Rank: Detective Senior Constable ( had only completed the Detectives course 1 mth prior to death )
Stations: North Sydney circa 1971 – 75, 21 Division ( Special Squad ) – death
Service: From 12 December 1966 to 15 October 1977 = 10+ years Service
Awards: No find on It’s An Honour
Born: ? ? 1946
Died on: 15 October 1977
Age: 30 – 31 old
Cause of death: Motor Vehicle Accident
Location of death: Southern Cross Drive, near the intersection of O’Dea Avenue, Waterloo
Funeral date: 20 October 1977
Funeral location: Cremated at Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park.
Buried at: Cremated at Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park. Ashes with family
Memorial at: ?
Senior Constable Lindsay Vincent GILFEATHER
As a kid, Lindsey used to ride Malibu Boards at Bronte Beach, NSW
[alert_green]LINDSAY IS mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_green]
About 9.30pm on 15 October, 1977 Senior Constable Gilfeather was driving a police car behind another vehicle in Southern Cross Drive, Waterloo. Near the intersection of O’Dea Avenue another vehicle made a right turn against the traffic lights in front of the two vehicles. Both vehicles took evasive action, skidded on the wet road and collided with each other. The police car then hit a telegraph pole. Senior Constable Gilfeather sustained extensive head and internal injuries and died a short time later. Constable 1st Class McKenzie was also injured, however he later recovered.
The constable was born in 1946 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 12 December, 1966. At the time of his death he was attached to the No. 21 Special Squad, Criminal Investigation Bureau.
Terry John MONCUR
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Terry John MONCUR
New South Wales Police Force
Regd. # 16???
Rank: Constable
Stations: Balmain ( 8 Division ), Flemington HWP
Service: From 24 September 1974 to 2 December 1976 = 2+ years Service
Awards: No find on It’s An Honour
Born: ? ? 1953 ( possibly 24 September 1953 ) The rest of his Class attested 23 September 1974
Buried at: Cremated at Castlebrook Cemetery. Ashes taken by family to Allambie Park, Gold Coast, Qld, where they are buried with his mother, father and grandmother
Memorial at:
Touchplate at the National Police Wall of Remembrance
[alert_green]TERRY IS mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_green]
On the night of 1 December, 1976 Constable Moncur was the observer in a police Highway Patrol vehicle engaged in a high speed pursuit of a motor cycle in Adderton Road, Telopea. As the vehicle was negotiating a left hand bend in the roadway it skidded and collided with a parked vehicle. Constable Moncur sustained severe injuries and died the following morning.
The constable was born in 1953 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 24 September, 1974. At the time of his death he was attached to the Highway Patrol.
Photo available on line
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Deadly toll
By Jonathan Pearlman November 6, 2004
Alone in his patrol car, Chris Thornton had the police siren flashing as he chased a white sedan through Woy Woy.
Thornton, 35, a highway patrolman, had been in the force for 15 years. He was, his mother says, “the best driver I have ever seen”.
The reason for the chase that night in April 2002 is unknown. Both cars were seen travelling at high speed. Thornton was about 50 metres behind.
Meanwhile, Leonard Rowley, 56, an unlicensed driver, was driving to his local KFC to pick up dinner. He saw the first car flash past and judged – wrongly – that he had time to turn out in front of the patrol car. Thornton tried to avoid Rowley’s car but clipped the back, veered onto the wrong side of the road and hit a power pole.
Thornton died on the spot, which is marked by a permanent stainless-steel cross. Rowley later received a suspended two-year sentence.
“His life from the age of 12 was about helping people,” says Thornton’s mother, Freada Thornton. “He was in the surf club and he was there to rescue people and then he went into the force and he was doing the same thing.” His father, Barry Thornton, says: “He loved life. He had been in Gosford for 15 years and was so popular with the community there.”
Police pursuits are, says Barry, a necessary evil: “If they don’t catch the criminals there will be more deaths on the roads. The ones that they’re in pursuit of are the idiots that have done the wrong thing to start with.”
