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[11th July, 1929. RURAL WORKERS ACCOMMODATION ACT. HIS Excellency the Governor, with the advice of the Executive Council, has been pleased to appoint the undermentioned members of the Police Force to be Inspectors to carry out the provisions of the Rural Workers Accommodation Act, Constable Ernest David Benson; Station—Tea Gardens] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Newcastle Sun - 28 August 1944 IN THE COURTS QUARTER SESSIONS (Before Judge Nleld) Leslie Walter Dixon, 25, RAAF. on three charges of breaking, entering and stealing at Woy Woy. Sergeant Benson of Woy Woy said that when the offences were committed Dixon was on leave and was drinking very heavily.] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate - 29 August 1944 Leslie walter Dixon. 25, R.A.A.F., pleaded "Guilty" to three charges of breaking, entering and stealing at Woy Woy. He was remanded for sentence Mr. J. H. Ruggero appeared for Dixon. Sergeant J. D. Benson, of Woy Woy. said Dixon was married. He was on leave, and drinking heavily, when the offences were committed. He had been 13 months in New Guinea.] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate - 26 July 1947 Robert Grainger. 17, labourer and John Ross Dunphy, 18, labourer, were each sentenced to nine months imprisonment. Sent to institution. Charged with having broken into a workshop at Ocean. Beach, on July 3rd and having stole 15/, an overcoat and other articles . Both were each committed to an institution. Sergeant Benson, of Woy Woy, said both youths were absconders from an institution at Gosford: Coleman was arrogant and insolent, he said Coleman had refused to assist the police.] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Sydney Morning Herald - 1 November 1948 BODY FOUND IN BUSH The body of Eric Joseph Watson, 43, was found yesterday in the bush at Ettalong. He had been dead for a week. Police believe that he wandered off the road, became ill and died. Watson had no fixed address. Sergeant Benson, of Woy Woy police, wishes to communicate with any relatives.] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Gosford Times and Wyong District Advocate - 25 January 1949 Magistrate Tells Driver He May Have Killed Man Public Has Been Warned Of Drunken Driving Defendant is very lucky he is not here on a major charge. Had the driver of the other truck been sitting in it he may Have been killed, said Mr A. E. Stonham, SM, at Gosford Court of Petty Sessions yesterday when he refused to give a bond to Rollo Walter Barber, a 55-year-old PMG linesman, of Railway Street, Point Clare. Barber was fined £15 and ordered to pay court costs and £4/2/- witnesses' expenses on a charge of drunken driving. Sgt Ernest David Benson, of Woy Woy Police, told the magistrate that at about 6.15 pm on October 1st last he went to the scene of an accident on the Woy Woy Waterfront Road about 200-yards on the Gosford side of the Woy Woy bridge. One truck was lying: on its side in the middle of the road and another was upside down and partly submerged in the water at the side of the road, he said. The road at this point is bounded on one side by the railway line; and on the other side by Brisbane . Water. Barber, who was lying on the side of the road, smelt strongly of liquor and when asked where he had driven the truck from he said, 'Perth'. His speech was thick and he seemed 'in a drunken daze' although he had been in a 'terrific' accident, said Sgt Benson. Dr Henry Bennett-Little, of Woy Woy, said that he asked defendant at the scene of the accident what his name was and he replied in a blurred tone of voice 'West Australia'. When asked where he lived, he said ''West Australia' and when someone said, 'Rollo, you live at Point Clare', Barber said, 'Yes, that's right. Point Clare, West Australia'. His breath smelt strongly of alcohol and his condition was consistent with a man's who had been drinking, the doctor staled.  Charles Robert Lamont, mechanic, of Pozieres Avenue, Ocean Beach, said that he had stopped his truck just prior to the accident to check his load and allow the engine to cool off. He said he heard a truck coming and got out of the way when it struck his front offside mudguard. The truck appeared to turn into his truck which was knocked into the water with the four wheels up in the air. The truck driven by defendant also turned over and the four wheels were spinning in the air, when he ran to it, witness said. Defendant was pinned in by the hand and, with others, they had to lift the truck with a pole to get him out, said Lamont. To Sgt Hill, Lamont said he was in a 'bit of a panic' at the time and that he might have imagined he smelt of alcohol. A lot of petrol was spilt nearby. Dr George M. Duncan, of Faunce Street Gosford, said that he examined Barber later in an ambulance outside his surgery. He found a contusion on his left temple and had him admitted to hospital for 24 hours. A subsequent X-ray showed a break in a wrist bone. Defendant appeared to be suffering from some degree of concussion and when spoken to would only mumble, said witness. To Sgt Hill, Dr Duncan said he thought defendant was in a semi-conscious state because of the blow on his head. Alcohol would make the unconsciousness deeper, he said. Rollo Walter Barber said he had a glass of beer at his home between 4 and 4.30 pm. He left at 4.30 to find a fault in the telephone line at South Woy Woy and was returning about 6 pm when the accident occurred. Defendant said he had lit a cigarette after he crossed the bridge. I got a coughing fit which brought tears to my eyes and blurred my vision. The truck appeared in front of me and I applied the brakes but it was too late, said Barber. The next thing, I woke in hospital at 6.10 am the following day, he said. To Mr Hickey defendant said he had been driving 20 years and had lived in West Australia until 12 years ago. Mr Hickey asked that defendant be given a bond because of his good character previously. If he lost his license he would lose his job. Mr Stonham: 'I'll not give a bond where a man gets himself in this state. They come along here and say they will lose their jobs. They do not think of the innocent life that may have been lost. People have been killed by these drivers who have been warned here and in the press. A charge of negligent driving was adjourned until February 24.] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Gosford Times and Wyong District Advocate - 15 February 1949 General Pest Gets A Gaol Sentence William Kenneth Thompson, a 35-year-old labourer, of The Boulevarde, Woy Woy, was sentenced to three months gaol with hard labour by Mr Norman Fegan, JP, at Gosford Court on Tuesday last on a charge of begging alms. Sgt E. D. Benson, of the Woy Woy Police, told Mr Fegan that at about 2.50 pm on February 7th,  he saw defendant stop a number of men outside the Bayview Hotel, Woy Woy. Witness said he heard him say, 'Give us a zack!' Some of the men gave him sixpence and others refused, said the sergeant. Sgt Benson said he then followed Thompson into Blackwall Road and saw him stop two women and ask them for money. They each gave him threepence. Witness said he then arrested defendant. Witness said Thompson was a wine drinker who was drunk practically everyday. He was always accosting people, using bad language and making a 'general nuisance' of himself. 'He does not work and drinks a 7/6 a week military pension, Sgt Benson told court. Thompson had 16 prior convictions for offensive behaviour, indecent language, resisting arrest, evading rail fares and drunkenness. A total of 23 warrants had been executed against him and 10 summonses for various offences.] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Scone Advocate - 27 October 1950 Promotions in the North-Eastern Police District announced last Friday are: Second-class Sergeant to First-class— W. J. Gleeson (Mayfield). Third-class Sergeant to Second-class— R. P. Masin (Newcastle), G. R: Hungerford (Denman), E. D. Benson (Woy Woy).] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Sydney Morning Herald - 13 March 1951 Police are searching for a Czechoslovakian botanist, Miss Vlasta Benesova, who has been missing from Pearl Beach since Saturday afternoon. Miss Benesova (who is sometimes known as Benes) broke her pelvis three weeks before Christmas, and she was warned to walk carefully as a fall might cause complications which would take 12 months to heal. Police at Woy Woy were notified only yesterday afternoon that she was missing. She has several friends in the district, and each expected her to be in communication with another. A party searched the water-front but no trace of Miss Benesova was found. She has been studying sea-weed and it is feared she may have fallen into the water and been washed to sea. She left the University Botanical Station at Pearl Beach wearing a blouse, shorts, sand-shoes and an Army oilskin coat. She carried a bottle in which to place seaweed specimens. She told the manageress of the station, Miss Crommelin, that she intended to collect seaweed and then go to Woy Woy to see a university friend, Miss Askins. Tonight Inspector H. Collins, of Newcastle, Detective R. H. Warboys, and Sergeant Benson, of Woy Woy, began inquiries. Police have organised a search party which will set out at dawn. Miss Benesova is 30, a brunette, and she speaks English with a heavy accent. A graduate of Prague University, she arrived from Paris 12 months ago to do post-graduate study at Sydney University, and she intended to return to Paris on April 5.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Gosford Times and Wyong District Advocate -29 May 1951 Launch Disaster Moving Story At Inquiry 'I was in the bank, reading, when Mr Sparks called to me to watch the seas following the launch, which was then about a hundred yards from the. channel. The launch rode one wave about 25 feet high; but this was followed closely by another big wave, curling at the top, which reached us before the boat was clear of the first wave. The boat stood almost upright on its nose and we both fell over the top of the cabin into the sea. In these words Derek Eckford, 15-year-old schoolboy, of Lorne, Maitland, described the tragedy on Thursday, May 10th , when Philip Glen Sparks, 36, of Point Frederick, Gosford, lost his life in Broken Bay at the entrance to Brisbane Water, when he was returning home in his launch after making inspections on the Hawkesburv River for the Department of Lands. Derek Eckford was giving evidence at the magisterial inquiry at Gosford and Woy Woy last Saturday morning, at the conclusion of which a finding of accidental death by drowning was returned by the District Coroner, Continuing his evidence, Eckford said: 'I swam for the bottom to keep clear of the boat and I felt Mr Sparks above me. He did not appear to be swimming because when he touched me I felt no leg or arm movements. I surfaced about ten feet away from him. 'I undressed and took off my shoes and swam over to where Mr Sparks was floating vertically, with his head above water, and making no effort of any kind. 'I asked him to take off his clothes,' stated Eckford, 'but he told me to leave him as he was done. When he made no effort to undo his belt I undid it for him and pulled his trousers undone. I asked him to kick his trousers off; but as he did not do so I went down and pulled them off. I tried to rip his sweater off; but only the neck tore and he then helped me by pulling it up over his head. I then managed to get his shirt off by tearing it. He kept asking me to go. I then tried to tow him; but he was not helping. ...He was a very big man and the big waves kept pushing us under. 'I then swam 30 yards to a small red petrol tin which I knew had a screw cap and would be airtight, making' a good float. I brought this back to him and he held the handle and put his arm over the tin and told me to go. 'When a few yards away, I noticed that he had let go and was floating near the tin. I went back and waited till it seemed that he would stick to the tin. I told him that I would try to get ashore and get help for him. 1 started to swim ashore and I did not see him again.' Eckford was washed on to the rocks after he had been floating for some time and managed to scramble above the waterline. Sergeant Benson, of Woy Woy Police, stated that the body of Mr Sparks was washed ashore at Ocean Beach on May 16 and was identified by Mr Austin Johns, dental surgeon, of Gosford. There was a tremendous sea running and a strong ebb tide at the time of the accident, stated Sergeant Benson. In returning a finding of accidental death by drowning, the District Coroner (Mr C. J. Staples) said that as Mr Sparks was a strong swimmer his inactivity in the water might be accounted for by an injury received when the launch was overturned. 