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Click link to read story: Interview with Frank McCosker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCoswdG8tWk

It was a cold July morning at Ipswich on the 15 July 1987 and I had just taken charge of the Ipswich Police District having been reassigned from Internal Investigations in Brisbane.  Following our morning conference I briefed my second in command, Inspector Graham Burgemeister regarding my activities for that day and then commenced to travel to Brisbane to attend to some matters left over from my previous assignment.

When reaching the suburb of Goodna severe crackling commenced to emit from the two-way car police radio.  I was unable to understand any of the conversation but I could hear a siren and what sounded like a helicopter descending from the air onto the ground.  I then called at the Goodna police station and there learnt that a serious accident had occurred on the Warrego Highway west of Ipswich and that a female had been shot dead.

On reaching the scene I can only describe the situation as mass confusion.  Police vehicles, ambulance vehicles, journalists seeking answers, helicopters descending to the roadway and police officers endeavouring to control traffic travelling north and south as well as people who had arrived at the scene for no other reason than to find out what had occurred.

Those officers on traffic control were performing an excellent job.  Inspector Burgemeister was present at the scene and briefed me on the situation. I was then approached by an officer of whom I have the greatest respect and he said to me. “Danny Murdoch has court this morning.  He would be finished by now and may I suggest that he is appointed the detective to investigate this accident to bring it to a successful conclusion.”

Detective Sergeant Dan Murdoch subsequently arrived at the scene and took charge of the investigation assisted by his work colleague, Plain Clothes Constable Glen Pointing. Other detectives and uniform officers were quickly detailed to assist.

Some years ago Dan Murdoch separated from the Queensland police service with the rank of Detective Senior Sergeant/Acting Inspector and pursued other interests.  I recently contacted Dan and he readily agreed to recount the investigation for me and kindly supplied me with the following report. 

“As a Police Officer one sees many deaths caused by actions or events, some common and some not so common, some deliberate and some not intended. Victim’s young and old; there is no immunity it seems. The great majority of these deaths are of course unwanted.

On a fine winter’s day in July 1987 such a death occurred just outside of Ipswich, it was unwanted and should never have occurred.

On Wednesday, the 15^th July 1987 Mrs. Pamela Florence Bain aged 65 and her husband Donald William Bain aged 70 were travelling west on the Warrego Highway near the Ipswich outer suburb of Tivoli heading to Toowoomba to visit their family. They were driving their Ford Falcon sedan and towing a small caravan. Pamela Bain and her husband were on a three-month holiday from their home in Vermont near Melbourne, Victoria to see relatives in Queensland. It was 11.30 am.

As the vehicle passed near an unused quarry and disused mine area, which occupied a large parcel of land to the left-hand side of the Warrego Highway at Tivoli, a bullet shattered the passenger window of the Falcon striking Mrs. Bain in the lower part of her neck killing her. Her husband quickly pulled to the shoulder of the highway, saw his wife slumped over the seat and then discovered she had been shot. He hailed a passing car and an Ambulance called.

Ipswich Police were then notified of the shooting.

Donald Bain had a heart condition and the event caused serious concerns, so he was taken to the Ipswich Hospital for examination as a precautionary measure before giving Ipswich detectives an account of what had occurred.

Queensland Police Scenes of Crime, local uniformed officers and Ipswich Detectives were called to investigate the shooting and immediately conduced a detailed search of the vast expanse of vacant land bordering the Highway. A new Ipswich District Officer had been appointed for the Ipswich Police District and it happened to be his first day ‘on the job.’ It was a day Inspector Laurie Pointing would not forget. He immediately attended the scene and took charge of ‘fine combing’ the vacant quarry, mine area and nearby scrub land.

A full search utilising dog units, helicopter, water Police, Police cadets and the tactical response group were used to secure and search the vast area and nearby scrub land, while Detectives interviewed local residents who had heard shots being fired from the direction of the scrub area within the vacant land, which in some places was up to one kilometre away from the Warrego Highway.

The entrance wound Mrs Bain suffered indicated that the bullet had been fired from an elevated location giving Police their first clue.  All avenues of enquiry were considered from it being a deliberate act to a careless act using a firearm. The search continued for the rest of the 15^th and into the 16 July. Residents advised Police of hearing shots at approximately 11.30 am on the 15^th and other residents advised hearing gunshots being fired earlier that same morning.

