Lucky Eddie
Sr. Member
- Feb 9, 2010
- 358
- 188
C-47 DAKOTA SHOT DOWN BY JAPANESE AIRCRAFT
AFTER JAPANESE BOMBING RAID
ON BROOME HARBOUR
Ā£300,000 WORTH OF DIAMONDS MISSING
ON 3 MARCH 1942
On 3 March 1942, Dutch Dakota DC-3 PK-AFV "Pelikaan" of the KNILM (Netherlands East Indies KLM) left Bandung in Java headed for Australia with a plane load of evacuees and a box of diamonds worth approximately Ā£300,000. They managed to escape Java just 3 days before the Japanese took the Bandung area.
At about 1:00 am, while the Dakota's engines were being warmed up, the Captain of the Dakota, Ivan "Turc" Smirnoff was handed a sealed cigar-box sized container by Mr. Wisse, the manager of Andir airfield at Bandung. The box was wrapped in brown paper and sealed in many places. Smirnoff was not aware of the contents of the box but was told "Take good care of this, it is quite valuable". He was told that an Australian Bank would take delivery of the box on arrival in Australia.
Smirnoff threw the box into the Dakota's First Aid box, taxied the Dakota out to the runway and took off at about 1:15 am local time.
Ivan Smirnoff had flown many of these evacuation flights to Australia in early 1942. He was evacuating KNILM office staff, ground personnel, some civilians and service personnel. His co-pilot for this flight was Johan "Neef" Hoffman and his radio operator was John "Jo" Muller. Amongst his passengers were five NEI-AF pilots and four civilians, one of which was an 18 month old baby.
The wife of one of the Dutch pilots, Maria van Tuyn, sat in the only seat left in the rear of the Dakota, which had been stripped bare to save weight. All the other passengers were relegated to the uncomfortable wooden floor.
As they approached Broome just after sunrise, the Dakota's radio officer received a short reply from Broome airfield as follows:-
"Airstrip is okay for the time being"
This message puzzled the crew of the Dakota. By now they had met up with the Australian coastline above Broome. As they followed the beaches towards Broome, they suddenly observed large black clouds of smoke when they were still about 80 kilometres north of Broome.
They had unfortunately arrived at Broome just after a Japanese raid by nine Japanese Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero fighter aircraft and a single Mitsubishi C5M2 command reconnaissance and navigational aircraft of the 3rd Ku. Three of the Zeros had stayed at a higher altitude during the raid to act as "top cover" for the other Zeros. As these "top cover" Zeros followed the coastline back towards Timor, they encountered the lazy Dutch Dakota. The Zeros first attacked the Dakota from the port side. Captain Smirnoff was wounded several times in his arms and hip. Smirnoff managed to put the Dakota into a steep spiral dive with the Zeros in pursuit.
The pilots of the "top cover" Zeros were Lieutenant Zenziro Miyano, Sergeant Takashi Kurano and Private Zempei Matsumoto. Miyano was the leader of the Japanese raiding party on Broome. He later went on to claim 16 planes shot down before he was killed in action at Guadalcanal on 16 June 1943.
Captain Ivan Smirnoff
Lieutenant Zenziro Miyano
Mrs. van Tuyn was hit twice in the chest and her baby was hit in the arm. One of the Dutch pilot passengers, Dan Hendriks, was rendered unconscious after being wounded.
A year after the incident, another passenger, Dutch pilot Lieutenant Pieter Adrian Cramerus, described his ordeal to an American newspaper reporter:-
"At Bandung I was ordered to go to a flying school in Australia by the next plane. This was a DC3 piloted by Commander Smirnoff, a Russian-born naturalised Dutch citizen. Just as we reached Australia, after daybreak, three Japanese fighters flying back from Broome sighted us. Smirnoff put up the greatest show of flying anybody in the world will ever see, coming down in a tight spiral and making a crash-landing on the beach."
"When the port engine suddenly burst into flames the immediate fear was that the fire would spread to the fuel tanks and cause an explosion. Equally hazardous was the possibility of it causing an in-flight structural failure of the wing. Ivan elected for a hasty beach landing below. As the Douglas rolled to a stop, he skilfully swung the nose into the edge of the surf, at the same time effectively dousing the burning engine."
The Zeros started to strafe the beached Dakota. The passengers and crew attempted to escape the Dakota in between strafing runs. A KNILM apprentice mechanic, J.F.M. "Joop" Blaauw, was hit in both knees while trying to escape the aircraft. Smirnoff and those left on board decided to take shelter in the water underneath the crippled Dakota.