'It is evident.' the Coroner said.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Sydney Morning Herald - 11 August 1952] Rifle bullets struck a passenger train as it came out of the northern end of the Woy Woy tunnel this afternoon. One bullet made a hole in a window of the leading carriage and others struck the roof of the guard's van. Police believe the bullets were fired from the top of the cutting. The bullet which hit the front carriage broke a window near the head of a passenger, but police could not find the bullet in the carriage. The guard, Mr. C. Nash, said he heard bullets hit the roof of the guard's van as the train drew away from thetunnel. The incident was reported when the train reached Woy Woy. Sergeant E. D. Benson and Sergeant H. J. Small led a search party over the hills, but could not find anybody carrying a rifle.] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Gosford Times and Wyong District Advocate - 2 September 1952 Sergeant E. D. Benson is acting officer-in-charge of the Gosford Police pending the appointment of a permanent officer to replace Inspector Blundell, who was transferred  to Newcastle. Sergeant Benson is officer-in-charge at Woy Woy.] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales - 10 October 1952  HIS Excellency the Governor, with the advice of the Executive Council, has approved of ths following appointments:— Brisbane Water.—Sergeant Ernest David Benson, stationed at Gosford, vice Inspector E. B. Elinden, and pending permanent arrangements—from 29th August, 1952.] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate - 19 January 1953] Boy Missing At Seaside. Alan Edward Jones, 6, of Homebush, NSW, has been missing from his parents' holiday home at Murray street, Booker Bay, in the Woy Way district, since 11 a.m. on Saturday. The boy, who was left with a 13-year-old sister while the parents went away for the day, is believed to have gone to the baths at Booker Bay. He was also in the habit of playing near boats and canoes. Detective W. Allen, of Gosford, with other police under Sergeant Benson, and about 80 civilians made a thorough search of the area till late yesterday, without finding the boy. The baths were dragged without success. A man driving a truck fitted with a loud speaker went through the district giving a description of the.boy. The boy is 3ft. 6m. tall, of slight build, fair complexion, very fair, straight unruly hair, blue eyes, good teeth. He was wearing a fawn open neck shirt, woolly grey and red striped jumper, with crew neck, short brown cotton trousers, and was without shoes or socks.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Gosford Times and Wyong District Advocate -20 January 1953]' BODY OF BOY FOUND AT BOOKER BAY Body of a six-year-old boy who was missing from his holiday home at Booker Bay dance Saturday, was found in the water at Riley's Wharf, Booker Bay, yesterday. Police said the body appeared to have been in the water for several days, probably; since the boy was reported missing on Saturday. The body was found at Riley's Wharf at 3.25 pm by Mr Owen L. Crisp. The drowned boy was Alan Edward Jones, of Homebush, NSW. Alan Jones was holidaying with his parents, brothers and sister in Murray Road, Booker Bay, where the Jones family, had been for a fortnight. On Saturday morning, Mr and Mrs Jones caught the 9.30am train from Woy Woy to Sydney. An hour and a half later, the boy went out, telling his 13-year-old sister, Margaret Joan, and brother Thomas, I that he was going to the baths. Experienced spear-fishermen had dived continually into the baths and water to try to locate the body. Police who organised the search and made investigations were Sergeants Benson and Ryan, and Constable Stetum, of Woy Woy Police, and Detective William Allen and Constable A. A. Pry, of Gosford Police.] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Gosford Times and Wyong District Advocate - 23 January 1953] Francis Burman, who was drowned at Pearl Beach on January 2. Barry Burman told Mr Staples he and his sister had gone to the lagoon near the Post Office at Pearl Beach. His sister, who was in ordinary street clothes, told him she was going for a swim. He told her to go home and get her swimming costume. Burman told Mr Staples he did not see his sister again until he noticed a stranger carrying her out of the water. A doctor and Ocean Beach lifesavers placed her on an Eve Rocker, and worked on her until the ambulance arrived. The doctor ordered the ambulance to take her to Gosford District Hospital. Sergeant Ernest Benson, of Woy Woy Police, and Constable Keith Allan Rhodes, also gave evidence. Mr Staples found Francis Rose Burman had been accidentally drowned.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- He was to remain here until his retirement. Ernest purchasing the Police Station in Brickwharf Road, there was some dispute about the purchase when it came to light resulting into a Police Inquiry into the purchase. Ernest was found innocence of any wrong doings. During his service at Woy Woy he was highly commended for his "good policemanship" which led to the arrest of Horace Clive ROBINSON and Alexander McDonald JOWETT for the attempted murder of Dr Reginald Stuart JONES, and also for his part in the arrests of Leslie John ENGLISH, Donald DALLAS and Walter Harry THOMAS on charges of  armed robbery committed on John ASHCROFT on 12th August 1943. Sergeant BENSON's devotion on these two occasions were the subject of a citation from the Police Commissioner, which was presented to him on his retirement from the Police Force on 30th January 1958. Ernest had served in the force for thirty five years and three months, and held the Police Long Service Medal. He also received a letter of appreciation from the Gosford Shire Council President on his service as the local police officer in charge. In 1952 Ernest was presented with an illuminated address by the Returned Services League in recognition of his services to returned servicemen. After his retirement he spent his time fishing and gardening. He gave up all strenuous activity after he suffered a heart attack. A second heart attack put him into hospital, where he was to die. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Gosford Times and Wyong District Advocate - 24 December 1953] WOMAN'S TRAGIC FINDING OF HUSBAND'S BODY A 77-year-old woman, who had been ill, looked through a window at her Booker Bay home and saw her husband hanging from a rafter. Later, a police sergeant saw chalked on the step of the workshop, where the man hangod himself, a message saying: 'Don't come In, Hennle.' He found also a note, written on blue paper, which said: 'Dearest Hennie. Forr give me, but I am useless. Can't help you, the dearest wife in all the world.' This was told to the District Coroner (Mr. C. J. Staple's) at a magisterial inquiry on Saturday into the death of James Adams Millar, 79, of Booker Bay Road, Booker Bay. CORONER'S FINDING Mr. Staples found that Millar had died from suffocation after hanging himself on November 25th. Mrs. Hughina Catherine Millar said that she had been talking to her husband and a woman friend in their dining room. Her husband was deaf and said that as he could not hear what they were saying, he would go to the verandah and read the paper. After the friend left, Mrs. Millar could not find her husband. She saw that the key to the workshop door was missing, and that the door was locked. Mrs. Millar said she look through the window and saw her husband hanging from a rafter. Sgt. E. Benson, of Woy Woy police, was called. He entered the workshop through the window and cut down the body. On the workbench he found the note Millar had left for his wife.] ---------------------------------------------------------------- [Newcastle Morning Herald ... 4th September 1946] £2160 in Woy Woy Appeal The Anti-T.B. Appeal at Woy Woy had closed with a net £2160/18/1, said Inspector MlcLeay.; of Newcastle police. Most Most of the money was raised by a princess competition. Mliss Woy Woy realised £60S/10/10, Miss Ettalong £603/4/2, Miss Umina £2401/3/10, Miss Booker Bay. £181/12/6. Miss Pearl Beach £170/6/3. Total £1810/0/7. Expenses amounted to £110, leaving a net profit of £1700/6/7. The balance was raised by other functions. Sergeant Benson and Constable Ashton were police representatives on the committee, of which Mr Minna was secretary. ---------------------------------------------------------------- [Newcastle Morning Herald ... 26th July, 1947] Robert Orainuer. 17, labourer and John Ross Dunphy, 18, labourer, were each sentenced to nine months' imprisonment. Sent to institution Charged with having broken into a workshop at Ocean. Beach, on July 3; and having stole 15/, an overcoat and other articles, the property of William John Qtigley. Towell Coleroan and Donald, both 16. were each committed to an institution.' Sergeant Benson, of Way Woy. said both youths were absconders from an institution at Gosford. Coleman was arrogant and insolent, he said Coleman had refused to assist the police. The. Officer in Charge of the Child Welfare Department at Newcastle, Mr. R. G. Snowden said his information was there as reasonable hope of McDonald improving as a result of training:- He left the institution under the influence of Coleman. ---------------------------------------------------------------- [Sydney Morning Herald ... 1st November 1948] BODY FOUND IN BUSH The body of Eric Joseph Watson, 43, was found yester-day in the bush at Ettalong. He had been dead for a week. Police believe that he wandered off the road, became ill and died. Watson had no fixed address. Sergeant Benson, of Woy Woy police, wishes to communicate with any relatives. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Gosford Times ... 25th January, 1949] Magistrate Tells Driver He May Have Killed Man 'Public Has Been Warned Of , Drunken Driving' Defendant is very lucky he is not here on a major charge. Had the driver of the other truck been sitting in it he may Have been killed, said Mr A. E. Stonham, SM, at Gosford Court of Petty Sessions yesterday when he refused to give a bond to Rollo Walter Barber, a 55-year-old PMG linesman, of Railway Street, Point Clare. Barber was fined £15 and ordered to pay 10/ court costs and £4/2/- witnesses' expenses on a charge of drunken driving. Sgt Ernest David Benson, of: Woy Woy Police, told the magistrate that at about 6.15 pm on October 11th last he went to the scene of an accident on the Woy Woy Waterfront Road about 200 yards on the Gosford side of the Woy Woy bridge. One truck was lying on it's side in the middle of the road and another was upside down and partly submerged in the water at the side of the road, he said. The road at this point is bounded on one side by the railway line; and on the other side by Brisbane  Water. Barber, who was lying on the side of the road, smelt strongly of liquor and when asked where he had driven the truck from he said,'Perth'. His speech was thick and he seemed 'in a drunken daze' although he had been in a 'terrific' accident, said Sgt Benson. Dr Henry Bennett-Little, of Woy Woy, said that he asked defendant at the scene of the accident what his name was and he replied in a blurred tone of voice 'West Australia'. When asked where he lived, he said ''West Australia' and when someone said, 'Rollo, you live at Point Clare', Barber said, 'Yes, that's right. Point Clare, West Australia'. His breath smelt strongly of alcohol and his condition was consistent with a man's who had been drinking, the doctor staled. Charles Robert Lamont, mechanic, of Pozieres Avenue, Ocean Beach, said that he had stopped his truck just prior to the accident to check his load and allow the engine to cool off. He said he heard a truck coming and got out of the way when it struck his front offside mudguard. The truck appeared to turn into his truck which was knocked into the water with the four wheels up in the air. The truck driven by defendant also turned over and the four wheels were spinning in the air, when he ran to it, witness said. Defendant was pinned in by the hand and, with others, they had to lift the truck with a pole to get him out, said Lamont. To Sgt Hill, Lamont said he was in a 'bit of a panic' at the time and that he might have imagined he smelt of alcohol. A lot of petrol was spilt nearby. Dr George M. Duncan, of