Reports filtered into investigating Detectives of persons on trail bikes armed with rifles in bushland near the site of the shooting. It was not clear if any of the many reports were factual however, the death of Mrs. Bain caused a degree of fear among local residents.

Police were beginning to reach an early opinion that the shooting may have been the result of indiscriminate firing of a weapon in the direction of the Warrego Highway killing Mrs. Bain.

The search of the bush area adjacent to the Highway where it was believed the shots were fired from resulted in the location of nine (9) 6.5 mm cartridges that came from an old style military weapon similar in type to a Swedish Mauser. The location of the cartridges was some 700 metres from the Warrego Highway and the site of Mrs. Bain’s death.

The cartridges matched the bullet retrieved from Mrs. Bain’s body.

Detectives broadened their investigation to include persons of interest in areas adjacent to the Warrego Highway area and also to persons known to possibly have weapons in their possession. Many persons were interviewed however; no firm suspects were identified at this point in time. Even after extensive interviews were conducted Police were still considering all options, including deliberate actions and the possibility of a group of persons target shooting.

Door knocks in the vicinity and other adjacent areas continued and Police appealed to the public for assistance. Detectives believed that intense Police enquiries and their activity in these areas would prompt action by witnesses or the offenders themselves.

As well as creating fear in the minds of local residents, Politicians started to campaign for the strengthening of gun laws. This started a lively debate publicly regarding the availability of firearms in Queensland and claiming Queensland as a State not strict on gun laws.

On the evening of the 17^th July Detectives spoke to two young men at the Ipswich Police Station and then responded to an address in Karalee. They located a weapon 6.5 mm Mauser buried at the rear of the property and a hoe utensil used to bury the firearm. Two local men Robert James Kington aged 22 years and Christopher Gerard McEwen aged 19 years were interviewed and charged with the Unlawful Killing of Mrs. Bain as well as firearm charges. They appeared in the local Ipswich Magistrates Court on the 18^th July 1987 and due to the fact that they contacted Police voluntarily and admitted to firing at a tin, there was no opposition to their bail application.

The two men were remorseful for their actions and the death of Mrs. Bain.

On the 2^nd October 1987, the two men were committed for trial for the unlawful killing of Mrs. Bain. At the committal hearing evidence was placed before the Court that the rifle was sold to the youths some two (2) months prior to the shooting for the sum of $150.00. The young men were instructed as to the fact that the weapon was in fact a dangerous weapon and to shoot it only at the base of a tree and they were also instructed as to the weapons safety features.

Both men were committed for trial.

It was not until 1996 that Queensland along with the rest of Australia strengthened their laws relating to firearms.”

Both Kington and McEwen were committed for trial to the Supreme Court Brisbane, however they were found ‘Not Guilty’ as the Crown were unable to prove who pulled the trigger, which caused the fatal death of Pamela Florence Bain.

Ironically Christopher Gerard McEwen was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident on the Warrego Highway sometime after the handing down of the decision.

 Throughout our service police officers investigate and are involved in many unusual investigations.  I rate the unfortunate death of Pamela Florence Bain on the 15 July 1987 as the most unique I was involved with.

The following is extracted from one of my previous articles:

Metal numbers were worn on shirts or tunics on the edge of the shoulder. These numbers were 904 below a member’s registered number. In my case, when sworn in on 21 March 1960, my shoulder number was 5566 and my registered number was 6470. (My recollection is that, if anyone ever complained about a police officer wearing a certain number, it was necessary to add 904 and then go to the seniority list to work out who the officer was.)

In 1961 (in the Whitrod era) the whole state moved to drab olive uniform;  that is khaki shirts, drab olive trousers and tunics, brown belts, ties, boots and caps. I think that the scouts’ belt buckle remained on issue. There were still no official short-sleeved shirts although some of the country police used to appear in them.  The identification numbers remained on the outside shoulder of shirts but were moved to the lapels of tunics when they were worn. Again the only official difference between summer and winter uniforms was the tunic off or on. Grades and ranks were shown by stripes on the shirts and tunics.

Late 1972: (again in the Whitrod era) The whole state moved from drab olive to navy blue trousers and tunics with light blue shirts, dark blue ties, white topped caps and black shoes. I think that prior to all having white topped caps, traffic officers wore them to distinguish themselves from general duties personnel.

