January 5, 2025 • 32 mins
A Royal Train carrying Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII), derailed near Jarnadup, Western Australia, during his Australian tour. The accident occurred when the rails spread, causing the last two carriages, including the Prince’s, to overturn down a low embankment. Remarkably, no one was injured, though the event temporarily trapped the Prince and his entourage in the overturned carriage.
This incident, though potentially perilous, endeared the Prince even more to Australians. Known affectionately as the “Digger Prince,” his poise and quick wit during the ordeal reinforced his popularity with the public, already captivated by his tour of the country. The event remains a notable chapter in the history of royal visits to Australia, reflecting both the challenges of travel and the Prince's grace under pressure.
Join Holly & Matthew as they explore the derailment, the tour, and the wider context of royal visits to Australia.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/weird-crap-in-australia--2968350/support.
This incident, though potentially perilous, endeared the Prince even more to Australians. Known affectionately as the “Digger Prince,” his poise and quick wit during the ordeal reinforced his popularity with the public, already captivated by his tour of the country. The event remains a notable chapter in the history of royal visits to Australia, reflecting both the challenges of travel and the Prince's grace under pressure.
Join Holly & Matthew as they explore the derailment, the tour, and the wider context of royal visits to Australia.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/weird-crap-in-australia--2968350/support.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
A strange, spiraling white light was spotted in the early
morning sky over Sydney, with even skeptical witnesses wondering if
it was a UFO. They were last seen on the
beach with the tall man and that's the best description
police have ever had of it.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
More than seventeen years after Harold Holt disappeared into raging
surf at Chevy A Beach, his widow has finally revealed
his last romantic words.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Docky, terrifying, mesmerizing.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
That's the way a number of Australians have described the
alleged encounter with the YOWI.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
It's time for the Weird Crap in Australia podcast. Welcome
to the Weak Crap in Australia Podcast. I'm your host
Matthew Sole. Joining me, of course, is the researcher Extraordinary, Holysol.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Looking forward to another monarch monologue for Matthew.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
No, I'm trying to go into twenty twenty five with
less rants, so every one's heard how I feel about
the monarchy, so we don't really need to go back
through that.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I don't think really, because I just heard a lot
of disappointed Oh.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
I don't think so. I think people are sicker hearing
me rant and rave, especially because this episode is meant
to be a fun episode before we move into something
a lot more deeper and darker or more involved. Let's
say this is one of those nice, filler episodes in
a good way to kick off the year twenty twenty five.
(01:30):
I hope everyone has recovered from their New Year's hangovers
and are ready for another hopefully very good year. Hopefully
I'm wishing the best for all of you listening this
this year. I hope that you achieve your goals, and
that luck is on your side, and that's a little
bit of extra money winds.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Up in your pocket, and that you don't have to
give it back.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
And that your health is good and the health of
your family is good. That's why I'm wishing for everyone
this year. So with that spirit of mind, let's jump
into that one time that a British Royal family member
nearly died in a train accident. Take it away, Holly.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Australia has always had a bit of turbulent relationship with
the British Royal family, from the furthering of Irish independent
elements in the Castle Hill Rebellion to the arguments against
overbearing tax and police agents in the Eureka Stockade, all
the way up to when someone threw an egg then
Prince Charles in nineteen ninety four.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
We have a habit of egg throwing.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
It's become a tradition. Unfortunately, I have had to clean
up one of those traditions before.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
So when you worked a previous business, not the one
you work at now, wasn't it a couple of teenagers
through eggs at Pauline Hanson when you.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Were missed and I had to clean it up up.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
We like to throw eggs.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Overall this, Australia has never taken a real active role
against the British monarchy. That is, of course, tried to
kill the heir apparent. In nineteen twenty, Prince Edward Elizabeth
the Second's uncle otherwise known as the future King Edward
the eighth, was sent on a tour of the British
Empire as part of the Monarchies in Britain's attempts to
(03:13):
strengthen pro British sentiment after the horror that was World
War One. Edward himself served as a grenadier during the war,
attaining the rank of lieutenant and was one of the
few members of the royal family to go near the
front lines during active engagements. He was actively prevented from
being on the front lines by the then Prime Minister,
thinking it would be a bad look if the heir
(03:34):
apparent got captured by the Germans.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
I think that is that's a fairly accurate line. I
think I don't think you particularly want the figurehead of
your nation being captured by the enemy nation world War one,
and I don't think we've covered a huge amount of
World War One. We're probably gonna We've been saying this
for seven years. We will absolutely cover Gallipoli this year.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
I've got it already researched. We're just waiting for an
appropriate time to record and release.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Absolutely. So, World War One was a war of horrors,
and it it's probably unfair to look at World War
Two and World War One and compare them. But the
problem with World War one's horrors is that industrialization had
only just happened. There weren't a lot of conventions that
were in place to protect people, and so it's analogue
(04:28):
horror versus digital horror when it comes to World War
One world War Two. If that analogy makes sense to you.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
It's the mechanized war with no rule book exactly, and
so that's when you had things like mustard gas, which
you didn't have in World War Two. Also shotguns. Apparently
the Germans were very annoyed the British that the Americans
brought shotguns to it.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Really Yeah, well shotguns were great in trench warfare.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
And that's why the Germans were annoyed that the Americans.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Brought them in. Yeah, so that's like there was a
lot of horror that happened in the trenches. You know,
you drop mustard gas in a trench and everyone would
just start to bleed from their eyes and pass out
in front of you while coughing up blood. It was
pretty fucking terrifying and a lot of the colonies established
(05:17):
a little bit of anti monarchy sentiment after World War One.
You know, there were people who went off to be
like where off to fight for the British Army, and
then when they came back they were like, fuck the
British Army.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Because they got landed on the beaches of.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Galicyly, that's right. So you know, it created a lot
of anti Britain sentiment, and considering that World War Two,
it was only what a decade away at this point.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
No, no, it was twenty issuyeares twenty ish years.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
There had to be some sort of re establishment of
relations between the colonies and Britain as Yeah, a lot
of colonies felt that they had fought for Britain to
their deaths for not very good reasons, and especially when
you consider that at the time the King of England
was fighting his cousin. What was the Germans name, the Yes,
(06:08):
but what was his official kaiser? The Kaiser? I thought
it was the Kaiser, So you've got yes, the cousin
versus cousin. So it felt very personal for a lot
of people, and so they had to do a bit
of a We're sorry tour and try and repatriotize people
to the British Empire.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
And then we have a quote here.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
As Edward settled into a new assignment with Lord Kavan,
he was given more freedom and finally got his wish.