Faunce Street Gosford, said that he examined Barber later in an ambulance outside his surgery. He found a contusion on his left temple and had him admitted to hospital for 24 hours. A subsequent X-ray showed a break in a wrist bone. Defendant appeared to be suffering from some degree of concussion and when spoken to would only mumble, said witness. To Sgt Hill, Dr Duncan said he thought defendant was in a semi-conscious state because of the blow on his head. Alcohol would make the unconsciousness deeper, he said. Rollo Walter Barber said he had a glass of beer at his home between 4 and 4.30 pm. He left at 4.30 to find a fault in the telephone line at South Woy Woy and was returning about 6 pm when the accident occurred. Defendant said he had lit a cigarette after he crossed the bridge. I got a coughing fit which brought tears to my eyes and blurred my vision. The truck appeared in front of me and I applied the brakes but it was too late, said Barber. 'The next thing, I woke in hospital at 6.10 am the following day', he said. To Mr Hickey defendant said he had been driving 20 years and had lived in West Australia until 12 years ago. Mr Hickey asked that defendant be given a bond because of his good character previously. If he lost his license he would lose his job. Mr Stonham: 'I'll not give a bond where a man gets himself in this state. They come along here and say they will lose their jobs. They do not think of the innocent life that may have been lost. 'People have been killed by these drivers who have been warned here and in the press'. A charge of negligent driving was adjourned until February 24. Mr A. D. Hickey for defendant ---------------------------------------------------------------- [Gosford Times ... 15th February 1949] William Kenneth Thompson, a 35-year-old labourer, of The Boulevarde, Woy Woy, was sentenced to three months gaol with hard labour by Mr Norman Fegan, JP, at Gosford Court on Tuesday last on a charge of begging alms. Sgt E. D. Benson, of the Woy Woy Police, told Mr Fegan that at about 2.50 pm on February 7 he saw defendant stop a number of men outside the Bayview Hotel, Woy Woy. Witness said he heard him say, 'Give us a zack!'  Some of the men gave him sixpence and others refused, said the sergeant. Sgt Benson said he then followed Thompson into Blackwall Road and saw him stop two women and ask them for money. They each gave him threepence. Witness said he then arrested defendant. Witness said Thompson was a wine drinker who was drunk practically every day. He was always accosting people, using bad language and making a 'general nuisance' of himself. 'He does not work and drinks a 7/6 a week military pension, Sgt Benson told court. Thompson had 16 prior convictions for offensive behaviour, indecent language, resisting arrest, evading rail fares and drunkenness. A total of 23 warrants had been executed against him and 10 summonses for various offences. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Newcastle Sun ... 6th October 1950] Northern Police Promotions Police promotions in the North -Eastern Police District announced today are: Scondclass sergeant to first class, W. J. Gleeson (Mayfield). Third class sergeant to second, R. P. Mason (Newcastle). G. R. Hungerford (Denman), E. D. Benson (Woy Woy); senior constables to sergeant third class, E. A. Francis (Pt. Macquarie) , H. W. Meredith (Wallend); constables first class to senior constable, L. W. Beuzeville (Gloucester), G. E. Godfrey (Swansea). ---------------------------------------------------------------- [Sydney Morning Herald - 13 March 1951] Police Search For Czech Woman Scientist At Woy Woy WOY WOY, Monday. -Police are searching for a Czechoslovakian botanist, Miss Vlasta Benesova, who has been missing from Pearl Beach since Saturday afternoon. Miss Benesova (who is sometimes known as Benes) broke her pelvis three weeks before Christmas, and she was warned to walk carefully as a fall might cause complications which would take 12 months to heal. Police at Woy Woy were notified only yesterday afternoon that she was missing. She has several friends in the district, and each expected her to be in communication with another. A party searched the waterfront but no trace of Miss Benesova was found. She has been studying sea-weed and it is feared she may have fallen into the water and been washed to sea. She left the University Botanical Station at Pearl Beach wearing a blouse, shorts, sand-shoes and an Army oilskin coat. She carried a bottle in which to place seaweed specimens. She told the manageress of the station, Miss Crommelin, that she intended to collect seaweed and then go to Woy Woy to see a university friend, Miss Askins. To-night Inspector H. Collins, of Newcastle, Detective R. H. Warboys, and Sergeant Benson, of Woy Woy, began inquiries. Police have organised a search party which will set out at dawn. Miss Benesova is 30, a brunette, and she speaks English with a heavy accent. A graduate of Prague University, she arrived from Paris 12 months ago to do post- graduate study at Sydney University, and she intended to return to Paris on April 5. --------------------------------------------------------------------- [Gosford Times ... 13th March 1951] Fifty civilians and police set out this morning to search the rugged country near Pearl Beach for a 30-year-old Sydney University botany teacher who has been missing since Saturday. The teacher, Miss Vlasta Beresova, left the University research station near Pearl Beach about 1.30 pm on Saturday to look for seaweed specimens. She was wearing a blouse, shorts, sandshoes, and a raincoat. Miss Benesova told Miss M. Crommelan, of the research station, on Saturday that she intended to go to Woy Woy to meet a friend after collecting the seaweed specimens. Police were notified yesterday that she was missing. Inspector H. Collins, of Newcastle police, and Sergeant E. Benson, of Woy Woy, are in charge of inquiries. Detective-constable R. H. Worboys, of Gosford police, is assisting in the search. Miss Benesova came from Czechoslovakia 18 months ago to continue her studies. She planned to return to Paris University next month. Miss Benesova broke a pelvic bone in an accident before Christmas. She had been warned to walk carefully to avoid complications. Pearl Beach residents said this morning that the country between the research station and the sea was extremely rough. It would be easy, they said, for anyone not knowing the locality to get lost. There are a number of ravines in the area. The search party is concentrating on the area between the research station and the ocean. --------------------------------------------------------------------- [Gosford Times ... 