It was during this era that the numbers disappeared from shirts and tunics for constables, constables first class, and senior constables, with these being incorporated into the cap badge. Sergeants had a cap badge with ‘Sergeant’ thereon—so it can be seen that an officer in this era, without his or her cap on, bore no means of identification.

The 904 difference between numbers worn on the person and registered numbers

With some assistance from Lisa Jones, Curator of the QPS Museum, and from serving Officer Detective Sergeant Grant Linwood’s unpublished book ‘The complete history of Queensland Police Badges and Insignia’ I am going to endeavor to throw some light on this difference.

• ·      Commissioner Carrol first introduced number badges for non-commissioned police in 1906 as part of a uniform change that year.  It appears that it was decided that the helmet badge should be changed with the number being removed from the badge and worn on the uniform.  (This was the case in 1960 when members performing beat or traffic points duty in Brisbane wore
• a white helmet with a large un-numbered badge)
• ·      Between 1864 and February 1906 registered numbers were used multiple times (some up to nine times) and it is assumed the registered number and the number worn on the uniform were the same.
• ·      The assumption also is that because officers came and went with regularity they re-used numbers to save money or they ran out of new ones.
• ·      After March 1906 up until December 1978 there was no reissue of previously used numbers worn on the uniform (it appears apparent that during that period registered numbers progressed upwards with the same applying to numbers worn on the uniform being produced and issued with the 904 difference still being maintained).
• ·      The collar (later shoulder) number badges first introduced in 1906 were worn on various uniforms until 1975 and reappeared on cap badges for Constables, Constables 1^st Class and Senior Constables from late 1978 to early in 1979.
• ·      Lisa’s research reveals that as of 10 August 1929 the registered number became 904 different from the numerals.  This happened completely by chance when on 22 July 1929 Senior Sergeant William Ingram registered number 1171 received numeral 2192 and then on 20 August 1929 Constable James John Peterson registered number 3097 received numeral 2193; also if not for the blip with the Senior Sergeant, it would have been a difference of 905.   
• ·      In December 1978 (in the Lewis era) all serving personnel were renumbered from 0001 and this was when uniformed Constables, Constables 1^st Class and Senior Constables received a cap badge bearing their registered number and uniformed Sergeants received a cap badge bearing the word ‘Sergeant’.

While not resolute, the above words throw some light on the 904 difference between registered numbers and numbers worn on the uniforms of former Queensland Police Officers.

                        FOLLOWED THE PLOUGH

Explanatory introduction

I first heard the expression, ‘Never followed the plough’ many years ago when the senior executive position in the organisation I worked for was awarded to an academic from New Guinea. A senior officer on hearing the announcement asked the retiring executive officer what he thought of the appointment to which he replied, “He’s never followed the plough.”

Initially the title of this poem was to be, ‘They’ve never followed the plough’ which is an extension of the ‘Peter Principle.’ The Peter Principle explains that when an individual is performing in a role superior to his/her capabilities and experience they rise to the level of their own incompetence. They’ve never followed the plough appears to me to be a bush extension of this expression.

Verses four, five and six explain the true meaning of this saying.

I am of the view that the expression originated many years ago when large cattle properties were owned by English Lords and in some instances managed by people who did not possess the necessary experience to fulfil that role.  It was common for those absentee land owners to appoint young male relatives and sons of influential friends, first as “Jackaroos” and to positions then of overseer or head stockman without the necessary experience and then, in a relatively short period of time they were promoted to the position of station manager.

This infuriated seasoned and experienced head stockmen and station ringers, who were frustrated by the newcomers’ incompetence and inability to manage.  In these instances productivity of that particular cattle property usually deteriorated.

Hence the saying “They’ve never followed the plough.”

However, I must remind readers that many of these young English migrants  (both men and women) adapted to the harsh Australian environment and, with time and experience in the cattle and sheep industry became successful and competent managers and contributed much to our great nation.

The history of the First Fleet, The Fatal Shore, written by Robert Hughes along with1788 and Convict Colony by (David Hill), clearly show the contribution British convicts and free English emigrants made in the development of our great nation. After finalising the poem and reading through it several times I decided that the appropriate title should be, “Followed the plough.”