But pursuits have come at a cost to the NSW Police Department. Fifteen officers have died as a result of high-speed chases, beginning with the death of Constable George Boore in 1937.
Details provided by the NSW Police Association show a steady stream of fatalities involving cars and motorcycles. The full list of casualties is as follows:
On 22 March, 1975 Sergeant Lynch was riding a police highway patrol solo motor cycle home at the completion of his shift. As he travelled along the Wakehurst Parkway he started to overtake another vehicle. The vehicle suddenly swerved to the right to avoid hitting a bandicoot and clipped Sergeant Lynch’s cycle. The cycle left the road and collided with a post. Sergeant Lynch was thrown off the cycle, sustaining severe injuries.
The sergeant was born in 1933 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 4 March, 1953. At the time of his death he was attached to the Highway Patrol.
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Robert Edward Michael LYNCH ( although the M for Michael does NOT appear in the 1968 or 1969 Stud Books which is unusual ) was a Cadet # 0891 and joined the NSWPF Cadet system on the 23 October 1950. This would make Robert 16.5 years old when he joined the Cadets.
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Ian Donald WARD
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Ian Donald WARD
late of Padstow, NSW
New South Wales Police Force
Joined via NSW Police Cadets on 21 February 1966
Cadet # 2109
Rank: NSW Police Cadet – commenced 21 February 1966
Probationary Constable – 12 April 1968
Constable 1st Class ( Acting Sergeant in Cyprus )
Regd. # ? – Most possibly between 13171 – 13193
Stations: ? & Cyprus as part of the 11th Australian Contingent of UN Peacekeeping Mission
UNFICYP AUSCIVPOL
Service: From 21 February 1966 to 12 November 1974 = 8+ years Service
Awarded the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal. The U.N. Secretary-General established the Dag Hammarskjöld medal for posthumous award to members of peacekeeping operations who lost their lives during service with a peacekeeping operation under the operational control and authority of the United Nations.
Born: 12 April 1949 at Ryde, NSW
Died: Tuesday 12 November 1974
Cause of death: Murdered – Land Mine Explosion
Event location: near Lefka, Cyprus ( 5 days after arriving in the country )
Age: 25
Funeral date: 26 November 1974
Funeral location: ???
Grave location: Rookwood Cemetery, Rookwood
Ian Donald WARD
On 12 November, 1974 Constable Ward was serving with the Eleventh Australian Police Element in Cyprus. Whilst travelling in a Land Rover near Lefka the vehicle hit a landmine in the buffer zone. As a result Constable Ward was killed and Constable 1st Class John Woolcott was seriously injured.
Constable Ward is the 3rd and last Australian to die in Cyprus.
The constable was born in 1949 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 12 April, 1968. At the time of his death he was stationed in Cyprus and an Acting Sergeant.
John Woolcott recovered from his injuries and ” Wooly ” later retired from NSW Police Force either as an Sergeant at Manly Police Station or an Inspector at North Sydney / Mosman. This, is yet, to be confirmed. ( 10 August 2017 ).
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1974 – the funeral for Sergeant Ian Ward
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National Police Wall of Remembrance Touch Plate for Ian WARD
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17 June 2017 – Malaysia Memorial in Cyprus taken today as Australian Police complete the long mission and are leaving Cyprus.
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Ian’s memorial at the Goulburn Police Academy.
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Dag Hammarskjold Medal
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Memorial to Ian WARD – unveiled in 1985
2003 Police Remembrance Day is marked with a ceremony at the cairn erected in memory of Sergeant Ian Ward.
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Inscription: Killed in the service of peane Sgt Ian Donald Ward Aust. CivPol
The closure of Nicosia Airport meant a circuitous route to Cyprus for the second half of the eleventh contingent led by Merv Beck.
Although it was not known at the time, conditions on the Island and consequent reduction in UNFlCYP strength would make this the
last November rotation.
