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Remembrance Day: Tragic story of WWI veteran Albert Burke who died alone in the bush Albert Burke may have served his country and fought on the Western Front but when he returned home, he was forced onto a mission and later died in the bush — alone. He was one of 850 Indigenous men who fought in WWI thinking their loyalty would be rewarded with better treatment. Instead, they returned to the same oppression. There was no freedom for Burke upon return from the war, except for a brief few years when he was granted an exemption from Queensland's Aboriginal Protection Act, but this was revoked. He was then sent to Woorabinda, a mission in central Queensland known as a punishment place in the 1930s. Records show Burke worked as a gardener for the school's headmaster from then until his death in 1954. Refused a lift so he walked 50km Burke was returning by train to the nearby town of Duaringa, a 60-kilometre drive from the mission. He phoned the mission's superintendent to ask if the local truck driver who transported goods between the town and Woorabinda would be able to give him a lift back. The answer was 'no'. "Then that old fella, he decided to walk, right there to Charley's Creek, and he must have felt crook or something and went and had a spell and sat on a log," Mr Munns said. "He must have got sick, and people were saying they saw him — an old Aboriginal fella sitting on a log just through the fence." That is where Burke's body was found, by an old woman mustering cattle, 10 kilometres from Duaringa. No one could identify his remains but he must have been wearing his military medals because these were sent to Canberra for identification and came back as Al Burke. "The man fought for his country, and they left him to die in the bush, that's what my dad said," Mr Munns said. "He was swearing like hell when he found out: 'My old brother fought for this bloody country and they let him die in the bloody paddock like a bloody animal'. "Poor old fella." Source: www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-09/armistice-day-tragic-story...

Film script, these mugshots!!

its eraserhead !

I retouched this photo and made it into something awesome!

"Fatty" Potter? How on earth would he have scored a nickname like that!

I found 9 newspaper stories (from 1926-1932) about this fellow. Here's one: A "CAT" MAN CAUGHT -- HID IN A LIFT SHAFT -- Newcastle. Monday. - Described as "a dangerous man who could climb any wall and get to any house window", James Boyd Potter was at Newcastle today sent to prison for three months for being on enclosed premises. Sergt. Robinson found the accused hiding in a lift shaft in buildings in Bath-lane. "It was a dark night," the accused pleaded, "and the doors were open. What could you expect me to do?" -Hull Daily Mail - Monday 11 October 1926

From a year earlier: APPEAL FOR ANOTHER CHANCE -- Man Who Did Not Pretend To Be an Angel. Pleading guilty at Newcastle to two charges of theft from warehouses in which goods valued at £50 15s 9d were involved, James Boyd Potter (25), of no fixed abode, against whom was a long list of previous convictions, appealed to the the Bench for another chance. "I don't want you to think I am an angel," he said. "I have a bad record, but I came out of prison four months ago, after a sentence of eighteen months, determined to do what was right. I had not a penny and could not get work. I am willing to do anything. I have had no assistance from the parish or the "dole." Give me another chance, and if I come back you can send me to prison for as long as you like. Prison has no effect on me." Mr. C.J. Dymond (chairman) said it was difficult to know what to do with a man with a record like accused. However, they decided not to send him for trial. He would have to go to prison for twelve months. "Twelve months! And I will come out without a penny!" exclaimed accused as he went below to the cells. Dundee Evening Telegraph - Friday 13 November 1925