Was She Shocked? Or Was It A Performance?

 

 

When Jessica Thomson was shown the Somerton Man’s plaster bust, which was already publicised in photographs for the 1949 inquest, her apparent shock raised questions: was it authentic emotion, or a staged display straight from the tradecraft playbook?

Key Points

• The Scene: Jessica Thomson appeared shocked, some thought she might faint when asked to view the plaster bust of the Somerton Man.
• Prior Publicity: By then, the 1949 inquest had already been held. The bust had been presented in court, and newspapers had published photographs of both the deceased and the bust itself.
• Her Background: As a wartime nurse, Thomson would have been familiar with death and trauma, making fainting at a plaster cast seem unlikely on medical grounds alone.
• Possible Interpretations:

1.    Genuine Recognition: The stress of formal identification triggered an authentic emotional reaction.

2.    Performance: Manuals from the SOE and CIA taught operatives to “affect ignorance” or stage emotions to deflect suspicion. Her reaction could fit that mould.

3.    A Blend: Real feelings, consciously or unconsciously shaped into a display.

• Boxall’s Remark: Army officer Alf Boxall later described her as “very courageous,” suggesting composure under pressure rather than helpless surprise.
• Takeaway: Her behaviour was striking but ambiguous. The publicity surrounding the bust complicates claims of spontaneous shock, yet the reaction remains consistent with known espionage tradecraft.

The Bust Room Reaction: Shock, Performance, or Something Else?

When Jessica Thomson was escorted by police to view the plaster bust of the man found dead on Somerton Beach, observers recalled her being visibly shaken — some even thought she was about to faint. This moment remains one of the most scrutinised events in the Somerton Man case, often cited as evidence that she knew the man.

Yet the context makes the reaction harder to interpret. If this was an act, whose benefit was it for? Why would she do that?

Prior Knowledge

By the time Thomson was asked to see the bust, the 1949 inquest had already taken place. The plaster cast had been created for that court, and contemporary newspapers ran photographs of Detective Sergeant Leane carrying it into the hearing. Alongside earlier press photographs of the deceased himself, Thomson would have had ample opportunity to see both the man’s features and the bust’s likeness well before stepping into the police viewing room.

That diminishes the argument that her reaction was the result of sudden, unexpected shock.

Interpreting the Reaction

There are at least three ways to frame what happened:

1.    Genuine Recognition
Jessica may have recognised the likeness and the emotional weight of being asked to identify the man, formally and under official observation, overwhelmed her. The difference between a newspaper photograph and a real, physical bust in front of detectives is not trivial.

2.    An Act of Performance
Intelligence training manuals of the 1940s provide another possible lens. The SOE’s How to Become a Spy advised agents to “affect ignorance” when questioned, to appear dull or harmless rather than informed. Other sections recommended feigned emotional outbursts to deflect suspicion. Similarly, the CIA’s Manual of Trickery and Deception advised operatives to appear “non-threatening” or even “dumb” to avoid drawing scrutiny. In this light, Thomson’s apparent faintness could have been a performance: a staged display to persuade police she was shocked and therefore uninvolved.
In other words, they were taught how to act their way through situations

3.    A Blend of Both
Human behaviour rarely fits neatly into one box. If Thomson did know the man, she may have felt genuine distress but shaped her reaction deliberately to guide how others perceived her — a blend of authenticity and strategy.

Boxall’s Remark

Army lieutenant Alf Boxall, to whom Jessica had once given a copy of the Rubaiyat, later described her as “very courageous.” That choice of words is striking. He did not describe her as “innocent” or “surprised” but as “courageous”, language that resonates more with someone under pressure maintaining composure than with a civilian overwhelmed by shock.

The Problem of Interpretation

Does this necessarily that she was an operative or that her response was consciously staged? Eyewitnesses themselves disagreed about how extreme her reaction really was, and memory is fallible.