The group left Sydney on 6 November and were welcomed some days later at Akrotiri after flying with Qantas to London then busing to
the Brize Norton RAF Base near Oxford and thence via Malta to Cyprus.
RAF flights were ‘dry’ and the seats faced the rear, so the Australians appreciated the traditional welcome at Limassol Headquarters.
The newcomers ‘pumped’ the old hands for news of the war while they themselves were pressed for information about events in Australia.
The new arrivals were soon split up. Ray Leister was assigned Control Room duties while others went to Ktima and Polis.
After only five days on the Island the unthinkable happened near a road-block approaching Lefka.
Ian Ward, a replacement from New South Wales, was killed and John Woolcott injured when their Land Rover detonated a land-mine in an unmarked field.
The Australians were conveying a Turkish Cypriot family from Ayios Nicolaos to the Turkish Cypriot controlled area at Lefka and one of the four passengers was killed and the other three seriously injured.
The fatality cast a pall over the contingent.
A number of moving ceremonies were held before his body was flown home to Australia.
Twelve months later a cairn was erected to commemorate the tragedy and each twelve months a short service is held near the memorial.
Geoff Baker was a member of the Board of Inquiry convened under British military regulations to investigate the incident.
Land-mines were the major component of fortifications along the confrontation zone. UNFICYP had lodged a number of protests about mine-laying procedures and the fact that many fields were neither marked nor adequately recorded. UNFICYP began a special programme to remedy the deficiencies, but two UNFICYP soldiers were killed in similar circumstances during the following twelve months.
Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 – 1995), Wednesday 20 November 1974, page 3
Service
LONDON, Tuesday (AAP). – Representatives of all United Nations peace keeping forces in Cyprus will take part in a memorial service today for Sergeant Ian Ward, 25, a Commonwealth policeman of Sydney, who was killed in landmine explosion last week. His body will later be flown to Sydney for burial.
Located within the Honour Precinct is an original ornate marble tablet featuring early losses of New South Wales Police Officers. The tablet is flanked by the New South Wales state flag and the New South Wales Police Force flag.
The Peacekeeping Display honours all members of the NSW Police Force who have served in peacekeeping operations throughout the world and houses the Dag Hammerskjold medal belonging to the late SGT Ian Donald Ward who died in UNFICYP. This was donated to the NSW Police College on the 29th May, 2010 from Mr Ken Ward, OAM, father of SGT Ward.
On the 12th November, 1974, a member of this Force, Constable 1st Class I. D. Ward, who had arrived in Cyprus a few days before, and Constable 1st Class J. Woolcott, also of this Force, were carrying out humanitarian work transporting refugees. The United Nation’s land rover in which they were travelling struck a land mine on a road between Limassol and Lefka resulting in the death of Constable 1st Class Ward and severe injuries to Constable 1st Class Woolcott, Constable 1st Class Ward was posthumously awarded the United Nations Medal, Cyprus Division.
On the night of the 24 May, 1974 Constable Martin was riding a Police Special Traffic Patrol solo motor cycle in Warringah Road, Forestville. After stopping a motor cycle for a possible traffic breach the constable stood on the footpath speaking to the rider and pillion passenger. As they were talking a car approached at high speed, veered off the roadway and struck both Constable Martin and the pillion passenger. Both were killed.
The constable was born in 1952 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 14 February, 1972. At the time of his death he was stationed at Manly.
Robert Thomas DOMINISH
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Robert Thomas DOMINISH
New South Wales Police Force
Joined via the NSW Police Cadets system on 12 August 1963
Cadet # 1864
Regd. #: ?
Rank: Constable 1st Class
Stations: Petersham,21 Special Squad
Service: From 12 August 1963 to 17 February 1974
Awards: ?
Born: 1946
Died on: 17 February 1974
Cause: Motor Vehicle Accident, High St, Penrith
Age: 27
Funeral date: ?
Funeral location: ?
