khayyam Archives

The memory of an elephant, or a Scot! (#19)

By Alan Hamill

Who is The Somerton Man? Why was he in Adelaide? What happened on Somerton Beach? Was Charters Towers the site of the masterplan?

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Take me to the Index Page please!

Let me introduce you to one of the luckiest “toe-rags” of the period.

Well, for as long as his luck held anyway. And you know good things don’t last forever.

This is Malcolm!

This is supposed to be Charlie!

This is Malcolm!

This is Malcolm Anstice Rafferty.

(p.s. I apologise for the quality, it’s the best I have at the moment but he looks a bit familiar)

His father (below) was Lt Col Rupert Anstice Rafferty, DSO

Lt Col Rupert A Rafferty, DSO (1875-1945)

Malcolm Rafferty was the eldest son of Rupert and Sarah Rafferty and started life in Tasmania on 15th February1902, having only a sister older than him and 5 younger siblings.

Malcolm was gay and bi-sexual and found himself up in front of the bench many times and in many states in Australia.

“Malcolm, you are entitled to one phone call, would you like to call your solicitor?”

“No, Gov, I’ll call father.”

…………………->

“Constable, mark the Rafferty file N. O. D. please, I’ve just received a call from the top”

“Sir, we’ve got this sod cold, he’s NOT A NODDY”

“N.O.D. son, and now please”

“Sir”

Up until Malcolm’s father’s passing in April 1945, Malcolm’s life was colourful and the silver spoon was gleaming in the sun when he took it out, but that would change.

Soon after his father’s death Malcolm would be jailed for 6 months for his misdemeanours against both men and women. He would be slotted for behavioural and sex crimes committed Australia wide. He could no longer rely on Rupert keeping him out of gaol.

But,

He makes a significant mistake on 25th May 1944 when he follows a woman off a bus in Adelaide.

And could it prove to be a fatal mistake when he assaults and bashes her?

You see, Clarice Eva Eleanor Sutherland was the wife of someone we know well in this saga.

Scan A

Malcolm bashed Clarice Sutherland who was the wife of William Sutherland. But that name may not ring any bells.

We know William better by the name of Scan Sutherland or “Scotty” Sutherland, the Constable to the Coroner.

Do the crime, do the time and Malcolm gets 6 months, takes up a short residence in Sydney, but then nothing. Malcolm disappears till he re-appears in 1959 in the South Pacific. Or should I say re-disappears?

Despite the reports of bodies on the beach (they were 44 gallon drums) the ship and its crew were never located. The crew were non-english speaking islanders and there was only Captain Smith and Rafferty who spoke English.

The only debris found was 1 life jacket with the name “Muniara”, 1 hatch cover and 1 piece of the cargo of timber and 2 life rafts. The authorities believed the ship should have floated at (or just below) the surface as the entire cargo was dried timber and it was all stowed below deck.

The only official statement about the loss appears to be the Steamships Trading Company of Port Moresby’s Annual Report were it lists the loss as a cost to the company.

But was it Malcolm Anstice Rafferty or was it Charlie Webb who, with the help of Jessi and Alf in being placed with Captain Smith, was able to enjoy the private cruising life of the South Pacific till he felt safe enough to again disappear in 1959 and turn up as someone else in the UK?

There is still a need for Alexander Arthur Dowling to be the man on the beach as Charlie and Alex are 5″ 11″ but Malcolm Anstice Rafferty is 5″ 5″ (6″ closer to the ground).

To take you to the Home Page ………… click here.

To backtrack and brush up on what this case is about, go to Wikipedia here

Tags:- adelaide, alexander, barbour, blood, carl, charlie, code, cutlack, dowling, ect, electro, hamill, jessica, jestyn, kean, keane, khayyam, lipstick, loneranger6, lonerangeraus, omar, pathology, poison, prosper, shud, somerton, spy, tamam, webb

Walk like an Egyptian! (#18)

By Alan Hamill

Who is The Somerton Man? Why was he in Adelaide? What happened on Somerton Beach? Was Charters Towers the site of the masterplan?

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Take me to the Index Page please!

Laurie Addison Elliott.

Why did the Somerton Man Undertaker choose to embalm the remains presented to him in the same manner as the Ancient Egyptians? Or was he requested to do so?

The methods of embalming, or treating the dead body, that the ancient Egyptians used is called mummification. Using special processes, the Egyptians removed all moisture from the body, leaving only a dried form that would not easily decay. It was important in their religion to preserve the dead body in as life-like a manner as possible. So successful were they that today we can view the mummified body of an Egyptian and have a good idea of what he or she looked like in life, 3,000 years ago.

So why is it taking SAPOL so long to make the DNA results public?

There are seven steps involved in the ancient Egyptian practice of embalming.

These steps are:

Washing the dead body with the holy waters of the Nile River.
Removing the brain by smashing it and pulling it out through the nose.
Stuffing and covering the body with natron, a natural salt and preservative.
Stuffing the removed organs with natron salt and putting them into four jars.
Wrapping the body with linen bandages and applying resin to seal them.
Decorating the wrapped body with amulets and jewellery.
Placing the body into a coffin and performing rituals.

It’s unlikely that Laurie Elliott went to the extents listed above but was more likely to have carried out the treatment of the dead body so as to sterilise it or to protect it from decay. For practical as well as theological reasons a well-preserved body has long been a chief mortuary consideration.

The ancient Greeks, who demanded endurance of their heroes in death as in life, expected the bodies of their dead to last without artificial aid during the days of mourning that preceded the final rites.

Why did he decide it may be required to go the extra yard for this body, should the Somerton Man need to be exhumed? Or was he requested to do so?