Laurie Pointing

FOLLOWED THE PLOUGH

Farewell to old England forever

Farewell to my rum culls as well

Farewell to the well known old Bailee

Where I used to cut such a swell.

Bound for Botany Bay - Charles Thatcher- 1850’s

The hulks and the jails had some thousands in store

But out of the jails there were ten thousand more

Who lived by fraud, cheating, vile tricks and foul play

And should all be transported to Botany Bay.

Traditional Song - 1790-modified

The very day they landed on the fatal shore

The soldiers stood around them full twenty score or more

They yoked them up like horses to make them understand

Then chained them up to pull the plough – to ‘till the virgin land.

Convict Ballard - 1825-modified

Today, there are tall buildings that shadow the skyline

While their wealthy owners will all tell us how

To govern and manage our nation

But there are few who have followed the plough.

Some are privileged and cherish their titles

In social circles they live in the now

A lifestyle befitting their custom

Never a thought of the horse-drawn plough.

Many have risen from land-owning gentry

Their advantage in life does allow

A position of power in head office

Far removed from the draft-horse and plough.

Mother England had a problem in the year of seventy nine

With prison-hulks infected with the worst of our mankind

They paraded all the convicts through Old Bailey’s criminal court

And restored the former beauty of the English seaside port.

The author of the project was Sir Joseph William Banks

An eminent trusted botanist of the upper English ranks

He had trod the soil and bushland on our shores at Botany Bay

When their ship- the Endeavour stayed awhile, then sailed away.

They came by sea nine hundred sailed away

From Portsmouth Harbour on the thirteenth day of May

A journey of eight months or more before their landing day

To start a Penal settlement on the shores of Botany Bay.

On the twenty-sixth day of January, 1788

They sailed through Port Jackson’s narrow harbour gate

History in the making, white settlement here to stay

Our thoughts and prayers now mark our first Australia Day.

Phillip raised the Queen Anne flag upon the harbour shore

No white-man’s feet; on Port Jackson sand had ever stood before

Then Captain Phillip claimed Australia, for the King and for the Crown

“We’ll build a village on this land; we’ll name it Sydney town.”

They disembarked their human cargo, those sickly human wrecks

From the hulks and crowded prisons, transported under decks

Months were spent in squalid space; on those British transport ships

Those that died were cast aside as their last breath passed their lips.

No shelter was provided from the sun and from the heat

They camped in tents on hard bare ground with little food to eat

Their heads and clothes were filthy-their bodies scarred from lice

 They were starved and under-nourished - no strength to stand and fight.

Hard labour and the lash was the order of the day

And daily flogging meted out if they dared to disobey

Traditional owners watched in awe from the silence of the bush

While convict gangs just slaved each day until the evening push.

There was not one there amongst them who had milked a jersey cow

Or worked a farm or ever seen a Berkshire boar or sow

Those wretched souls; exhausted, while sweat dripped from their brow

Were yarded up like bullocks to snig the single furrow plough.

They built their prisons, tilled the soil to grow their basic food

With garden hoes and garden rakes their methods were quite crude

The crosscut saw and felling axe saw the forest trees brought down

While convict labour built the roads around old Sydney town.

Wheel-barrow-carts-carriages were the first of transport fleets

And mallets, picks and shovels were tools to build their streets

Pit saws and splitting wedges trimmed the hardwood logs

Those that fell and could not work were ridiculed and flogged.

They landed with their livestock and rabbits numbered five

In our warmer summer climate they quickly multiplied

Unloaded ducks and turkeys; fowls and chickens that had hatched

There was nothing when they landed; they started here from scratch.

Two racing blood line stallions and brood mares that numbered four

Were the pride of Captain Phillip on the day they came ashore

A bull calf and a herd bull and four grown breeder cows

Were landed by the convicts; but no horse to snig the plough.

Female convict labour fared no better than the men

Transported from their family homes and from their next of kin

They worked as cooks and maids and servants for the males

In Australia’s British Colony, now known as New South Wales.

Fourteen convict couples married; the first in wedded bliss

Gave thanks to the Almighty, sealed their marriage with a kiss

No honeymoon forthcoming, their work began at dawn

From this simple celebration, Australian sons were born.