Buried at: Pinegrove Memorial Garden, Minchinbury
[alert_blue]ROBERT IS mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_blue]
About 2am on 16 February, 1974 Constable Dominish was driving home at the completion of his shift. As he drove along High Street, Penrith a car travelling in the opposite direction crossed to the incorrect side of the roadway and collided head-on with Constable Dominish’s vehicle. He died later that morning at Penrith District Hospital from injuries received in the collision.
The constable was born in 1946 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 16 June, 1963. At the time of his death he was attached to the No. 21 Special Squad, CIB.
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Neville Charles PARKER
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Senior Constable Neville Charles PARKER
Regd. # 9606
Age: 34
Motor Vehicle Accident
Sans Souci
12 November, 1972
About 11am on 23 October, 1972 Senior Constable Parker was driving a Police Special Traffic Patrol vehicle in Rocky Point Road, Sans Souci. Near Fraters Avenue the vehicle hit a wet, greasy patch on the roadway, skidded and collided with a light pole. As a result Senior Constable Parker sustained severe internal injuries. He was conveyed to the Sutherland District Hospital where he died on 12 November, 1972.
The constable was born in 1937 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 29 February, 1960. At the time of his death he was stationed at Sutherland.
Joseph Edward Matthew GIBB
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Joseph Edward Matthew GIBB
AKA Joe GIBB
Nickname: ?
Late of Tarren Point, NSW
Relations in ‘the job’: Patrick GIBB, NSWPF # 3673
“possible” relation in ‘the job‘: ?
NSW Police Training Centre – Redfern – Class # 111
Last Class to be issued with the Webley Scott semi auto pistol
New South Wales Police Force
Regd. # 12679
Rank: Commenced Training at Redfern Police Academy on Monday 15 May 1967 ( aged 23 years, 6 months, 25 days )
Probationary Constable- appointed Monday 26 June 1967 ( aged 23 years, 8 months, 6 days )
Constable – appointed ? ? ?
Final Rank: = Constable
Stations: ?, Miranda ( 24 Division ) – Death
Service: From 15 May 1967to23 January 1972 = 4 years, 8 months, 8 days Service
Retirement / Leaving age: = ?
Time in Retirement from Police: ?
Awards: No Find on Australian Honours system
Born: Wednesday 20 October 1943
Died on: Sunday 23 January 1972
Age: 28 years, 3 months, 3 days
Organ Donor: Y / N / ?
Cause: Accidentally Shot – own weapon during a violent arrest
Event location: ? , Miranda, NSW
Event / Diagnosis date: Sunday 23 January 1972
Funeral date: Wednesday 26 January 1972
Funeral location: St Joseph’s Catholic Church, Rosa St, Oatley, NSW
LIVE STREAM N/A
Wake location: ???
Wake date: ???
Funeral Parlour: ?
In Loving Memory of Joseph Edward Matthew GIBB. Loved husband of Therese, fond father of Jude and Josephine. Loved son of Pat & Ella. Died 23.1.1972, aged 28 years. Also Jude Thomas, 3.1.1971. Erected by the New South Wales Police in Recognition of ?, Constable Joseph Edward Matthew GIBB.
Buried at: Woronora Memorial Park, Linden St, Sutherland, NSW
On the afternoon of 23 January, 1972 Constable Gibb was in a police vehicle with Constable Michael Buckley and another constable.
In Shirley Road, Miranda they spotted a stolen vehicle and gave chase.
During a brief pursuit the stolen vehicle drove into a dead-end street where it collided with a fence. Three offenders emerged from the vehicle and ran to a nearby house, with Constables Gibb and Buckley in pursuit.
As the offenders split up the pursuing police each fired a warning shot into the air.
Constable Gibb caught up with the offender he was chasing as he attempted to scale a fence and as the constable took hold of him he began to struggle violently.
While he was grappling with the offender the constable’s service revolver discharged and he was shot in the chest.
