An education in the fallen
One of the great collective crimes in Australia’s history is the loss
of hundreds of police lives in the line of duty. To explore this sad
historical fact is to discover the unending grief of the police family,
entire communities and, of course, the families of the fallen.
Those who paid with their lives remain in the hearts and minds of
those who loved them - as parents, children, siblings, friends and
workmates. But what of those who come after? What knowledge, understanding,
respect and appreciation will new generations have of and for the
honoured dead?
Today, school children rightly learn about the heroism of the Anzacs.
Should they not also learn something of their nation’s fallen police?
Such learning could begin with the history of those lost to each child’s
particular state.
And, how much more might each one come to appreciate today’s police
if, in SA, for example, he or she were to learn about:
- Glenelg foot constable, Albert Edward Ring, who an offender shot
dead in Jetty Road, Glenelg in 1908.
- Marryatville foot constable, William Hyde, who an offender shot
five times in Kensington in 1909.
- Gumeracha mounted constable, George Thomas Smith, who died trying
to save two men overcome by poisonous fumes in a well at Gumeracha
in 1928.
But the scope of police-officer deaths is far broader than the sum
of those lost to a single state. It is high time that we, as a national
community, publicly honour these men and women as fallen Australian
police officers.
Fortunately, the Federal Government recognized the need to pay tribute
to them - on a national scale - when it announced the establishment
of a police memorial in 2001. That government commitment came after
intense lobbying by the Police Federation of Australia.
Federation CEO, Mark Burgess, has since announced the expected completion
date for the national police memorial as 2006. It will be built on
Lake Burley Griffin at King’s Park in the Parliamentary Triangle at
a cost of $2.4 million.
This structure will appropriately symbolize the officers’ supreme
sacrifice, as well as the great impact of their deaths on others.
Children, with their natural curiosity, might well be prompted to
explore further, and learn of the brutality associated with many of
the deaths.
Along with the Federal Government, and State and Territory governments,
the Police Federation is to contribute $800,000 toward the construction
of the memorial.
The Police Credit Union has set up an account (No. 5181464, National
Police Memorial) into which anyone might make his or her contribution
toward building the memorial.
If anything will spark the interest of the young in fallen police
- and therefore keep knowledge of them alive - it will be this powerful
monument, representing the collective. I urge everyone to contribute
to the cause.
