Wood Royal Commission
On the recommendation of the police commissioner a Royal Commission, conducted by G. T. Wood, sent an evidence-gathering party and heard evidence regarding Gribble's allegations. The 1927 Wood Royal Commission was tasked with investigating the disappearance of key witness Tommy, one of the patrols trackers who had vanished after meeting with Leopold Overheu and the investigation of three particular sites (Gotegotemerrie, Mowerie and Dala) in the vicinity of the Forrest River Mission where it was alleged the massacres had taken place. Many witnesses retracted statements, refused to testify or simply disappeared and several key Aboriginal witnesses to the killings "escaped" from custody at Wyndham before they could give evidence to the Commission. None of the Aborigines named to the Commission who had witnessed the massacres or who had relatives killed were called to testify. As a result Gribble was the only witness for the massacres. The Royal Commission found that 11 people had been murdered and the bodies burned.
Read more about this topic: Forrest River Massacre
Famous quotes containing the words wood, royal and/or commission:
“Lock in! Be alert, my acrobat
and I will be soft wood and you the nail
and we will make fiery ovens for Jack Sprat
and you will hurl yourself into my tiny jail
and we will take a supper together and that
will be that.”
—Anne Sexton (19281974)
“This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defensive to a house
Against the envy of less happier lands;
This blessèd plot, this earth, this realm, this England.”
—William Shakespeare (15641616)
“Children cannot eat rhetoric and they cannot be sheltered by commissions. I dont want to see another commission that studies the needs of kids. We need to help them.”
—Marian Wright Edelman (20th century)