Unsolved Taman Shud Case
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petedavo
The Strontium in the Somerton Man has me intrigued. Does anyone know more about this? Actual levels? Possible causes? Estimated date of exposure?
Go to 1940's» https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents
I found a document that could be useful, however the possible ID of Somerton Man appears to be probable amongst unnamed individuals who weren't followed up.View attachment accidentsurvivorslanl.pdf
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petedavo said:
I found a document that could be useful, however the possible ID of Somerton Man appears to be probable amongst unnamed individuals who weren't followed up.View attachment 735491
Uranium prospector, miner or processor?
Trove search results for 'Uranium' - Digitised newspapers and more
Find and get Australian and online resources: books, images, historic newspapers, maps, music, archives and more
trove.nla.gov.au
http://www.dmp.wa.gov.au/Documents/Community-Education/Guide_to_Uranium_in_Western_Australia.pdf
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peteb
Debutant
Courtesy Byron Deveson
I have just seen updated mass spectroscopy (MS) data for Somerton Man's hair. The results show many anomalies and throw up many more questions than they answer at present. There are many leads to follow and I am sure that SM's occupation and/or hobbies, and the localities where he spent the last two weeks of his life, will become clear when the MS data are fully evaluated. At present there is just too much to check and digest but there are two matters that seem to be straightforward enough to warrant immediate comment.
First, SM's hair contains what could be regarded as normal levels of the nuclear associated elements uranium 238, thorium 232 and lithium 7. I know that U238 isn't the primary isotope used in fission weapons but it would generally serve as a marker for exposure to un-enriched uranium such as uranium mining and ore processing, transport and enrichment. The same applies for Thorium 232 and lithium 7. It does not preclude the possibility that SM was involved in other nuclear related matters because these do not involve ingestion/exposure to significant amounts of uranium etc. I will suggest to DA that uranium 235 MS data should be extracted and maybe the other lithium and thorium isotope data should be extracted as well.
Second, SM's hair contains abnormally high concentrations of both silver and gold. In general SM's hair contains elevated concentrations of many elements, particularly metals that are associated with ore deposits of base metals such as lead, zinc and copper, and this suggests that SM might have been an extractive metallurgist – a metallurgist involved in extracting metals from ores, or a chemist working at an ore processing facility.
Zinc is the third most used non-ferrous metal after aluminium and copper. About 50% of production is used for galvanising steel to protect it from rust. Zinc compounds and dusts are used in cosmetics, plastics, rubber, ointments, sun screen creams, soaps, paints, ink, fertilisers and batteries. Around 30% of zinc used in the western world comes from recycling.
Reactions: petedavo
I wonder if Somerton Man had anything to do with this, considering that levels of a radioactive isotope was found in his body.
08 Aug 1945 - How Mt. Painter Uranium Was Developed - The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA) http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article43505625 via @TroveAustralia
Here's another list of names to check. There's about a dozen names missing though. I wonder whether any of these Australian servicemen were repatriated to Hospitals in Australia? The timeline might not fit for fathering a child though. But then again Somerton Man might not be the father of Jessica's baby, but an uncle or grandfather for all we know.
19 Sep 1945 - POW's REMARKABLE ESCAPES IN NAGASAKI - The Argus (Melbourne, Vic) http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article972178 via @TroveAustralia
peteb said:
Do we have the exact percentages?
If so, I can narrow down the type of mineralisation likely to show where he's been.
I'm thinking of Gawler Ranges at present.
It would make sense of the "Mt Sam" part of the notation in the back of the Rubaiyat.
Although SM being from Broken Hill shouldn't be out of the question. A lot of people from Broken Hill were co-opted to work on Mt Painter in the Flinders Range.
There's plenty of geological data on the South Australian statedevelopment website. For instance: http://www.minerals.statedevelopment.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/271911/Uranium_Map_A0_size_204086-001.pdf
And geoscience Australia
http://www.ga.gov.au/webtemp/image_cache/GA3465.pdf
Does anyone know if the old Adits of the Mines at Glen Osmond were used by the Defence Dept during WW2 and after afterwards, before housing development in the area?
For library researchers here's some resources if SM's hair analysis points to him being anywhere near a minesite before he was found deceased
Reynolds, John., Men and Mines: A History of Australian Mining 1788-1971, Sun Books, Melbourne, 1974.