After the Zeros disappeared, Muller, the radio operator, retrieved his undamaged radio set and started to send SOS signals to Broome. Another passenger, H. van Romondt, a KNILM official, was asked by Smirnoff to recover the mail, log books and the "valuable" sealed box. As he exited the door of the aircraft, he was hit by a wave and the mystery box fell into the surf. As its importance was not known, the loss of the box was considered a small loss under the circumstances.
They moved up the beach into the sandhills and erected a shade shelter using some parachutes from the Dakota. A bit later that morning a Japanese four-engined Kawanishi flying boat (code named "Mavis") spotted them and started to circle. It dropped two small bombs which fell wide of them.
Records of the Japanese 11th Flying Unit (Naval) based at Ambon in Ceram State describe this encounter as follows:-
"On 4 March three Type 97 aircraft (Mavis) patrolled the Indian Ocean from its northern extremity to the western side of Australia. They departed at 0707 (Tokyo time) from Koepang."
"At 1205 hours Lieutenant Yamauchi, of the second aircraft, flew southwards towards Broome along the sea shore. He discovered an unidentified twin-engine transport plane, which seemed to have made an emergency landing, and its crew waved to him."
After a while they started sending wireless messages and Lieutenant Yamauchi thought they would summon Australian fighters. He dropped two bombs of 60 kg, which missed the target, and the people below ran away. The Mavis continued its patrol."
The Mavis returned later on and dropped two more bombs which failed to explode.
Shigeyasu Yamauchi Japanese Naval Pilot
Smirnoff sent two men inland to search for water. They were unsuccessful. Mrs. van Tuyn and Blaauw died that evening. Lieutenant Hendriks died the following morning.
The following day, Smirnoff sent Lt. Pieter Cramerus, Sgt. G.D. "Dick" Brinkman, van Romondt and John "Jo" Muller off in two parties to reach Broome. They were ordered to keep going until they found Broome. A heavy shower that afternoon improved conditions for the victims and improved their water supplies.
An aborigine travelling out from Broome had seen the dogfight and crash and reported it to officials at the Beagle Bay Mission. He had observed the downed aircraft and crew from a distance, too scared to approach them. A rescue party immediately left Beagle Bay Mission led by Warrant Officer Gus Clinch. He was accompanied by Brother Richard Bessenfelder and an aborigine called Joe Bernard.
The rescue party ran into the two groups of men sent out by Smirnoff.
On 6 March 1942 two RAAF Wirraways appeared over the crash site and dropped food, tinned milk and some messages. One of these messages read as follows:-
"Relief party be with you tonight with food and medical supplies. Good luck, MacDonald, RAAF"
Johannes Tuyn, Mrs. van Tuyn's baby, died that night. The rescue party from Beagle Bay Mission reached the survivors at 3 am on 7 March 1942. After medical treatment and food and water was distributed, it was decided to set out for Beagle Bay Mission at dawn. They slowly trekked the 40 kms back to Beagle Bay Mission. Two days later they were taken to Broome by truck.
Some time later, Smirnoff was in Melbourne and received a visit from a police detective and a Commonwealth Bank officer. They demanded to know the whereabouts of the sealed box. Smirnoff told them his story.
In the meantime, Jack Palmer a well known beachcomber in the Broome area sailed his lugger into the Carnot and Beagle Bays area. He spotted the wrecked Dakota. Being a beachcomber he salvaged what he could from the Dakota. It is presumed that he found the mystery box at low tide. Stories have been told that he shared some of his booty of diamonds with friends and some local aborigines.
In mid April 1942 Jack Palmer made a visit to Army headquarters at Broome and asked to enlist in the Army. During an interview with Major Clifford Gibson he unexpectedly poured a salt shaker full of diamonds over the desk. They were confiscated and sent to Perth. Palmer was taken into custody by Lieutenant Laurie O'Neill who led an investigation into the incident. They took Palmer back to the crash site. They found pieces of torn brown paper wrapping and seals that came off the box. While they were there, the team salvaged some parts of the aircraft.
Seals from the box of diamonds found on the beach
Diamonds started to be found in a variety of locations:-
- a Chinese trader had some
- amongst aboriginal communities
- in a matchbox in a train carriage compartment
- in the fork of a tree (found after the war)
- in a fireplace in a house in Broome
Jack Palmer and his two accomplices James Mulgrue and Frank Robinson were committed for trial in the Perth Supreme Court in May 1943. Chief Justice Sir John Northmore presided over the court with a jury of six. All three accused were acquitted after several days. Captain Ivan Smirnoff and Major Gibson were amongst a number of witnesses called from all around Australia.