Constable Gibb was conveyed to the Sutherland District Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
POLICE OFFICER SHOT DEAD
SYDNEY. Sunday – A 28-year-old police constable was shot dead today in a struggle with a young man only 70 yds from the policeman’s home at Taren Point, a southern Sydney suburb.
The policeman, Constable Joseph E. M. Gibb, is believed to have been shot through the heart with his own service revolver.
Three young men were being questioned tonight at Sutherland Police Station.
Mrs Therese Gibb, who is expecting a baby in about five weeks, collapsed when she heard of her husband’s death and was taken by ambulance to Sutherland District Hospital.
She had been shopping and arrived home to find the street full of police cars.
Police said Constable Gibb had been just about to finish work at Miranda police station at 3 pm and was getting a lift home with his workmate Constable Michael Buckley.
They had seen a small sedan they suspected had been stolen and had given chase.
The sedan, containing three young men, had turned into a dead-end street and had crashed into a wire fence of Consolidated Timber Pty Ltd at the end.
Three men had jumped out of the car. Constable Buckley had pursued two of the suspects who had climbed a fence and run into bush at the right side of the back garden. Constable Gibb had gone to the left of the house into the back garden and grappled with the other suspect.
A shot had been heard and Constable Gibb had been found dead.
Constable Buckley was too upset later to be interviewed.”
The constable was born in 1943 at Darlinghurst and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 15 May, 1967.
At the time of his death he was stationed at Miranda.
He is listed in the official NSW Police Honour Roll.
picture of Class 111 Sworn In on 26th June, 1967. All the cyclists have the first of the white helmets. They didn’t last long either’, once they realised that the broken necks were coming from the bad design, where the back of the helmet sat at the perfect point to break your neck, if your head was snapped backwards. Second white helmets issued hurriedly, ‘say no more’..!
Funeral Service
Nothing further, than what is recorded above, is known about this person at the time of publication and further information and photos would be appreciated.
[alert_green]PATRICK IS mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_green]
Touch Plate at the National Police Wall of Remembrance, Canberra, for Patrick Mark HACKETT
Constable Hackett was killed in Cyprus while on special duty in that country with the United Nations Civilian Police Force (UNCIVPOL). On the 29 August, 1971 he had driven to Episkopi and Paphos before setting out to return to Polis. Whilst negotiating a number of very sharp and dangerous hairpin bends, his vehicle left the roadway, crashed down an escarpment and overturned several times. Constable Hackett was killed instantly.
The constable was born in 1940 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 25 February, 1963. At the time of his death he was attached to the Civilian Police Contingent in Cyprus.
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17 June 2017 – Malaysia Memorial in Cyprus taken today as Australian Police complete the long mission and are leaving Cyprus.
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27 May 1940 – 29 August 1971
Patrick Hackett was a member of the NSW Police Force. He commenced as a Trainee in 1963 and was confirmed as a first class constable in 1968.
Patrick was sworn in as a Special Commonwealth Police Officer at the rank of inspector when he was selected to be part of Australia’s Eighth Contingent to Cyprus. The contingent, part of the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission to Cyprus, was deployed to Cyprus in 1971.
Inspector Hackett was tragically killed in a car accident near Stroumbi when his vehicle left the road on a sharp corner.
He was posthumously awarded the Police Overseas Service Medal with Cyprus clasp, the United Nations Service Medal and the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal.
Canberra: An Australian policeman serving in Cyprus has been killed in a traffic accident. He was Constable Patrick Mark Hackett, of the NSW Police force.
In 1997 the Dags Hammarskjold Medal is established by the United Nations to honour those who lost their lives whilst on a UN peacekeeping mission.
The family of Inspector Patrick Hackett receives the Dags Hammarskjold Medal in 2010 from Sergeant Mark Elms, NSW Police Academy.
Dag Hammarskjold Medal
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The Sydney Morning Herald Tuesday 25 October 1988 page 12 of 64
Patrick HACKETT – Mother at Cenotaph – 1988
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POLICE KILLED OR WHO DIED FROM INJURIES RECEIVED IN THE EXECUTION OF THEIR DUTIES
On 13th August, 1971, Senior Constable William Edward King, who was then the officer-in-charge of police, East Gresford, was shot dead at East Gresford Police Station by a man who fired upon him with a rifle.
