closer than four feet from the wreckage of the aircraft on 18 April 1971. (Too hot.) He could not "distinguish any body inside it at all."

1 May 1971. A message from HQ AFV to Army HQ two weeks after the incident contains the following:
1. Message expresses hope that an attempt will be possible in the future to recover remains.
2. A monthly report is offered by HQ AFV.
3. Location of crash confirmed as GR YS 476 507.

21 July 1971. Three months and one week after the incident HQ AFV advised Army Office as follows:
1. Unlikely that RF or Australian troops will be deployed to the incident area in the foreseeable future.
2. Proposal to cease monthly reporting.
3. Opinion expressed that it was virtually certain that there would be no remains to recover.
4. Still no mention of troops having been deployed to physically check for any remains within the period 17 April 1971 to 21 Jul 1971.

29 July 1971. On 29 July 1971 Army Office indicated that the NOK had been advised recovery of any surviving remains of GILLESPIE was not possible and they accepted this.

Anecdotal Evidence from Gordon Angus MACKINLAY.

Gordon Angus MACKINLAY, who was posted to 8 Field Ambulance as the unit's Orderly Room Clerk on 15 June 1971 claims that the following elements searched the area of the crash site:

A patrol from 2 SAS Sqn with a covering party provided by a rifle platoon from the RNZIR 'V' 6 Company on 18 April 1971.

Gordon Angus MACKINLAY stated that he "accompanied Lt Clive STEELE (the 1ATF Hygiene Officer and the defacto officer for using the American term then in use Graves Registration) on 22 June 1971 onto the site, after 3RAR had done a sweep through the area."

At this stage no evidence can be found to substantiate either of these claims by MACKINLAY. The following points are noted:
Warrant Officer MAHER was on the ground throughout the 18 April 1971 and makes no mention of any patrol from 2 SAS Sqn with a covering party provided by a rifle platoon from the RNZIR 'V' 6 Company. His opinion is that it would hve been most unlikely for any such troops to have entered the area.

No supporting patrol reports can be located at AWM to substantiate the fact that elements visited the crash site on 18 April or 22 Jun 1971.

The messages sent between 17 April 1971 and 21 July 1971 (see above) would indicate that HQ 1 ATF were obviously not aware of any site investigations.

General COATES, who was GSO2 on the 1 ATF HQ at the time of the GILLESPIE incident does not recall any operations being conducted to recover GILLESPIE's body and, considering the fact that the area was mined and booby trapped, this would have been understandable at the time.

Lieutenant Craig Maxwell STEEL, is the 1 ATF Hygiene Officer referred to by Mr MACKINLAY. Mr Craig Maxwell STEEL has been contacted and has made it quite clear that he was not the person who accompanied MACKINLAY into the Long Hai on 22 June 1971, or at any other time.

Craig STEEL does not recall any other operation being mounted to recover GILLESPIE'S body, however he says that he was not involved in any "graves registration" or body recovery activities.

Captain Jim MALLICE, Admin Officer 8 Field Ambulance at the time has no recollection of any operations being conducted to recover the remains of GILLESPIE.

Major Geoffry VERCOE, OC 8 Field Ambulance at the time has been contacted and the matter discussed by phone. Vercoe recalls that someone at some stage visited the crash site and confirmed that the helicopter had been destroyed by fire. (It is possible that this visit was the one carried out by MAHER on 18 April 1971.) Geoffry VERCOE does not recall Gordon Angus MACKINLAY but obviously does recall Jim MALLICE who was his Admin Officer.

Gordon Angus MACKINLAY apparently does not wish to discuss this matter further since he has not replied to e-mail requests for further information.

Rallier Visited the Site: August 1971.

HQ AFV received a report from the USARV Individual Training Group; Long Hai Training Battalion dated 5 Jan 72. The report indicated that in early August 1971 a rallier had visited the crash site at GR YS 476 511 and reported that "only the crumpled frame of the helicopter remained and that the frame of the chopper had been completely gutted by fire" and "the site contained a human tibia and the remains of a leather boot lying one meter and one half meter from the chopper." This information was passed to Army Office on 25 Jan 72. This report from a rallier is also referred to in a JCRC Biographical Site Report of 20 March 1979. It is a possibility, perhaps a remote one that the human tibia was from the ARVN soldier initially involved in the mine incident.

Australian Ground Rescue Team.

The same report mentions that an "Australian ground rescue team visited the site and found what appeared to be a charred body in the helicopter wreckage, but the body was not recovered." In the absence of any other evidence, this '"ground rescue team" would have been MAHER's party on the 18 April 1971. If an Australian party had visited the wreckage after it had cooled down (after 18 April 1971) and had seen a 'charred body in the helicopter wreckage,' it is almost certain that the remains would have been recovered.

JCRC Discussion with Province Chief in February 1975.

The Biographical Site Report referred to above also indicates that on the 4 February 1975 the JCRC Province Representative discussed the GILLESPIE case with the Province Chief and proposed that the case be considered for a casualty resolution activity but the hostile threat in the area precluded any ground visit to the site involved.

Government Mission of May 1984

See here for full details.

Conclusions

No evidence can be found of any allied forces visiting the crash site of the aircraft incident in which Gillespie was killed, subsequent to the visit by WO Maher on 18 April 1971. Therefore the extent of incineration of Gillespie's body is based on "opinions" and not on a physical inspection.

This page was last updated on 5 November 2002.