A FLIGHT OF FANCY
by
Chris Mills*
Sea Journey
The weather was cool but dry when Lee Oswald boarded the
51,000 ton liner "Liberte" off the coast of Le Havre, France.(l) The
"Liberte" was en-route from New York to Southampton, England. As the
next ****t of call was to be Southampton, Lee Oswald had booked passage
for what was to be a relatively short trip across the busy waters of
the English Channel.
It is possible that the ****p did not leave the le Havre area
until the early hours of the 9 October 1959. Even though Oswald's
pass****t shows an embarkation date of 8 October, he may well have
checked in through customs late on the night of the eighth, but not
departed the ****t for several hours. This was Oswald's so called
defection to the Soviet Union. He had left New Orleans on the "SS
Marion Lykes" bound for Le Harve. From here he would make his way
through England and Finland to Moscow where he would attempt to
renounce his US citizen****p.
The great ****p chugged its way slowly across the narrow
straight separating Britain and France, arriving at "Cowes
Roads" (deep water outside the harbour's mouth) in the mid-afternoon
of the 9th October. If a vessel was particularly large with few
passengers to transfer, it was often considered uneconomic to waste
valuable time negotiating Southampton Water to dock at the ****t
itself. Instead, as was the case this day, the ****p would anchor
offshore in the "Cowes Roads" and small tugs would be sent out to
collect passengers and any small items of freight. Oswald arrived on
the British mainland at either 7.50 p.m. (the Red Funnel Tug/Tender
Calshot) or 8.40 p.m. (the Alexandra Towing Company's Tug/Tender
Romsey) depending upon which tug he took when he disembarked the
Liberte(2).
London Air****t
At the ****t all passengers passed through customs and most
joined a British Rail train to Waterloo Station in London. This is
presumably what Oswald did, arriving in central London late in the
evening of the ninth.(3)
From this point, Lee Oswald's movements have been the subject
of controversy for more than thirty years. The alleged assassin's
pass****t contains a stamp verifying 10 October 1959 as his departure
date from England. The pass****t is also stamped with the same date for
entry into Helsinki Air****t in Finland.(4) There was only one flight
direct from London Air****t (now Heathrow) to Helsinki on that date,
this was a FinnAir flight which departed London at 14.20 and arrived
in Helsinki at 23.35 local time. It has been established, by the
Warren Commission, that it would have been impossible for Oswald to
have cleared customs and arrive at the "Hotel Torni" in downtown
Helsinki before midnight. Herein lies the controversy, the hotel
register states that Oswald checked in before midnight on the 10th.(4)
Many authors (Groden/Livingstone, Melanson, Marrs, Epstein
etc.,) have either raised this question or suggested (in certain
cases, categorically stated) that Oswald may have had military or
intelligence help in completing this leg of his journey.
Other Flights
My research has led me to the conclusion that it was not only possible
to have made the flight in the specified time frame, it was extremely
likely. I have been unable to find any military flights leaving London
Air****t on the 10th but there were three commercial routes available
to Helsinki on that day (BEA/FinnAir being the only carrier for that
destination). As well as the direct route, which the Warren Commission
pointed out was hardly feasible, there was a choice of two other
flights, one via Copenhagen (08.05 from London) and the other via
Stockholm (08.50). Either of these could have been utilized by Oswald,
and both would have been offered if he had arrived in the early hours
of the 10th trying to book a flight. These flights would have arrived
in Helsinki at 17.05 and 17.35 respectively, thus giving Oswald ample
time to reach the "Hotel Torni" before midnight, which the register
indicates that he did(5).
Passenger lists for these flights have long since been
destroyed, but - and this is a real shame - they would have been
readily available to the WC in 1964 had anyone taken the trouble to
look.
Conclusion
In conclusion it would seem that it is more likely than not
that Oswald took a commercial flight from London to Helsinki. The real
questions to be answered seem to be:
a) Why take this route at all?
b) How was this trip financed?
Theories surrounding these questions abound but as yet no hard proof
has emerged to answer them.
Notes
1. Authors telephone conversation - Met Office,
Bracknell Herts. 25. 8 94.
2. Letter and docking records for 7,8,9 October 1959, to author
30.8.94 from Mr R C Hancock, Marine
Administration Manger, Associated British ****ts, Southampton.,
3. Ibid.
4. Warren Commission, CE 946
6. Warren Commission, CE 2677
6. Letter and flight timetable for October 1959,
to author, 22.8. 94 from Fred Huntley MBE,
Consultant Archivist, British Airways Archives and
Museum Collection, Heathrow Air****t, Hounslow.
*e-mail: des3millscc@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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