Please note that after this week, the History Display at the Community Hall will be on a Wednesday from 11am – 1PM. Due to power outages it was on Tuesday this week.
A call will be put out soon for volunteers to support the display at these times. July is currently covered.
A reminder that the Paluma History Display will re-open from this Tuesday 9th May at the Community Hall. The History Display will be open from 11.00 am to 1.00 pm every Tuesday, subject to the availability of volunteers to run the display. Drop in to the Community Hall to learn all about the history of Paluma, as well as things to see and do whilst visiting the village and surrounds. You can even enjoy a cuppa at the same time.
A reminder to locals and visitors to Paluma that the Paluma History Display is open each Tuesday from 11 am to 1 pm. If you’ve never visited, or you haven’t stopped in for a while, it’s well worth the visit to learn more about the local history of our little village on the top of the mountain. Information is being compiled and added to the History Folders on a regular basis and the dedicated volunteers who run the display are a wealth of information on all things Paluma.
You might be interested in leaning more about the original Aboriginal inhabitants of Paluma, the Nywaigi People, or the timber-getting and early mining history. There’s lots of information on the early European settlers to the village, long-time residents and pioneering families, the building of the Range Road and the World War 2 history and occupation of the area. For a small village, the history of this place is rich and fascinating.
The volunteers can also provide you with information on the local walking tracks, Paluma Dam, things to see in and around the village, bird watching and the local wildlife. Drop in for a look at what’s on display and it’s a great place to take a break from the hectic pace of life and enjoy a relaxing cuppa and cake.
The best things in life really are free….!
Text & Photos (from the History Display) by Michele Bird
Article prepared & presented by Lynn Hyland for the Paluma Community Centre 20th Anniversary Morning Tea, Sunday 24th October 2021.
This is a short history of how the Paluma Community Centre came into being back in 2001.
Our earliest community association records date back to 1965 and it was in January of 1965 that electricity was connected to the then ‘Town Hall’ as it was fondly referred to. The exact date in 1946 of its construction is unknown, but it was a well patronised facility by the 1960’s. This hub of community life was constructed of bush timbers and corrugated iron. It had previously been the Recreational Building for the Medical Unit during the final years of World War 2. It had no windows or doors. On a misty day the cloud rolled into the open space via the rear ¾ wall. Seating was built in along the walls and the entrance was an open walkway. A hall user could access power by collecting the fuse from Ivy Cottage after signing for it. Social activities of the day took the form of dances, children’s fancy dress balls and bingo. The bar servery bench was also well used I believe.
Unfortunately Cyclone Althea was not kind to the Progress Hall and thanks to the efforts of the Rotary Club of Townsville West it was repaired in 1972. The operation of the reserve, that we now know as the Village Green was in the hands of of four local trustees who had control over activities on behalf of the Lands Department. They vetoed the community suggestion of installing a playground and establishing a small campground. It was mainly used as a golf course and that’s how they wanted it kept. Suddenly in the mid 90’s, the Paluma Progress Association (PPA) found that the trustees had relinquished their positions and it had reverted to the control of the Thuringowa Shire Council as their asset. Previously replacement trustees had been nominated by the PPA and readily accepted by the Lands Department. No such option had been offered.
To the dismay of the locals, we were informed that the Town Hall was to be demolished as it had been condemned. What a blow for this small community. In April 1983, the Paluma Rural Fire Brigade had been formed and stored its equipment on a share basis with the PPA in a small metal shed on the cement slab behind the present gazebo. Then in October 1989 a local Mt. Spec SES group was formed. For many years the SES operated out of the garage of the 1st Officer’s home, before moving for a short while to the closed Police Station office, until it was sold to James Cook University. A permanent base for SES was required.
The PDPA had been furiously fund raising through the annual Rainforest Festivals run by the community. They desperately wanted to have a new ‘Town Hall’. It looked for a while that the Village Green would be peppered with three new buildings. Some creative thinking came up with the concept of a shared facility, to be contained in one larger building fronting the main road and thus preserving the ambience of the Village Green. And so the project began under the guidance of a Building Management Committee.
Funding for the project was provided by the PDPA, Thuringowa City Council (SES), the Gleeson Family Trust, the Gaming Benefit Fund and the Casino Trust. The many volunteers who are named on our Honour Board, laboured over a number of years with many a Saturday working bee to allow the weekenders to contribute their time and effort too. The project was carried out under the umbrella of Tubman Homes with John, Mick Lewis acting as site supervisors as required. Work was often followed by a BBQ on the Green. The steering committee was charged with forming a Management Committee consisting of the three legal lessees – PDPA, Mt. Spec SES and Paluma Rural Fire Brigade and also forming a constitution.