What the intelligence manuals demonstrate is not certainty but plausibility: that such displays of emotion were consistent with the tradecraft of the era. Given her medical background and prior public exposure to the man’s likeness, the “raw surprise” explanation is less convincing. But that still leaves open the possibility of genuine emotion, or a carefully shaped mix of both.

Takeaway:
Jessica Thomson’s reaction to the Somerton Man bust remains one of the most enigmatic moments of the case. Her training as a nurse, the prior publicity of photographs, and the bust’s courtroom presentation mean shock alone is difficult to credit. Yet intelligence manuals show that feigned ignorance and emotional displays were standard tools in espionage tradecraft. Whether consciously deployed or not, her performance in that room fits patterns known to operatives of her time — while still leaving space for the possibility of genuine emotion.

Earlier this year I posted details of two infiltration operations carried out under the mantle of Australian Military Intelligence, two man, two different target organisations. It is possible that Jessica was such an operator trained to infiltrate not just a local subversive group but the activities of a much larger more menacing organisation, The Australian Communist Party.

Live Citations

• SOE training manual (“affect ignorance”)
  — How to Become a Spy: The WWII SOE Training Manual (Camp X syllabus) Amazon+10Internet Archive+10Internet Archive+10
• CIA misdirection manual (appear “non‑threatening”)
  — The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception (John Mulholland, CIA, 1950s) arnielerma.blog+13WIRED+13Amazon+13
• Wired article covering the "lost magic manual" resurfacing WIRED+
• National Archives (UK), “SOE training advice on disguise” (mannerisms, walk, handwriting). National Archives
• Fraser Stevens, Cultural Camouflage: Acting Identities in World War 2 Espionage (actors training SOE agents). SpringerLink
• The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception (Mulholland) + coverage noting “appear non-threatening.” ia801604.us.archive.orgWIRED

Press Articles:
Core inquest/bust coverage (June 1949)

• “PLASTER CAST OF DEAD MAN” — Weekly Times (Melbourne), 4 May 1949, p.2.
  Early item stating a plaster cast was to be made of the Somerton man’s head and shoulders. (Trove)

• “Unidentified body copied in plaster” — News (Adelaide), 7 June 1949, p.2.
  Reports that work began that day on the plaster cast at the City Morgue (“will not be completed for about a fortnight”). (Trove)
• “Somerton body inquest” — News (Adelaide), 17 June 1949, p.1.
  Notes the “life-sized plaster cast… had a prominent position in the Coroner’s Court today.” (front-page report, continued inside). (Trove)
• Photo: “Bust carried into Court” — News (Adelaide), 21 June 1949, p.2.
  Published photograph of Det.-Sgt. Lionel Leane carrying the bust into the Coroner’s Court when the inquest resumed. Ideal visual for your point about prior publicity. (Trove)
• “Cast of body for Museum?” — News (Adelaide), 21 June 1949, p.2.
  Says police may ask the Museum to display the bust to aid identification—underscoring how public the casting had become. (Trove)

Context item

• Front-page wrap on opening day of the inquest — News (Adelaide), 17 June 1949.
  General inquest coverage (useful for timeline framing; links to the same day’s “prominent position” line about the cast). (Trove)

Image Details & How to Access Them

1. Det.-Sgt. Leane carrying the bust into court

• Source: News (Adelaide), 21 June 1949, p. 2 — Photo caption: "Det.-Sgt. Lionel Leane carrying a bust of the unidentified man into the Coroner’s Court…"
• How to find it: Go to Trove, search the article, and download the image of the bust being carried. Displayed with the caption on page 2. (Trove)

2. Bust prominently displayed at the inquest

• Source: News (Adelaide), 17 June 1949, mentions the life‑sized plaster cast had "a prominent position in the Coroner’s Court today." (Text, not image.) (Trove)

 And there you have it, the information in this post provides you with the same information that I have and on which I came to a conclusion. your conclusion may be different to mine but at least you have the base information to work from. What matters is that there is no room for guesses or gossip, these are all recorded facts.