King George, pleased with the glowing rhetoric spoken of his son,
finally relented and allowed Edward to spend a night in
the trenches fulfilling a macab but Christmas wish, while his
compatriots reveled in the luxury of chocolate and tobacco from
(06:49):
Tims with Princess Mary's face etched upon them. Edward came
within three hundred yards of the front at LuSE. He
saw the horrors of no man's land and the swollen,
yellowed bodies of gas horses. Quote from the Prince, who
was desperate to fight key military.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Edward was involved in an incident in Vermi, France, in
which o'shell exploded only a few feet away from him
and killed his driver. Being so close to the action,
seeing what so many of his fellow countrymen was seeing,
feeling breathing made him popular among the lower levels of
the Empire. This made him the poster child of the
monarchy's publicity engine, gaining him the nickname the Digger Prince,
(07:27):
to shore up the empire's belief in the monarchy and
the British Empire.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Almost numb to what had happened, he regarded his dalliance
with death with incredulity. Suppose I do get snapped, I
have plenty of brothers, he amused.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Because of his work in World War One. He was
born in eighteen ninety four, thus making him twenty when
the war began. Prince Edward was well known and well
liked around Australia, especially in areas with higher veteran numbers.
The Australian leg of the nineteen twenty Royal Tour lasted
three months between May and August, and Prince Edward visited
one hundred and ten cities and towns around the country,
(08:03):
attending three hundred and thirty seven highly scheduled events during
that time. The schedule was so tight, with an endless
supply of receptions, balls, welcomes and race meets for the
men to attend.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
There is evidence the King was keen to remove his
son from the temptations of an idle life. In England.
Edward was a notorious womanizer and had a pension for
married women, rumoured to be bisexual, with the habit of
making friends among the more disreputable courtiers of fashionable high society.
The visits were also regarded as a kind of royal
(08:34):
thank you for the loyalty and sacrifice given by countries
of the British Empire in the War. Meeting with ex
servicemen of the Great War was a large part of
the Prince's official duties, and the tours were also designed
as a jinguistic exercise to maintain loyalty to Britain throughout
the empire. Quote from Jim Hayes, the Aussie train wreck
which turned the Prince of Wales into the Digger Prince?
(08:58):
Did they really think that he wouldn't try and sleep
with Australian married women? Oh and did he really? Did
they really think that they wouldn't be Australian married women
willing to sleep with him.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
The idea was that the visit was so heavily scheduled
he was attending three events in every town he arrived
in that he wouldn't have time to go out and
find some women to bed.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
I guarantee he slept with many married women while he
was here.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
I'm bidding he did. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that he
was sleeping with men and women as he encountered them
across across the country.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
But of course, being a royal, Edward wasn't the happiest
about being seen amongst the normal people, especially when the
normal people tried to mob him just to touch him,
which is something you really shouldn't.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Do outside of touching a Jesus. I don't really see
any need to physically go up and touch someone that
you admire. Yeah, nah, Like it's to satisfy a psychological
need to confirms real Yeah, to confirm that person's presence.
But at the end of the day, you know you don't.
You shouldn't really need to be touching people aside from
(10:04):
maybe a polite handshake in the right circumstances. So yes,
unless the second Coming of Jesus Christ happens, probably don't
need to run up touching people. We have a quote here.
Entries in his staff diary showed that he was even
less happy with the behavior as his subjects well in Australia.
In that dominion, even a motor car has no shore
(10:26):
protection against the hearty greetings of my father's subjects. The
unofficial diary kept by my staff, the diary not intended
for perusal by my father, contains the following entry recorded
in Melbourne. Confetti is appearing in great and unpleasant qualities,
and the touching mania has started only owing to the
(10:46):
heartening disposition of the Australians. The touches more like blows
and hr height arrived half blinded and black and blue.
The touching mania one of the most remarkable phenomena connected
with my travels took the of the mass impulse to
prod some part of the Prince of Wales. Whenever I
entered a crowd, it closed around me like an octopus.
(11:06):
I can still hear the shrill, excited cry. Oh I
touched him? If I were out of reach, then a
blow to my head with a folded newspaper appeared to
satisfy their impulse.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
I'm sure that his father had that impulse many MENI.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Times quote from the Aussie train wreck which turned the
Prince of Wales into the Digger Prince.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
At the beginning of July nineteen twenty.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Stop though, stop touching me, you filled the Australians.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Why you're doing this, convicts. At the beginning of July
nineteen twenty, the Digger Prince and these people wandered throughout
back Western Australia, seeing the rich lands that exist on
the West coast. Prince Edward was to spend ten days
in Western Australia and was welcomed to Perth by a
roaring crowd.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
May please Your Royal Highness on behalf of the citizens
of Perth, the capital city of the state of Western Australia.
We the Mayor and counselors begged to tender to your
Royal Highness a loyal and hearty welcome, and welcome him
they did. The people of Perth line the streets and
cheered loudly as Prince Edward, standing in a car specially
(12:14):
provided for him, acknowledged the thousands who came into town
to see him. Quote from the Dusty Box, a royal
messhap the fastest.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Way to travel Western Australia in nineteen twenty was to
move via the rail line, and so Prince Edward and
his entourage took to the rail lines across the wild state.
With him was Admiral Halsey, his chief of staff, Lord Mountbatten,
Queen Elizabeth's uncle, Lord Claude Hamilton, who was a member
of Parliament, Surgeon Commander Newport, which was Edward's personal physician,
(12:44):
and Colonel Edward Grigg, who was Edward's secretary. Together, these
men were some of the top most ranked men in
the British Royal household. On July four, Edward left Perth
after four days of events to head for the southwest.
They were heading for Pemberton first, but they would inspect
the timber mills and timber ban plantations across the region.
July fifth, he arrived in Pemberton to a wintery, horrible day.
(13:06):
They completed their event and the party rejoined the train,
where they enjoyed their breakfast and sat back to spend
the day staring at the bush as it traveled along
outside the train windows. From Pemberton, they headed up to
Bridgetown via jardn Up. After a brief stop, the train
headed north towards Bridgeton at about two forty five pm.
Edward remarked to add More Halsey, It's chief of staff
(13:27):
that the wheels sounded strange, like they were greeting on
the sleepers instead of the rails. They both listened for
a moment, and then the train tipped for a.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
Distance of about one hundred yards, leading up to the
spot where the carriages were overturned. The permanent way had
been ripped and torn up, and the rails twisted in
all sorts of fantastic shapes. Quote from The Truth Saturday,
the tenth of July nineteen twenty, page five omens the.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Carriage that the pair were in was thrown completely off
the rails, sending the occupants of the train rolling around
in broken glare, glass, timber, and furnishings.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Admiral Housey said he remembered the Prince remarking to him
just before the collapse that the wheel seemed to be
grating along the sleepers. They both sat still, and then
suddenly the capsize occurred, the Prince falling against the overturned bedclothes,
and he himself, Housey, topping over against the window, which
he broke in his fall. The Prince was perfectly calm
(14:22):
and self possessed. A lot of the furniture rolled over
on top of him, Admiral Housey, but he was not hurt.
In the slightest. He had some narrow escapes in his time.
This was certainly the narrowest quote from the truth at
eight tenth of July nineteen twenty, page five Omens.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Because the train carried such a high profile character, rescue
efforts were dispatched almost immediately to find the Prince. His
carriage was known before the derailing, but there was still
a search undertaken to find him amongst the wreckage. When
he was found, he was reported to have.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Said Hurst no exclaimed the Prince, and he added this
fast for the wowsers to chew over, and I'm glad
the whiskey flask is not broken either. One by stander
says that when he was discovered, he had a bag
in his hand collecting his clothes. Asked if he was hurt,
he replied, hurt, be but blowed. I want my bloody duds.