The official opening was to be on Sunday 21 October 2001, but the hall and services side were utilised prior to this date for minor socials, training and emergency events. The rush was on to complete the painting and fitting out in readiness for our Gala Social – the Centenary Ball to be held the night preceding the official opening ceremony the next day. WOW – what a celebration and did we scrub up well for the occasion. The start of a new century and the restoration of a community hub for the residents of Paluma was well and truly rejoiced. Many of you present today will have attended the many community dinners, overseas slide shows, bush dances, games nights, art exhibitions, markets, Anzac ceremonies and birthday celebrations of locals here in the hall. Both service groups have utilised the centre for training, running courses and district exercises. The centre’s true value has been appreciated at the time of major events such as land searches and rescues.
The Management Committee charged the PDCA with the role of supervising hall usage. Over the years our many regular hirers have given us a small income to supplement PDCA membership fees in meeting the costs of running the Centre. All three lessees contribute annually to cover the cost of electricity and rates. The PDCA covers the cost of the $20 Million Public Liability Insurance required under our lease agreement. The Centre is listed as a TCC asset and leased back to us at nil cost on a 30 Year Lease basis. Visitors are always amazed that this facility was built by volunteer labour in such a small community. Even the Director General of Emergency Services, Michael Kinnane, who opened the Centre with Mayor Les Tyrell, was amazed by this revelation. Very few QFES units have access to such good facilities.
Our regular community spring cleans and maintenance have kept the centre in good condition. From 2020 onwards this role will be carried out by TCC’s Infrastructure Department – we await action on an internal paint, floor restoration and external cleaning. From time to time, PDCA grant applications have been successful. In July 2012, the Paluma History Project came to fruition through funding from Powerlink and we finally got some decent chairs through Queensland Community Country Bank. A number of history projects have evolved over the past nine years such as the Trees in Memory Grove; the Pioneer Honour Board; the Flight Sergeant Plant Memorial Service; the PDCA Past President’s Honour Board; the Opening of the Andree Griffin Walking Track; the Memorial Stone unveiling; and the Community Centre Construction Honour Board. The large historical photo collection is opened to the public from 11.00 am to 1.00 pm on Tuesdays between April and November. We have photographer Brian O’Leary to thank for the superb ‘Birds of Paluma’ DVD, of which he has donated the rights to our community.
As we all know, communication is a problem in our area. In 2017, the installation in the Centre of a free WiFi service by TCC was a godsend to locals and tourists alike. Then in 2018, the long awaited Mobile Black Spot problem was finally overcome. As the hall became a well used facility and group sizes had increased, a desire to extend the Centre was expressed. A small group of PDCA members worked at a number of Northern Beaches Festival events and secured a share of the profits to be put away into a PDCA ‘Building Fund’ Account. The PRFB through community support had received funding from the many Paluma Push Bike Races and now that the Government was meeting new vehicle costs had a healthy bank balance. The brigade agreed to join forces with the PDCA in funding the rear extension to incorporate a small meeting room and realign the verandah area. They had not been able to contribute financially back in 1997 but could do so now. And so began the recent Centre extension project.
Unfortunately John Tubman’s health did not allow him to continue and a further Gaming Benefit Grant was obtained to meet the increased cost of a new builder. On 22 September 2018, the John Tubman Meeting Room was officially opened by John himself and the Centre Construction Honour Board unveiled. This year (2021) sees the 25th Year of our annual Garden Competition and the new garden beds around the centre are looking good thanks to the many garden enthusiasts in Paluma. So 20 years on, the Centre is in regular use for major recreational events, community socials and celebrations and used by regular community groups and commercial hirers. The History Project continues to expand and the SES and PRFB are still functioning well despite their ups and downs in membership over the years. We live in a wonderful part of North Queensland’s Wet Tropics. The Paluma community welcomes visitors to our little bit of paradise and we are renowned for our helpfulness and friendliness. Long may it be so!
HAPPY 20th ANNIVERSARY PALUMA COMMUNITY CENTRE
The following account was recently received (via Charlie Allen) from John Chick, an early resident of Paluma and one of a pioneering family that includes his brother Dave Chick, who lives on the eponymously named Chick’s road. Its great to receive these early accounts and the editors of the Paluma.org website warmly welcome this contribution and would love to receive others from people who were (or were related to) are first residents in the village. These stories are also published in our History section of the website.
by John Chick, August 2021
My early days at Paluma started around 1950 as I can recall. My parents Frank and Fran Chick along with my grandparents Jim and Marynne Chick took up a small heavily vegetated jungle block in what is now known as Whalley Crescent. At the time of the selection there was no road access to the property and everything that was needed to carry out the clearing etc had to be carried in by hand from Mt Spec Road at a point which is now the old Police Station block. It took four adults to carry our wood stove up this narrow track whilst avoiding the wait-a-while. As I was only six years old at the time I could not do much but pick up sticks and other small jobs at the direction of my grandparents.
