Under the Torrid Sun
Broome is described as a melting pot of races. But a century ago, the place went closer to a cocktail shaker.
Riots were regular. Race and pay (often connected) were the major beefs, with 2000 Japanese pearlers, and 400 Koepangers (from Indonesia) often major players in the biffo.
The worst clash was in 1920. The latter party had crafted knuckle-dusters from diving boot toecaps (‘a real eye-opener’ one cop was quoted) and murder was clearly on the agenda.
At least six men were killed, including Inspector Herbert Thomas, who perished from sunstroke trying to restore order. A tribute stands under a boab - the same tree planted by Thomas himself on the birth of his son in 1897.
Sadly the son, Frederick Thomas died four years before the fatal riot, on the battlefields of France. [Look carefully, The plaque is not easy to see. It’s outside the old lock-up, uphill from the corner of Carnarvon and Napier.]