(15:18):
Is any of the staff hurt? Told no, he remarked,
all right, it's a damned fine holiday. So after getting out,
he remarked, Amiral Housey, well I'm blowed. Housey. This wasn't
on the official program. How's he said? Prince, don't say that,
say Bally Bally be blown? Do you only call this Bally?
(15:38):
It's a damned sight worse than Bally? What the fuck
are these people saying? What was that? Jabebrush that I
just wrecked? You want?
Speaker 2 (15:46):
You want a translation?
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Yes? I have no idea what was going?
Speaker 2 (15:50):
So asked if he was hurt, he basically went, hurt.
I want my fucking clothes. Yep, that I understood in
your staff hurt? No, all right, well it's a fucking
fine hole. Then, after getting out, he then turned to Halsey,
Well I'm fucked, Halsey. This wasn't on the official program.
Halsey then turns around and said, don't say that, say
something nicer.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
He goes, oh, okay, right, nice a word be fucked,
So bally means nicer.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Yeah, No, bally is like instead of saying but you
say bum oh okay, got, it's it's like lower on
the thing, and it's like, you know, don't say blowing
because that's not British monarchy talk. You need to say
something like bawy.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Well. I think everyone appreciates your translation. I certainly did.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
You're welcome. I just found it funny because I'm like,
he's going off his head about what's happened, and then
someone's like, dude, there are people listening, and he's like,
fuck them.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Yeah. Yes. If people aren't aware the monarchy, especially when
they're on visits, they have a very rigid set of
code of conduct that they have to follow and you're
not allowed to deviate from that whatsoever. Even in those
sort of emergency circumstances, you were still meant to maintain
the dignity of the royal office. So it's a It's
(17:04):
kind of like when Princess Diana was killed in the
car accident, the royal family statements were considered very inhumane
but all dry cold, But that's part of the protocols. Yep,
you know, you fully expect. Like behind the behind scenes,
I'm sure they were all having a lot of very
(17:25):
you know, Kurt Kurt and passionate discussions about what had happened.
But for the public they were meant to always be
at a certain standard, which you know, it just leads
into the ridiculousness of the whole thing for me, but
that that is what they're meant to do.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Two carriages had tipped on the tracks, that holding Prince
Edward and the one holding the Premiere of Western Australia.
Aside from a few cuts, there were no serious injuries,
and Edward was later heard saying.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
That after the Prince was rescued through the carriage window,
he characteristically lighted a cigarette and laughingly observed, what a
mess this is not on the program. Quote from The
Morning Bulletin Wednesday, the seventh of July nineteen twenty, page nine,
The Prince of Wales.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Because of the isolated nature of wider Western Australia, it
took some time for anyone to approach who could get
the Royal Party moving again. Because of that, a number
of photographs were taken of the crowd of people displaced
by the derailing, which you can actually easily find on
the Internet.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
An emergency telephone was fitted to the telegraph line. The
railway authorities were notified of the accident. The three derailed
cars were separated from the train, and the remainder of
the train, with the Prince on board, proceeded to Bridgetown.
The Prince announced that he intended to proceed with the
program in full. Who was tremendously cheered at Bridgetown the
people singing God Save the King quote from the Morning
(18:48):
Bulletin Wednesday, the seventh of July nineteen twenty, page nine,
the Prince of Wales. My grandfather refused to sing God
Saved the Queen when he was in high school and
they beat the fuck out of him.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
I was surprised when we went to the Paralympics and
Mom could actually sing God Save the Queen. But then
I realized that she was like six when they changed
the the anthems.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
So yeah, we went from singing God to Save the
King to advance Australia Fair, and.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Then back to God Save the Queen, and then back
to Advances Australian back.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
To events Australia Fair.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
The wreckage of the abandoned train was cleared out within
a day or so before losers could strip it down
for souvenirs, because that's what Australians do, see our Skylab episode.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
You've also got to keep in mind as well the
context of the time. So a lot of people nowadays
say why is true crime so popular? True crime has
always been popular. In fact, around this specific era of
big true crime events would happened in Australia, Breton America
would often have relic hunters going to the scene to
(19:52):
try and pilfer and sell souvenirs from ghastly scenes of
high crime. It's just what people do back in the day.
To say you had a piece of a historical event.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
People would tear each other apart to get bits of
hangman's ropes.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Yeah, of course, absolutely. Going even further back, you know
when they used to do the guillotine in France, the
hangings in Britain, they were big things to go and see.
That was that was an event we go back to,
you know, pre industrialization in Britain, when you had big
fires that would happen in London, people would stop what
they're doing to go and watch the fire. Nothing else
(20:29):
to do, yep.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
The worst of the injuries were to the surgeon command
in Newport, who suffered a cut to his knee that stitches,
and to Minister George, who had a few cuts to
his face.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
He was a surgeon commander until he took that train
to the knee.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Ah. That's an old meme.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
That's sad, isn't it. We now have millennial memes.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Yeah, we've had that for a while now.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Back in by Day we had an adventurer took an
arrow to the any none of the skibbitty toilet business.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Back in Morrow Day, the cat had cheeseburger.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
And Charlie bipped my finger. Anyway, we can do this
for the rest of the episode, but we won't.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
It wasn't long before reports of the derailment started to spread.
More of the story began to emerge as the days
went on. The train had only been traveling at about
twelve miles per hour when it derailed. If it was
going much faster than that, the results would have actually
been a lot worse.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Had the train been traveling at a greater speed than
twelve miles an hour. There is little doubt that the
Prince and his entourage would have all been killed or
seriously hurt. Quote from The Truth, Saturday, tenth of July
nineteen twenty.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Why was the train only moving at twelve miles an hour?
Grand old grade? A astrain angus beef.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
A cow which was on the line saved the Prince's
life and the lives of most of the others in
two cars at any rate. The train had to almost
stop as the bovine would not budge and had to
be shoot off. Was while setting into stride again that
the accident occurred, and the train just being out of
a crawl. The derailed cars went forty yards before they
fell and were dragged a further sixty before the train
(22:10):
pulled up. The inside of the Prince's car is all
splintered and smashed, and the undercourage be fit out of shape.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
It was later reported that the cause of the derailment
was heavy rainfall, which had spread the tracks too wide
for the wheels to remain on them. Other reports blamed
other problems for the derailment, both nefarious and natural. The
commissioner of the railway was questioned that he refused to answer,
saying was only bad luck. Nevertheless, there was shade cast
in the newspapers.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Of the day. I mean, you've got to be worried
about your job, Yeah, you really do.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Especially as the driver of the train like you are
likely to get fired.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
I wonder if anyone rescued that cow and gave it
a good by.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Just cow wandering out a field with a metal pin
to it.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Yeah, Colar, we have a quote here. It is perhaps
better that the accident happened in the ultra loyal state
than in say, Queensland, for some sinister influences would have
surely been looked for in that case. Up to the present,
nobody has accused Premier Mitchell or Senator Pears of a
Bolshevistic desire to kill the distinguished state visitor and guest.
(23:14):
Quote from The Truth, Saturday, tenth of July nineteen twenty,
page five Omens. I kind of liked the idea that
people started immediately thinking was this an assassination attempt?
