Death by Panic: ‘Bloody Sunday’ on the Fremantle Wharf

Abstract

At Fremantle Wharf in 1919, the lumpers (wharf labourers) conducted large-scale picketing against non-union labour and the unloading of the Dimboola. On ‘Bloody Sunday’, police, acting upon the Premier’s foolish plan and armed with batons and bayonets, confronted the lumpers at strategic points on the wharf. A lumper, Tommy Edwards, was fatally wounded during one melee with police. The strike-breakers withdrew from the wharves when police failed to effectively safeguard them. Internal police files illustrate the confusion and panic amongst the police on ‘Bloody Sunday’, but also the ‘coolness’ of key police leaders who decisively communicated with union leaders in limiting further bloodshed. The coronial inquiry into Edwards’ death, despite evidence to the contrary, identified the wharfies as the troublemakers and absolved the police of blame.