A further attempt to restore Imber took place in the early 1970s when the Defence Lands Committee (DLC) was given the task of looking into the need for the retention of Ministry of Defence lands. The Imber case was represented before the DLC by David J Johnson, an Imber researcher; Richard Madigan, a former soldier who helped to evacuate the villageand testified to the promise of return after the warand Rex Mutters, a wartime fighter pilot. They were assisted by Austin Underwood, who had led the campaign in the early 1960s and backed-up with written evidence from former villagers. In spite of all the additional evidence, including the first re-appearance since 1943 of the original eviction letter (which indicated return), the DLC recommended that the village be retained for military use.