Roy Doyle was sworn into the Queensland Police on July 2, 1948 and served at Cairns before being transferred to Mackay in 1952.
On 29 March 1956, heavy rains fell in the Mackay area with torrential amounts falling in the Pioneer River catchment area. Police from Mackay were sent out to maintain control of the situation. It was not long before the Pioneer River began to rise and the current became swift. At 5.30am on 30 March the river reached 45ft and continued to rise. Evacuations were begun and people moved to the top floor of the Cremorne Hotel. The flood peaked at midday on 30 March stopping only a few meters from the top floor of the Hotel. The river had receded a great deal by 3pm that afternoon.
Constables Porter and Doyle who had been on duty at both ends of the Forgan Bridge waded over to Senior Sergeant McNaught to announce that all was okay on the northern side of the river. McNaught advised them that all dangers had passed in the Cremorne area and they should stay around for a short while until their shift ended at 5pm. At about 3.30pm a man named Lorenz Fedderson who had been drinking at the hotel waded into flood waters and commenced to swim out into the deep water of the river which was running very strongly. He soon got into difficulty and when his plight was noticed, Constables Springer and Crowe obtained a row boat and went to help him. These two officers then got into trouble when an oar broke and they had to jump from the boat. While Springer dragged the boat back to shore, Crowe went after Fedderson. Constable Doyle deciding to assist Crowe in the rescue, waded to a retaining wall, climbed it and then diving into the river. He reappeared floating face down in the water.
Constable Roy Doyle, 1948 Image No. PM1791 Courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum
Constable Roy Doyle was sent to the Mackay Hospital but his condition deteriorated and he died at 1.40pm on April 1, 1956. Investigations later showed when Doyle dived into the flooded Pioneer River he struck his head on a submerged block of concrete which caused massive head injuries.
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This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available at the time of writing. The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Friday 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
“The death of Constable 1/c Roy Doyle, 1956” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode/ a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence.… Continue reading