Kelly gang romanticized
Dear Andy
In regard to the article Massacre at Stringy Bark Creek
(Police Journal, December 2004) concerning the Kelly Gang,
I thank you for publishing one of the most honest articles I have
seen printed about Ned Kelly.
The Kelly saga has been romanticized so much by folklore and historians
that it portrays violent, cold-blooded killers as heroes, and the
police as the villains who apprehended them. In the romanticism process,
certain parts of the story have been changed or left out to suit the
argument.
I have family that come from that area, and I have had the folklore
instilled into me since childhood – and I used to believe it. My grandmother
was very much a Kelly sympathizer; in fact, she used to live in Glenrowan,
in the cottage that housed the platelayer who Kelly forced at gunpoint
to tear up the train line just north of Glenrowan. I changed my view
when I did a research project on the “Kelly Hunt” while I was at TAFE
College, and read parliamentary papers, police reports, and first-hand
accounts of people in the area who were terrified of and by the Kellys.
Folklore states that the Kellys were cornered at Stringy Bark Creek.
In reality, it was an unprovoked ambush on decent men who were simply
doing their job. Sure, they were after the Kellys, but they had lawful
reasons for doing so (the Kelly’s were wanted for numerous counts
of horse theft – a very serious offence in those times), and they
(police) were armed for their own protection.
When two young policemen were ambushed and murdered in Walsh Street,
South Yarra, Melbourne, in 1988, comparisons were made between the
two ambushes. In both instances, the culprits were cowardly killers,
not heroes.
The monument to the real heroes of Stringy Bark Creek is in the
middle of the roundabout in High Street, Mansfield, near Mt Buller.
I would urge any police officer, if in Mansfield, to stop and pay
his or her respects to three brave men who died doing their job, as
well as remembering the man who got away, Thomas McIntyre, who folklore
has branded a coward.
After Kelly was executed there was a royal commission, chaired by
Francis Longmore, that investigated the circumstances surrounding
the Kelly Outbreak, as it was referred to. Several police officers
were investigated, and although a few were indicted, most were exonerated.
Neither the police force nor the Longmore Royal Commission ever branded
Thomas McIntyre a coward.
If Kelly had accomplished what he had intended, that is, derailing
the train and shooting any survivor, he would have remained Australia’s
worst mass murderer until Martin Bryant’s rampage at Port Arthur in
1996.
Howard James
Sturt Traffic
Positive about Blue Light
Dear Andy
I recently read Dale Knoote-Parke’s letter (Don’t knock Blue
Light, Police Journal, Oct 2004) concerning Blue Light camps.
I thank him for putting pen to paper, expressing his sentiments
about his experience as a camp supervisor, and highlighting what it
was he took away from that experience.
It was very refreshing to see a positive attitude about Blue Light
camps specifically, and about community policing generally, so publicly
displayed to an audience that can often be overshadowed by cynicism
towards those areas of policing.
This day and age are a far cry from times gone by, and it is encouraging
to see persons such as Dale speaking out so honestly.
I can only hope that his attitudes towards such areas of policing
are indicative of attitudes in general of younger persons coming into
our organization.
You know, it is very rare that, when a person makes a commitment
to areas of policing such as Blue Light camps, he or she does not
walk away with a sense of achievement and the thought that his or
her involvement was worthwhile.
Well done, Dale.
Regards
Matthew Knowles
Senior Constable, 2560/9
Blue Light Assistant State Co-ordinator
Community Programs Support Branch