The clearing was a big job and as we did not own a chain saw everything was done by an axe, a long scrub hook and some great fires. The property adjoined an existing block that had a modern brick home on it built by the Kiery family who had owned a Butcher shop on the western end of Flinders Street in Townsville. The property had a beautifully hand crafted aviary just inside their fence line with a large carved log as a viewing bench. The timber for the aviary had been hand shaped with an Adze as was the frame for a gate on the boundary fence adjacent to the cage. Of interest was the fact that the lower hinged end of the gate had been tapered and rested in the dimple of an upside wine bottle set in the ground as a lower hinge.
During the second world war this property was seconded by the US army and used as accommodation for its higher ranks. They must have had some great parties at this place judging be the amount of alcohol bottles, both whole and broken were all hurled over the fence into our block. My Grandmother spent many long weekends picking up very last slither of glass up.
We usually arrived at Paluma on Friday evening and after a big weekend of work would depart mid afternoon on Sunday. One of the most memorable events of the clearing procedure was the eventual removal of a very big tree situated pretty much central in the block. We had been applying fire to the base of this tree for many weekends with timber acquired from the rest of the clearing effort. Then came the Sunday when we were sure that the monster would finally fall on that day, however time ran out on us and we were having to leave for Townsville.
As was the usual, before departing we would visit Jimmy Linton’s shop where dad and grandad would have a couple of quick drinks with Jim and his wife Win. And then it happened; and we missed it; the sound of our nemesis crashing to the ground in the distance was fantastic but it was a shame to have missed the fall after all of the work that went into getting rid of it.
As most will know, you just don’t realise how much wood is in a tree until it hits the ground and you have to dispose of it. My grandmother took to this tree with the same gusto that removed the glass but it did take several months of weekends. Many years later I saw her deal out the same treatment to a very large Tamarind tree that stood in our Queens Rd back yard.
Our weekend accommodation on the mountain was at what was then called the Main Roads huts on the original road down to McClellands Lookout. They were big open plan units with a great fireplace. We had plenty of firewood.
A little further down this road and set back on the northern side was a small building about the size of a large outhouse. This area now appears to be a subdivision. I think this building was originally a munitions store for the US army and then used by Main Roads as an explosives store. The rainforest around and in behind this store was strewn with live ammunition such as 45cal pistol bullets and the common .303 rounds. The yanks did not clean up very well when they left.
The Americans had quite a presence at Paluma with the construction of a couple of radar installations in concrete igloos which have since become homes and water tanks for the town’s supply. When I first saw these igloos, some of the camouflage was still intact and the bats had taken over.
My favourite US leftover was a beautiful big log cabin which was constructed almost opposite the entrance to our block of land. The cabin was quite large with a high pitched roof and open plan design. Each log in the construction was over one foot in diameter. There was a large stone pitched fireplace on the left hand wall with a set of nice glass windows opposite. There was a heavy timber double door entrance and a smaller door at the rear. Straight out of an American movie.
I have fond memories of some of the old characters who had lived on the mountain for many years.
Jim Linton operated the local store which was an old US demountable with low push out panels as windows. It was always very dark in there and on the counter he had a stuffed Quoll on the counter and on the wall was an arrangement of native spears and a couple of boomerangs and a woomera, all collected in the locality.
Mrs Linton operated the local telephone exchange and post office in the back of this building. It just seemed a tangle of wires and plugs to me at the time.
Jim did a lot of tin prospecting throughout the area and I spent many hours wandering up and down local streams with him. The spot that I remember mostly was a little down the track that starts from the igloos and goes down the Blue Gum creek. There was a small creek off to the right of this track where we sluiced for tin and it was quite plentiful. Later on there was a vertical shaft sunk in the middle of this track adjacent to the sluicing point. The doorstops in Jim’s home consisted of two pound milk tins full of alluvial tin. Jim was also responsible for pumping the town water up from the creek behind the village to tanks situated at Lennox Crescent. I went with Jim on several occasions and it was quite an experience to see him fire up that old ancient diesel engine.
The scary man in the bark hut in the clearing. The story of Arthur (Possum) Benham is well known by locals and historians alike. To us young ones at the time, he was a scary man living alone in a very old style in the bush. Whilst we saw Arthur at a distance on many occasions I sometimes regret that I never got to speak to him. His tin workings in the clearing were quite extensive with the water collection channels commencing up near the road and going down to the extensive gullies that he had excavated. The lower end of the excavations drained into a small creek running parallel to the road and we caught many Yabbies in this creek. On the banks above the diggings were several grape vines of the green variety however they were never very productive.
At the head of Benham’s channels up by the road on the right hand side of the entrance to the clearing was the original Paluma school and the teacher was a miss Little whose parents owned the guest house at that stage.