On 29th August, 1971, Constable 1st Class Patrick Mark Hackett died from injuries received in a motor accident at Polis, Cyprus, whilst performing duty with the New South Wales Police component of the Australian Police Contingent of the United Nations Peace Keeping Force.
On 30th September, 1971, Sergeant Second Class William Watson Riley and Senior Constable Maurice Raymond McDiarmid, both then attached to Blacktown Police Station, were shot dead in a house at Toongabbie which they had entered to arrest a man who a short time before had murdered his brother and raped a woman in the same house.
A police funeral with full ceremonial honours was accorded these deceased officers at which appropriate tributes were paid.
In recognition of their outstanding courage Sergeant Riley and Senior Constable McDiarmid were posthumously promoted by me to Sergeant 1st Class and Sergeant 3rd Class respectively. In addition, I submitted recommendations to the Premier for favour of consideration of Royal Awards being granted in both cases.
To assist the widows of the deceased police the Premier approved the payment to each of them of the sum of $12,500 as a gratuity. This payment did not in any way affect their entitlements to payments under the provisions of the Police Regulation (Superannuation) Act.
On 21 December, 1969 Constable Reiher was riding a Police Special Traffic Patrol motor cycle on the Princes Highway at Figtree. It is thought that the constable was attempting to stop the driver of a station sedan for a traffic offence and as he overtook the vehicle his cycle flipped over. He was thrown into the path of a vehicle travelling in the opposite direction and killed instantly.
The constable was born in 1946 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 13 May, 1968. At the time of his death he was stationed at Wollongong.
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Wollongong police memorials
ALEX ARNOLD
The NSW Police Force carries on its logo the phrase “Proud Traditions since 1862“, but capturing the history of these traditions at an operational level has never been a priority for the force.
However, almost 150 years after it was first formed, NSW Police – and Acting Southern Region Commander Gary Worboys in particular – is using history as a tool to instil pride in those wearing the uniform.
Three memorials for Wollongong police officers who died while serving the community were unveiled at Wollongong Police Station yesterday at a ceremony attended by family members and former colleagues of the deceased officers.
The memorials, located in the hallway of the detectives’ floor, feature images and biographies of the men as well as an account of the incidents that led to their deaths.
The memorial wall was Mr Worboys’ idea, with Senior Constable Dave Henderson given the task of completing the project.
Snr Const Henderson said the project had involved research through police archives, old copies of the Illawarra Mercury and interviews with family members.
Mr Worboys, who will return to his former role as Wollongong Local Area Commander at the end of the month, said he became inspired to record police history during his time as commander of the Goulburn LAC. It was there he heard about a policeman who’d been shot by bushranger Ben Hall’s gang at Collector.
Mr Worboys said research led to the discovery of the grave of the officer, Samuel Nelson, in a cemetery near the police station, but it was found to be an “absolute shambles“.
The grave was restored and distant family members invited to take part in a subsequent ceremony, proving to Mr Worboys the value of history to the police force.
“There is so much history associated with police stations, but as walls get painted and people move on we don’t capture that history.”
“The memorials and the stories they have attached to them provide officers with a link to the past and makes them realise they are not the only ones who have walked these corridors.”
Mr Worboys said the memorials not only represented distinguished service, but the trauma, grief and heartache suffered by families.
He said the last death of a Wollongong officer on duty was in 1969, and he hoped no more stories would be added to the wall: but the memorials were a reminder that policing was a dangerous occupation.
Among those at yesterday’s ceremony were Constable David Reiher‘s father Bruce ( RIP – Nov 2009 ), and Constable Ray Paff‘s widow Valerie, who described the memorial as “a wonderful tribute” to her late husband.
“It may have been a long time ago. But you never forget,” she said.
