53 years ago a plane like this one, A Douglas DC-6 marked SE-BDY, crashed near Ndola (then in Northern Rhodesia, today is in Zambia) leaving just a survivor. It was the last journey of Dag Hammarskjöld and many others, a tombstone over every choice for a peaceful solution in Rhodesia.
Along with Mr. Hammarskjöld there were the following: Mr. Heinrich A. Wieschhoff, Mr. Vladimir Fabry, Mr. William Ranallo, Miss Alice Lalande, Sgt. Harold M. Julien, Sgt. Serge L. Barrau, Sgt. Francis Eivers, WO S.O. Hjelte, Pvt. P.E. Persson, Cpt. Per Hallonquist, Cpt. Nils-Eric Aarheus, 2nd Pilot Lars Litton, F-E Nils Göran Wilhemsson, Ass. Harald Noork and Radio Operator Karl Erik Rosen.
From 1961 to present days a number of inquiries has been performed but no official “thruth” has been established for sure. The activities of Mr. Hammarskjöld were a problem for too many western governments, both for economic and geopolitical interests. In a war zone like Rhodesia there were a lot of opportunities to arrange an assassination.
Sgt. Julien survived the crash for a few days but his statements about a few explosions aboard before the crash were dismissed as inconsistent by the investigation officers. Many hypothesis has been portrayed in the last five decades, many books has been written about this plane crash and its consequences. The truth is still out there, waiting to be discovered.
Links:
Mr. Dag Hammarskjöld on Wikipedia – here.
UN report of the commission of investigation – here.
UN report about the investigations – here.
Angelo Benuzzi 