Early agriculture in that sandy coastal soil

Saw their crops of wheat and barley fail to yield a crop each fall

The colony faced starvation after years of sweat and toil

Many wondered if old England gave them a thought at all.

Captain Arthur Phillip displayed a steady guiding hand

While serving as Commander in this unforgiving foreign land

He managed massive problems, and quelled the frequent row

Never wavered in his mission, had both hands upon the plough.

Governor Hunter followed Phillip, and then King and Bligh were our top brass

But encountered interference from some noted upper class

Lacked support they needed from their British peers at home

Neglected by the Government, by the King and by the Throne.

A corrupt explosive military plus a rebellious convict band

The overthrow of government and some threatening foreign lands

Cast a shadow of despondency throughout those early years

Near starvation in the Colony reduced four thousand souls to tears.

Twenty years of settlement saw little progress made by man

They explored the country northward, to the south where rivers ran

But Blue Mountain cliffs and gorges prevented access to the west

After twenty years exploring sadly gave those rugged mountains best.

Then Major General Macquarie took control of New South Wales

With orders from the Mother land, ‘Succeed where others failed.’

But he too found the Colony was staffed with wicked men

Who proffered by large liquor sales to those who lived in sin.

He improved the moral standards from the days of long gone by

And installed some trusted servants after the turbulent years of Bligh

Transformed the fledging colony from a prison camp of gloom

And his infrastructure spending caused old Sydney town to boom.

He overspent his budget, was reported to the Crown

And ignored the many sanctions from His Majesty’s Government clan

But a tragedy in England saw Lord Bathurst come to power

This saved Macquarie’s charter in his final darkened hour.

He defied the British system, thought their rules were far too harsh

He ignored his civic leaders, snubbed the British upper class

As the colony grew in stature, he favoured those who mattered most

And appointed former convict men, to important government posts.

Then Lawson, Blaxland, Wentworth explored a passage through the range

And noted how the landscape of the open country changed

They saw the rolling grass land and black soil beneath their feet

Brought a sense of jubilation, with no thoughts of past defeat.

A road surveyed from Sydney through that rugged mountain pass

 Saw expansion of the colony, two decades now had passed

They named the Lachlan River, Bathurst Township soon took shape

 A grateful Governor Macquarie thanked Lord Bathurst for his faith.

Free settlers arrived in thousands, staked their claims with sweat and toil

Drove their herds of sheep and cattle through the road to fertile soil

When Macquarie sailed from Sydney for his native Scottish home

Forty thousand people called our young Australia home.

Inscribed upon his headstone on the Scottish Isle of Mull

The words - ‘The Father of Australia’ that time has faded dull

Macquarie’s final resting place, his Australian tour well done

He left his mark on New South Wales, Australia’s finest son.

Today there are mansions that shadow the skyline

And Governor Macquarie was the first to show us how

To govern and manage our nation                                       

While inspiring others to follow the plough.

  Copyright

 Laurie Pointing

Gympie – May, 2020

                                                                                          

Event:-  Complaint of Shooting at the Qld. Railway Quarters on North side of the old  Cloncurry Railway Station.  Saturday night about  9.45 P.M.  May/June, 1966.

Police attend to Investigate :- Two Uniformed Police Officers  attended, on arrival at the Railway Quarters found the body of a deceased Male person against the doorway after having been shot (5) times with a high powered Rifle.

Victim of the Shooting :- Edward William WANSTALL,  A.K.A. Eddie WILSON, a Fettler employed by  Qld. Rail, and resided at the Railway Quarters.

Witness to Shooting :-  A Male person named  Lee BOWERS, also a Fettler with Qld. Rail. 

Details of  Offender :-  A Polish Migrant Stanislaw SASSIN or similar Surname. This person also worked for Qld. Rail at Cloncurry, and had been employed with Q.R. for some period of time, and was well known to others in the town.

Circumstances leading up to the of Shooting :-  On the Friday night prior to the  Shooting occurring,  a card game had taken place at  the Railway Quarters  where at least 3 or 4 men were playing Poker.  Either prior to or during the course of the card games some alcohol had been consumed by all in attendance.   At some stage the Offender had a verbal altercation with the Victim over money in connection with the  game that was being played.  The Offender apparently got up from the game, issued some sort of verbal threat towards the Victim and left the Railway Quarters and did not return that night.  The game progressed further without  incident.