29th May 1951] Boy's Bravery In Tragic Launch Disaster Moving Story At Inquiry I was in the bunk, reading, when Mr Sparks called to me to watch the seas following the launch, which was then about a hundred yards from the. channel. The launch rode one wave about 25 feet high; but this was followed closely by another big wave, curling at the top, which reached us before the boat was clear of the first wave. The boat stood almost upright on its nose and we both fell over the top of the cabin into the sea. In these words Derek Eckford, 15-year-old schoolboy, of Lorne, Maitland, described the tragedy on Thnrsday, May 10, when Philip Glen Sparks, 36, of Enlalie Avenue, Point Frederick, Gosford, lost his life in Broken Bay at the entrance to Brisbane Water, when he was returning home in his launch after making inspections on the Hawkesburv River for the Department of Lands. Derek Eckford was giving evidence at the magisterial inquiry at Gosford and Woy Woy last Saturday morning, at the conclusion of which, a. ...finding of accidental death 'by drowning was , returned by the District Coroner, Continuing his' evidence, Eckford  said: I swam for the bottom to keep clear of the boat  I felt Mr 'Sparks above me. He did not appear to be swimming because when he touched me I felt no leg or arm movements. I surfaced about ten feet away from him. I undressed and took off my shoes and swam over to where Mr Sparks was floating vertically, with his head above water, and making no effort of any kind. I asked him to take off his clothes,'stated Eckford, but he told me to leave him as he was done. When he made no effort to undo his belt I undid it for him and pulled his trousers undone. I asked him to kick his trousers off; but as he did not do so I went down and pulled them off. I tried to rip his sweater off; but only the neck tore and he then helped me by pulling it up over his head. I then managed to get his shirt off by tearing it. He kept asking me to go. I then tried to tow him; but he was not helping. ...He was a very big man and the big waves kept pushing us under. I then swam 30 yards to a small red petrol tin which I knew had a screw cap and would be airtight, making a good float. I brought this back to him and he held the handle and put his arm over the tin and told me to go. When a few yards away, I noticed that he had let go and was floating near the tin. I went back and waited till it seemed that he would stick to the tin. I told him that I would try to get ashore and get help for him. I started to swim ashore and I did not see him again. Eckford was washed on to the rocks after he had been floating for some time and managed to scramble above the water-line. Sergeant Benson, of Woy Woy Police, stated that the body of Mr Sparks was washed ashore at Ocean Beach on May 16 and was identified by Mi- Austin Johns, dental surgeon, of Gosford. There was a tremendous sea running and a strong ebb tide at the time of the accident, stated Sergeant Benson. In returning a finding of accidental death by drowning, the District Coroner (Mr C. J. Staples) said that as Mr Sparks was a strong swimmer his inactivity in the water might be accounted for by an injury received when the launch was overturned. It is evident.' the Coroner continued, that young Eckford did everything in his power to help Mr Sparks. No-one could have done more. Few could or would' have done as much. The concert and dance arranged in the Kincumber Hall for Saturday, June /2, has been postponed . because Reg SmIth is unable to attend. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [Sydney Morning Herald ... 11th August 1952] Rifle bullets struck a passenger train as it came out of the northern end of the Woy Woy tunnel this afternoon. One bullet made a hole in a window of the leading car-riage and others struck the roof of the guard's van. Police believe the bullets were fired from the top of the cutting. The bullet which hit the front carriage broke a window near the head of a passenger, but police could not find the bullet in the carriage. The guard, Mr. C. Nash, said he heard bullets hit the roof of the guard's van as the train drew away from the tunnel. The incident was reported when the train reached Woy Woy. Sergeant E. D. Benson and Sergeant H. J. Small led a search party over the hills, bul could not find anybody carrying a rifle. -------------------------------------------------------------------- [Gosford Times ... 2nd September 1952] Sergeant E. D. Benson is acting officer-in-charge of the Gosford Police pending the appointment of a permanent officer to replace Inspector Blundell, who was transferred to Newcastle. Sergeant Benson is  officer-in-charge at Woy Woy. -------------------------------------------------------------------- [Sydney Sun ... 3rd October 1952] Six attempts to wreck goods and passenger trains in the Gosford area were made last night. A passenger train and two goods trains hit obstructions, and patrolling fettlers found sleepers blocking the line at several other points. Traffic on one of the busiest sections of line in the State was slowed for hours while railwaymen checked the lines for other sabotage attempts, but normal running was resumed early today. Police are combing the coastal area around Gosford for the would-be wreckers. In Newcastle. Supt. J. Swasbrick conferred with Railway District Superintendent C. L. Juchau, and all train crews leaving Newcastle were given written instructions to exercise "utmost vigilance." Crews leaving Sydney were also alerted. "Work of maniac" Mr. Juchau said later, "These obstructions were not placed on the line accidentally." A sharp watch is being kept for a green utility truck seen to speed away after a goods train hit sleepers near Ourimbah. six miles north of Gosford. First wrecking attempt was discovered when a diesel goods ran into a pile of sleepers and two short steel posts just south of Gosford railway station shortly after 