Only Ā£20,447 worth of diamonds were recovered by the authorities which means that there is in excess of Ā£250,000 still missing today. This is now equivalent to over $10 million dollars worth of diamonds.
RAAF salvage crew in April 1942. Jack Palmer is the fellow in the white singlet
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Following their successful raid on Broome, the remaining 8 Japanese Zeroās, well pleased with the morningās pickings headed up the WA coast to their base on Timor. They were not expecting any more action and were therefore surprised to intercept a Royal Dutch East Indies Airlines DC-3.
The aircraft, piloted by the celebrated Ivan Smirnoff, had left Java with 11 persons on board bound for Broome. Just before he left Java, Smirnoff was handed a small package wrapped in brown paper, he never opened it and had no idea what it contained.
The Japanese wasted no time & quickly shot the DC-3 down. With his aircraft on fire, Smirnoff managed a brilliant crash-landing on the beach at Carnot Bay just north of Broome. The Zeroās continued straffing the crashed aircraft and wounded some of the passengers. During the 5 days on the beach 4 people died of their wounds including a mother and her 18 month old baby. To add to this, the day after the crash they were bombed by a large Japanese flying boat returning from a reconnaisance of Broome.
Initially, the flying boat dropped biscuits, but upon intercepting the downed aircrafts distress signals, and assuming that Australian fighters would soon be on the scene, they promptly dropped bombs as well.
Following their harrowing ordeal, Smirnoff was questioned by the authorities about āthe Packageā. More worried about protecting his passengers than theāpackageā, he was surprised to learn that it contained a vast fortune in diamonds. They had been retrieved from Amsterdam to avoid being taken by the invading Germans and were to be held by the Commonwealth Bank in Australia for safekeeping. The diamonds had a value of $300,000, which translates to about $20,000,000 today.
In the ensuing weeks after the crash, a local fisherman noticed the aircraft and searched the wreck site, in doing so he found a small package, he said that he only found a few of the stones! Following long drawn out court cases, only a small portion of the diamonds were ever recovered. Stories abound as to where they may have ended up, from Aboriginies to fishermen and locals in Broome.
It would seem that a vast fortune in diamonds is still unaccounted for! Wreckage from Smirnoffās DC-3 still lies entombed in the mud at Carnot Bay.
The Prospero crew and members of WAMM at the Carnot Bay site. Photo by WA Maritime Museum.
More info
After the ordeal, Smirnov was questioned by the police about the package. He had no idea, but the package contained $300ā000 worth of diamonds. Meanwhile, a local beachcomber named Jack Palmer had sailed his lugger to the wreckage, salvaging what he could. And probably finding the package. It is said that he latter bragged that he āno longer had to work, only sit down and smoke cigarsā. By mid-April, he was enlisting in the army, bringing back around $20ā000 worth of diamond that he said he found on the wreck. He claimed itās all he had, since the package had opened itself when he touched it and all the content had fallen in the seaā¦ He was immediately taken into custody for interrogation.
Jack Palmer and 2 other accomplices were tried in Broome in 1943, but all of them were acquitted. Over the years, diamonds started showing up at different locations, but it all accounted for a little more than $30ā000. The rest, worth today something between $10 and $20 millions, is still missingā¦ That being said, Iāll grab my shovel and head north. Wish me luck!
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Many people of Broome had also been looking for the downed plane and casualties on their own vehicles. One of the vehicles brought the mail from the crush site but there was no mysterious parcel in itā¦ Having thanked the missionaries and Aboriginals for assistance Smirnoff and his comrades headed to Broome on a truck. Upon arrival they were placed in a hospital for examination and cure for several days. In a week the Russian pilot headed to Perth, and from there ā to Melbourne. Sydney was his destination as his wife had been already there.
During Smirnoffās stay in Melbourne he was visited by a police detective and a Commonwealth Bank serviceman.
Captain Smirnoff? ā the serviceman asked. ā I am here to receive the parcel you had gotten before your departure from Bandung.
- The parcel is missing, - Smirnoff replied and told about everything happened. ā What was in there? ā he asked.
- Diamonds, thousands of high quality diamondsā¦
ā¦ In March 1942 Frank Robinson and James Mulgrue fearing new Japanese bombings decided to leave Broome on a motorboat. Having bought food and fuel they left northwards. En route, in a small bay, they met a man named Jack Palmer whose boat was anchored in it. They sailed north along with him and came across a crush-landed aircraft on the coast. Palmer and two Aboriginies he traveled with went ashore in a small boat. There Palmer got on the plane and threw away various things which the Aboriginies took for themselves. Between the pilotās seat and a small fuel tank (according to other sources ā on the beach) he found a wet brown parcel sealed by wax. He took the parcel to his motorboat and opened it. Inside it he found a cigar box full of diamonds. Palmer picked up the largest ones and tipped them into aluminum cups which he hid. He wrapped the rest in a rag, moved to the Robinsonās and Mulgrueās motorboat and told them that he had found a bag of diamonds on the sand near the plane. "Take a handful for each of yourself and donāt tell anybody about this find," ā he said.
