(In response
to the recent Little Darwin
post MYSTERY SINGAPORE POSTCARD
LINK WITH SPIES , HEMINGWAY , which
included the rescue
of Mrs Petrov from her Russian guards at Darwin Airport , Melbourne journalist Kim Lockwood
sent the following
account of his father’s
involvement in the dramatic event.)
 |
| Journalist , author Douglas Lockwood |
On the night of 19 April 1954, Melbourne Herald group NT reporter Douglas Lockwood's phone rang. It was a friendly local official. Did Lockwood know Mrs
Petrov was on her way to Darwin? Yes, he did.
It rang again. Did he know the Prime Minister had told the Acting NT
Administrator, Reg Leydin, to offer her political asylum when she arrived?
No. Lockwood drove around town. Lights were burning in unexpected government
offices.
He set an alarm clock for 4am. Before going to bed he sent a telegram to
his Melbourne office: "Phone me every half hour after 6am."
He later said that was one of the wisest, or luckiest, things he ever did.
A few hours later other journalists trying frantically to get calls through to
Sydney or Melbourne on lines jammed with priority government traffic had to
watch and listen helplessly as Lockwood dictated the complete story. His
Melbourne office was able to ring him on the reverse circuit, but he couldn't
ring them.
 |
| Distressed Mrs Petrov being hustled to plane in Sydney |
The BOAC Constellation landed. During the flight Mrs Petrov had told
hostess Joyce Bull that her guards were armed. Captain John Davys radioed the
information to Darwin. As the Constellation came to a halt, armed Darwin police grouped around
Leydin and Crown Law Officer Keith Edmunds. The four Russians - Mrs Petrov and
her guards, Valery Karpinsky and Fedor Zharkov, with Embassy second secretary
F.V. Kislitsin - were last off the plane.
Leydin approached Mrs Petrov to offer her asylum. As he did so, Karpinsky
and Zharkov tried to intervene, but Edmunds and the policemen got between
them. Zharkov struck at Edmunds with his briefcase. He was grabbed by Constables
Gordon Raabe and Tom Hollow and disarmed by Inspector Bill McKinnon. Karpinsky
put his hand inside his coat, but was instantly grabbed from behind by Sergeant
Gregory Ryall, 6ft 1in and 16 stone. Ryall's arms were locked under the
Russian's throat. Constables Lionel McFarland and Ted Davis relieved him of his
gun.
Later the Russians alleged Ryall had assaulted Karpinsky, and Lockwood
asked what he thought of that. "What did they expect me to do?" Ryall asked in
return. "Shake hands with the guy? He had a gun and was reaching for it."
Leydin was in earnest conversation with Mrs Petrov, trying to establish if she wanted asylum. She kept repeating she had no need to stay because her family was in Russia and her husband was dead , killed by his Australian "kidnappers".
Kislitsin approached Leydin to protest about interference in Russian domestic affairs. Leydin adroitly countered by offering him asylum, and assuring him proper arrangements could be made for his safety. Kislitsin clearly thought it over, but decided not to desert his country.
An hour went by. Lockwood was called to the
phone and dictated a story to Melbourne on what had happened so
far. A planeload of passengers keen to get to
Singapore and places beyond were becoming impatient. Leydin approached Mrs Petrov again and asked
if she would like to talk to her husband by phone. "Dead men don't talk," she
said.
Leydin signalled a security officer to get
Vladimir Petrov on the phone. Petrov was waiting in his secret hideout in NSW
for just such a call. The Russians insisted the call be taken in public, so
everyone could hear, but since Mrs Petrov spoke only in Russian the only word
Lockwood could understand was "Nyet!" She hung up and walked towards Leydin with
her back turned to everyone else. "That was not my husband," she said loudly.
And winked.
Leydin's expression didn't change. "Well
then, Mrs Petrov, I will leave you now," he said, and turned away. As if by
afterthought he turned back and touched her on the arm. "Would you like to sit
in my office for a moment and have a short chat?" "Yes, yes," she said. "A short conversation."
She followed Leydin into a nearby office, where she insisted the doors be
closed. "Those guns would have been used," she said. "Get me out of
here."
Not knowing what was happening behind the
closed doors, Lockwood was on another call to Melbourne when Kislitsin walked
over to eavesdrop. "Rubbish," he said. "Lies." Lockwood adopted his most
diplomatic manner: "Shut up!"Crown Law Officer Keith Edmunds approached
and gave Lockwood a dig in the ribs." Go away, Keith, I'm dictating."
Edmunds poked Lockwood in the ribs again,
winked, turned to Kislitsin and said: "I have to inform you on behalf of the
Australian government that Mrs Petrov has accepted political asylum in this
country. She will not be rejoining your aircraft."Lockwood yelled "Hold the line" into the
phone, double-checked what he had just heard with Edmunds, and started again:
"All right Melbourne, here is a new story. Mrs Evdokia Petrov decided here today
to remain in Australia." He continued dictating a story that was soon on the
front pages of newspapers all over the world.
Thereafter the wires sang with official calls only. Lockwood's frustrated colleagues from opposing papers and agencies had to lodge their stories by press telegram - a laborious business that meant driving into town to the post office. Lockwood had , perhaps inadvertently, perhaps not, applied Rule No. 1 for journalists working in the field: "The first thing you do is set up your lines of communication. Then, and only then , chase the story."
FOOTNOTE : The photograph of Sergeant Ryall with his hold on the Russian guard was flashed worldwide and featured in the mass circulation American publication , Life , with the caption...This move saved Mrs Petrov : 'A good country cop' clamps stranglehold on armed guard .
