… 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.
Moya Sharp
Latest posts by Moya Sharp (see all)
- Elphinstone Davenport Cleland – a mining man - 27/04/2024
- The Ghost of Goya River - 27/04/2024
- Parker Range on the Yilgarn - 27/04/2024
Very Interesting I,d heard the names but glad to hear the story even though it,s very sad