Courts of enquiry

[oldpax]

Is there somewhere you can gain access to Courts of enquiry accounts of?I would be looking in the year 1961/2 in Aden.This is in an unlawful shooting case .

[SOSL]

Assume you mean something that happened at RAF Khormaksar. We didn't have Courts of enquiry. Boards of Inquiry, Unit Inquiries or Summaries of Evidence. The records were held by the P1 staff at Command HQ, in this case HQ MEAF.

Haven't got a clue where the HQ MEAF records are now, but you could try the HQ Air Command P1 staff.

If the incident was important it might have been mentioned in the Unit Form 540 (historical record) and will be held by the Air Historical Branch in the UK MOD.

Rgds SOS

[Old-Duffer]

Forms 540 are more easily obtained from the National Archives, rather than AHB(RAF).

As to the enquiry documentation, you would probably need to submit a Freedom of Information request. Unless it's a pretty serious topic, it might be that the enquiry was destroyed when Aden closed in 1967.

You might approach the topic from a rather different direction and look at newspapers etc at the National Newspaper Library. However, if you are able to be a little more forthcoming about the incident from 51 years ago and what precisely you are seeking to find out, someone might be able to offer some advice.

I seem to remember the boisterous young Hunter pilot with the double-barrelled surname (now a pillar of society north of the border) who fired his pistol through the mess ceiling and narrowly missed shooting the b)(*s off the officer asleep in the room above; but I think that was several years later!!!

Old Duffer

[oldpax]

I have written the story on the RAF forum under "Accidental shooting at conquest bay".I and a friend were first on the scene and saw things that did not sound very good after the inquest which was held"In Camera"and we never heard anymore about it until later.The gist of the story was that the person who was shot was with a young boy(15)and he wanted a gay relationship but realised he could not so a bit of play acting went on and the gun had one bullet and he was shot.Ther is a bit more than that to it and I have been contacted by a person who read my forum who had information that made me realise that there could well have been some sort of cover up.I have found the MOD website today and asked for information ,if its still available.This was 1961,November.

[teeteringhead]

boisterous young Hunter pilot with the double-barrelled surname (now a pillar of society north of the border) They don't make 'em like that anymore!

I was standing next to said individual at a D-I-N at Linton when he comprehensively proved that PMCs' heads are stronger than dimpled pint pots! But that's another Court Martial!

[SOSL]

Good luck Oldpax. As you seem to feel so strongly about this incident I hope you find some resolution.

Rgds SOS

[Old-Duffer]

oldpax,

Thank you for the additional information. My immediate reaction is as follows:

a. It is 51 years ago and hence memories are unreliable.
b. Many potential witnesses, conspirators and others who might have been involved may now be dead or reluctant, for whatever reason, to cooperate.
c. The person who was killed might have family who could be distressed if the events were revisited.
d. Is your intention to try to get some form of legal interest in the event or are you looking to exact retribution on somebody who is still alive and who might have been shielded all these years.
e. Following from (d), was somebody wrongfully accused of something and you now seek to try to exonerate them of blame.

Old Duffer

[oldpax]

At the time I and my friends were mere aircraftmen and not that worldy wise.I would just like to know why witness,s were not called at all,either at the inquest or if there was a "Board of Inquiry".If the verdict was suicide then there probably was some sort of cover up,there is another person who recently got in touch with me with some information and would also like all the facts to be seen.Yes I believe there was a cover up and the person who got away with either "accidental shooting"or worse is maybe still around,his father was RAF .

[Pontius Navigator]

The OP was not phrased frightfully well.

I followed up the second clue, accidental shooting at Conquest Bay, which take you to the aforementioned forum. It is not clear who the OP is in that forum but there is a lot more information that is not, as OD suggests, frightfully useful to others who knew him.

The story would appear to be very sad in today's light and if there was a cover up it was probably out of sensitivity rather than anything else.

[Wensleydale]

Found guilty of "Aden and Abetten"?:}

[Old-Duffer]

Well oldpax,

If you believe there has been a cover up and are convinced that the matter should be revisited, if you feel that evidence might have been suppressed and if you are content that a miscarriage of justice has happened, then your duty is clear. You must report the case as you understand it and a summary of what your 'new' witness has said to the RAF Police.

However, I do urge you to be careful and consider what such a decision might result in and the impact on you and those involved.

You may have seen recently that a request to reopen a 'massacre' allegation from the Malayan Emergency has been rejected in the high court. The story of this incident emerged about 40 years ago and at that stage the army W/O, said to have been in charge of the troops, worked at the same place as me but he was then a civilian employee. Of course he was kept 'under cover' and the incident died down only to resurface several years ago. It is perhaps interesting that whereas the original allegations came from a serviceman, the more recent claims have come from family and friends of the Malays who were killed.

I think you will find it extremely difficult to stimulate interest in this matter from the authorities but you might find it worthwhile asking at your local coroner's court what happens to investigations of deaths overseas and is there a statutory requirement for these to be retained for 'x' years. If there is such a requirement, this might lead you to the original report but if there is none, then my initial comments that the documents were destroyed when Aden closed are probably accurate.

Old Duffer

[parabellum]

Today the inquest would be held in the area of jurisdiction where the body of the deceased arrived back in UK, in 1961 the deceased would almost certainly have been buried in the Mala Military Cemetery. What was the British Government representation in Aden then, other than the armed forces, embassy, consulate, British Council, any? Whoever or whatever it was may have some records, unless everything was kept within the military.

EDIT: Aden had a High Commission, there are records, probably at the National Archive office, this link may give you a start point if there was any civilian involvement in this incident;

The National Archives | Access to Archives (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=059-r20_2&cid=-1#-1)

[oldpax]

Thanks Parabellum,I will dig a little deeper into the archives tommorow.Why am I doing this?Well,I never found out what transpired at the Inquest and never heard a thing afterwards and it does come to the top of the subconcious occasionaly!I would like to know the verdict and why two of us as eye witness,s were never called forward to give evidence.Very strange indeedIf anyone else reading this can find Aden inquests of 1961 then please contact me.