Further Investigations  Continued :-  As a result of local inquiries made in and around Cloncurry, it was established that  the Offender attended Ernie LEMON’s  Sporting Good Store on the Saturday morning  and purchased a SLAZANGER Brand SportCo Rifle and a quantity of Ammunition for that particular Rifle.  This Rifle was packed in a manufacturers cardboard box.   It was further established that the Offender later went to a Railway Trolley shed near the Railway Traffic Crossing  on what is locally known as Hospital Road and secreted both items under the Trolley Shed until later that day.   Under the cover of evening darkness he returned, assembled the Rifle, loaded it with rounds of ammunition, and then walked North along the Railway Tracks towards the Railway Quarters.  

Later on the Saturday night, he entered the Railway Quarters where several men were playing cards, as had been the case the previous night.  The Offender threatened the men, in particular the Victim with the loaded Rifle.  The Firearm was discharged a number of times, the fatal shots hitting the Victim at several spots over the body, resulting in his death.

The Witness, bravely challenged the Offender and was able to disarm him in an intense  struggle which took place. The Offender attempted to run from the scene, however the Witness having been a trained Second War Commando, fired the Rifle wounding the Offender in the buttock area preventing him from absconding.  The Offender was thereafter conveyed to the Cloncurry Hospital for a gunshot wound.   He was held under Police Guard for several days, but made no admissions  as to the shooting of the Victim.

The Ambulance Bearer  at that time was  a man known as Noel PEGG.

The  Government Undertaker at Cloncurry at that time was Colin DAWES.

The Coroner at Cloncurry at that time was I believe, Mr. William FAIRWEATHER who was also Clerk of the Court.

The Principal Police Investigator was Detective  Senior Constable  Desmond Leslie FRENCH, attached to the C.I.Branch, Cloncurry.   (Since passed away)

The Uniform Officers that attended the initial Shooting were Constable W.R.VEIVERS and Constable C.D.B. DUNCAN.   At that time both these Officers were in their first year of Police Service.

This Information has been provided by Col Duncan a former Uniform Police Officer Stationed at Cloncurry Police Station, and who attended the original Crime Scene.

N.B.   All details provided have been done from complete memory, having witnessed a very ugly Crime Scene.  The Offender was originally charged with the Murder of Edward William WANSTALL.

C.D.B. DUNCAN.

Retired Sergeant First Class

Member of Q.R.P.A.  Mackay/Whitsunday Branch

Part 02  Precis BABY FOOD POISONING

Qld Times May 20 1986 Baby food contaminatiion

Baby Food Poisoner Part 4

Baby Food Poisoner Part 5

Baby Food Poisoner Part 6

Baby Food Poisoner Part 7

Baby Food Poisoner Part 8

Baby Food Poisoner Part 9

Baby Food Poisoner Part 10

Baby Food Poisoner Part 10 (Cont)

Since 2000 police, fire and ambulance vehicles in Queensland have been fitted with blue and red lights but this has not always been the case.

Blue has always been the colour of emergency lights used on police vehicles in Australia and other parts of the world. Even in 2020 you often see police vehicles in England and some parts of the USA having only blue lights on their vehicles.

I know from my time in the Commissioner’s Office, the colour blue has always been reserved for police vehicles and the only organisations I recall being given permission to use the blue lights were Military and Air Force Police.

Having known that a change from blue to blue and red lights arose from research conducted by the National Police Research Unit, I asked former Senior Sergeant Ian Gordon, APM, who in 2020 and aged 72 is the Service Manager of the Public Safety Business Agency Fleet Assets Alderley workshop (formerly Police Garage and Police Transport Section and Fleet Management Branch), for his views about the change.  Ian has responded as follows:

I can recall information which originated in America and came through the then National Police Research Unit which had a rep from every state Police Force on the Unit. Advice was on a flat surface well away in the distance one could approach a police vehicle, which had red on the left and blue on the right of the roof bar, and the natural eyesight would identify red before blue and as one came closer the full ID of red and blue would be evident.  This thinking has held up to the current day.

In Queensland I don’t think in the late 70’s and early 80’s there was much support generally for the idea.  I recall using some old round red Hella lights from Triumph motor cycles accompanied by a blue version of which we had to purchase, and mounting them on the outer extremities of the roof bar which only carried the revolving blue light and the siren in later times.  There were certainly no flash LED systems in those days.

