In 1981 Courier-Mail journalist Neil Groom interviewed 83-year-old retired Inspector Arthur Bruce Clark, affectionately known as ‘Nobby’.
Detective Acting Sergeant Arthur “Nobby” Clark, 1934.
Arthur joined the Queensland Police Force in 1919, he became a Detective Constable with the Brisbane CIB in in 1929. Across his 39 years he served at the Depot Stables, Rosewood, Cairns, Roma Street, the Brisbane CIB and Fortitude Valley as OIC. In this article ‘Nobby’ talks about his days of working in Spring Hill during its more notorious period when policing was accomplished via a bicycle.
The Battle for Spring Hill, Courier-Mail, 1981. Drawing by Mac Vines.
Words by Neil Groom:
The battle for Spring Hill in the late 1920s began like a commando Operation. Inspector Arthur Bock, a WW1 officer decorated for bravery in battle, summoned four of his toughest policemen at Roma Street police headquarters and told them: “We have lost possession of Spring Hill.”
The facts were that the police in Sydney in the late 1920s had cleaned out the underworld there and the crims had come flocking to Brisbane. They had dug in at Spring Hill — the thugs, the sly groggers, the prostitutes, the pimps, the gunmen. The four policemen at the “Win back the Hill” briefing were A B. “Nubby” Clark. George Muller, Frank Voigt and Les Beahan. Inspector Bock didn’t waste words. In this clean-up mission, he said, be didn’t want descriptions of men who had got away.
By present standards, the campaign by the police squad was almost amusing. They were issued with bicycles. Pedal power was one of their weapons to fight a horde of bad men. The crime fighters started their beats at 7 each night and finished at 3am. “If each of us wasn’t in a fight by the time we had tea at 1am, we felt we were slipping.” “Nobby” Clark recalled this week.
It was a red-blooded battle. It was a case of grabbing the crims, whether they resisted or not, and getting them into court. On one occasion “Nobby” made a clean sweep in a haul. He got word that four gunmen had hit the Hill with the intention of demolishing a man. “Nobby” arrested the four of them in one hit as they were sitting in a car.
Spring Hill panorama ca. 1930 (SLQ Image 6718-0001-0001)
Sprint Hill was the toughest part of the city. A citizen didn’t have to wait until night to run the risk of being clobbered and robbed. The thugs would pounce the daylight; but the nights in the narrow, meandering streets were evil. Herbert Street was notorious. There was an infamous gathering of criminals there. These days it is known as Astor Terrace. The late 1920s and early 1930s were testing years for policemen who patrolled the Hill. Many a police reputation for toughness was established by the way a young constable handled his hill beat. In the original Muller, Vogt, Clark, Behan team, “Nobby” copped the most strife … he was the smallest. “But It was good exercise,” he said. It certainly kept him in good nick, for today, at the age of 83, he is in fine shape. He sticks to a muscle straining physical fitness routine. “Nobby” was on his Hill beat from 1929 to 1931. He used to pedal his bicycle from his home at New farm to Roma Street police station, then cycle around the Hill beat. Considering that there was likely to be a scuffle or two before he finished work, it was hardly a dull life. Then, after finishing at 3am, he would have to have his court charges ready for 10am, the same day. And there was a stack of charges arising from the Spring Hill clients.
By the mid-1930s, Spring Hill had lost its notoriety. The baddies had gone, and the beat police did not face a nightly session violence. The police had won the battle of the Hill. In his years there, “Nobby” had only suffered an injured hand. The government of the day bad been relieved of a big worry. ln parliament it was revealed that graffiti in a lavatory at North Quay advised me the south: “Get your name on the roll. Register for work. Stay away from “Nobby” Clark.”
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The information in this post is taken from a 1981 Courier-Mail article, words by Neil Groom and drawings by Mac Vines. The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Email: museum@police.qld.gov.au
“FROM the VAULT -The battle for Spring Hill” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode