Wednesday, April 9, 2014

ESCAPE TO AN UNCERTAIN DESTINATION –Continuing biog of Crusading Editor , “Big Jim” Bowditch


Bowditch late in  life
In one  house  raid a Stayput Malay  hid in a bathroom, armed with a thong .  He  felt certain  that a  searching  police officer saw him  reflected in a mirror , but  did not make an arrest. The  Malays were  hiding in adjoining houses in  Gregory  Street , Parap , at this stage.  Following the  narrow  escape,  Brian Manning held a  meeting in his residence , The  Kremlin ,   and  it  was  decided   that   something  drastic  had  to  be  done.
 
As a result of  the  emergency meeting  , Manning consulted  Bowditch  who said  the Malays  should be moved from  Darwin  to a farm near   Batchelor , the former   Rum  Jungle uranium  mine township.   The  farm ,   Milton Springs ,  was   owned by  Jack and  Esther   Meaney , mentioned earlier in  this book .  Apart from  Mrs  Meaney having been involved with the Peace Council ,  she and her husband once had a  farm not  far from  the Bowditch residence  at  Fannie Bay .  There was a minor problem  with the plan-Bowditch was  not exactly sure of the location of  Milton Springs. 
 
HID  IN  BOWDITCH  ROOF
 
One or  both of the Malays  may have  actually  been  lodged in the  roof  at the  Bowditch residence  before  the plan  to move them  out of  Darwin   got  underway.  Late  at night ,  a convoy of three cars  set out from  Darwin and headed   down the track . In the first  was  Des Robson, of the    Anti- Deportation Committee  ; Manning was in the  second and , bringing up the rear , with the Malays , was  Bowditch.  A system  warning of the presence of police  was  devised   which involved   pumping the  brakes  quickly three times  so that  stop  lights  were seen by  the   following  vehicle .
 
In the event  that they  came across  a roadblock the plan was that the Malays  would get out of the car , walk through the bush past  the  police  and rejoin the  convoy  later on. Manning said there was incredible pressure on them "every inch of the way ".They were  surprised  not to encounter one roadblock. They knew there had been a roadblock at the 11-mile during the day, but it was not there  that night . If they had been caught  by police , Manning  said  Bowditch  would probably have lost his  job. 
  
In the  tradition of the " best laid plans of revolutionaries ", Manning said they missed the  turn off to Milton Springs.  The first two cars  carried on to  Adelaide River  where they almost did  a  U-turn in front of the police station  .  They had a quick whispered conference  on the side of the road  and wondered  where   Bowditch was  with the Malays   because they could not see his car.  The reason why  his  vehicle could not be seen  was  simple  : travelling at  90 mph , Bowditch’s car had a blowout  and  it   ran off  the  road  into the bush , terrifying his  passengers .   Manning, sensing  there had  been some  trouble with the  car , turned back ;  his spare  tyre  replaced the  one  which  had  blown .
 
Still uncertain of the location of their destination, they were "  creeping"  about  Batchelor  at  three or four  in the morning . They found some Aborigines  and were given directions . Milton Springs  carried a  warning sign which read  something like    NO GROG , NO FRUIT, NO GINS , NO TRESPASSERS.   Bowditch quickly explained the situation to the Meaneys, who  readily agreed to  hide the Malays, which they did for several  weeks.  The springs  after which  the property derived its name were a short distance  away  and  the  Malays  camped  nearby .
 
During the period  the Malays  were relaxing  near the springs  the  manhunt -complete with  roadblocks  - continued   in Darwin.  Jack  Meaney was  in Adelaide River  one day when  a policeman  said, " I suppose you are hiding those Malays out  at Milton Springs ?"   Jack  just  laughed, and invited the policeman to  check  out  the place. NEXT : Canberra  buckles .