Photos from Wesley-Smith Collection
There was a dramatic scenario when it was erroneously suggested longtime East Timor supporter Robert Wesley-Smith would burn a dog alive in a Darwin park to highlight the fact that America had provided Indonesia with ground attack Bronco aircraft used to napalm freedom fighters in the mountains .
The above photograph is from that event , showing him addressing the crowd in 1978-on a day of immense significance to America - July 4. There was outrage from many people when the media carried reports that a dog would be set alight . He later pointed out he had never stated he would perform such an act . However, he told members of the Press that not many people voiced outrage about humans being napalmed in East Timor .
There was great tension when Wes arrived in Raintree Park . He is shown holding up a toy dog he had bought from nearby Woolworths. He had no intention of burning man's best friend, nor an imported Chinese soft toy.
However, a group of supporters had proposed dousing a cut out wooden dog with metho and setting it alight, but he had firmly ruled this out . Perversely, some of those who turned up seemed annoyed that no dog had been incinerated . An angry letter to the editor writer branded the event a Commo stunt . There was a dog ,albeit sleepy (below ) at the rally ,which was attended by police and other officials , even a suggestion there had been a sniper on a nearby building .
There were many interesting people at the demonstration . In the top photo back row , far left , in a hat , was Sam Kruger , worthy of a major documentary , books , who is said to have played a part in Operation Vengeance in which the Americans shot down Harvard trained Admiral Yamamoto, who masterminded the bombing of Pearl Harbour , outlined in this blog . Kruger , buried in Alice Springs , also was said to have had a connection with the Israeli military leader Moshe Dayan ; Sam was visited by Israelis in Darwin.
An intelligence source once informed Kruger , a supporter of the East Timorese , that he and his" four eyed mate", Wesley-Smith , would be killed if they went to Singapore.
In the crowd at Raintree Park was Jon Isaacs of the Miscellaneous Workers' Union and leader of the NT ALP. Another was Peter Job, involved in the East Timor Support Movement during the Indonesian occupation , which included working on the radio link to Fretilin in 1978. Job went on to obtain a PhD. in International and Political Studies and wrote A Narrative of Denial , Australia and the Indonesian Violation of East Timor,available from Melbourne University Press .
See also Wesley-Smith's Ebook 117 Days in East Timor .