Jack Palmer was going to join the army and hoped that if he returned part of the diamonds to the authorities he would get some privileges for it. Having selected small diamonds, he collected them into two salt-cellars and on arrival to the Beagle Bay Mission went to see the commander of the military base but found nobody there. He left his motorboat in the Mission and flew to Perth on a passenger plane. There he went to the district military commandant Major Gibson and told him about the crush-landed plane and his find of a water-soaked parcel with diamonds next to it. The Major had known already about the crushed plane and the valuable parcel from an inquiry from the Commonwealth Bank.
An investigation began. It was revealed that Palmer had taken "something" out of the plane, besides, pieces of wrap paper, cord and wax were found on the beach. The story was told the Aboriginies from the palmerās boat, Robinson and Mulgrue did not try to conceal the truth either. The latter had put his share of diamonds into a film box and dug it into sand on the beach near Beagle Bay. The box had been found by an Aboriginal woman wandering about the beach, and given to the military base commander. Besides, people began to come across diamonds in a variety of locations:-
- a Chinese trader had some
- amongst aboriginal communities
- in a matchbox in a train carriage compartment
- in the fork of a tree (found after the war)
- in a fireplace in a house in Broome
The investigation went on. On 12 April 1943 Robinson and Mulgrue were committed to trial. They were acquitted of all charges as they had not committed any theft. Palmer was not sentenced either as he had handed two salt-cellars with diamonds to the authorities. It remained unproved that he had stolen part of diamonds. He returned to Broome, joined the Army and became a lighthouse caretaker. After the war he opened a food store, a motorboat moor, a house, a motorcycle and a car, generally, began to live swell life. However, in 1950 the doctors discovered that he had a stomach cancer. He was in the Broome hospital when a priest Father MacKelson visited him. During their conversation he asked jack: "What have you done with the rest of the diamonds?" ā "I handed all of tem to authorities," ā Jack replied with a smileā¦
There had been 300 000 pounds worth of diamonds in the parcel (prices of those times) and only worth of 21 777 was returned. The mystery of vanished diamonds which would be 10 million US dollars worth nowadays was taken by Jack Palmer to his grave.
Captain Smirnoff eventually found his wife in Sydney, then they moved to Brisbane. In 1943 he was summoned to court in Perth where he gave his evidence. He was not accused of anything. In 1944-1945 he worked as a pilot in the American Airway company, and in 1946 he a and his wife returned to Amsterdam (Holland). His wife Margo died soon after that in 1947. Smirnoff kept flying till 1949 (on the photo to the left ā Smirnoff after the war) as a KLM pilot. According to some sources he had a chance to visit his motherland during one of his flights but he never got a permission to come to the USSR. After retirement Smirnoff settled on the Majorca Island where he died on 28 October 1956. He was buried there but later ( 20-11-1959) his ashes were re-buried in Heemstede (some 40 km from Amsterdam) next to his wifeās grave. The place of his crush-landing in Western Australia is still named the Smirnoff Beach.
The life of this outstanding man and brave pilot engulfed incredibly much. Perhaps, he may be considered as a lucky man ā he took part in the most dramatic events of the XX century. His flying career was really unique ā he spent 27 000 hours in the air! He wrote two books: Ā«Smirnoff VerteltĀ» (Ā«Smirnoff TellsĀ», 1938) and Ā«De toekomst heeft vleugelsĀ» (Ā«The Future Has WingsĀ», 1947). His person attracted attention of Hollywood ā in 1944 two cinema studios wrote scenarios about his life, but the Russian pilot didnāt like them and he rejected the idea.
He became a legend. Nowadays, when, many decades after, the names of the Russian heroes of WWI and ƩmigrƩs have returned to Russia, his motherland may be proud of the fact that he is one of her most famous sons.
The original publication belongs to George Kositsyn (the paper "Na Sopkakh Manchzhurii") and was first published by him with the permission of "Hesperian Press" (Western Australia). The web-page includes some additions and alterations.
Other web-sites about the life of Ivan Smirnoff:
http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/smirnoff.htm
http://www.cableregina.com/users/magnusfamily/ww1rus.htm
http://www.wwiaviation.com/aces/ace_Smirnov.shtml
http://club.euronet.be/philippe.saintes/smirnov.htm
That's an awful lot of missing diamonds - still never located!.
