recollections about myself: early married and police life in Parkes and Tottenham

* a collection of stories and memories, in no particular order, from the life and times of John Clarke, who served as a policeman in the Australian Police Force, a great practical joker, he also had a great affinity with people and wildlife, was a champion swimmer, snooker player, loved golf, still loves fishing and is also an artist. I hope you enjoy his recollections - cheers, karin (his daughter)

- - - - -

I took Sal back to Parks after we were married where we rented a little old house at 74 Bogan Street.  Times were hard and we would run out of food before payday each fortnight.  We had some white leghorns in the backyard that Georff Luland gave us for a wedding present and we used to get a few eggs.  We got a dog but it ate some of the chooks and I had to shoot it.  (no vets in those days)

Sally got pregnant and on 10/5/65 our lovely little daughter was born in Parks Hospital.  It was 12.45am and Sal was uncomfortable in the bath!  I had to race over to the Ambulance Station up the road and get Sal to hospital and Karin Louise came into the world.  Sal wa in Hospital for 2 weeks which was the regulation period back then.

When Sal came out of Hospital, Thel and Ray came to Parkes to help out.  I was broke and had no food.  Went to the RSL Club to get some bottles of beer for Ray (Sal's father) with the last of my money.  Had 2/- change and put it in the poker machine and cracked the jackpot!  Twenty quid!  So we were able to get some supplies in for Ray and Thel's visit.

We were transferred to Totenham, a one-man Police Station in June 1966.  Karin was 1 year and 1 month old.  We made lots of good friends at Tottenham.  Sid and Joy Fitzalan, Bert and Lorna Hand, John and Pam Eggleston, Bernie and Pam O'Neil, Rex and Maureen Wiseman, Kay and Jim Burton and many others.

We were there in an 11 year drought and used to get dust storms that came through the cracks in the boards of the the Police House.   One time, it rained and the Bogan Rive was rising and I went to Tabratong Bridge to check it out and as the water rose, millions of yabbies were crossing the road ahead of the water. I filled the Police Car boot and went back to town and told some of our fireds who also came out and loaded up.

I was the Policeman, Clerk of the Court, Inspector of Slaughterhouses, Clerk of Petty Sessions, Motor Registry and Mining Wardens Clerk.  I did a lot of work in the Mining as the mineral boom was on and all the mining companies were taking out all sorts of licenses.  I didn't have a clue as all I knew was Police work.

I was alloed to used the Police Car privately as well as for work as I could get called out any time - there was no-one else.

Sally worked at the Tottenham Cottage Hospital.  Karin went to work with Sal til I finished work, then I picked her up, the patients loved Karin - Karin loved to play in the hospital yard with cats and chooks.

Motor Registry was huge in wheat harvest time as all the farmers would register quarterly all sorts of weird trucks for carting wheat to the Railway.  The trucks would be in queues hundreds of yards long.

We left Tottenham after a wonderful send-off in the Town Hall/Picture Theatre in October 1969 and moved on into the lock-up at Port Macquarie.

recollections about myself: police cadets

* a collection of stories and memories, in no particular order, from the life and times of John Clarke, who served as a policeman in the Australian Police Force, a great practical joker, he also had a great affinity with people and wildlife, was a champion swimmer, snooker player, loved golf, still loves fishing and is also an artist. I hope you enjoy his recollections - cheers, karin (his daughter)

- - - -  -

• After I completed the Leaving Certificate, I hung 'round not knowing what I wanted to do.  We went to Austinmer for a holiday dn Neville Carr and his wife Pat suggested I join the Police Cadets.  I thought that sounded okay but was not really enthusiastic.  Neville arranged for me to have a talk with a detective sergeant he knew at Wollongong and I applied to join at the Police Training Centre at Redfern on 29 February 1958 (Mum and Dad now living at Kandos).  I went back to Kandos and on getting there, received a telegram to report for duty at the Police Training Centre on 3 March 1958.  So in a big panic I packed and caught the train to Sydney and went to stay with Norman and Laurie Carter at Mosman.

