Activity: Honour Roll Investigation
Setting the scene
Part of the National Police Memorial includes a bronze commemorative wall measuring twenty seven metres long and over two metres in height. It is punctured by 1,200 plaques upon which the following information of the deceased police officers is engraved:
- officer’s name and rank
- date of death (day, month and year)
- place of death
Each plaque is randomly located across the wall to reflect the random and unplanned nature of loss. Spaces on the commemorative wall left vacant to remind visitors of the fact that tragedy in the future is inevitable.
What to do
- visit the National Police Memorial website www.npm.org.au and find the honour roll
- select a police officer listed between 1803 -1902
- research this officer’s line of work and the reasons behind his/her death
- if possible, visit the grave site of the police officer
Your research should include reference to the following:
- the officer’s name and rank
- the officer’s date of death and place of death
- the circumstances behind the officer’s death
- locate where the officer has been buried
Provide your personal opinion on the following:
- what was life like for a police officer during that period of time?
- compare policing in colonial Australia and policing in today’s society based on the resources available to the community
- based on the attitudes of colonial Australia, how would you commemorate the death of this officer?
If possible, locate where the officer has been buried and:
- generate an aerial image of the grave site using atlas maps or Google Earth
- visit the grave site and take a photo
- carefully create a rubbing of the tomb stone or plaque
Be creative
Research, and record in detail, the type of uniform worn by the police officer you researched.
Compare that uniform to the uniform worn by police officers, in the same state or territory, today and list the changes.