Cheers
AFTER JAPANESE BOMBING RAID
ON BROOME HARBOUR
Ā£300,000 WORTH OF DIAMONDS MISSING
ON 3 MARCH 1942
On 3 March 1942, Dutch Dakota DC-3 PK-AFV "Pelikaan" of the KNILM (Netherlands East Indies KLM) left Bandung in Java headed for Australia with a plane load of evacuees and a box of diamonds worth approximately Ā£300,000. They managed to escape Java just 3 days before the Japanese took the Bandung area.
At about 1:00 am, while the Dakota's engines were being warmed up, the Captain of the Dakota, Ivan "Turc" Smirnoff was handed a sealed cigar-box sized container by Mr. Wisse, the manager of Andir airfield at Bandung. The box was wrapped in brown paper and sealed in many places. Smirnoff was not aware of the contents of the box but was told "Take good care of this, it is quite valuable". He was told that an Australian Bank would take delivery of the box on arrival in Australia.
Smirnoff threw the box into the Dakota's First Aid box, taxied the Dakota out to the runway and took off at about 1:15 am local time.
Ivan Smirnoff had flown many of these evacuation flights to Australia in early 1942. He was evacuating KNILM office staff, ground personnel, some civilians and service personnel. His co-pilot for this flight was Johan "Neef" Hoffman and his radio operator was John "Jo" Muller. Amongst his passengers were five NEI-AF pilots and four civilians, one of which was an 18 month old baby.
The wife of one of the Dutch pilots, Maria van Tuyn, sat in the only seat left in the rear of the Dakota, which had been stripped bare to save weight. All the other passengers were relegated to the uncomfortable wooden floor.
As they approached Broome just after sunrise, the Dakota's radio officer received a short reply from Broome airfield as follows:-
"Airstrip is okay for the time being"
This message puzzled the crew of the Dakota. By now they had met up with the Australian coastline above Broome. As they followed the beaches towards Broome, they suddenly observed large black clouds of smoke when they were still about 80 kilometres north of Broome.
They had unfortunately arrived at Broome just after a Japanese raid by nine Japanese Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero fighter aircraft and a single Mitsubishi C5M2 command reconnaissance and navigational aircraft of the 3rd Ku. Three of the Zeros had stayed at a higher altitude during the raid to act as "top cover" for the other Zeros. As these "top cover" Zeros followed the coastline back towards Timor, they encountered the lazy Dutch Dakota. The Zeros first attacked the Dakota from the port side. Captain Smirnoff was wounded several times in his arms and hip. Smirnoff managed to put the Dakota into a steep spiral dive with the Zeros in pursuit.
The pilots of the "top cover" Zeros were Lieutenant Zenziro Miyano, Sergeant Takashi Kurano and Private Zempei Matsumoto. Miyano was the leader of the Japanese raiding party on Broome. He later went on to claim 16 planes shot down before he was killed in action at Guadalcanal on 16 June 1943.
Captain Ivan Smirnoff
Lieutenant Zenziro Miyano
Mrs. van Tuyn was hit twice in the chest and her baby was hit in the arm. One of the Dutch pilot passengers, Dan Hendriks, was rendered unconscious after being wounded.
A year after the incident, another passenger, Dutch pilot Lieutenant Pieter Adrian Cramerus, described his ordeal to an American newspaper reporter:-
"At Bandung I was ordered to go to a flying school in Australia by the next plane. This was a DC3 piloted by Commander Smirnoff, a Russian-born naturalised Dutch citizen. Just as we reached Australia, after daybreak, three Japanese fighters flying back from Broome sighted us. Smirnoff put up the greatest show of flying anybody in the world will ever see, coming down in a tight spiral and making a crash-landing on the beach."
"When the port engine suddenly burst into flames the immediate fear was that the fire would spread to the fuel tanks and cause an explosion. Equally hazardous was the possibility of it causing an in-flight structural failure of the wing. Ivan elected for a hasty beach landing below. As the Douglas rolled to a stop, he skilfully swung the nose into the edge of the surf, at the same time effectively dousing the burning engine."
The Zeros started to strafe the beached Dakota. The passengers and crew attempted to escape the Dakota in between strafing runs. A KNILM apprentice mechanic, J.F.M. "Joop" Blaauw, was hit in both knees while trying to escape the aircraft. Smirnoff and those left on board decided to take shelter in the water underneath the crippled Dakota.