Speaker 2 (23:24):
I like the idea of them going, well, it wasn't
in Queensland, so it kind of been in.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
What was so bad at Queensland at the time.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
I mean, is it really that much different now? I
also like the idea that Western Australia, being the last
colony to join the Federation, is the one that's prided
as being you know, loyal state. Yes, but there's always
blame to go around. Well, it's not possible to blame
and sack the weather for washing out the rails. It
(23:52):
is absolutely possible to do it to the Railway Commission.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Judging by the railway regulations. Blame for the accident must
lie with the railway heads for breaking their own standing rules.
First that under no circumstances shall ana class engine come
beyond Bridgetown on account of the light of forty pound
rails there, And yet here were two OA engines, one
behind the other on this week line. Secondly, under no
(24:16):
circumstances shall more than two vehicles swing behind the brake van,
and then only in the case of a breakdown. Also
that an examiner shall ride in the rear vehicle. Quote
from the Truth that Saturday tenth of July nineteen twenty,
page five.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Omens the Brakeman was being towed directly behind the engine,
with three cars the dining car, the ministerial car and
the Royal car directly behind it, which made it impossible
for the blow commanning the emergency breaks to see when
he was needed. If you've got the emergency breaks right
behind the engine and then you've got three cars fish
tailing behind you, he can't do shit.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
Very true.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
But there was one person who alighted from the train
before derailment who probably thought himself very lucky when he
read the paper.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
The next morning, the newspapers reported that the Royal Train
carried a stole away from Calgoury to Port Augusta. An
unknown person jumped on the train and hid in the
lavatory labeled ladies only traveling undisturbed for one thousand, one
hundred miles. I guess no ladies needed to go to
the toilet that day.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
There were no ladies on the car from the train or.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Men, of course, because otherwise Prince Edward would have tried
to bed them.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
The Royal Tour continued on around Australia, with another attempt
by the Australian Whether to assassinate the future king taking place.
Edward was being driven around the town of Bunbury in
an open top car in the middle of a thunderstorm.
Within a few seconds, the air went from dry to
pelting down below with hail the size of baseball. They
had to make a run for it.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
I don't think the country really wanted him here.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
No, I don't think so either.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Indigenous Australians have always talked about the country being alive,
late that the country herself as an entity, a protector
or a motherlike figure. And when at times like these
you can't argue with that sentiment, can you not? Really?
Speaker 2 (26:12):
The whole tour cost Australia two three hundred and seventy
three pounds, or around one hundred and eighty six thousand
dollars in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Comparatively, that's not too bad considering what we now have
to chill out for those sort of visits.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
When Elizabeth visited Australia for her first of sixteen royal
tours in nineteen fifty four, the total cost to Australian
taxpayers was about thirty times that amount, at two point
three million twenty twenty two dollars.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Yeah. See, that's what I like. Why did it jump
so radically?
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Security changed?
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Yeah? I suppose so.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
For her visit in twenty fourteen, the bill was actually
closer to the million dollar mark, which meant that they
saved money on that trip, but it was also.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Shorter because I think like we always have to foot
the bill as well when the American president rocks up.
But we haven't had a visit from an American president
since Barack Obama's second term. Yeah, Australia doesn't get visited
until it's the second term. Though, I very much doubt
we'll see Trump here. I don't think they think they're
very safe here, so I don't And he notoriously doesn't
(27:15):
do a lot of travel anyway, so he'll probably do that.
He'll probably do a visit to Britain. He won't go
to Canada. I very much doubt he'll go to Canada.
He'll most likely attend some of the bigger conferences, you know,
they'll do the G ten, the G twenty, all that
sort of stuff. But I very much doubt we'll see
him here. And if we do see him here, he's
(27:35):
going to be hit with pretty substantial protest eggs, lots
of eggs, probably similar protests that happened to LBJ during
World War during the Vietnam conflict, so oh, sorry, Vietnam War,
I should say that was their word for it, So
I don't. I don't expect that we're going to have.
I don't even think we're going to have a royal
visit either, because I don't think Prince Charles, who's dying
(27:56):
of cancer, is in any position to be moved around. No.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
I think Prince will and the Duchess Kate are the
ones that are going to become roman.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Around once William becomes king.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Yea, even now, if they do a royal tour, it'll
be William Well.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
They He's the only royal left, isn't he.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Yep, because they got rid of Harry.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
Well.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
It is true that the royal family could have been
saved a lot of scandal should Edward have died in
nineteen twenty. Edward was the king who abdicated the throne
to marry an American divorcee and was accused of buddying
up with Hitler from his exile in France before World
War Two.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
Oh yeah, most of the Royal family. They love fascism.
It makes sense when you consider they were the Royal family.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
Edward's death wouldn't have changed much in the way of
the royal succession, except that King George the Six would
have gained his throne a few years earlier. So did
the land of flooding rains try to assassinate a future king,
But did one lonely cow save him? I'll leave that
up to you to decide.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
All's well that ends well, there's an old sow that
fully applies in this instance. Accidentally saved by a cow
might be a convincing motto for addition to others of
less moment carried by h His Royal Highness. Quote from
The Truth, Saturday, tenth of July nineteen twenty, page five.
Omens I like the idea of edited official dinner. The
(29:15):
speaker comes out and it's like the majesty survivor of
World War One veteran and the man whose life was
saved by the royal cow? Is he talking about the
Queen mother?
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Oh, Queen Mary would not be happy with you. God
was a nice lady, apparently.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
Was she?
Speaker 2 (29:34):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (29:35):
Well she's dead now well and truly well. That's it
from US four in my opinion, The inaugural.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Episode inaugural Oh, twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Five, yep, I get it. That's how I feel about it.
Even though it is the second episode of twenty twenty
five and we recorded the first two episodes of twenty
twenty five in twenty twenty four. That is how audio
production works, Ladies and gentlemen, That's how time works. That's
how time works. Well, thank you so much for joining us.
Just a couple of housekeeping things, don't forget. If you
(30:08):
want to context us on social media, you can find
us on your social media of choice. Just type in
weird Crap in Australia into the search bar. If we're
not on your social media of choice, let us know.
You can find us on Weird Crap Australia at gmail
dot com. Just shoot us through at good old fashioned email.
You can also support the show like our lovely Patreon
supporters do by finding us on Patreon again be Crapping
(30:30):
Australia into the search bar. Friendly five dollars a month.
You get bonus minisodes as well as fully released mainline episodes,
completely add free and uncut. You can also help us
out by grabbing our book series, We crab An Australia. Volume
one to five are available now from our great mates
a Impactcomics dot com dot Au. You can also pick
(30:50):
up the series overseas from Lulu dot com. That's Lulu
dot com, and you can grab thedigital edition from the
Amazon store. You can also grab our T shirts and
other merchandise from the Red Bubble and Tea public stores.
