SOMERTON MAN TAMAM SHUD: THE SUITCASE CONTENTS AND JUST WHEN WAS IT DEPOSITED? PART 2. THE EVENTS TIMELINE AND MORE

 THE SUITCASE 

TIMELINE OF EVENTS...

Adelaide Railway Station Parcel and Left Luggage Room...

The date of this image is early 1900s, see a newer image from the 1920s at the base of this post.

Timelines always give a clearer view of events don't you think? The earlier post regarding the events of the night of the 30th November/1st December 1948, turned out to be very useful.

Here we go.

The timeline starts: 

30th November 1948:

 11 am to Midday. Luggage clerk R Craig issues a receipt for a neat brown leather suitcase, he attaches the larger item tag to the handle of the suitcase and tears off the receipt portion to the person who handed him the suitcase. The tagged suitcase is placed on a shelf in the storage area.

NOTE:
1.The exact process and procedures used at the Adelaide Railway Station Left Luggage Department at the relative time is not known.

2. Whilst R Craig was the name of the man who took the luggage in, he was not called at the inquest as he was on holidays 

3. There was another article left unclaimed at the station on the 30th November, no details were recorded or put forward in the statement by Harold Rolfe North, the Senior Porter for the Cloakroom. 

4. Harold Rolfe North gave evidence at the inquest relating the left luggage process to the Coroner

14th January 1949

14th January am.: Detective Sergeant Leane having been appointed to the Somerton Man case earlier, visited the Adelaide Railway Station Left Luggage Rooms.

NOTE:

1. Some days earlier, Det Sgt Leane had alerted hotels and boarding houses as well as the Railway Station and bus stations to inform Police if they had found luggage or belongings dating from the 30th November.

2. Det Sgt leane visited the Railway Station and spoke with the Senior Porter, Mr. Rolfe. A suitcase which had been left at the station from the 30th November, was inspected and the decision made to leave it in place for a further week in case it was claimed.

3. The suitcase had not been locked and was left that way to all accounts.

19th January 1949 to 17th June/21st June 1949

19th January. Detective Setgeant Leane returned to the Railway Station and collected the suitcase.

NOTE:

1. The suitcase was found to contain a number of items 

SEE EARLIER POST HERE

2. Det Sgt Leane discussed the contents of the suitcase and the clothing in some detail.

 
READ MORE ON PAGE 61 OF THE INQUEST DOCUMENTS HERE>>)

3. Items of particular interest which you will read in the above inquest document:

1. The jacket which was US in origin was partially manufactured and then tailored afterwards, a 'made to measure'  jacket. 

1. This jacket the man was wearing was a little too large for him whilst the jacket in the suitcase was too small. 

1. The slippers found in the suitcase were also found to be a size smaller than the shoes the man was wearing.

Quote from Det Sgt Leane's statement:

"There is no fact that I know of that points towards suicide and abolishes the possibility of murder. I believe he died an unnatural death but how I cannot say. A physical specimen such as he was would not just go to the beach and die. The words TAMAM SHUD mean 'the end' or 'the finish'. That could have been placed in his pocket by the person that caused his death so I cannot attach any special significance to that."

Take special note of Detective Sergeant Leane's words, "I believe hedied and unnatural death BUT HOW I CANNOT SAY".. Those with any experience in Police work would know that this was a guarded statement. He could have said ' I don't know how he died'. Instead he chose the words, " BUT HOW I CANNOT SAY.." He is stating that he is unable to say what really happened, that's my view based on knowledge and experience.

ADELAIDE RAILWAY STATION IMAGES:

The image of the Adelaide Railway Station to the left is dated 1952. It is a few years on from the time of the Somerton Man but again, it provides some idea of what the place was like in those years. Namely quite busy and bustling...

This next image on the left is from the 1920s after the rebuild I think and is of a platform noticeboard. The idea here is to give our audience a sense of what the environment at the station may have been like albeit a somewhat earlier image in this case. From its appearance it would seem that someone has possibly entered the place names digitally long after the original image was taken. The time shown on the clock is purely coincidental..

To the right is an image of the lower level entrance to the Adelaide Railway station from the early 1940s. On the left of the concourse are  newspaper booths and on the right are entrances to the various platforms, ticket offices and other station offices.

Finally, an image below of the redesigned luggage and parcel drop off and collection point from 1928. I need some additional information on this particular image but I believe it is correctly identified. Whether the storage room in the background behind the separating wall is that much different to the header image in this post is not clear, will try to get further information on that issue.

A  bonus image is of a steam train circa mid 1952 at Adelaide Railway station. The significance of this I raised in a post back in 2014, if the Somerton Man had arrived by rail, he would have at the very least traces of soot in his clothing. No such traces were mentioned in the Inquest documents. Personal experience from the 1950s tells me that it took days to get the smell of soot out of your hair and clothes after a lengthy train journey.

THE CHEER UP CENTRE/ELDER PARK HOSTEL

Not mentioned in any post or comments and certainly not in the various documents to the case is the 'Cheer Up' centre, that's what it was known as until 1947 at least. It was a place where servicemen and women would meet up, have a decent meal and a dance, I think there may have been a swimming pool there as well. It was situated just behind the Railway Station on what was to become Elder Park on the banks of the River Torrens.

In 1947, the old building was demolished and a hostel for newly arrived migrants was erected in its place. Appropriately named the ELDER PARK HOSTEL, it is shown here with a group of newly arrived British Migrants in 1948. The Hostel was not just for British migrants, refugees from Europe were also known to have stayed there. One would need to review the names of ship arrivals into Fremantle and Melbourne through Otober/November 1948 and from there track the movements of various people who arrived. during that time. Is it possible that the man had arrived at the hostel or was that where he was able to get a shower and shave?

A NOTE FOR RESEARCHERS:

There have been a number of posts and comments lately regarding the apparent slowness of the investigation process under Detective Sergeant Leane. Personally, I think that Leane did a good job all things considered. Here are three of the more notable 'things' that should be taken into account:

1. The timing. This was in the lead up to Christmas 1948. It was a time when many people, police officers included, had either started or were planning to start their annual leave over the Christmas period, and...

2. Some would have started earlier especially those with long service records, Long Service Leave was normally taken to coincide with Public Holidays. Many police officers, Detectives included, would have taken leave in the lead up to and immediately after Christmas. Staff would have been at the minimal level.

3. We do not know exactly what the caseload for CIB was like at the time but it would not be surprising if budgetary pressures would have kept Police numbers to a minimum level.

My unsolicited but nonetheless informed advice is simply to take into account the time of year, the staffing levels and of course caseloads before making judgements on the performance of individual police officers. Sadly it seems to have become common practice to attack the people who did the job perhaps in pursuit of higher visitor numbers.