7 pm yesterday. The train was travelling slowly and was not damaged, but a moment later the engine-driver found another pile of sleepers blocking the other line. Then a slow-moving passenger train, due to arrive at Gosford from Sydney at 8.20 pm. hit two sleepers and carried them about 100 yards. The train was not damaged. Shortly after 2 am, a northbound goods train struck the Ourimbah obstruction. After the first block was reported, Gosford railway officials called out police and fettlers to patrol the 19 miles of line between Woy Woy and Wyong. They found another pile of sleepers across the line a mile north of. Gosford and two sleepers jammed in a guard rail on the opposite line.Among Among trains which passed the affected section last night were the Brisbane Limited Express, the Brisbane Express, the North Coast, Kempsey and Glen Innes mails. Police Inspector J. Raynor (Newcastle) took charge of the investigation. Assisting him are Det.-Sgt. J. Duffell. Dets. P. Cahill, E. Mitchell, A. Whitelaw and J. Douglas (Newcastle), and Sgt. Benson and Det. E. Cox (Gosford). Later Det. Behrens (CIB) and a number of railways investigation officers left Sydney for the scene. -------------------------------------------------------------------- [Sydney Morning Herald ... 29th December 1952] When a report was received tonight that two boys were clinging to an upturned canoe in rough seas between Ocean Beach and Lion Island, more than a score of members of the Ocean Beach Sutf Club went out on surf skis They were followed by Sergeant Benson and other police in a launch They searched the area unsuccessfully for about three hours The surf club members will go out at dawn to make a further search. -------------------------------------------------------------------- [Newcastle Morning Herald ... 19th January 1952] Boy Missing At Seaside. Alan Edward Jones, 6, of Couralli-avenue, Homebush, has been missing from his parents' holiday home at Murray street, Booker Bay, in the Woy Woy district, since 11 a.m. on Saturday. The boy, who was left with a 13-year-old sister while the parents went away for the day, is believed to have gone to the baths at Booker Bay. He was also in .the habit of playing near boats and canoes. Detective W. Allen, of Gosford, with other police under Sergeant Benson, and about 80 civilians made a thorough search of the area till late yesterday, without finding the boy. The baths were dragged without success. A man driving a truck fitted with a loud speaker went through the district giving a description of the.boy. The boy is 3ft. 6m. tall, of slight build, fair complexion, very fair, straight unruly hair, blue eyes, good teeth. He was wearing a fawn open neck shirt, woolly grey and red striped jumper, with crew neck, short brown cotton trousers, and was without shoes or socks. -------------------------------------------------------------------- [Gosford Times ... 20th January 1953] BODY OF BOY FOUND AT BOOKER BAY Body of a six-year-old boy who was missing from his holiday home at Booker Bay since Saturday, was found in the water at Riley's Wharf, Booker Bay, yesterday. Police said the body appeared to have been in the water for several days, probably; since the boy was reported missing on Saturday. The body was found at Riley's Wharf at 3.25 pm by' Mr Owen L. Crisp. The drowned boy was Alan Edward Jones, of  Homebush. Alan Jones was holidaying with his parents, brothers and sister in Murray Road, Booker Bay, where the Jones family, had been for a fortnight. On Saturday morning, Mr and Mrs Jones caught the 9.30; am train from Woy Woy to: Sydney. An hour and a half later, the boy went out, telling his 13-year-old sister, Margaret Joan, and brother Thomas, that he was going to the baths. Experienced spear-fishermen ! had dived continually into thei baths and water to try to! locate the body. Police who organised the search and made investigations were Sergeants Benson and Ryan, and Constable Stetum, of Woy Woy Police, and Dectective William Allen smd Constable A. A. Pry, of Gosford Police. -------------------------------------------------------------------- [Gosford Times ... 23rd January, 1953] YOUNG GIRL WAS POOR SWIMMER Eight-year-old Francis Rose Burman. had been a poor swimmer and could only 'dog paddle,' her brother, Barry Cronin Paul Burman. told Gosford Coroner, Mr C. ?I. Staples, on Saturday. Barry Burman, who is 16, was giving evidence at a Magistrates Court of his sister, Francis Burman, who was drowned at Pearl Beach on January 2. Barry Burman told Mr Staples he and his sister had gone to the lagoon near the Post Office at Pearl Beach. His sister, who was in ordinary street clothes, told him she was going for a swim. He told her to go home and get her swimming costume. Burman told Mr Staples he did not see his sister again until he noticed a stranger carrying her out of the water. A doctor and Ocean Beach iifesavers placed her on an Eve Rocker, and worked on her until the ambulance arrived. The doctor ordered the ambulance to take her to Gosford District Hospital.  Sergeant Ernest Benson, of Woy Woy Police, and Constable Keith Allan Rhodes, also gave evidence.Mr Staples found Francis Rose Burman had been accidentally drowned. --------------------------------------------------------------------- [Gosford Times ... 7th August 1953] Father Drank When Daughter Killed A 39-year-old salesman suffering from war neurosis took heavily to drink and almost became an alcoholic after his daughter fell from a balcony and was killed, Woy Woy Court was told yesterday. Solicitor Mr. A. G. Brindley, said when appearing for Ronald Armstrong, of Heme Bay, who was charged with having driven under the influence of Intoxicating Honor at Ettalong on October 20, 195L Mr. Brlndley said a marked change had come over Armstrong 18 months ago, and since then he had not touched any liquor. In spite of his record, this man has made a very sincere, and successful, endeavor to rehabilitate himself,' he said. Five years had elapsed since Armstrong had last been convicted. Mr. English said he could not extend the provisions of Section 556A of the Crimes Act, owing to Armstrong's record. He fined Armstrong £10. The fine carries an automatic disqualification from driving for a year. Armstrong later lodged an appeal. Sgt. Benson, of Woy Woy, police, said