Ward, L. K., 'The mineral resources of South Australia and their utilization', in Handbook of South Australia. Adelaide, Government Printer, 1946, pp. 68–77.
Ward, L.K., 'Non-metallic minerals of South Australia: Part 2', in Chemical Engineering and Mining Review, Melbourne 10 May 1948, pp. 293–98.
Reynolds, Wayne, 'Rethinking the Joint Project: Australia's Bid for Nuclear Weapons, 1945-1960', The Historical Journal, vol. 41, 1998, pp. 853-873.
There's some detail about the Woodley Winery who used one of the mines as a wine cellar here. Mentions names of some of the people living at the winery preceding the death of Somerton Man.
Could SM of visited that wine cellar before he travelled to Somerton?View attachment OH692_140.pdfView attachment The-Glen-Osmond-silver-lead-mines-South-Australia-by-Ross-A-Both-and-Greg-J-Drew.pdf
H Reynolds: Commonwealth Investigation Branch records of intercepted communications from the Japanese Consulate Melbourne 1940-1946
Session expired | RecordSearch | National Archives of Australia
recordsearch.naa.gov.au
Record at NAA of a Thomas Ambrose Keane of 19 Abington St, South Brisbane opened in 1945 is not available due to National Security concerns
View Digital Image
A couple of pages were released of Thomas Keane's ASIO file. It shows that he was a member of the Eureka Youth League when the file was opened in 1945 by the Commonwealth Investigation Branch. It also shows that someone requested a report on his activities and whereabouts in 1950, however who and why are redacted out. It also shows that the file was closed in 1953, however it appears that the reason for the file being closed is redacted. There's only enough room in the blacked out area to write something like "Found Deceased" or such like.
What is available doesn't say how old he is, or what sort of position he held in the EYL.
The reasons that are stated for not releasing the rest of the file are much more interesting though.
Eureka Youth League amongst it's activities performed ballet!
They would've needed a coach and someone to make their shoes, presumably.
View attachment eureka.pdf
Unfortunately all the Queensland files on the Eureka youth League from 1942 up-to 1949 have been restricted due to:
33(1)(a) - would damage Australia's security, defence or international relations;
33(1)(d) - would be a breach of confidence;
33(1)(g) - would unreasonably disclose information about the personal affairs of a person;
I can't find a Abington St in South Brisbane.
There's a Abingdon St in Woolloongabba
There's one in Spring Mountain, but it wasn't there in 1945, and Spring Mountain isn't South Brisbane neither.
Fake address?
Is this a file of a UCO?
In 1944 someone was selling a complete set of high school commercial books from 19 Abington St, South Brisbane.
So it seems that South Brisbane / West Gabba / Wooloongabba is the same.
But no sign of Mr Keane.
A search of Trove using "19 Abingdon st" limiting the search to Newspapers, and the state to Queensland produces interesting results.
There's a lot of stuff being sold off in the 40's (no names mentioned). Then an advert in 1950 which gives the name "Bryce" as the seller. Did the property change hands? Was it a rental? A new tenant in 1950, hence the difference in adverts? Where did Thomas Ambrose Keane go?
Another? Thomas Ambrose Keane, born 1910, residing with an Aunt at 2 Speight St Newport, and working at Newport Workshops Victoria joined the Army Cadets in 1923.
http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=30986094
Check the handwriting at the top of the form against the clothing label to confirm any difference. However it might not be Thomas that filled in the form.
No 2 Speight St Newport, as it looks today. (Not much difference to the 1920's, except for the car port)
BlueE said:
I'm very interested in what he told you about the man?
I want to thank you for defending the witnesses BlueE. I haven't forgotten that you asked about what my father told me, however I've been checking other forums like Justice Tribunal and Beaumont meanwhile and it's done my head in a bit. It's hard to be succinct when it comes to 'what I was told' re-SM, but maybe I'll be able to break it down to something more simple later. I'll get back later...and once again...Thanks!.
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Mycroft said:
I'd look forward to anything that you can tell us of what your father said and might've thought it was about.
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BlueE
In the meantime I can't quite wade through all of Petedavo's "Davidsonian Institute" details you've posted so he might be apply the information if applicable to to this post.
