Grisly Gawler - Part IV - Circus Strikers brawl

Grisly Gawler - Part IV

Circus Strikers Brawl

  In 1931 after a successful string of shows in Angaston, Wirths Circus was on its way to Gawler via train to set up the Circus at the Gawler Racecourse. Following close behind in a rented truck from Tanunda were a group of men who had gone on strike during the Angaston leg of shows, wanting more money and better conditions.

  The Tanunda Police had phoned ahead and warned the Gawler Police of the approaching truck and the state of anger and excitement of the men on board.

The truck rolled into Gawler and the men drove up and down the main street calling out obscenities about the circus and its owners. Constable Philips of the Gawler Police intercepted the truck at Tramways bridge (Mill Bridge) and ordered the men out.

 The men verbally abused the officer as they unloaded.

  Police Sergeant Hansberry and Mounted Constable Hodgson were called to assist. Violence soon broke out with some of the angry men striking at the Police Officers. The men did not account for the officers being more than willing reciprocate, striking back with their batons, knocking at least four men to the ground unconscious and causing extensive injuries with their batons. Blood was spilled and bones were cracking under the extreme willingness of the police officers to end the violence these men had started.

 The Police eventually rounded up four of the most violent and abusive men and took them to the local station to charge them with Drunkenness, Indecent Language and Resisting Arrest. 

  Later in the day, several of the striking men from Angaston, turned up to the new Circus site at Gawler Racecourse, ready to cause a ruckus. They meant to protest and expose the circus owners with why their strike conditions were not being met. Mrs Wirth refused to discuss the terms with the men and told them to leave the site.

Police continued patrols well into the night to stop any further trouble.

 Unemployed men from Adelaide, who were on the Government listings, were brought down to fill the void the strikers had left and to work for the Circus. 

The men arrested were found guilty and duly fined. The other men did not return to cause any more problems that evening, due to the sudden rise in police visibility...

Perhaps a riot was stopped short on that particular occasion!