Former Snr. Sgt Denis McGrath and I set up a couple of cars – one at Landsborough and one with Sergeant Arthur Frohmuller at Cooroy - followed by a few others when we could find suitable parts. These were wired to a flashing unit which allowed them to flash on and off.

Inside was a stop and tail bulb with the base soldered to give maximum lighting effect – primitive on today’s standards.  Arthur used to swear by these lights as the best warning system he had ever used at night time road accidents, etc.

The red and blue combination would have come in from the mid 1990’s whereby the roof bar was purchased with red and blue revolving lights, alley and take down lights and in some cases the siren all being built into the roof bar.

The visual test has stood the test of time. Currently we have a wide assortment of warning equipment generally and roof bars in various configurations to suit all applications. The current LED lighting is super effective but there is always someone in the field complaining about equipment.  They should have been with us back in the 60’s and 70’s.

I know that in Jim O’Sullivan’s time as Commissioner – and I am sure direct from Jim – that the idea of red and blue lights on other than QPS vehicles was not a chance. However, early in the administration of Commissioner Bob Atkinson the total emergency fleet quickly became decked out with red and blue lights.  This could easily have been a whole of Govenment decision rather than one by the Commissioner.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

From my knowledge and recollection, I know that the Queensland Emergency Services Minister had been unsuccessful in gaining approval from the Queensland Police Service to fit blue and red lights to Fire and Ambulance vehicles but this was overcome in 2000 when the QPS Administration changed.

I recall when this occurred there were some mumblings about motorists not knowing which service vehicle might be trying to make its way through traffic.  Ian’s view on this is that after the change occurred any person expecting the arrival of police would have no idea who the first responder was but these days that feeling does not seem to attract much attention.

THE FIRST ‘POLICE’ LIGHT ON QUEENSLAND POLICE VEHICLES

After the above article was written and circulated to members of the State Management Committee of the Queensland Retired Police Association, former Commissioner Bob Atkinson reminded Ian and myself of the first ‘police’ light   on Queensland police vehicles.

That got Ian’s memory working and he recalls the first light – known as a taxi hail light – was made of plastic and depicted ‘police’ in red letters and later on the red letters were changed to blue.  They were fitted to all traffic vehicles and limited suburban cars.  This was in the early 1970s in the Whitrod era.

According to Ian, the first light had four single contact indicator bulbs (approximately 40 watts) and a flasher unit and when activated they simply flashed all four bulbs on and off. 

Some amusing words from former Cadet Ian Gordon:  I recall driving an XP Falcon with the first roof light on it down Roma Street (wasn’t one way at that time) when a male person came from the kerb as I had stopped in traffic.  He jumped in and said ‘take me to the Valley’.  I replied ‘are you in the job?’ and he looked a bit startled and said ‘is this a taxi?’ to which I replied ‘no a police car’.  He alighted at the next stop, looked at the roof sign closely and said ‘apologies, sorry mate, thought you were a taxi’.

In the early 1970s – again in the Whitrod era - the department moved from the ‘police’ sign to an initial revolving blue light.  This light had a stationary quartz halogen bulb and the reflector rotated 360 degrees around the lit bulb. 

The attached photos depict:

• ·           The first ‘police’ light which depicted ‘police’ in red letters and later on the red letters were changed to blue – referred to as a taxi hail light – the only identification it was a police vehicle - early 1970s in Whitrod era;
• ·          Vehicle with similar ‘police’ light with ‘pineapple’ fixed to front doors – driver Constable Noela Holman (later Gordon) – early 1970s in Whitrod era;

• ·         the first blue light and other markings on police vehicles – probably in the mid 1970s in the Whitrod era; and
•   fairly recent photos which depicts all of the lights mentioned by Ian Gordon – a vast difference these days.

QUEENSLAND TIMES – 12th February 1979

BULLET THROUGH SHIRT - Close shave for policeman

Ipswich Police Constable Richard Mills, 26, points where a bullet passed during an incident in Limestone Street on Saturday afternoon.

The .303 bullet went through his shirt, his singlet and then struck the corner of a note book in a breast pocket. Constable Mills was not injured. Two men arrested following the incident are to appear in court today. Police said one would be charged with attempting unlawfully to kill.