After the Zeros disappeared, Muller, the radio operator, retrieved his undamaged radio set and started to send SOS signals to Broome. Another passenger, H. van Romondt, a KNILM official, was asked by Smirnoff to recover the mail, log books and the "valuable" sealed box. As he exited the door of the aircraft, he was hit by a wave and the mystery box fell into the surf. As its importance was not known, the loss of the box was considered a small loss under the circumstances.
They moved up the beach into the sandhills and erected a shade shelter using some parachutes from the Dakota. A bit later that morning a Japanese four-engined Kawanishi flying boat (code named "Mavis") spotted them and started to circle. It dropped two small bombs which fell wide of them.
Records of the Japanese 11th Flying Unit (Naval) based at Ambon in Ceram State describe this encounter as follows:-
"On 4 March three Type 97 aircraft (Mavis) patrolled the Indian Ocean from its northern extremity to the western side of Australia. They departed at 0707 (Tokyo time) from Koepang."
"At 1205 hours Lieutenant Yamauchi, of the second aircraft, flew southwards towards Broome along the sea shore. He discovered an unidentified twin-engine transport plane, which seemed to have made an emergency landing, and its crew waved to him."
After a while they started sending wireless messages and Lieutenant Yamauchi thought they would summon Australian fighters. He dropped two bombs of 60 kg, which missed the target, and the people below ran away. The Mavis continued its patrol."
The Mavis returned later on and dropped two more bombs which failed to explode.
Shigeyasu Yamauchi Japanese Naval Pilot
Smirnoff sent two men inland to search for water. They were unsuccessful. Mrs. van Tuyn and Blaauw died that evening. Lieutenant Hendriks died the following morning.
The following day, Smirnoff sent Lt. Pieter Cramerus, Sgt. G.D. "Dick" Brinkman, van Romondt and John "Jo" Muller off in two parties to reach Broome. They were ordered to keep going until they found Broome. A heavy shower that afternoon improved conditions for the victims and improved their water supplies.
An aborigine travelling out from Broome had seen the dogfight and crash and reported it to officials at the Beagle Bay Mission. He had observed the downed aircraft and crew from a distance, too scared to approach them. A rescue party immediately left Beagle Bay Mission led by Warrant Officer Gus Clinch. He was accompanied by Brother Richard Bessenfelder and an aborigine called Joe Bernard.
The rescue party ran into the two groups of men sent out by Smirnoff.
On 6 March 1942 two RAAF Wirraways appeared over the crash site and dropped food, tinned milk and some messages. One of these messages read as follows:-
"Relief party be with you tonight with food and medical supplies. Good luck, MacDonald, RAAF"
Johannes Tuyn, Mrs. van Tuyn's baby, died that night. The rescue party from Beagle Bay Mission reached the survivors at 3 am on 7 March 1942. After medical treatment and food and water was distributed, it was decided to set out for Beagle Bay Mission at dawn. They slowly trekked the 40 kms back to Beagle Bay Mission. Two days later they were taken to Broome by truck.
Some time later, Smirnoff was in Melbourne and received a visit from a police detective and a Commonwealth Bank officer. They demanded to know the whereabouts of the sealed box. Smirnoff told them his story.
In the meantime, Jack Palmer a well known beachcomber in the Broome area sailed his lugger into the Carnot and Beagle Bays area. He spotted the wrecked Dakota. Being a beachcomber he salvaged what he could from the Dakota. It is presumed that he found the mystery box at low tide. Stories have been told that he shared some of his booty of diamonds with friends and some local aborigines.
In mid April 1942 Jack Palmer made a visit to Army headquarters at Broome and asked to enlist in the Army. During an interview with Major Clifford Gibson he unexpectedly poured a salt shaker full of diamonds over the desk. They were confiscated and sent to Perth. Palmer was taken into custody by Lieutenant Laurie O'Neill who led an investigation into the incident. They took Palmer back to the crash site. They found pieces of torn brown paper wrapping and seals that came off the box. While they were there, the team salvaged some parts of the aircraft.
Seals from the box of diamonds found on the beach
Diamonds started to be found in a variety of locations:-
- a Chinese trader had some
- amongst aboriginal communities
- in a matchbox in a train carriage compartment
- in the fork of a tree (found after the war)
- in a fireplace in a house in Broome
Jack Palmer and his two accomplices James Mulgrue and Frank Robinson were committed for trial in the Perth Supreme Court in May 1943. Chief Justice Sir John Northmore presided over the court with a jury of six. All three accused were acquitted after several days. Captain Ivan Smirnoff and Major Gibson were amongst a number of witnesses called from all around Australia.
Only Ā£20,447 worth of diamonds were recovered by the authorities which means that there is in excess of Ā£250,000 still missing today. This is now equivalent to over $10 million dollars worth of diamonds.