Another local character was Tommy Nutt who owned a small home about opposite the entrance to Benham’s clearing. Tommy had a great collection of minerals and other artifacts from the surrounding area. Tommy’s income was generated by meeting the tourist bus when it arrived several times a week and taking tourists on walks on the local tracks. I was asked on one occasion myself to take a sound recordist from down south out early one morning to record the morning bird chorus as recordings were needed for the burgeoning film industry.
The Smith family lived in the last house on the right on the way out of Paluma towards Running River. They were relatively old when I met them and my brother and I mixed with their sons around the village. One son Russell lived out at the valley for some years and Trevor is now down at Eungella as part of Smith’s Sawmill. The family had been involved in the forestry all of their lives and at one stage also ran some cattle. Another brother I believe is up in the Gulf somewhere.
Paluma had a lot of visitors in those early days and the guest house was always busy. The guest house was owned by Mr and Mrs Bill Little and boasted the biggest combustion stove in the region. Old movies were regularly shown there on Saturday nights. Later on the guest house became a holiday resort for an order of religious nuns from Townsville.
A major milestone for Paluma was the clearing of the land for the creation of a park and the construction of the first community hall which was built with local logs. I recall the Saturday morning that the bull dozer arrived and the felling of the first trees began. A lot of locals assisted with this operation and also the reestablishment of the swimming pool originally constructed by the US army. I had previously walked down this creek from Benham’s end with Jim Linton prospecting for tin. At that time the metal gate at the bottom of the dam was open and the creek flowed through. For some years there was a fish around a metre long living in the pool; this looked like a Queensland Lungfish and no one seemed to know where it came from. Many great bush dances were held in the hall over the years and on one occasion I played the drums there.
As time went by, our little house was completed. Dad had pre-cut all of the frames in Townsville and then transported them to Paluma for assembly. During the week, we also made bricks in Townsville and carted them up in our Vanguard Spacemaster ute. I remember that with all of the other equipment our poor utility could only carry fifty two bricks at a time. When I was young I bought two pine tree seedlings from Magnetic Island and planted one on each side of the gate at the entrance to the property. When I was at Paluma a couple of years ago I noted that in spite of their unfamiliar environment they were now fifty or sixty feet tall but struggling. They did make great Christmas trees for us in the early days.
Power was connected to Paluma around 1969 / 70 and our farther Frank who was an electrician wired all of the homes in the village with the assistance of my brother David who had the task of pulling the wires through the ceilings.
I wonder how many Opossums and Pythons they encountered?.
The little house in Paluma was sold for $30,000 in January 1982 following the previous purchase of forty acres at Blackfriers for development. This block was purchased from Jimmy Heath who was a vegetable grower in the area. The property is on Chicks Road and is now operated as a tree plantation by David and Sharon Chick.
On Saturday, August 7th, Paluma will host a “Freedom of Entry Parade” to celebrate the decommissioning of the HMAS Paluma (IV), a Navy hydrographic survey vessel that is (indirectly) the source from which our village got its name.
| The original Paluma in ca 1890 | Paluma IV ca 2010 |
When the vessel was originally commissioned in 1989 it was granted “freedom of the city” of Thuringowa at Paluma. This included an official ceremony in which armed navy officers marched into Paluma, where challenged by Police and, on producing an official scroll that authorised their entry, were formally granted permission to continue marching through the village. Following other formalities and speeches, refreshments were served and there was a cricket match between the Navy and villagers that was handily won by the village!
Some three decades later the HMAS is now to be decommissioned and the Navy has suggested that one final march through city would be a fitting part of its final days in service. It promises to be quite a spectacle!
The ceremony and parade will be similar to the one in 1989 and all residents are invited to attend as spectators. The event will start at 11am. Food and refreshment will be provided afterwards at the Community Hall.
The original vessel that Paluma was named after was a gunboat built in 1884 in response to a perceived threat to the colony of Queensland from the Russians. Upon its arrival in 1885 its defence capabilities were considered redundant and it was converted into a hydrographic survey vessel. During its early surveys, it named the northern extension of Hervey Range as the Paluma Range. Our village was subsequently named after the mountain range it is embedded in. There have been four vessels bearing the name Paluma. The most recent is the HMAS Paluma (IV)
For a more detailed and highly readable account of the history of all the Paluma vessels, Linda Venn’s book on “Paluma, the first 80 years” has a section dedicated to this topic. You can read this section here.
Article Contributed by Michael Drew in the lead-up to very different ANZAC Day commemorations in Australia in April 2020.
The human experience of war and pandemics/epidemics are oddly similar in that they each require, of necessity, social isolation and lockdown together with stringent disease control measures.
Most Australians under 50 have no first-hand experience of pandemic disease, but are now having to come to grips with what earlier generations learnt about self-preservation.
