The
Ambush
After Dan Kelly found the 4 heavily armed troopers camped less than
1 mile from their hideout, they knew that they were being hunted –
dead or alive!
That night no-one at the Kelly camp slept for fear of a surprise
attack. Early the following morning, Sergeant Kennedy and Constable
Scanlon left to patrol the area, leaving Lonigan and McIntyre to
look after the camp. During the day, McIntyre shot at two parrots
hoping to have fresh meat for supper. The shots where once again
heard at the Kelly camp, but by this time, its occupants had
decided on a course of action.
As they were clearly out-gunned, their only hope was to try and
disarm the police. Ned and Dan, accompanied by two of their
companions, Joe Byrne and Steve Hart, walked over to the police
camp and crept up close. After watching for several hours, Ned
called on the two policemen to "Bail Up". McIntyre, being unarmed,
immediately put his hands up, but Lonigan dived for cover behind
the log he had been resting on and drew his revolver. As he raised
his head to fire, he was shot dead by Ned.
The four men now ran up and after searching their prisoner,
ransacked the camp. Ned convinced McIntyre that they meant them no
harm and asked him to persuade the others to surrender and he would
let them go.
When Kennedy and Scanlon returned late in the afternoon, McIntyre
approached them and told them that they were surrounded. Thinking
that it was a joke, Kennedy reached for his revolver. As he did,
Ned stepped out from behind a tree and told them to
surrender.
The battle of Stringybark Creek had begun. Kennedy slid down on the
off-side of his horse and immediately started firing. Scanlon on
the other hand, without unslinging his rifle, flung it around and
was in the act of firing when he was shot by Ned. Slumping off his
horse, onto his knees on the ground, he was attempting to unsling
the rifle when Joe Byrne finally shot him dead with a captured
police revolver. Meanwhile, Kennedy's horse became frightened by
the sound of gunfire and it raced through the camp. As it did,
McIntyre grabbed hold of the reins and flung himself into the
saddle and escaped.
The
location
After years of detailed investigative analysis of photos, original
documents, transcripts and interviews with historians and second
hand witnesses, Bill Denheld has discovered the exact site where
the police camp was and where the gunfight took place. Much of his
analysis was based on the location of 2 huts that were mentioned by
Ned Kelly in the Jerilderie Letter and which Bill later
discovered!
You will be able to see where the huts are located by referring to
the map enclosed in the cache for the actual co-ordinates, but
please do not disturb the area as it is very fragile.
Sketch of the Police Camp.
Photo of actual shootout scene.
The
cache
Once you obtain the co-ordinates for this cache you will find a
container that will provide you with the clues to the next stage of
the hunt for the evidence.