RAAF salvage crew in April 1942. Jack Palmer is the fellow in the white singlet
More info
Following their successful raid on Broome, the remaining 8 Japanese Zeroās, well pleased with the morningās pickings headed up the WA coast to their base on Timor. They were not expecting any more action and were therefore surprised to intercept a Royal Dutch East Indies Airlines DC-3.
The aircraft, piloted by the celebrated Ivan Smirnoff, had left Java with 11 persons on board bound for Broome. Just before he left Java, Smirnoff was handed a small package wrapped in brown paper, he never opened it and had no idea what it contained.
The Japanese wasted no time & quickly shot the DC-3 down. With his aircraft on fire, Smirnoff managed a brilliant crash-landing on the beach at Carnot Bay just north of Broome. The Zeroās continued straffing the crashed aircraft and wounded some of the passengers. During the 5 days on the beach 4 people died of their wounds including a mother and her 18 month old baby. To add to this, the day after the crash they were bombed by a large Japanese flying boat returning from a reconnaisance of Broome.
Initially, the flying boat dropped biscuits, but upon intercepting the downed aircrafts distress signals, and assuming that Australian fighters would soon be on the scene, they promptly dropped bombs as well.
Following their harrowing ordeal, Smirnoff was questioned by the authorities about āthe Packageā. More worried about protecting his passengers than theāpackageā, he was surprised to learn that it contained a vast fortune in diamonds. They had been retrieved from Amsterdam to avoid being taken by the invading Germans and were to be held by the Commonwealth Bank in Australia for safekeeping. The diamonds had a value of $300,000, which translates to about $20,000,000 today.
In the ensuing weeks after the crash, a local fisherman noticed the aircraft and searched the wreck site, in doing so he found a small package, he said that he only found a few of the stones! Following long drawn out court cases, only a small portion of the diamonds were ever recovered. Stories abound as to where they may have ended up, from Aboriginies to fishermen and locals in Broome.
It would seem that a vast fortune in diamonds is still unaccounted for! Wreckage from Smirnoffās DC-3 still lies entombed in the mud at Carnot Bay.
The Prospero crew and members of WAMM at the Carnot Bay site. Photo by WA Maritime Museum.
More info
After the ordeal, Smirnov was questioned by the police about the package. He had no idea, but the package contained $300ā000 worth of diamonds. Meanwhile, a local beachcomber named Jack Palmer had sailed his lugger to the wreckage, salvaging what he could. And probably finding the package. It is said that he latter bragged that he āno longer had to work, only sit down and smoke cigarsā. By mid-April, he was enlisting in the army, bringing back around $20ā000 worth of diamond that he said he found on the wreck. He claimed itās all he had, since the package had opened itself when he touched it and all the content had fallen in the seaā¦ He was immediately taken into custody for interrogation.
Jack Palmer and 2 other accomplices were tried in Broome in 1943, but all of them were acquitted. Over the years, diamonds started showing up at different locations, but it all accounted for a little more than $30ā000. The rest, worth today something between $10 and $20 millions, is still missingā¦ That being said, Iāll grab my shovel and head north. Wish me luck!
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Many people of Broome had also been looking for the downed plane and casualties on their own vehicles. One of the vehicles brought the mail from the crush site but there was no mysterious parcel in itā¦ Having thanked the missionaries and Aboriginals for assistance Smirnoff and his comrades headed to Broome on a truck. Upon arrival they were placed in a hospital for examination and cure for several days. In a week the Russian pilot headed to Perth, and from there ā to Melbourne. Sydney was his destination as his wife had been already there.
During Smirnoffās stay in Melbourne he was visited by a police detective and a Commonwealth Bank serviceman.
Captain Smirnoff? ā the serviceman asked. ā I am here to receive the parcel you had gotten before your departure from Bandung.
- The parcel is missing, - Smirnoff replied and told about everything happened. ā What was in there? ā he asked.
- Diamonds, thousands of high quality diamondsā¦
ā¦ In March 1942 Frank Robinson and James Mulgrue fearing new Japanese bombings decided to leave Broome on a motorboat. Having bought food and fuel they left northwards. En route, in a small bay, they met a man named Jack Palmer whose boat was anchored in it. They sailed north along with him and came across a crush-landed aircraft on the coast. Palmer and two Aboriginies he traveled with went ashore in a small boat. There Palmer got on the plane and threw away various things which the Aboriginies took for themselves. Between the pilotās seat and a small fuel tank (according to other sources ā on the beach) he found a wet brown parcel sealed by wax. He took the parcel to his motorboat and opened it. Inside it he found a cigar box full of diamonds. Palmer picked up the largest ones and tipped them into aluminum cups which he hid. He wrapped the rest in a rag, moved to the Robinsonās and Mulgrueās motorboat and told them that he had found a bag of diamonds on the sand near the plane. "Take a handful for each of yourself and donāt tell anybody about this find," ā he said.