In the period 1880 to 1940, North Queensland was blighted by an endemic mosquito-borne malaria parasite (not virus). Observations by the Cairns-based, German Emigre, Dr Edward Albert Koch, hypothesised that the Anopheles Farauti mosquito was the vector of the often fatal disease, long before scientific research confirmed mosquitos as the culprit, rather than the ‘miasma’ of swamps, (which is why the large swamps behind the Townsville Strand were not drained and built on until the 1900s).
In the late 1800’s Dr Koch set up a screened isolation ward at Cairns Hospital which prevented malaria infected patients from spreading the disease….sound familiar? This of course caused much angst among residents who feared the worst for their loved ones who could, (and did) die without the benefit of clergy or family being present. Thus, it became a personal and economic tragedy with many home remedies being touted as the cure! (eg. the ‘kerosene bath’, favoured by my grandfather, but not enjoyed by my father). (See Wikipedia Listing: Edward Albert Koch 1843-1901).
105 years ago, 8000 young Australians died at Gallipoli and in the isolation wards of field hospitals on Lemnos and in Egypt, with many deaths being caused by rampant viral and bacterial disease. The survivors went on to The Somme, Ypres & Villiers Brettoneux where again diseases required isolation, lockdown and vigorous hygiene regimes to control cholera, typhoid, dysentery, gastro and pneumonia spread by fleas, flies and rats. (It’s a wonder the bubonic plague didn’t come back!).
Again, many died tragically away from their loved-ones in Australia, their last hours spent being comforted by the Australian Army Nurses, who were famous for their care of young mortally-ill Diggers ….sound familiar?
Indeed for decades afterwards “ Base” Hospitals in Australia were run on strict military lines as a consequence of their success in combatting diseases in the era of no anti-biotic drugs, which were only developed for the D-Day Landings in June 1944.
The returning Diggers in 1918-19 brought with them the deadly pandemic, so-called “Spanish flu”, which is estimated to have killed between 17 million and 50 million persons world wide (more than the Great War total casualties!)
In Australia, the Nation went into lockdown and with isolation procedures eerily similar to those currently in legal force for COVID-19. Public wearing of face masks was the norm.
The economic effects were tragically enormous given that 60,000 young Australians (including young female nurses) had lost their lives in the conflict and twice that number were permanently disabled, both physically and mentally. These casualties set against a total population of 4.5 million meant that Australia was economically trashed and the lack of young men to father the next generation caused an urgent immigration program which recruited British, Irish and southern Europeans in the early 1920s, thereby changing forever the Australian cultural mix. The flu pandemic added to the death toll of young people who were particularly vulnerable to this virus. (COVID-19 affects 40% of under 40s today, exploding the myth that it is an elderly person’s disease).
In the 1930’s the “horror of parents” pandemic, Poliomyelitis Virus, commenced to ravage young Australians and continued until the mid-1950s when Dr Jonas Salk (USA) produced a very effective vaccine to the huge relief of parents world wide.
In the North, the early 1930’s efforts at treatment of Polio by Chiropractor Ernst Kjellberg at his large-scale Millaa Millaa “ tent hospital” produced very good results which caused him to establish polio treatment centres in Cairns, 11 Sturt St Townsville and The Avenue, Hermit Park.
Sister Kenny was his famous disciple who treated a young Joh Bjelke-Petersen who suffered lifelong effects of polio. (See Sister Kenny Park next to the Tobruk Pool on the Strand, Townsville).
Panic-stricken parents (mine included) frantically isolated their children from families who were struck down (and locked down) by this capricious, deadly, paralysis disease which saw many die or be consigned to massive “ iron lung “ machines installed in hospitals. These were the ventilators of the day….sound familiar?
The economic cost of polio is still with us today as the loss of earning power of many victims affected their subsequent families’ standard of living.
Any history of North Queensland epidemics should include the horrible deaths of many 1930’s cane cutters who contracted a leptospirosis infection, known as Weil’s Disease, which was ultimately discovered, by scientific observation, to originate in rat’s urine as, in those days, rats and their snake pursuers, were in plague proportions in the North’s cane paddocks. A very major cane cutter strike occurred in 1934 after the bosses refused to act. This caused huge economic damage to the fledgling cane industry. The problem was eventually solved by an observant medico who recommended burning the cane before cutting…problem solved with the crack of a match!.If only COVID-19 was so amenable to a good hot burn!. (These days …no cane cutters, therefore no burn!)
The greatest pestilence is war.
Anzac Day is an opportunity to reflect on the sacrifices of those who have died in serving the Nation’s interests even though for many observants the causes of the conflicts are, sadly, shrouded in the fogs of elapsed time. For example, who knows the reason why Australia joined in a European War in which the English Monarch was the first cousin of the opposing German Kaiser, who was allowed to go into post war exile in Holland after an estimated 6 million persons died on both sides of the conflict.
