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Holt – Film Re-enactment of the Circumstances Surrounding the Disappearance of the PM (1967)

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clip Down to the beach for a swim

Original classification rating: not rated. This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

This is mute unedited black and white footage showing a police inspector retracing the steps of Mr Holt prior to his entering the water for a swim.

Curator’s notes

by Adrienne Parr

Footage in this clip shows a police inspector retracing Harold Holt’s steps leading up to the moment he entered the water for a swim. In his statement to the police, Alan Stewart, one of the members of the beach party, said, 'We then walked through the scrub along a defined track to a point where we went down a fairly steep sand-dune to the beach and at this point of entry onto the beach the water would be no more than ten yards away from the bottom of the dune. This indicated to me that it was a high tide. Mr Holt gradually drew ahead … I would say the distance between our party and Mr Holt would have been in excess of 50 yards at the most. We carried on along the beach and Mr Holt disappeared out of site behind a rock outcrop. On reflection I feel that he at this point had changed into his swimming costume because he had been carrying his costume.’ After that the group caught up with Mr Holt who then ventured in for a swim. The other four either walked on the beach or paddled in the shallows.

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  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

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