Gilchrist Document

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The Gilchrist Document is a much cited letter from 1965 often used to support arguments for Western involvement in the overthrow of Sukarno. However the letter is most likely a forgery. The document purports to be a letter from the British ambassodor to Djakarta, Gilchrist, addressed to the British Foreign Office. The letter refers to a joint US-UK plan for military intervention in Indonesia. [1][2]

The letter was first made public by the Indonesian Foreign Minister Subandrio on a trip to Cairo. The U.S. embassy in Cairo was soon after able to get a photographic copy of the letter. The embassy concluded that it was a fake, and the "Gilchrist-letter" was subsequently referred to as a forgery in the U.S. administration. An internal discussion in the U.S. administration on who was behind the forgery followed, and the U.S. settled on a Subandrio-controlled intelligence agency.[3]

The Czheck agent Vladislav Bittman who defected in 1968 claimed that his agency forged the letter.[2] Bittman also claimed responsibility for the campaign against U.S. citizen and movie distributor Bill Palmer.[2]

The papers of the British ambassador Gilchrist have still not been released to the public, despite several attempts from newspapers and researchers, and hence speculation about a possible British role in the overthrow of Sukarno continues.

[edit] Sources

  • Surrendering to Symbols - US policy towards Indonesia 1961-65, Conclusions
  • Airgram A-32, Cairo to State, 10 July 1965, (Photo of Gilchrist-letter attached), POL 23–9, "INDON, REBELLION & COUPS", 1/1/65, Box 2317, NARA; Airgram A-35, Djakarta to State, July 28 1965, POL 23–9, "INDON, REBELLION & COUPS", 1/1/65, Box 2317, National Archives - College Park, Maryland, US
  • Gardner, Paul F. Shared Hopes, Separate Fears: Fifty Years of U.S.-Indonesian Relations. Boulder, Colorado: Westview, 1997: pp. 205–206

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Aandstad, Stig A: Surrendering to Symbols - US policy towards Indonesia 1961-65. Oslo, Norway. Cand.philol dissertation, University of Oslo, 1999.
  2. ^ a b c Gardner, Paul F. Shared Hopes, Separate Fears: Fifty Years of U.S.-Indonesian Relations. Boulder, Colorado: Westview, 1997: pp. 205–206
  3. ^ Airgram A-32, Cairo to State, 10 July 1965, (Photo of Gilchrist-letter attached), POL 23–9, "INDON, REBELLION & COUPS", 1/1/65, Box 2317, NARA; Airgram A-35, Djakarta to State, July 28 1965, POL 23–9, "INDON, REBELLION & COUPS", 1/1/65, Box 2317, National Archives - College Park, Maryland, US
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