In Paluma we have our own history of a budding life and intellect cut short in the death of 23 year old Flight Sgt Bruce Plant, a son of our District, who rose from the status of a Mess attendant at Garbutt Base to a Fighter Pilot at Amberley and a Canadian-trained Lancaster Pilot in the very short time of 18 months! He had matriculated at CBC Townsville 5 years earlier and would have been in the cream of the post-war achievers had he survived the deadly bombing raids over Germany in September 1943 as part of RAAF 460 SQN based at Binbrook,UK.
He suffered the ultimate isolation from his wife and young child, John, whom he never held.
We should also reflect on the fate of the 20,000 men of the 8th Australian Division, 2nd A.I.F, who were captured by the Japanese in Singapore in 1941 and forced to perform slave labour building the Burma Railway until 1945. Notwithstanding the heroic medical efforts of Colonel “Weary” Dunlop, the starvation diet, contagious “jungle” viruses, bacterial infections, cholera, typhoid, beri beri, dysentery, gastro and festering ulcers resulted in one in three Australians dying as a P.O.W. away from their loved-ones and family.
It is also apposite to think of the 30,000 men of the famed 7th and 9th Australian Divisions who left Australia in 1940 for Tobruk, El Alamein and the Sinai Desert and thence to Papua New Guinea to relieve the Militia (CMF- Army Reserve) on the Kokoda Track and to repulse and eventually defeat the Japanese at Milne Bay, Buna, Sanananda and Gona, as well as sea assaults in Borneo on well entrenched fanatical Japanese troops. These men were isolated from their families for years and suffered the exhausting privations of the soldier on a diet of tinned Spam (which would make a goat throw up!)
They suffered all manner of infectious diseases and stomach cancers which for many led to life-long illness, including not well understood “war neuroses”.
On the home front in North Queensland 1940-45, there was social isolation and lockdown of two different types.
Firstly, the civilian population of the North suffered “panic virus” and largely fled south when the triumphant Japanese captured Fortress Singapore, attacked Pearl Harbour destroying many naval vessels and then bombed Darwin 22 times, killing many civilians, and subsequently bombed Townsville from their New Guinea north coast air bases. Those who remained felt very isolated in the face of a notoriously vicious enemy.
Many families were split up with some “essential” workers remaining for civil defence and troops food supply services. Hospitals could not cater for civilian surgical cases necessitating a long rail journey to Rockhampton or Brisbane….sound familiar?
Secondly, the North’s largely Italian farming families suffered as a result of “knee jerk virus”, which manifested itself after some far off bureaucrats decided that the majority of northern Italian males should be interned down south and leave their womenfolk and young children behind to tend the farm and fend for themselves. Talk about social distancing! Talk about gross economic loss and damage! All on the unproven assumption they must all have been supporters of Mussolini! This great injustice has never been properly addressed.
Two little Biloela girls on Christmas Island………. sound familiar?
In 1940, John Curtin, in a famous speech, devoted the entire resources of the Commonwealth of Australia to the prosecution of the War against the enemy….sound familiar?
In 1942-44 the North became an enormous military complex for Australian and US forces of all types, land, air and sea. Our own village became the site for an early warning radar array for Townsville which was guarded and manned by US Troops with explosive charges set to bring down McClelland’s Bluff, according to the late Tom Connor. Later, Paluma would be requisitioned as a RAAF Rehabilitation Unit – a far more jolly use if one has regard for the hall photos of the inmates of “Hotel Australia”. Isolation was relaxed and rehab was designed to serve the future post-war economic needs of the inmates….sound familiar? (eg. “the road out the other side”).
Having regard for the above events of Northern history, any grizzling about not being not able to visit boutiques and coffee shops and to be seen there snuggled up to the glitterati, the cognoscenti and perhaps, the illuminati, seems petty and stupid, when we consider the hardships endured by the past five generations of Australians in times of trouble, strife and pandemics.
As with all calamitous times, this pandemic will pass as did the others referred to above. Our safety and its duration and its economic damage are entirely a matter for us complying with the science-based medical advice.
Do the time now and reap the early rewards of flattening the curve lower than a run-over cane toad!
As well as commemorating war’s casualties on 25 April each year we should remember the strength of our nation’s underlying resources and wealth (our Commonwealth), as well as the seemingly bottomless well of scientific and managerial expertise devoted to putting the Country back on track.
Airlines come and go creating short-term economic chaos.