Just typing we Craping Australia into that search engine. Otherwise,
ladies and gentlemen, we give Holly the final words.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
So I have a small quote here from Lord mount Batten,
who was on the train, is like, we slid down
and we started going bump bump bump like this. That
was his description of the derailment.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
We slid down and went bomp bomp bomb like this. Yeah,
he was a surgeon and not a poet.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
Oh no, that's not the surgeon, that's the admiral.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Oh well, he's good at boats yep, not cows, not cows,
and not writing about anything interesting. No, but thank you
very much everyone, Thank you for joining us for another
year of We Crap in Australia being twenty twenty five,
and please be safe, be kind to each other, and
we'll see you all next time for more We crap
in Australia. Until then, bye for now may The Weird
(32:11):
Crap In Australia podcast is produced by Holly and Matthew
Soul for the Modern meltdown. If you've enjoyed this podcast,
Please rate and review on your favorite podcatching app.
A strange, spiraling white light was spotted in the early
morning sky over Sydney, with even skeptical witnesses wondering if
it was a UFO. They were last seen on the
beach with the tall man and that's the best description
police have ever had of it.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
More than seventeen years after Harold Holt disappeared into raging
surf at Chevy A Beach, his widow has finally revealed
his last romantic words.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Docky, terrifying, mesmerizing.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
That's the way a number of Australians have described the
alleged encounter with the YOWI.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
It's time for the Weird Crap in Australia podcast. Welcome
to the Weak Crap in Australia Podcast. I'm your host
Matthew Sole. Joining me, of course, is the researcher Extraordinary, Holysol.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Looking forward to another monarch monologue for Matthew.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
No, I'm trying to go into twenty twenty five with
less rants, so every one's heard how I feel about
the monarchy, so we don't really need to go back
through that.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I don't think really, because I just heard a lot
of disappointed Oh.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
I don't think so. I think people are sicker hearing
me rant and rave, especially because this episode is meant
to be a fun episode before we move into something
a lot more deeper and darker or more involved. Let's
say this is one of those nice, filler episodes in
a good way to kick off the year twenty twenty five.
(01:30):
I hope everyone has recovered from their New Year's hangovers
and are ready for another hopefully very good year. Hopefully
I'm wishing the best for all of you listening this
this year. I hope that you achieve your goals, and
that luck is on your side, and that's a little
bit of extra money winds.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Up in your pocket, and that you don't have to
give it back.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
And that your health is good and the health of
your family is good. That's why I'm wishing for everyone
this year. So with that spirit of mind, let's jump
into that one time that a British Royal family member
nearly died in a train accident. Take it away, Holly.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Australia has always had a bit of turbulent relationship with
the British Royal family, from the furthering of Irish independent
elements in the Castle Hill Rebellion to the arguments against
overbearing tax and police agents in the Eureka Stockade, all
the way up to when someone threw an egg then
Prince Charles in nineteen ninety four.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
We have a habit of egg throwing.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
It's become a tradition. Unfortunately, I have had to clean
up one of those traditions before.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
So when you worked a previous business, not the one
you work at now, wasn't it a couple of teenagers
through eggs at Pauline Hanson when you.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Were missed and I had to clean it up up.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
We like to throw eggs.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Overall this, Australia has never taken a real active role
against the British monarchy. That is, of course, tried to
kill the heir apparent. In nineteen twenty, Prince Edward Elizabeth
the Second's uncle otherwise known as the future King Edward
the eighth, was sent on a tour of the British
Empire as part of the Monarchies in Britain's attempts to
(03:13):
strengthen pro British sentiment after the horror that was World
War One. Edward himself served as a grenadier during the war,
attaining the rank of lieutenant and was one of the
few members of the royal family to go near the
front lines during active engagements. He was actively prevented from
being on the front lines by the then Prime Minister,
thinking it would be a bad look if the heir
(03:34):
apparent got captured by the Germans.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
I think that is that's a fairly accurate line. I
think I don't think you particularly want the figurehead of
your nation being captured by the enemy nation world War one,
and I don't think we've covered a huge amount of
World War One. We're probably gonna We've been saying this
for seven years. We will absolutely cover Gallipoli this year.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
I've got it already researched. We're just waiting for an
appropriate time to record and release.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Absolutely. So, World War One was a war of horrors,
and it it's probably unfair to look at World War
Two and World War One and compare them. But the
problem with World War one's horrors is that industrialization had
only just happened. There weren't a lot of conventions that
were in place to protect people, and so it's analogue
(04:28):
horror versus digital horror when it comes to World War
One world War Two. If that analogy makes sense to you.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
It's the mechanized war with no rule book exactly, and
so that's when you had things like mustard gas, which
you didn't have in World War Two. Also shotguns. Apparently
the Germans were very annoyed the British that the Americans
brought shotguns to it.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Really Yeah, well shotguns were great in trench warfare.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
And that's why the Germans were annoyed that the Americans.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Brought them in. Yeah, so that's like there was a
lot of horror that happened in the trenches. You know,
you drop mustard gas in a trench and everyone would
just start to bleed from their eyes and pass out
in front of you while coughing up blood. It was
pretty fucking terrifying and a lot of the colonies established
(05:17):
a little bit of anti monarchy sentiment after World War One.
You know, there were people who went off to be
like where off to fight for the British Army, and
then when they came back they were like, fuck the
British Army.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Because they got landed on the beaches of.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Galicyly, that's right. So you know, it created a lot
of anti Britain sentiment, and considering that World War Two,
it was only what a decade away at this point.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
No, no, it was twenty issuyeares twenty ish years.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
There had to be some sort of re establishment of
relations between the colonies and Britain as Yeah, a lot
of colonies felt that they had fought for Britain to
their deaths for not very good reasons, and especially when
you consider that at the time the King of England
was fighting his cousin. What was the Germans name, the Yes,
(06:08):
but what was his official kaiser? The Kaiser? I thought
it was the Kaiser, So you've got yes, the cousin
versus cousin. So it felt very personal for a lot
of people, and so they had to do a bit
of a We're sorry tour and try and repatriotize people
to the British Empire.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
And then we have a quote here.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
As Edward settled into a new assignment with Lord Kavan,
he was given more freedom and finally got his wish.
King George, pleased with the glowing rhetoric spoken of his son,
finally relented and allowed Edward to spend a night in
the trenches fulfilling a macab but Christmas wish, while his
compatriots reveled in the luxury of chocolate and tobacco from
(06:49):
Tims with Princess Mary's face etched upon them. Edward came
within three hundred yards of the front at LuSE. He
saw the horrors of no man's land and the swollen,
yellowed bodies of gas horses. Quote from the Prince, who
was desperate to fight key military.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Edward was involved in an incident in Vermi, France, in
which o'shell exploded only a few feet away from him
and killed his driver. Being so close to the action,
seeing what so many of his fellow countrymen was seeing,
feeling breathing made him popular among the lower levels of
the Empire. This made him the poster child of the
monarchy's publicity engine, gaining him the nickname the Digger Prince,
(07:27):
to shore up the empire's belief in the monarchy and
the British Empire.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Almost numb to what had happened, he regarded his dalliance
with death with incredulity. Suppose I do get snapped, I
have plenty of brothers, he amused.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Because of his work in World War One. He was
born in eighteen ninety four, thus making him twenty when
the war began. Prince Edward was well known and well
liked around Australia, especially in areas with higher veteran numbers.