I think most agree that the identity of SM, how he died and what he was doing in Adelaide he was doing was known to a higher level than police. However I suspect that one police officer (Det Sgt Leane) and possibly the coroner Cleland knew at least part of the story and their actions may have contributed to the confusion about how no conclusion was made about SM's identity and who was responsible for his death.
I've said many times that the police picture they distributed and said was SM did not match his written physical description of his body or hair of the plaster cast made of him. I believe the following two identikits based on the plaster reconstruction of his face give a better indication of what SM looked like. The gingery blonde hair caught in the plaster also suggest a far lighter hair colour than the second identikit.
https://tamamshud.blogspot.com/2014/06/somerton-man-photo-realistic-image.html
He's 5'11" and his shoulder are very broad, grey eyes, receding hairline with no part and has an athletic physique and prominent defined calf muscles.
I can't see much resemblance to the police photo and am curious if the photo was of a different man.
Three people (Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson, widow of Morgan, and Stanley Peter Salotti, driver, of Nile street. Port Adelaide and James Mack -see Tamam Shud wiki) recognised the photograph and then identified the body as missing woodcuttter Robert Walsh. However Walsh would have been 63 years old and police were not satisfied with the identification as SM was thought to be around 40 years of age.
"When Mrs. Thompson identified the body she broke down and wept." She had a strong story to proved she knew Mr Walsh well and was very upset when she identified him.
I'm curious if the there was a second body who was Mr Robert Walsh and his photo was distributed and said to be the Somerton man?
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/43798696
SOMERTON BODY SAID TO BE THAT OF WOODCUTTER.
Although police are not yet satisfied with the identification, two persons last night claimed that the body of a man found at Somerton on December 1 was that of Robert Walsh, woodcutter, formerly of Morgan.
The identification was made by Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson, widow of Morgan, and Stanley Peter Salotti, driver, of Nile street. Port Adelaide. Detectives are not satisfied with the identification because of a discrepancy in the age of Walsh and that of the body.
Thompson gave Walsh's age as 63. while the police believe the dead man to have been about 40. Mrs. Thompson told police: last night that she did not believe the Somerton body to be that of Walsh until she saw a photograph in a newspaper last Saturday.
According to Mrs. Thompson, Walsh boarded with her periodically at Morgan up till a fortnight before Christmas, 1947.when he left for Brisbane. She had arranged to meet him in Brisbane that Christmas but did not keep the appointment.
Mrs. Thompson said that she heard no more of Walsh until she received a remembrance card and some money for 'Mother's Day. 1948. The card was sent from Crow's Nest NSW.
Mrs. Thompson first met Walsh eight or nine years ago when he began boarding with her. He was then employed as a woodcutter in the Morgan district, and continued in that work until he left for Brisbane.
As far as Mrs. Thompson knew, Walsh had no relatives in Australia. He was a Welshman and had a sister in Wales. Al-though he never divulged his age. Mrs. Thompson believed Walsh to be about 63.
To substantiate her claim, Mrs. Thompson took to police headquarters a photograph of herself and Walsh, taken several years ago.
When Mrs. Thompson saw the photograph of the dead man in the newspaper, she contacted Salotti. Who also knew Walsh. They both separately identified the body as that of Walsh.
Silotti said he first met Walsh three years ago when the man boarded with him for a week at his Port Adelaide home. He saw him last at the Victoria Park racecourse 18 months ago.
When Mrs. Thompson identified the body she broke down and wept. The body is consistent with that of a man who was once a woodcutter. The hands, however, do not suggest that he had done any woodcutting during the past 18 months.
The identification of the body has provided detectives with one of the most unusual cases of its type in the history of the SA police force.
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Gary Feltus printed the whole interview of Ina Harvey's interview with Tom Loftus in "The Unknown Man" (pp.197-200). peteb if you could help out with the text from the book I'd appreciate it as I can't access the book on any e books or book sellers.
From other blogs printed about Ina's recollection of the man she thought matched the description of SM that stayed at Strathmore Hotel, where she was a receptionist for 2 nights before checking out on the 30th November could be important in identifying him. Firstly he didn't exactly mangle the English language, his polite manner and neat and tidy appearance suggests someone with English as his second language and European from early police reports into him.
https://anemptyglass.fandom.com/wiki/The_Strathmore_Hotel
Ina Harvey and the Strathmore Hotel
In 1948, Ina Harvey was working as a receptionist at the Strathmore Hotel, which was just across the street from Adelaide Railway Station. In 1982, she was interviewed by Tom Loftus from Adelaide News. Harvey recalled a "strong and fit", "professional" man with "an air of refinement" who had checked into the Hotel a few days before the 1st of December, 1948.