Why did this particular body attract so much more attention when compared to the many other unidentified bodies presented each year?

Everybody associated with this Somerton Man saga seemed to have underlying suspicions they weren’t prepared to air, and not knowing what that suspicion related to.

And, why did the Cemetery Trust place the Somerton Man in the driest plot available in case exhumation was required? Or were they requested to do so?

This was likely asked for by Laurie Elliott, given that he was reported as doing an Egyptian mummification.

Why was Councillor, Cycle and Motor Cycle Shop Owner, Scout Commissioner and significant road cycling champion Laurie Elliott nominated to be the representative of F T Elliott and Sons (Undertakers) and did all the Somerton Man duties when he took only a small part in the Funeral Home Business? Or was he requested to do so?

Still so many questions!

To take you to the Home Page ………… click here.

To backtrack and brush up on what this case is about, go to Wikipedia here

Have you all met William McMahon? (#17)

By Alan Hamill

Who is The Somerton Man? Why was he in Adelaide? What happened on Somerton Beach? Was Charters Towers the site of the masterplan?

Back to Home Page

Take me to the Index Page please!

William McMahon, PM.

McMahon was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1949 federal election, winning the newly created Division of Lowe for the Liberal Party. His candidacy was endorsed by Billy Hughes, who had known his grandfather. McMahon soon developed a reputation as “a deadly earnest, dogged, enormously hardworking and dedicated member”

McMahon is often ranked among Australia’s worst prime ministers. In 2001, five out of six historians surveyed ranked him among their worst five prime ministers.

But why are we discussing Billy McMahon?

Good Question, he has nothing to do with this “Somerton Man saga”.

We instead should be looking into William Macmahon Ball (aka W Macmahon Ball) and most commonly called Macmahon Ball or Mac Ball.

William Macmahon Ball was born in Casterton, Victoria, on 29 August 1901. Educated first at Caulfield Grammar School and then at the University of Melbourne, he obtained a Bachelor of Arts (First Class Honours) in 1923. From 1924 to 1929 Ball was a research scholar in psychology at the University of Melbourne, lecturing in Psychology, Logic and Ethics.

On 20 December 1929 Ball married Katrine, daughter of J.T. Noble Anderson, who was a friend and business partner of Sir John Monash.

In the same year, Ball won a Rockefeller Fellowship to the London School of Economics. While on this fellowship, Ball made a special study of public opinion and propaganda methods in Germany. He spent 1929-1932 in London, Germany, France and Italy, studying European politics.

On his return to Australia, Ball secured a post at the University of Melbourne, lecturing in Modern Political Institutions. This period lasted from 1932 to 1938, when he again went abroad, this time on a Carnegie Fellowship. Between 1938 and 1939 Ball spent several months attached to the BBC studying its methods of programming talks and collecting and broadcasting world news. At the time of the Munich crisis, Ball went through Sudetenland with the German Army, visited Prague and spent a day in Sachenhausen concentration camp, the first foreigner allowed to visit such a camp for several years.

Who's Who in Aust 1938 — Who’s who in Australia in 1938

From 1940 to 1944, Ball was Controller of Short Wave Broadcasts for the Commonwealth Government. In February 1940 he was granted special leave to take charge of the broadcasting work in the Department of Information. His unit recorded, translated and analysed enemy broadcasts.

His unit recorded, translated and analysed enemy broadcasts.

Invited by Prime Minister (Sir) Robert Menzies, in February 1940 Ball was appointed controller of broadcasting in the Department of Information. In June he became responsible solely for short-wave broadcasting. As well as heading a team that monitored overseas transmissions, he took charge of the nation’s information and propaganda services directed to friendly, neutral and enemy countries in the region. Under Ball, the material disseminated abroad avoided blatant disinformation and crude hate, and thus gained credibility. His section was transferred to the ABC in July 1942.

Mac Ball held a high posting at 216 Domain Road, South Yarra which was one of the more significant interception and decryption groups in Australia during WWII. It was close to all the other major military headquarters in Domain Rd, St Kilda Rd and Marlton Crescent.

Marlton 1 — St Michaels Church of England Girls Grammar School was used for almost a year for military purposes.

He resigned in protest when Arthur Calwell moved it back to the department in April 1944. Ball remained with the ABC and added to his public laurels by chairing the popular radio debates, `Nation’s Forum of the Air’.

In 1945, shortly before the end of the Pacific War, Ball returned to Melbourne University as Senior Lecturer in charge of the Department of Political Science. Also in 1945, Ball was sent to San Francisco as Adviser to the Australian Delegation at the United Nations Conference, and from November to December was Australian Government Political Representative in the Netherlands East Indies.

Ball’s diplomatic work continued after the War, taking him to Japan from 1946 to 1947 as Member of the Allied Council for Japan, representing jointly UK, India, Australia and New Zealand. In 1948 he led the Australian Government Goodwill Mission to countries in East and South-East Asia.

Japan 1

Returning again to the University of Melbourne, Ball held the post of Professor of Political Science from 1949 to his retirement in 1968. During this time, in 1955, he travelled to the UK on a British Commonwealth Fellowship, stationed at Chatham House and St Anthony’s College, Oxford.

Throughout his career, Ball was a regular commentator on world affairs for the ABC. He also broadcast many times for the BBC. He contributed articles on international affairs to British and Australian newspapers.

Ball died in Melbourne on 26 December 1986, aged 85. Katrine died in October 1991. They had one daughter, Jenny (Ellis).

But there is something I need to ask (Mr Speaker)!

Do the Ayes have it Mr Speaker? (eye lids)

And the ears and the hair?

To take you to the Home Page ………… click here.

To backtrack and brush up on what this case is about, go to Wikipedia here