Forrest River Massacre - Massacre Rumours

Massacre Rumours

Regan's patrol left Wyndham on 1 June, to hunt for Hay's unknown killer, meeting up with St Jack's patrol at Jowa. The police patrol now consisted of four whites, one of them Fred Hay's partner Leopold Overheu, two settlers specially sworn in by Gribble as policemen, seven Aboriginal trackers, 42 pack horses/mules and led by Constables James St Jack and Denis Regan. On 19 June Murnane returned to Wyndham and it is alleged that he told Mr Banks of the Wyndham meatworks "it was worse than the war" and that he "had enough of it", statements that both he and Banks later denied. Whatever he told the sergeant, Buckland decided to recall the patrol and he left to rendezvous with them at the mission. That Buckland felt the situation was serious can be seen by his decision to go himself rather than send Constable Donaldson, the elderly Buckland was close to retirement and suffered from ill health, this was to be the first time he had gone on a patrol for several years.

It was still believed at the time that a group of Aborigines who had killed a cow several days earlier must have been responsible. The patrol reached the Forrest River Mission (later renamed Oombulgurri) on 21 June, and reported that their search party had not turned up any Aborigines at all. St Jack later admitted that this was a lie. The Rev. Ernest Gribble, who had already heard reports that the patrol had killed several Aborigines and was worried that other innocent Aborigines might be killed, informed the patrol that he had been told that Lumbia had killed Hay and informed them where to find him. At the Royal Commission, St Jack testified that he was not told about Lumbia by Gribble but an entry in his diary contradicted this claim. The Aboriginal community supported the arrest of Lumbia and Gribble supplied two Aboriginal men from the mission who knew Lumbia to escort the patrol, now split into two parties, to help with the search. Buckland arrived on 24 June but as the police were now searching for a specific suspect allowed the patrol to continue, albeit he did take Jolly back to Wyndham with him. On 4 July, the patrol returned to Forrest River station with some 30 Aboriginal men in chains, among them Lumbia, who, when questioned through an interpreter, confessed to having killed Hay. Over the following weeks several Aboriginal women attended the mission to have bullet wounds treated and it was claimed that the sister of another woman had been shot dead by the patrol and her baby bashed to death. In the months that followed, rumours circulated of a massacre by the police party. Attempts by the sergeant of police at Wyndham to investigate the rumours were met by refusals by those implicated to cooperate or answer claims they were involved. Rev. Gribble alleged that 30 men and women were missing who he suspected had been killed by the police party. Local Aborigines claimed up to 100 men women and children had been killed. Two years later Professor A. P. Elkin visited the area and estimated 20 had been killed. In 1968, Charles Overheu went on record as saying that his brother Leopold, who was a member of the police patrol, had told him that the patrol had killed at least 300.

Members of the police patrol 20 May—4 July.
Constable Dennis Hastings Regan. Turkey Creek. Leader of the patrol. Regan was inexperienced and this was his first patrol.
Constable James Graham St Jack. Wyndham.
Special constable Bernard Patrick O'Leary. Pastoralist Gallway Valley Station.
Special constable Richard John Jolly. Unemployed labourer. (Returned to Wyndham 24 June)
Leopold Rupert Overheu. Part owner of Nulla Nulla.
Daniel Murnane. Veterinary Surgeon visiting from Victoria. (Returned to Wyndham 19 June)
Jim McDonald (Mulga Jim) Police tracker born in Northern Territory.
Frank. Police tracker from Turkey Creek.
Jacob. Police tracker from Wyndham.
Charlie. Aboriginal employee of O'Leary.
Windie. Special police tracker.
Sulieman. Afghan/Aboriginal special tracker.
Tommy Doort. Employee of Overheu.
Lyddie Goolara. Wife of Tommy and employee of Overheu.

All members with the exception of Lyddie were armed with .44 Winchester rifles. Additionally all the whites carried sidearms and the Aborigines were also given shotguns to replace their rifles when raiding camps. The patrol took 500 rounds of ammunition and were later supplied with a further 350 rounds (seven empty ammunition boxes were later found at one of the police camps). Although Regan was required to supply a written report accounting for every shot fired and to collect and return all used shell casings as proof, he never did so.