She noted that "[He] had no baggage, except for a small black case – such as a doctor or musician who played the flute might carry". Because she had suspicions about the man, she asked an employee to go into the man's room (#21 or #23, she couldn't recall) and have a look in the mysterious case – to her surprise, "the only item in the case was a needle". Furthermore, "[from the employee's] description I got the impression it could have been a hypodermic syringe."
Gerry Feltus very helpfully included the text of Ina Harvey's interview with Tom Loftus in "The Unknown Man" (pp.197-200).
Harvey's account of events has been called into question, Gerry Feltus apparently says her account is 'all crap.' DA says 'it's best to ignore her and even her relatives thought she was 'a bit queer'. [1]
Ina Harvey is the sister of Lawrence Elliot, the man who embalmed the Somerton Man.
No mention of anything inside the cae except for a large needle, possibly hypodermic needle?
Vintage Hypodermic needle
If it was some sort of hypodermic needle could it have been used fro transporting something like "heavy water" or something in uranium enrichment procedures?
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In consideration that Hembley-Scales had married a daughter of a Dutch diplomat, I'm did some digging into Dutch East Indies intelligence and special Ops during and after WW2.
Netherlands East Indies Forces Intelligence Service - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org
Dutch intelligence after the fall of Netherlands East Indies were basically divided into two, and due to the lack of manpower they were based in Ceylon under the British and Australia under the US. It's worthy to note that whilst Australian Z forces had some success penetrating behind the lines in South East Asia, the Dutch operations from Australia were all compromised leading to Japanese capture and execution of all Dutch Agents. The only successes for the Dutch came from a couple of operations staged from Ceylon. The failures have generally been attributed to a lack of training and Indonesian nationalism meaning that the locals dobbed in white people as soon as they saw them, but this hardly explains Australian, US and British successes in the same environments. Were the Dutch being betrayed?
As an aside,
I can't fathom any current reason for the records of Thomas Ambrose Keane of 19 Abingdon St, Brisbane, nor the Eureka Youth League in Queensland up-to 1949 still being embargoed due to National Security concerns. Many other ASIO files of notable Australians have been released since 1996. Why not these ones? The decision makes absolutely no sense
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View attachment 738198View attachment 738199
I did at one point entertain the thought that Somerton Man may of been related to Senator R V Keane due to "He's 5'11" and his shoulder are very broad, grey eyes, receding hairline with no part" but Senator RV Keane doesn't have those distinctive genetic ears. However, I know nothing of RVK's first wife, nor his son, whom I presume was packed off to live with relatives after his first wife died. I think the Thomas Ambrose Keane from 2 Speight St Newport is RVK's son. I'm trying to find a picture of either to confirm that they didn't have the ear affliction. However if the Thomas Keane of Newport is the same Tom Keane who was thrown out of the Labor Party, and named in a 1956 Royal Commission, and was a keen tennis player for Williamstown Tennis Club then he obviously was alive and well when Somerton Man died.
However, they could be two different Tom Keane'es.
Newport Railway Workshops did have a metallurgical laboratory BTW and trained there own laboratory technicians.
(I used to work there in the early 1980's)
I hate to tell you, BlueE, but I burnt everything except GF's book ... including a copy of the paper that had the Harvey interview, although I do know you can get a copy from the archives in SA but it can only be done in person.
The one thing I noted was that Harvey described a small leather case that looked like a doctor's bag -- you know, the one with a needle -- well, a flute case is about the same size, and flutes have cleaning needles.
Then the conspirator then in me wondered why a man would book into a hotel for a few days with only that as his luggage .. and spend a couple of hours each day sitting in the lobby .. while staying elsewhere. Harvey said he didn't even take a drink, but they spoke from time to time, she was the receptionist.
The small leather case may have been his indicator, the Kensitas smokes in the Army club pack an indicator for the other man - two men, unknown to each other, in town to meet and exchange something.
Believe me, I figured it all out and wrote a book that has everything in it but the truth.
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