The Australian leg of the nineteen twenty Royal Tour lasted
three months between May and August, and Prince Edward visited
one hundred and ten cities and towns around the country,
(08:03):
attending three hundred and thirty seven highly scheduled events during
that time. The schedule was so tight, with an endless
supply of receptions, balls, welcomes and race meets for the
men to attend.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
There is evidence the King was keen to remove his
son from the temptations of an idle life. In England.
Edward was a notorious womanizer and had a pension for
married women, rumoured to be bisexual, with the habit of
making friends among the more disreputable courtiers of fashionable high society.
The visits were also regarded as a kind of royal
(08:34):
thank you for the loyalty and sacrifice given by countries
of the British Empire in the War. Meeting with ex
servicemen of the Great War was a large part of
the Prince's official duties, and the tours were also designed
as a jinguistic exercise to maintain loyalty to Britain throughout
the empire. Quote from Jim Hayes, the Aussie train wreck
which turned the Prince of Wales into the Digger Prince?
(08:58):
Did they really think that he wouldn't try and sleep
with Australian married women? Oh and did he really? Did
they really think that they wouldn't be Australian married women
willing to sleep with him.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
The idea was that the visit was so heavily scheduled
he was attending three events in every town he arrived
in that he wouldn't have time to go out and
find some women to bed.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
I guarantee he slept with many married women while he
was here.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
I'm bidding he did. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that he
was sleeping with men and women as he encountered them
across across the country.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
But of course, being a royal, Edward wasn't the happiest
about being seen amongst the normal people, especially when the
normal people tried to mob him just to touch him,
which is something you really shouldn't.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Do outside of touching a Jesus. I don't really see
any need to physically go up and touch someone that
you admire. Yeah, nah, Like it's to satisfy a psychological
need to confirms real Yeah, to confirm that person's presence.
But at the end of the day, you know you don't.
You shouldn't really need to be touching people aside from
(10:04):
maybe a polite handshake in the right circumstances. So yes,
unless the second Coming of Jesus Christ happens, probably don't
need to run up touching people. We have a quote here.
Entries in his staff diary showed that he was even
less happy with the behavior as his subjects well in Australia.
In that dominion, even a motor car has no shore
(10:26):
protection against the hearty greetings of my father's subjects. The
unofficial diary kept by my staff, the diary not intended
for perusal by my father, contains the following entry recorded
in Melbourne. Confetti is appearing in great and unpleasant qualities,
and the touching mania has started only owing to the
(10:46):
heartening disposition of the Australians. The touches more like blows
and hr height arrived half blinded and black and blue.
The touching mania one of the most remarkable phenomena connected
with my travels took the of the mass impulse to
prod some part of the Prince of Wales. Whenever I
entered a crowd, it closed around me like an octopus.
(11:06):
I can still hear the shrill, excited cry. Oh I
touched him? If I were out of reach, then a
blow to my head with a folded newspaper appeared to
satisfy their impulse.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
I'm sure that his father had that impulse many MENI.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Times quote from the Aussie train wreck which turned the
Prince of Wales into the Digger Prince.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
At the beginning of July nineteen twenty.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Stop though, stop touching me, you filled the Australians.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Why you're doing this, convicts. At the beginning of July
nineteen twenty, the Digger Prince and these people wandered throughout
back Western Australia, seeing the rich lands that exist on
the West coast. Prince Edward was to spend ten days
in Western Australia and was welcomed to Perth by a
roaring crowd.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
May please Your Royal Highness on behalf of the citizens
of Perth, the capital city of the state of Western Australia.
We the Mayor and counselors begged to tender to your
Royal Highness a loyal and hearty welcome, and welcome him
they did. The people of Perth line the streets and
cheered loudly as Prince Edward, standing in a car specially
(12:14):
provided for him, acknowledged the thousands who came into town
to see him. Quote from the Dusty Box, a royal
messhap the fastest.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Way to travel Western Australia in nineteen twenty was to
move via the rail line, and so Prince Edward and
his entourage took to the rail lines across the wild state.
With him was Admiral Halsey, his chief of staff, Lord Mountbatten,
Queen Elizabeth's uncle, Lord Claude Hamilton, who was a member
of Parliament, Surgeon Commander Newport, which was Edward's personal physician,
(12:44):
and Colonel Edward Grigg, who was Edward's secretary. Together, these
men were some of the top most ranked men in
the British Royal household. On July four, Edward left Perth
after four days of events to head for the southwest.
They were heading for Pemberton first, but they would inspect
the timber mills and timber ban plantations across the region.
July fifth, he arrived in Pemberton to a wintery, horrible day.
(13:06):
They completed their event and the party rejoined the train,
where they enjoyed their breakfast and sat back to spend
the day staring at the bush as it traveled along
outside the train windows. From Pemberton, they headed up to
Bridgetown via jardn Up. After a brief stop, the train
headed north towards Bridgeton at about two forty five pm.
Edward remarked to add More Halsey, It's chief of staff
(13:27):
that the wheels sounded strange, like they were greeting on
the sleepers instead of the rails. They both listened for
a moment, and then the train tipped for a.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
Distance of about one hundred yards, leading up to the
spot where the carriages were overturned. The permanent way had
been ripped and torn up, and the rails twisted in
all sorts of fantastic shapes. Quote from The Truth Saturday,
the tenth of July nineteen twenty, page five omens the.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Carriage that the pair were in was thrown completely off
the rails, sending the occupants of the train rolling around
in broken glare, glass, timber, and furnishings.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Admiral Housey said he remembered the Prince remarking to him
just before the collapse that the wheel seemed to be
grating along the sleepers. They both sat still, and then
suddenly the capsize occurred, the Prince falling against the overturned bedclothes,
and he himself, Housey, topping over against the window, which
he broke in his fall. The Prince was perfectly calm
(14:22):
and self possessed. A lot of the furniture rolled over
on top of him, Admiral Housey, but he was not hurt.
In the slightest. He had some narrow escapes in his time.
This was certainly the narrowest quote from the truth at
eight tenth of July nineteen twenty, page five Omens.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Because the train carried such a high profile character, rescue
efforts were dispatched almost immediately to find the Prince. His
carriage was known before the derailing, but there was still
a search undertaken to find him amongst the wreckage. When
he was found, he was reported to have.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Said Hurst no exclaimed the Prince, and he added this
fast for the wowsers to chew over, and I'm glad
the whiskey flask is not broken either. One by stander
says that when he was discovered, he had a bag
in his hand collecting his clothes. Asked if he was hurt,
he replied, hurt, be but blowed. I want my bloody duds.
(15:18):
Is any of the staff hurt? Told no, he remarked,
all right, it's a damned fine holiday. So after getting out,
he remarked, Amiral Housey, well I'm blowed. Housey. This wasn't
on the official program. How's he said? Prince, don't say that,
say Bally Bally be blown? Do you only call this Bally?
(15:38):
It's a damned sight worse than Bally? What the fuck
are these people saying? What was that? Jabebrush that I
just wrecked? You want?
Speaker 2 (15:46):
You want a translation?
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Yes? I have no idea what was going?
Speaker 2 (15:50):
So asked if he was hurt, he basically went, hurt.