If one thing we have learned from this pandemic it’s that most business/social travel, air or otherwise can be successfully replaced with online technology …..and as a result…. the Earth will Zoom ahead!
by Linda Venn
Click here for a list of key characters in this story
A Local Mystery – We will never know who the bandit was
On January 8th 1932, Police Magistrate Geoffrey A. Cameron had committed Charles Henry Edmonds to stand trial in the first sittings of the Supreme Court for the year, scheduled to take place on 8th February. The case was handed to the Crown Prosecutor, Mr. T. P. Quinn, to prosecute in the Supreme Court. I have found only two small notices, one in the Townsville Daily Bulletin and the other in the Brisbane Courier, both published on Saturday 30th January 1932, that give us the ending to this tale.
So, what does this mean for Charlie Edmonds? A “No True Bill” is more properly known as nolle prosequi, the legal term for the Crown Prosecutor deciding not to proceed any further with the indictment. The decision not to proceed any further can be made by the prosecution at almost any stage of the trial, but particularly if the defence is successful on a voir dire (pre-trial application).
There are two possibilities here – either George Roberts was successful in convincing the Crown Prosecutor that the chances of securing a guilty verdict from a jury did not warrant proceeding further, or the Crown Prosecutor came to that conclusion himself upon review of the evidence.
For Charles Henry Edmonds, this meant the charges were dropped. Did he do it? Was there more than one bandit? We will probably never know.
Charges against Edmonds for the Mt. Spec hold-up apparently constituted his first ever brush with the law. Was it his last? Now, that’s another story………
by Linda Venn
Click here for a list of key characters in this story
Evidence concluded; Edmonds committed for trial in the Supreme Court, Friday 8th January 1932
William Ashman was the last witness to take the stand. He was also a Main Roads Commission employee at Mt. Spec. Ashman
stated he had known defendant (Edmonds) about six months. On December 9 he was instructed by his employers to help in the search for a. bandit. He asked O’Brien for a description of the man, and was told a tall thin man, with a shirt hanging over his trousers and was also wearing a dirty cloth over his face, and wore no hat.
At the scene of the hold-up. They searched the locality in which the bandit was said to have escaped. It was suggested that they might recover the bandit’s body, as it was thought the bandit may have been hit. When he and Murray set out on horses from Tealby’s they were instructed to search for tracks.
On the following morning they went with the police party to continue following the tracks that had been found the previous afternoon. During the search the trackers had an argument as to the Identity of the track.
O’Brien never told him that Edmonds was the man.
Sub-Inspector Blackmore made his final cross-examination. Ashman’s responses were:
He (Ashman) did not know that O’Brien returned to the scene of the hold-up before he returned again to organise a search party, and O’Brien did not show him a hat before the party left for the scene of the hold-up, although O’Brien showed It to them next day.
They only searched for about 200 yards before they left for Tealby’s. When they rode up to Edmonds’ carrying a .303 rifle the latter asked them if he defendant (Edmonds) could not shoot all the wallabies around the country, whereupon they told him they were looking for a bushranger.
As far as he knew, Murray took the old road to Tealby’s and Murray pointed out to him next day where he had ridden. He (Ashman) did not assist the police In following the tracks up to Tealby’s gate. (Townsville Daily Bulletin, Saturday 9th January 1932, p. 7.)
This concluded the case.
Mr. Roberts:
“contended there was not a prima facie case made out. His Worship was entitled to make a conviction, but if he were convicted would a Jury find him guilty. He considered they would not.
The only evidence against the defendant was the evidence of Constable O’Brien, which was given in a very unsatisfactory manner, and which should be disregarded, because O’Brien said he immediately identified the man, but his actions did not warrant this. His was the only evidence that Edmonds was the bandit, and yet It took three days for the police to arrest defendant, and O’Brien never at any time suggested to Edmonds that he was the man. He considered that Edmonds was entitled to be discharged.
Police Magistrate Mr. Geoffrey A. Cameron disagreed.
His Worship stated that there was conflicting evidence between theparties, but he thought there was a very strong prima facie case made out.
They had to take the evidence of Gill, who stated that it took an of Gill, who stated that it took an hour for a horse to go two miles. If all his evidence was like that, then it was not worth the paper it was written on. No one would own a horse- that could not even walk two miles in an hour. (Author’s emphasis)
He thereupon committed defendant to stand his trial at the next criminal sittings of the Supreme Court at Townsville on February 8.
Ball of £100, and one surety of £100 was allowed. (Townsville Daily Bulletin, Saturday 9th January 1932, p. 7.)
The point His Worship made about the slow-walking horse was valid if Gill had been talking about the distance between the scene of the hold-up and Edmonds’ hut, riding the quickest way past Tealby’s. However, it is more likely that Gill was referring to the time taken to ride from the scene of the hold-up back to Edmonds’ hut following the boundary. The difference between the two routes was considerable and would affect the times Gill gave to the Court of when he had seen Edmonds, thus also affecting Edmonds’ alibi. (Author’s emphasis)
The Cairns Post of the same date expands on the exchange between George Roberts and Geoffrey Cameron, P.M. Roberts lodged a plea of Not Guilty. He
“again submitted that a prima facie case had not been made out, expressing the opinion that no jury could or would find him guilty. The only evidence to convict defendant was that of Constable O’Brien and that was unsatisfactory. With Constable O’Brien recognising him, it took three days to arrest him, and it was not even suggested that it was the man until they had a partial dress rehearsal – partial, because they did not put, a handkerchief on.