• On Monday 3 March 1958 I caught the ferry and walked to the PTC.  I had forgotten to  pack hair oil and by the time I got to the PTC my hair was standing up and in a mess.  I was marched into the Cadet Sergeant's office - Sergeant Garnett Brickell who looked liked a bulldog.  He screamed and yelled at me, gave me a comb and sent me to the washroom (he really had a heart of gold).  He gave me a talk and then sent me to work at the Fingerprints Section where I worked for 6 months. On my firtst day there, Stan Owen (later a Detective Sergeant at Newcastle) one of the other cadts, sent me out to the Sergeant for a long weight (wait) for a typewriter - I must have waited a couple of hours before I woke up!

• Sergeant Brickell( 'Bricky') arranged for me to stay at Miss Amelia Jones' Boarding House at 296 Campbell Parade, Bondi.  This was pretty well a place for Police Cadets to stay and there were four or five of us there.  Miss Jones was a food demonstrator and lived there with her old mother and two dogs 'Patch', a very fat black and white terrier and 'Trixie', a mean little Australian terrier.  she used to feed us the results of her demonstrations which was quite interesting.

• The boarding house was right at North Bondi opposite the tram terminus and we used to catch the tram every day into Taylor Square and walk from their to the PTC at Redfern, about a half hour walk.  On long weekends, us cadets would take out suitcases to work on the tram and head for our families in the country  after work on the Friday.

• One of the Cadet Sergeants was Sgt Stuart - when he talked, he spat.  We were on Parade for Roll Call one day and Sgt Stuart was calling the Roll, there was another 'Clarke' in the Cadets and he was always called first.  This day Sgt Stuart must have had the Roll sheets reversed and he called "Clarke JA" and I never answered, thinking he was calling the other Clarke.  He called me several times - no ansewr - he then walked up tome real closed and screamed "CLARKE JA" and sprayed me with spit.  I then had to run 'round the training centre (a long way) 20 times carrying my bag!

• The way the Cadet system worked - we would spend a couple of hours a the PTC every morning and then go to our various stations where we did all sorts of minor jobs - telephone, filing, etc.  We usually spent 6 months at each place.  I was at Fingerprints, Regent Street Station, Bondi, Ruse Bay and the CIB.  I was at Rose Bay when Graeme Thorne was kidnapped and murdered and also when Dr Yeates was found dead in his garage with an injection to his heart - the two biggest cases in that period

• I didn't have a watch and used to go down the beach some afternoons and Miss Jones had a thing about being home at 6pm sharp for tea, so I used to carry a set alarm clock in my pocket with would go off in the strangest places.

• We used to go to an illegal gaming club called The Egyptian, above some shops at Bondi to play snooker.  One day, there was a raid led by Bumper Farrell of 21 Division and as the Police came in the doors, we jumped out the first flooor windows onto cars parked underneath and go away, we would be in awful trouble if we were caught in such a place.  Bumper Farrell was famous as the toughtest cop of the time.  He played League for Australia and bit off a Frenchman's ear during a test match!!

• We had to larn typing up to 100 words a minute and we learned Pittman's shorthand at the PTC, we all went to different colleges.  Some of us went to Mr Hornblowers  college at Redfern.  I was there one night with Carl Hermanson and Frank Clare - frank boarded with me at Miss Jones.  It was a Friday and we had the weekend off.  Frank suggested he and I hire a boat fromMessengers at Rushcutters Bay, but I had no money.  He said he had received money for his birthday from his grandmother and that he would pay.  Messengers Boat Hire at Rushcutters Bay was quite famous. They were descendants of Daily Messenger the great footballer.   Saturday morning, we hired out a put-put boat from Messengers, not allowed to go past a certain poiknt in Sydney Harbour.  However, we took the boat oustide Sydney Heads and went fishing well out to sea.  During our fishing, Frank dropped an oar on the spark plug of the motor and smashed it.  We were stuck and drifting well out to sea - we could only just see land.  Eventually, an Italian fishing trawler came along and rescued us.  They towed us back into the harbour to Rushcutters Bay.  

• My Police Cadet phase ended on 29/4/60 on my 19th birthday when I was sworn in as a Probationery Constrable and stationed at Rose Bay, which was a good station and where I had been as a Cadet for 6 months.  There was a big hitch on the day I was sworn in.  I had been christened 'Jack', but after that Mum had a change of mind and called me "John Alexander" so when they checked my birth certificate, they reckoned I couldn't be sworn in til my name was officially changed to "John Alexander".  So I was raced in a Poice Car to Dept of Births, Deaths and Marriages to have my name changed before I could be sworn in - a big panic - great start to a career!