I want my fucking clothes. Yep, that I understood in
your staff hurt? No, all right, well it's a fucking
fine hole. Then, after getting out, he then turned to Halsey,
Well I'm fucked, Halsey. This wasn't on the official program.
Halsey then turns around and said, don't say that, say
something nicer.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
He goes, oh, okay, right, nice a word be fucked,
So bally means nicer.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Yeah, No, bally is like instead of saying but you
say bum oh okay, got, it's it's like lower on
the thing, and it's like, you know, don't say blowing
because that's not British monarchy talk. You need to say
something like bawy.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Well. I think everyone appreciates your translation. I certainly did.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
You're welcome. I just found it funny because I'm like,
he's going off his head about what's happened, and then
someone's like, dude, there are people listening, and he's like,
fuck them.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Yeah. Yes. If people aren't aware the monarchy, especially when
they're on visits, they have a very rigid set of
code of conduct that they have to follow and you're
not allowed to deviate from that whatsoever. Even in those
sort of emergency circumstances, you were still meant to maintain
the dignity of the royal office. So it's a It's
(17:04):
kind of like when Princess Diana was killed in the
car accident, the royal family statements were considered very inhumane
but all dry cold, But that's part of the protocols. Yep,
you know, you fully expect. Like behind the behind scenes,
I'm sure they were all having a lot of very
(17:25):
you know, Kurt Kurt and passionate discussions about what had happened.
But for the public they were meant to always be
at a certain standard, which you know, it just leads
into the ridiculousness of the whole thing for me, but
that that is what they're meant to do.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Two carriages had tipped on the tracks, that holding Prince
Edward and the one holding the Premiere of Western Australia.
Aside from a few cuts, there were no serious injuries,
and Edward was later heard saying.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
That after the Prince was rescued through the carriage window,
he characteristically lighted a cigarette and laughingly observed, what a
mess this is not on the program. Quote from The
Morning Bulletin Wednesday, the seventh of July nineteen twenty, page nine,
The Prince of Wales.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Because of the isolated nature of wider Western Australia, it
took some time for anyone to approach who could get
the Royal Party moving again. Because of that, a number
of photographs were taken of the crowd of people displaced
by the derailing, which you can actually easily find on
the Internet.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
An emergency telephone was fitted to the telegraph line. The
railway authorities were notified of the accident. The three derailed
cars were separated from the train, and the remainder of
the train, with the Prince on board, proceeded to Bridgetown.
The Prince announced that he intended to proceed with the
program in full. Who was tremendously cheered at Bridgetown the
people singing God Save the King quote from the Morning
(18:48):
Bulletin Wednesday, the seventh of July nineteen twenty, page nine,
the Prince of Wales. My grandfather refused to sing God
Saved the Queen when he was in high school and
they beat the fuck out of him.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
I was surprised when we went to the Paralympics and
Mom could actually sing God Save the Queen. But then
I realized that she was like six when they changed
the the anthems.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
So yeah, we went from singing God to Save the
King to advance Australia Fair, and.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Then back to God Save the Queen, and then back
to Advances Australian back.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
To events Australia Fair.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
The wreckage of the abandoned train was cleared out within
a day or so before losers could strip it down
for souvenirs, because that's what Australians do, see our Skylab episode.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
You've also got to keep in mind as well the
context of the time. So a lot of people nowadays
say why is true crime so popular? True crime has
always been popular. In fact, around this specific era of
big true crime events would happened in Australia, Breton America
would often have relic hunters going to the scene to
(19:52):
try and pilfer and sell souvenirs from ghastly scenes of
high crime. It's just what people do back in the day.
To say you had a piece of a historical event.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
People would tear each other apart to get bits of
hangman's ropes.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Yeah, of course, absolutely. Going even further back, you know
when they used to do the guillotine in France, the
hangings in Britain, they were big things to go and see.
That was that was an event we go back to,
you know, pre industrialization in Britain, when you had big
fires that would happen in London, people would stop what
they're doing to go and watch the fire. Nothing else
(20:29):
to do, yep.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
The worst of the injuries were to the surgeon command
in Newport, who suffered a cut to his knee that stitches,
and to Minister George, who had a few cuts to
his face.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
He was a surgeon commander until he took that train
to the knee.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Ah. That's an old meme.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
That's sad, isn't it. We now have millennial memes.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Yeah, we've had that for a while now.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Back in by Day we had an adventurer took an
arrow to the any none of the skibbitty toilet business.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Back in Morrow Day, the cat had cheeseburger.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
And Charlie bipped my finger. Anyway, we can do this
for the rest of the episode, but we won't.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
It wasn't long before reports of the derailment started to spread.
More of the story began to emerge as the days
went on. The train had only been traveling at about
twelve miles per hour when it derailed. If it was
going much faster than that, the results would have actually
been a lot worse.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Had the train been traveling at a greater speed than
twelve miles an hour. There is little doubt that the
Prince and his entourage would have all been killed or
seriously hurt. Quote from The Truth, Saturday, tenth of July
nineteen twenty.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Why was the train only moving at twelve miles an hour?
Grand old grade? A astrain angus beef.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
A cow which was on the line saved the Prince's
life and the lives of most of the others in
two cars at any rate. The train had to almost
stop as the bovine would not budge and had to
be shoot off. Was while setting into stride again that
the accident occurred, and the train just being out of
a crawl. The derailed cars went forty yards before they
fell and were dragged a further sixty before the train
(22:10):
pulled up. The inside of the Prince's car is all
splintered and smashed, and the undercourage be fit out of shape.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
It was later reported that the cause of the derailment
was heavy rainfall, which had spread the tracks too wide
for the wheels to remain on them. Other reports blamed
other problems for the derailment, both nefarious and natural. The
commissioner of the railway was questioned that he refused to answer,
saying was only bad luck. Nevertheless, there was shade cast
in the newspapers.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Of the day. I mean, you've got to be worried
about your job, Yeah, you really do.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Especially as the driver of the train like you are
likely to get fired.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
I wonder if anyone rescued that cow and gave it
a good by.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Just cow wandering out a field with a metal pin
to it.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Yeah, Colar, we have a quote here. It is perhaps
better that the accident happened in the ultra loyal state
than in say, Queensland, for some sinister influences would have
surely been looked for in that case. Up to the present,
nobody has accused Premier Mitchell or Senator Pears of a
Bolshevistic desire to kill the distinguished state visitor and guest.
(23:14):
Quote from The Truth, Saturday, tenth of July nineteen twenty,
page five Omens. I kind of liked the idea that
people started immediately thinking was this an assassination attempt?
Speaker 2 (23:24):
I like the idea of them going, well, it wasn't
in Queensland, so it kind of been in.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
What was so bad at Queensland at the time.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
I mean, is it really that much different now? I
also like the idea that Western Australia, being the last
colony to join the Federation, is the one that's prided
as being you know, loyal state. Yes, but there's always
blame to go around. Well, it's not possible to blame
and sack the weather for washing out the rails. It
(23:52):
is absolutely possible to do it to the Railway Commission.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Judging by the railway regulations. Blame for the accident must
lie with the railway heads for breaking their own standing rules.
