A lesson for all hold-up victims… if a person claims to be armed, believe them!
On 26 January 1969, a young man walked into the Rocklea Branch of the Commonwealth Bank carrying a brown paper wrapped box, approximately 30 cm². He claimed that he had a bomb and demanded money from the bank tellers, then threatened to detonate the device unless his demands were met. The staff thought it was a hoax and treated him as a joke, somewhat to his embarrassment. He exited the bank in a huff, cradling the box in his arms. Nonetheless, the staff rang the police, and the Emergency Squad was sent to investigate. They found the offender walking along the edge of a major arterial road, approximately three kilometres from the bank.
The Officer in Charge followed the offender in an unmarked car, accompanied by his driver and two more detectives, at a distance, while several detectives fell in line, following the offender. To other road users, the procession may have appeared comical, as the parade was led by a man cradling a box. At that point, the detectives decided that the bank officers may have been correct, and that the box was a hoax… but it was only prudent to make further assessments.
Touch this and we’ll both go
Detective Inspector Bardwell, who formed the police ‘Emergency Squad’ the year earlier, had his driver move ahead of the suspect, where he alighted, then he proceeded to walk towards the offender. He then noticed two fine copper wires protruding from the top of the box… perhaps detonator wires. The offender looked straight at the Detective Inspector and said, ‘Touch this and we’ll both go.’
He knew instantly that they were dealing with an explosive device and that there was a risk of injury to surrounding people. Bardwell instructed his team to drop back, well behind the offender who continued his westward march.
The offender walked a little further, then without warning, dropped the box onto the roadway, and fled the scene. A small explosion caused the box to burst into flames. Whilst some of the squad members chased the offender, others ran toward the burning container before they were called to stop, then moved back to a safe distance with the Detective Inspector, who inspected the box using binoculars.
To his horror, there were sticks of gelignite in the burning box. He warned the police again of the danger whilst directing them to quickly douse the fire, as he had to salvage some of the contents of the box for evidence. They found a high-pressure hose in a nearby factory and one of them attempted to extinguish the flames from a safe distance. Into a dire situation came a moment of levity. The high-pressure hose over-powered the man as it wriggled like a snake. It required two more squad members to control it.
After the fire was extinguished, the team waited for about ten minutes for the contents of the box to cool before making a closer inspection. It was chilling. There were enough sticks of gelignite to annihilate the bank and its staff. It became evident that the offender had only a rudimentary knowledge of explosives. He thought that by initiating combustion using the propellant powder from the .303 cartridges, the gelignite would explode. He was wrong.
Warning – clueless bomber
The offender had wired up the propellant from cartridge cases with fine copper wire, then connected it to the batteries in such a way that when the two open-ended wires protruding through the top of the box were brought together, a circuit was completed. This caused the cordite to burst into flames rather than explode when he dropped the box and ran.
Found guilty for foolish, dangerous act
After being apprehended, the offender admitted that he could not remember if he’d brought the two bared ends of the wire together. The possibility of accidental contact when the box was dropped could not be ruled out. Whether deliberate or accidental, the propellant powder ignited. This foolish young man, was tried, found guilty and sentence to imprisonment for this dangerous act.
Queensland Police Museum acknowledges the unpublished work ‘No Stone Unturned’, a collection of works by former Detective Inspector Les Bardwell, who preferred to be known as a ‘field forensic scientist. He believed that it was important to have first-hand contact with the aftermath of crime and violence. His stories are a source of inspiration in the writing of this blog, and hopefully are authentic in reflecting the legacy of 35 years at the forefront of forensic science with Queensland Police Service. Leslie James Bardwell passed away on 23rd March 1995 aged 78 years.
This story was re-written by Museum Assistant Debra Austin using the information from ‘No Stone Unturned’
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.
Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au
“FROM the VAULT – The bank hoax that wasn’t 1969” 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