Jack Palmer was going to join the army and hoped that if he returned part of the diamonds to the authorities he would get some privileges for it. Having selected small diamonds, he collected them into two salt-cellars and on arrival to the Beagle Bay Mission went to see the commander of the military base but found nobody there. He left his motorboat in the Mission and flew to Perth on a passenger plane. There he went to the district military commandant Major Gibson and told him about the crush-landed plane and his find of a water-soaked parcel with diamonds next to it. The Major had known already about the crushed plane and the valuable parcel from an inquiry from the Commonwealth Bank.
An investigation began. It was revealed that Palmer had taken "something" out of the plane, besides, pieces of wrap paper, cord and wax were found on the beach. The story was told the Aboriginies from the palmerās boat, Robinson and Mulgrue did not try to conceal the truth either. The latter had put his share of diamonds into a film box and dug it into sand on the beach near Beagle Bay. The box had been found by an Aboriginal woman wandering about the beach, and given to the military base commander. Besides, people began to come across diamonds in a variety of locations:-
- a Chinese trader had some
- amongst aboriginal communities
- in a matchbox in a train carriage compartment
- in the fork of a tree (found after the war)
- in a fireplace in a house in Broome
The investigation went on. On 12 April 1943 Robinson and Mulgrue were committed to trial. They were acquitted of all charges as they had not committed any theft. Palmer was not sentenced either as he had handed two salt-cellars with diamonds to the authorities. It remained unproved that he had stolen part of diamonds. He returned to Broome, joined the Army and became a lighthouse caretaker. After the war he opened a food store, a motorboat moor, a house, a motorcycle and a car, generally, began to live swell life. However, in 1950 the doctors discovered that he had a stomach cancer. He was in the Broome hospital when a priest Father MacKelson visited him. During their conversation he asked jack: "What have you done with the rest of the diamonds?" ā "I handed all of tem to authorities," ā Jack replied with a smileā¦
There had been 300 000 pounds worth of diamonds in the parcel (prices of those times) and only worth of 21 777 was returned. The mystery of vanished diamonds which would be 10 million US dollars worth nowadays was taken by Jack Palmer to his grave.
Captain Smirnoff eventually found his wife in Sydney, then they moved to Brisbane. In 1943 he was summoned to court in Perth where he gave his evidence. He was not accused of anything. In 1944-1945 he worked as a pilot in the American Airway company, and in 1946 he a and his wife returned to Amsterdam (Holland). His wife Margo died soon after that in 1947. Smirnoff kept flying till 1949 (on the photo to the left ā Smirnoff after the war) as a KLM pilot. According to some sources he had a chance to visit his motherland during one of his flights but he never got a permission to come to the USSR. After retirement Smirnoff settled on the Majorca Island where he died on 28 October 1956. He was buried there but later ( 20-11-1959) his ashes were re-buried in Heemstede (some 40 km from Amsterdam) next to his wifeās grave. The place of his crush-landing in Western Australia is still named the Smirnoff Beach.
The life of this outstanding man and brave pilot engulfed incredibly much. Perhaps, he may be considered as a lucky man ā he took part in the most dramatic events of the XX century. His flying career was really unique ā he spent 27 000 hours in the air! He wrote two books: Ā«Smirnoff VerteltĀ» (Ā«Smirnoff TellsĀ», 1938) and Ā«De toekomst heeft vleugelsĀ» (Ā«The Future Has WingsĀ», 1947). His person attracted attention of Hollywood ā in 1944 two cinema studios wrote scenarios about his life, but the Russian pilot didnāt like them and he rejected the idea.
He became a legend. Nowadays, when, many decades after, the names of the Russian heroes of WWI and ƩmigrƩs have returned to Russia, his motherland may be proud of the fact that he is one of her most famous sons.
The original publication belongs to George Kositsyn (the paper "Na Sopkakh Manchzhurii") and was first published by him with the permission of "Hesperian Press" (Western Australia). The web-page includes some additions and alterations.
Other web-sites about the life of Ivan Smirnoff:
http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/smirnoff.htm
http://www.cableregina.com/users/magnusfamily/ww1rus.htm
http://www.wwiaviation.com/aces/ace_Smirnov.shtml
http://club.euronet.be/philippe.saintes/smirnov.htm
That's an awful lot of missing diamonds - still never located!.
Cheers