First that under no circumstances shall ana class engine come
beyond Bridgetown on account of the light of forty pound
rails there, And yet here were two OA engines, one
behind the other on this week line. Secondly, under no
(24:16):
circumstances shall more than two vehicles swing behind the brake van,
and then only in the case of a breakdown. Also
that an examiner shall ride in the rear vehicle. Quote
from the Truth that Saturday tenth of July nineteen twenty,
page five.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Omens the Brakeman was being towed directly behind the engine,
with three cars the dining car, the ministerial car and
the Royal car directly behind it, which made it impossible
for the blow commanning the emergency breaks to see when
he was needed. If you've got the emergency breaks right
behind the engine and then you've got three cars fish
tailing behind you, he can't do shit.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
Very true.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
But there was one person who alighted from the train
before derailment who probably thought himself very lucky when he
read the paper.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
The next morning, the newspapers reported that the Royal Train
carried a stole away from Calgoury to Port Augusta. An
unknown person jumped on the train and hid in the
lavatory labeled ladies only traveling undisturbed for one thousand, one
hundred miles. I guess no ladies needed to go to
the toilet that day.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
There were no ladies on the car from the train or.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Men, of course, because otherwise Prince Edward would have tried
to bed them.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
The Royal Tour continued on around Australia, with another attempt
by the Australian Whether to assassinate the future king taking place.
Edward was being driven around the town of Bunbury in
an open top car in the middle of a thunderstorm.
Within a few seconds, the air went from dry to
pelting down below with hail the size of baseball. They
had to make a run for it.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
I don't think the country really wanted him here.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
No, I don't think so either.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Indigenous Australians have always talked about the country being alive,
late that the country herself as an entity, a protector
or a motherlike figure. And when at times like these
you can't argue with that sentiment, can you not? Really?
Speaker 2 (26:12):
The whole tour cost Australia two three hundred and seventy
three pounds, or around one hundred and eighty six thousand
dollars in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Comparatively, that's not too bad considering what we now have
to chill out for those sort of visits.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
When Elizabeth visited Australia for her first of sixteen royal
tours in nineteen fifty four, the total cost to Australian
taxpayers was about thirty times that amount, at two point
three million twenty twenty two dollars.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Yeah. See, that's what I like. Why did it jump
so radically?
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Security changed?
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Yeah? I suppose so.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
For her visit in twenty fourteen, the bill was actually
closer to the million dollar mark, which meant that they
saved money on that trip, but it was also.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Shorter because I think like we always have to foot
the bill as well when the American president rocks up.
But we haven't had a visit from an American president
since Barack Obama's second term. Yeah, Australia doesn't get visited
until it's the second term. Though, I very much doubt
we'll see Trump here. I don't think they think they're
very safe here, so I don't And he notoriously doesn't
(27:15):
do a lot of travel anyway, so he'll probably do that.
He'll probably do a visit to Britain. He won't go
to Canada. I very much doubt he'll go to Canada.
He'll most likely attend some of the bigger conferences, you know,
they'll do the G ten, the G twenty, all that
sort of stuff. But I very much doubt we'll see
him here. And if we do see him here, he's
(27:35):
going to be hit with pretty substantial protest eggs, lots
of eggs, probably similar protests that happened to LBJ during
World War during the Vietnam conflict, so oh, sorry, Vietnam War,
I should say that was their word for it, So
I don't. I don't expect that we're going to have.
I don't even think we're going to have a royal
visit either, because I don't think Prince Charles, who's dying
(27:56):
of cancer, is in any position to be moved around. No.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
I think Prince will and the Duchess Kate are the
ones that are going to become roman.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Around once William becomes king.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Yea, even now, if they do a royal tour, it'll
be William Well.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
They He's the only royal left, isn't he.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Yep, because they got rid of Harry.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
Well.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
It is true that the royal family could have been
saved a lot of scandal should Edward have died in
nineteen twenty. Edward was the king who abdicated the throne
to marry an American divorcee and was accused of buddying
up with Hitler from his exile in France before World
War Two.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
Oh yeah, most of the Royal family. They love fascism.
It makes sense when you consider they were the Royal family.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
Edward's death wouldn't have changed much in the way of
the royal succession, except that King George the Six would
have gained his throne a few years earlier. So did
the land of flooding rains try to assassinate a future king,
But did one lonely cow save him? I'll leave that
up to you to decide.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
All's well that ends well, there's an old sow that
fully applies in this instance. Accidentally saved by a cow
might be a convincing motto for addition to others of
less moment carried by h His Royal Highness. Quote from
The Truth, Saturday, tenth of July nineteen twenty, page five.
Omens I like the idea of edited official dinner. The
(29:15):
speaker comes out and it's like the majesty survivor of
World War One veteran and the man whose life was
saved by the royal cow? Is he talking about the
Queen mother?
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Oh, Queen Mary would not be happy with you. God
was a nice lady, apparently.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
Was she?
Speaker 2 (29:34):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (29:35):
Well she's dead now well and truly well. That's it
from US four in my opinion, The inaugural.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Episode inaugural Oh, twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Five, yep, I get it. That's how I feel about it.
Even though it is the second episode of twenty twenty
five and we recorded the first two episodes of twenty
twenty five in twenty twenty four. That is how audio
production works, Ladies and gentlemen, That's how time works. That's
how time works. Well, thank you so much for joining us.
Just a couple of housekeeping things, don't forget. If you
(30:08):
want to context us on social media, you can find
us on your social media of choice. Just type in
weird Crap in Australia into the search bar. If we're
not on your social media of choice, let us know.
You can find us on Weird Crap Australia at gmail
dot com. Just shoot us through at good old fashioned email.
You can also support the show like our lovely Patreon
supporters do by finding us on Patreon again be Crapping
(30:30):
Australia into the search bar. Friendly five dollars a month.
You get bonus minisodes as well as fully released mainline episodes,
completely add free and uncut. You can also help us
out by grabbing our book series, We crab An Australia. Volume
one to five are available now from our great mates
a Impactcomics dot com dot Au. You can also pick
(30:50):
up the series overseas from Lulu dot com. That's Lulu
dot com, and you can grab thedigital edition from the
Amazon store. You can also grab our T shirts and
other merchandise from the Red Bubble and Tea public stores.
Just typing we Craping Australia into that search engine. Otherwise,
ladies and gentlemen, we give Holly the final words.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
So I have a small quote here from Lord mount Batten,
who was on the train, is like, we slid down
and we started going bump bump bump like this. That
was his description of the derailment.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
We slid down and went bomp bomp bomb like this. Yeah,
he was a surgeon and not a poet.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
Oh no, that's not the surgeon, that's the admiral.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Oh well, he's good at boats yep, not cows, not cows,
and not writing about anything interesting. No, but thank you
very much everyone, Thank you for joining us for another
year of We Crap in Australia being twenty twenty five,
and please be safe, be kind to each other, and
we'll see you all next time for more We crap
in Australia. Until then, bye for now may The Weird
(32:11):
Crap In Australia podcast is produced by Holly and Matthew
Soul for the Modern meltdown. If you've enjoyed this podcast,
Please rate and review on your favorite podcatching app.
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