Amid the Smoke and Smoulder – a verse

… the demise of Pitman and Walsh

In an era of the Charleston,
she’s roaring out Kalgoorlie way
The war’s over, gold’s in demand,
and the miners are on good pay

Then greed overtakes good fortune,
miners’ fingers soon hit the till
Gold stealing becomes endemic,
and their crib bags are more than full

Furnaces soon flare in the bush,
to treat miners’ ill-gotten gim*
But cops are hot on their trail,
in their search for the greedy crim

And catch they did in ’26
in bushland out south of Boulder
Two lawmen jump from their push bikes
amid fire, smoke and smoulder

An illegal gold plant laid bare,
the “gold dees” issue directives
Shotguns are drawn, and shots boom out,
sadly, down went to two detectives

Their bodies were burnt and butchered,
down a mine shaft they were thrown
Two weeks later, at Millers Find
their remains were found flyblown

To the gallows two men were sent,
for their savagery they were cursed
For Pitman and Walsh, a statue
for our police, it was a first

By John Terrell

Note:- * gim was code for stolen gold

Detective-Sergeant AH Pitman and Detective Inspector JJ Walsh were murdered on the afternoon of 28 April 1926 in the bush south of Boulder. They became the first policeman killed while on active duty in Western Australia.  A memorial in their honour stands outside the Police Training Academy in Joondalup.

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Moya Sharp

Owner at Outback Family History

My name is Moya Sharp, I live in Kalgoorlie Western Australia and have worked most of my adult life in the history/museum industry. I have been passionate about history for as long as I can remember and in particular the history of my adopted home the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. Through my website I am committed to providing as many records and photographs free to any one who is interested in the family and local history of the region.

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