At least two other shots were fired. One brought down a power line and the other struck a police patrol vehicle. A police spokesman said the shots were fired after the patrol car pulled up another vehicle near the Ellenborough Street intersection.

The following is a brief summary of events leading to the above news article:-

At 5.20pm on Saturday the 10th February, 1979, Constable Richard Wayne Mills and Senior Constable Errol Leslie Madden were dispatched from the Ipswich Police Station following a report that a vehicle was being driven erratically in Limestone Street in the vicinity of the Salvation Army Hall in South Street.

The constables drove down East Street and on turning left into South Street saw traffic sign had been knocked down in front of the Salvation Army Church Hall on the left hand side of the road and some, in a group of people, pointed in the direction of Ellenborough Street. They then drove into Ellenborough Street and then left into Limestone Street where they saw a white coloured Ford Falcon station wagon stationary at the left hand side of the street.

This vehicle answered the description as given the police earlier and was seen to have damage to the right hand front. Constable Madden stopped the police car behind the Falcon and the constables then saw a male, later identified as Kevin Schulkins, step out from the driver’s seat showing signs of being affected by liquor.

Kevin Schulkins was question regarding his consumption of alcohol and with that constable Mills walked to the rear of the police car and began assembling a road side breath test when he heard the sound of a gunshot.

Mills then looked and saw a second male, later identified as Norman Schulkins, standing on the footpath between the two vehicles with a rifle in his hands the barrel pointing skywards.

Norman Schulkins then placed the rifle on the ground and walked towards Mills and said “You could have been dead then.”

Mills then saw the driver, Kevin Schulkins, advancing on Constable Madden with a wheel brace in his hands and was heard to say ”Your victimizing me. You cunts. I’ve just got out of gaoland now you are trying to put me back in.”

Mills moved towards Constable Madden to assist him when he heard the sound of two or three shots being fired in quick succession. He looked in the direction of the shots and saw that Norman Schulkins, the passenger, with a rifle in his hands and pointing at him.

Mills was of the opinion that Norman Schulkins was firing blank cartridges until he saw a bullet hole in the police car that had shattered the rear window. He moved to a point of safety whilst Constable Madden sought shelter behind the police car.

Norman Schulkins was then seen to slide the rifle out onto the footpath and then he lay on the footpath. His brother, Kevin, then shouted “It’s alright, he hasn’t got it anymore” and was instructed to pick up the rifle slowly and empty the chamber. Constable Madden then took possession of the rifle and after Kevin Schulkins was arrested for obscene language and placed in the police car Mills attention was drawn to the front of his uniform shirt.

He saw that his shirt had two holes in it, one on either side the shirt, and there was also a hole in his singlet and the edge of his police notebook had been torn.

The matter was investigated by Ipswich detectives and it was found that three shots had been fired. The first shot had been fired into the air and had partially severed and overhead power cable blacking out the nearby area.

The second shot had passed through the shirt and singlet of Constable Mills before entering the side of the police car exiting through the rear window. The third shot was found to have struck a brick wall before ricocheting through a window in the church on the opposite side of the road.

The Schulkin brothers had been kangaroo shooting that day and had been drinking throughout the afternoon.

Kevin James Schulkins, 23 years, appeared before the Ipswich Magistrates Court where he pleaded “Guilty” to offences of drink-driving, obscene language and assault.

Norman John Schulkins, 28 years, was arrested and charged under Section 306 of the Criminal Code – Attempting to unlawfully kill.

He appeared before His Honour Justice Dunn in the Brisbane Supreme Court on the 4th September, 1979, indicted on offences of “Discharging a projectile with intent to prevent detention” and “Assault police in the execution of duty.”

On the first count he was convicted and sentenced to 5 years imprisonment and to 1 year imprisonment on the second count.

Footnote: Ritchie Mills later transferred to Texas and resigned from there to purchase a taxi in Inverell.

He later purchased a hotel in Rockhampton before joining Corrective Services where he served for 19 years. He resides on the Northern Tablelands and is a member of the QRPA Cairns Branch.

He recently stated that he missed the police service and the camaraderie for 2 years after leaving but only missed the Corrective Service Services for 2 days.