Colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

 Francis Edward de Groot (24 October 1888 - 1 April 1969) holds a notorious place in Australian history

History of Australia

The History of Australia refers to the history of the area and people of Commonwealth of Australia and its preceding Indigenous and colonial societies. Aboriginal Australians are believed to have first arrived on the Australian mainland by boat from the Indonesian archipelago between 40,000 to...

 for his high-profile upstaging of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

 Premier Jack Lang

Jack Lang (Australian politician)

John Thomas Lang , usually referred to as J.T. Lang during his career, and familiarly known as "Jack" and nicknamed "The Big Fella" was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales for two terms...

 at the official opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge

Sydney Harbour Bridge

The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge across Sydney Harbour that carries rail, vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district and the North Shore. The dramatic view of the bridge, the harbour, and the nearby Sydney Opera House is an iconic...

 in 1932.

Life

Francis de Groot was born and died in Dublin, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. He served in the 15th Hussars on the western front in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, where he was awarded a ceremonial sword. Moving to Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, he was an antique dealer and furniture manufacturer in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

. One of his clients was the Governor-General

Governor-General

A Governor-General, is a vice-regal person of a monarch in an independent realm or a major colonial circonscription. Depending on the political arrangement of the territory, a Governor General can be a governor of high rank, or a principal governor ranking above "ordinary" governors.- Current uses...

 Sir Isaac Isaacs

Isaac Isaacs

Sir Isaac Alfred Isaacs GCB GCMG KC was an Australian judge and politician, was the third Chief Justice of Australia, ninth Governor-General of Australia and the first born in Australia to occupy that post. He is the only person ever to have held both positions of Chief Justice of Australia and...

, for whom he made a ceremonial chair. He joined a right-wing paramilitary organisation called the New Guard

New Guard

The New Guard was a fascist movement in Australia formed in 1931. It was opposed to communism and democracy, called for class collaboration to replace class conflict, and engaged in street fighting against opponents and in plans for a coup d'etat against the Australian government...

, which was politically opposed to the rather more left-wing government of the Premier, Jack Lang

Jack Lang (Australian politician)

John Thomas Lang , usually referred to as J.T. Lang during his career, and familiarly known as "Jack" and nicknamed "The Big Fella" was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales for two terms...

.

He became famous when on 19 March 1932, he upstaged Lang at the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge

Sydney Harbour Bridge

The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge across Sydney Harbour that carries rail, vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district and the North Shore. The dramatic view of the bridge, the harbour, and the nearby Sydney Opera House is an iconic...

. He was not a member of the official party, but dressed in his military uniform he was able to blend in with other soldiers on horseback who were guarding the dignitaries. Lang was about to cut the ribbon to formally open the bridge, when de Groot rode forward, drew his ceremonial sword and, reaching down from his mount, flamboyantly slashed the ribbon, declaring the bridge open "in the name of the decent and respectable people of New South Wales."

He said this was in protest that the Governor of New South Wales

Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

, Sir Philip Game

Philip Game

Air Vice-Marshal Sir Philip Woolcott Game GCB, GCVO, GBE, KCMG, DSO was a British Royal Air Force commander, who later served as Governor of New South Wales and Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis...

, had not been invited to perform the ceremony. The Mayor of North Sydney, Alderman Primrose, an official participant at the opening ceremony, was also a member of the New Guard, but whether he was involved in planning de Groot's act is unknown.

De Groot was arrested, and his ceremonial sword confiscated. He was sent to the Reception House, but legal intervention by Superintendent Bill Mackay soon had him released. According to Mackay, De Groot would not be gaoled because he deemed him to be "clinically insane". He was later charged in the Supreme Court with carrying a cutting weapon, but when he was able to show that he was an officer in the military reserve and entitled to wear his uniform, which included his sword, that was soon dropped. Then he was charged with offensive behaviour. At the time this charge only applied to public property, and the law case then depended on whether the unopened bridge was public or private land. If private land, the charge had to fail, and if public, it meant that the road across the bridge was part of the King's highway, and under common law any of His Majesty's subjects was entitled to remove any obstacle, including ribbons, barring free progress along the King's Highway. In the end the court fined him £5 for trespassing. A large part of the plan to humiliate Lang was for all of de Groot's acts to be legal.

After the court case he sued for wrongful arrest on the grounds that a police officer had no right to arrest an officer of the Hussars. An out-of-court settlement was reached, and de Groot's ceremonial sword was returned to him. He later returned to Ireland where he died.

Before his death, de Groot indicated he would like to see the sword returned to Australia. In 2004, the sword was found on a farm in County Wicklow

County Wicklow

County Wicklow is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Wicklow, which derives from the Old Norse name Víkingalág or Wykynlo. Wicklow County Council is the local authority for the county...

, in the possession of de Groot's nephew. Plans were announced to have it valued and returned to Australia, possibly as a display at the National Museum of Australia

National Museum of Australia

The National Museum of Australia was formally established by the National Museum of Australia Act 1980. The National Museum preserves and interprets Australia's social history, exploring the key issues, people and events that have shaped the nation....

. However, the Museum was outbid by the owner of the business that conducts tours of the bridge.

The horse ridden by de Groot at the opening ceremony was a 16.5-hand chestnut named "Mick". The horse belonged to a Turramurra

Turramurra, New South Wales

Turramurra is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Turramurra is located north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council...

 schoolgirl, Margo Wishart, and was borrowed by the leader of the New Guard, Eric Campbell, from her father. The horse, which was returned to its owner after de Groot's escapade, lived to an old age.

Sources

• In the Name of Decent Citizens: The Trials of Frank de Groot by Brian Wright, ABC Books, Sydney 2006.
• Francis De Groot: Irish Fascist Australian Legend by Andrew Moore
  Andrew Moore (historian)
  Dr Andrew Moore is an Australian historian and academic, a specialist in Australian right-wing politics. He has taught at the University of Sydney, The University of New South Wales, England's University of Lincoln and the University of Western Sydney...
  
  , ABC Books, Sydney 2005.

External links

• Biography of Francis de Groot published by the Federation Press.
• Witness to the ribbon cutting Olive Riley gives her recollection of the event, of de Groot and Jack Lang.
• Sydney Morning Herald Mystery solved: De Groot's sword to cut a dash again