Andrew Gilchrist - Ambassador To Indonesia and Then Ireland

Ambassador To Indonesia and Then Ireland

His next posting was to Chicago as Consul General, and then as Ambassador to Djakarta, Indonesia (1962–1966). His time there saw an attack on the British embassy, and the torching of his official car. During the crisis, the Military Attache to the Embassy; Lt Colonel Bill Becke and Major Rory Walker paraded in front of the rioters, the latter playing the bagpipes, which pacified the unruly mob. The mob returned two days later and broke through the fence, setting the embassy alight, during the attack Gilchrist, Walker and Becke stood their ground and defended the strong room.

Britain was at the time strongly in favour of finding almost any means to help Indonesian opponents of Sukarno's communist-backed regime, helpful local propaganda certainly being one of them. Gilchrist reported to London that he had always believed that "more than a little shooting" would be necessary to bring about a change of regime. This turned out to be true as the US-backed regime led by Suharto took power by force of arms in 1965 and Indonesia endured a civil war in the months that followed.

Gilchrist received a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1956, and was knighted via Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1964.

Sir Andrew Gilchrist was sent, for his final posting before retirement, to Dublin as ambassador. A quiet time there was made impossible by the resurgence of "the troubles" and British troops being sent on to the streets of Northern Ireland in 1969. He claimed to have made a bet with the Permanent Secretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office that the troops would be there for 25 years. Sadly this proved to be true, though Gilchrist himself died just before this anniversary in 1993.