The Magistrate said that he had the evidence of the constable and other facts and defendant’s arrival on a sweating horse. There was a conflict of evidence between the parties, but a strong prima facie case had been made out. Gill said it would take a horse an hour to canter four miles, and if all his evidence was like that it was not worth the paper it was written on. (Author’s emphasis)
Then the bullocky Murray, came along and in his evidence…….
‘Well, I need not discuss it,’ said the P.M. ‘A prima facie case has been made out, and defendant is committed to stand trial at the next criminal sittings of the Supreme Court, Townsville, on February 8.’” (Cairns Post, Saturday 9th January 1932, p. 5.)
So, had Gill been referring to the shorter route (two miles, as reported in the Bulletin), or the longer route (four miles, as reported in the Cairns Post). Was the Magistrate confused, and did it make any difference to the validity of the rest of Gill’s evidence?
by Linda Venn
Click here for a list of key characters in this story
Evidence concluded; Edmonds committed for trial in the Supreme Court, Friday 8th January 1932.
On Friday 8th January 1932, evidence concluded with that of Thomas Murray and Arthur Ashman. Many regional newspaper reports provide no mention of their evidence e.g. Toowoomba Chronicle and Darling Downs Gazette, Saturday 9th January 1932, p. 6; Telegraph, Brisbane, Friday 8th January 1932, p. 2 – article repeated in the Telegraph, Saturday 9th January 1932, p. 2; Cairns Post, Saturday 9th January 1932, p. 5.)
The Brisbane Truth provides a brief summary of their evidence for the defence. Murray was a labourer, resident in the district. Ashman was an employee of the Main Roads Board. Their evidence was given
“in detail, regarding Constable O’Brien’s request for assistance in tracking the bushranger.
The description of the bandit, which the constable supplied to them was that of a tall, thin man wearing a dirty white shirt over the outside of his trousers, with a dirty piece of cloth over his face, and no hat on.
Both stated that O’Brien never at any time mentioned that Edmonds was the man concerned in the hold-up.” (Truth, Brisbane, Sunday 10th January 1932, p. 9.)
Once again, the Bulletin satisfies local interest with a detailed coverage. Both Murray and Ashman had been in the party of MRC employees involved in the initial search on the afternoon of the hold-up. Thomas Murray was a labourer employed on the Mt. Spec Road. He had been a local resident “for a number of years.” The report of Murray’s evidence continues:
On December 9 he saw Constable O’Brien at the office at Mt Spec road, who told him that there had been a hold-up, and asked witness’ assistance. O’Brien gave a description of the man. Saying he was a tall thin man and was wearing a dirty white shirt pulled down over his trousers, and that he was not wearing a hat. Witness then left for the scene of the hold-up on his own. O’Brien asked him if he could get a horse, which he considered he could get at Tealby’s. They then left, witness riding across country to Tealby’s, arriving there about the same time as the lorry.
That afternoon at O’Brien’s request, he (Murray) and a man named Ashby went searching the locality, calling- at Edmonds’ place during the day. The latter offered his assistance, but he (Murray) did not communicate this to O’Brien. O’Brien never suggested to him that Edmonds was the man.
On Thursday morning he met a party of police at the scene of the hold-up, and they told htm to search for tracks. The trackers found the tracks of a horse, and they asked witness if he rode through this certain spot in the gully, and he replied in the affirmative. They requested him to ride his horse again through the gully, and he did so. (Townsville Daily Bulletin, Saturday 9th January 1932, p. 7.)
Once again, we can only surmise the actual questions posed by Sub-Inspector Blackmore in his cross-examination of Murray. The Bulletin report continues:
O’Brien would be lying if he said he did not describe the bandit, nor did he ask witness to search round far any strangers in that locality. He (Murray) also went to Gill’s place, after calling at Edmonds and Tealby’s. Edmonds and Tear were the only persons at the former’s hut, where he told them they were looking for a bushranger. He remained at Edmonds about an hour, although he had only known defendant a few months. Gill was quite surprised when he heard of the hold-up.
He (Murray) rode a chestnut horse with medium size hoofs when he set out from Mt. Spec.
O’Brien did not tell witness not to go to Edmonds’ place, nor did he tell O’Brien on the following morning that he had not been to Edmonds’ hut. (Townsville Daily Bulletin, Saturday 9th January 1932, p. 7.)