Frank
‘The Shadow’ Fahy
Mackay’s toughest job in enforcing order
in Razorhurst was gaining inside information on the ne’er-do-wells. Most
policemen working the razor-gangs’ territories were uniformed men, readily
indentifiable, or were plain-clothes men with hard-earned reputations – like ‘Bumper’
Farrell, or ‘Kangaroo’ Jack Campbell – whose fame always preceded them wherever
they went. Mackay needed a ghost; someone who was unknown and good at staying
that way; who could come and go without being noticed. He found Frank Fahy.
Mackay met Fahy in 1919 and was
favourably impressed with him: the previous week, Fahy and another probationary
officer had rescued a man from dangerous surf at Bronte Beach; subsequent to
this, Fahy had trailed a man unseen through Centennial Park, watched him hold
up a kiosk and then had arrested him at gunpoint after a long chase. Fahy was
11 stone when he joined up; the minimum requirement for a police officer in
those days was 11 and a half and Fahy had been ordered to correct this before
his probation period was ended: Mackay waived the requirement.
To ensure his success, Fahy had to become
completely detached from the police community. No other officers apart from
Mackay and a few senior policemen knew about him; his funding was kept totally
off the books and, after eight years when the NSW Premier discovered that an
underground network of policemen existed, their controllers banded together to
defy his further investigation into their identities and efforts which, by then
had made serious in-roads into organised crime in Razorhurst.
Fahy made his entrée into the underworld
wearing ragged clothes and with a bail notice for burglary tucked in his coat
pocket, to give him some criminal credentials. From there, he dug himself
deeper into the good books of the criminals, occasionally getting cuffed,
kicked or locked up by his unwitting colleagues. He often had to fly by the
seat of his pants, trusting to luck or agility to get him out of hot water. He
had to be ingenious: once working as a ‘cockatoo’, or look out, for a gang on
the floor beneath their hideout, he built a 14-foot long periscope from
drainage pipes and shaving mirrors to spy on their activities from below.
Perhaps his most innovative piece of
apparatus was a souped-up motorcycle, made to look as though it was falling
apart, with a trailer attachment which advertised him as a sharpener of knives
and scissors: looking like an itinerant worker, he could station himself
practically anywhere to keep tabs on the criminals. As well, the trailer was big
enough so that he could hide within it, using a camera through a spy-hole to catch
the comings and goings of the hoodlums.
Once, on the trail of a murderer who had “gone
Bush”, Fahy disguised himself as a swagman and joined the ranks of Australia’s
rootless unemployed workers, trailing from town to town. In short order he
caught up with and identified his quarry and was able to orchestrate his arrest
through third parties. Little-known outside of the criminal community which he
blended-in with Frank Fahy, “The Shadow”, was a brilliant innovator in
Australia’s early fight against organised crime.
Frank ‘Bumper’ Farrell
(1916-1985)
Francis Michael Farrell, footballer and policeman, was born at Surry Hills, the second
child of Sydney-born Reginald Farrell,
a jeweller, and his Scottish wife Margaret Theresa Wynne. He was educated in the Catholic school
system, first at the Patrician Brothers’ school in Redfern, and later at the
Marist Brothers’ high school in Kogarah; his nickname, ‘Bumper’, originated
there, where he surreptitiously smoked cigarette butts, known as ‘bumpers’. He began
his football career by playing junior rugby league for Marrickville, was graded
into the premier leagues in 1936, and made his debut for the Newtown Rugby
League Football Club’s first-grade team in 1938.
On leaving school, Farrell started as an apprentice
boilermaker, working at Garden Island Naval Dockyard, but felt he could better
himself by joining the police force. His first post, in 1938, was that of a
probationary constable in Darlinghurst – the heart of Razorhurst - where ‘sly
grog’, illegal gambling and prostitution were rife. Soon becoming the scourge
of crime leaders such as Tilly Devine and Kate Leigh, Farrell joined the vice squad in 1943.
A tough, inspirational front-row forward,
Farrell had been appointed
captain of Newtown’s first-grade side in 1942. He led Newtown to the
semi-finals consecutively from 1943 until 1948; the team won the grand final in
1943 and was runner-up in 1944. Between 1946 and 1951 Farrell served as Newtown’s captain and coach. On his retirement
from football in 1951, he had played 250 matches for the club, 205 of them in
first grade.
Controversy befell Farrell’s playing career on 28 July
1945. A St George front-row forward, Bill McRitchie, who sustained an ear
injury which required extensive skin graft surgery, accused Farrell of biting. Farrell faced an official inquiry
before the New South Wales Rugby Football League and also a disciplinary
hearing at the Police Department (something that wouldn’t happen today!). He
pleaded not guilty, explaining that he wore false teeth and that he had left
them in the dressing room in order to play the match. As a consequence, both
tribunals exonerated him. Nevertheless, the incident coloured his career,
overshadowing even the four Test matches he played for Australia in 1946 and
1948, and his twelve appearances for New South Wales between 1939 and 1950.
Farrell’s toughness was equally apparent in his
profession and he developed a reputation as an uncompromising plain-clothes
policeman. With the rank of detective sergeant, he was appointed chief of the
vice squad in the Darlinghurst division in May 1965. After that squad was
disbanded, he moved to suburban uniform duty at Collaroy in October 1966. He
then worked at the Eastern Suburbs, Manly and Central police stations. His
return to Darlinghurst in January 1973 as inspector third class (second class
from August), resulted in more visible policing and fewer violent crimes: in
1976 he was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service. His
‘foot to arse’ style of policing meant that few criminals were willing to
tangle with him and, significantly, whenever he encountered Tilly Devine she
always found her manners and eschewed her harridan ways. He retired in
September, an inspector first class in command of 230 officers.
Involved with the Newtown Rugby League
Football Club in an administrative capacity since his playing days, Farrell helped to establish the
Newtown Leagues Club Ltd. His imposing, bulky frame, cauliflower ears and
oversized hands were the delight of Sydney newspaper caricaturists. Survived by
his two daughters and two sons, he died of a heart attack in April 1985 at Warriewood and was buried in
Mona Vale cemetery.
As a former Newtown dweller and eternal fan of Newtown League teams, I found Craig Stanton's account of "Bumper" Farrell's life a sheer delight, especially the origin of "Bumper." I would like to use Bumper's picture on my website, with attribution to Craig. Could somebody confirm that this is OK? Thanks for the memory. Royce.
ReplyDeleteRoyce:
ReplyDeleteNo worries - help yourself!
Craig.