Armstrong was driving a car about 20 mph at 12.40 pm on October 20, 1951, and when about to turn, swerved to the left, went on to the footpath and struck a pole. Armstrong appeared very excited and smelled of liquor. He was moderately under the influence, said Sgt Benson. He had had four 'middies,' he said, and that he swerved to avoid a small I child who ran across the road. |Sgt. Benson made inquiries but found no one who had I seen the child cross the road. Prosecutor, Sgt. V. Taylor, j said Armstrong had absconded from bail, and had also failed to appear at a court in Victoria. He had been convicted on other motoring offences, and was known on many charges of dishonesty. Mr. Brindley said Armstrong did not answer bail ; because he had been moving from house to house, and as his wife was in an advanced stage of pregnancy, he went to Adelaide to get work and accommodation. Armstrong, married, with six children, was a returned soldier who served in the Middle East, was discharged on medical grounds, and later re-enlisted and served in the Middle East and New Guinea. He was discharged with war neurosis. His excuse for drinking on the day of the offence was that he met a friend from Adelaide and had a few drinks with him. Mr. Brindley said Armstrong had been driving for 20 years, and was now working as a salesman. For the job he used the car, for which he was paying £33 a month, besides keeping his family. Imposing the fine, Mr. English said that it was a serious offence, and there were no extenuating circumstances. -------------------------------------------------------------------- [Gosford Times ... 11th December 1953] Bushfires destroyed a house and boatshed and three boats at Pearl Beach and threatened a house and orchard at Kariong on Wednesday. About 150 people turned out to fight the Pearl Beach fire, which burnt out a great deal of bush on the outskirts of the township. No one was injured in the fires. The party fought the blaze for four hours before the threat was removed from the township. The fire was still blaz-ing on the headlands yesterday, but a change in the direction of the wind prevented it from return-ing to the inhabited area. Members of the Volunteer Bush Brigade kept watch all Wednesday night, for fear that another change of wind should renew the danger. At Kariong, a fire raged for three hours on bush-land and property skirting Woy Woy Road, and threatened the home of Mr. Wakefield, a Kariong Orchardist. Mr. P. J. Parry, captain of Kariong Bushfire Brigade and owner of 'Floralands,' his sons Geoffrey and Colin, and Mr. Wakefield, fought the fire with knapsack sprays. The 150 who fought the Pearl Beach fire included Woy Woy police, residents, tourists, and employees of the PMG Department, Brisbane Water County Council and Gosford Shire Council, who were working in the area. When Woy Woy police were notified of the fire, Sgt. Benson obtained the loan of a coach which tour-ed Woy Woy, picking up volunteer firefighters. Newly-elected Cr. Bruce Hanks, of Woy Woy, also toured the town in his car, and drove a party of volun-teers to the fire. The fire was discovered about noon, and the fighters had it under control and away from the township, where there are about 400 homes, by 4 pm. Bushfire Brigade members then kept watch. Other volunteers were able to leave. The house which was destroyed was unoccupied, and had been damaged a few weeks ago by the tornado which hit the Central Coast. TWO VJs GO The boats destroyed were a dinghy and two VJs. Woy Woy police yester-day had not been able to ascertain the owners of the property. Police believe that the fire began in a backyard of an unoccupied house. The fire at Kariong was fanned by a strong westerly wind and burnt-out about 20 acres. Mr. Wakefield's home was threatened, and some of the citrus trees in his orchard were badly scorched. Mr. Parry said: 'Fight-ing bushfires is made doubly difficult by the heaps of rubbish, rags, tyres and other litter that people dump alongside the roads. ------------------------------------------------------------------- [Gosford Times ... 24th December 1953] ACCIDENTAL DROWNING A finding of accidental drowning was returned by the District Coroner (Mr. C. J. Staples) at a Woy Woy magisterial inquiry Into the death of Edward Thomas Steel, labourer, of Tenth Street, Mascot. Evidence was given tnat Sgt E. Benson, of Woy Woy police, found Steel's body floating in Woy Woy Bay, on November 9. It was believed that Steel was drowned on the evening of November 6, when he was last seen alighting from a ferry at a private wharf by the ferry proprietor, Eric Wilson. Steel was under the Influence of intoxicating liquor when he travelled on the ferry, Mr. Wilson said. Sgt. Benson visited the wharf where Edward Steel lad alighted, and found his body in the water. -------------------------------------------------------------------- [Gosford Times .... 24th December 1953] WOMAN'S TRAGIC FINDING OF HUSBAND'S BODY A 77-year-old woman, who had been ill, looked through a window at her Booker Bay home and saw her husband hanging from a rafter. Later, a police sergeant saw chalked on the step of the workshop, where the man hanged himself, a message saying: 'Don't come In, Hennle.' He found also a note, written on blue paper, which said: 'Dearest Hennie. Forr give me, but I am useless. Can't help you, the dearest wife in all the world.' This was told to the District Coroner (Mr. C. J. Staple's) at a magisterial inquiry on Saturday into the death of James Adams Millar, 79, of Booker Bay Road, Booker Bay. Mr. Staples found that Millar had died from suffocation after hanging himself on November 25. Mrs. Hughina Catherine Millar said that she had been talking to her husband and a woman friend in their dining room. Her husband was deaf and said that as he could not hear what they were saying, he would go to the verandah and read the paper. After the friend left, Mrs. Millar could not find her husband. She saw that the key to the workshop door was missing, and that the door was locked. Mrs. Millar said she looked through the window and saw her husband hanging from a rafter. Sgt. E. Benson, of Woy Woy police, was called. He entered the workshop through the window and cut down the body. On the workbench he found the note Millar had left for his wife. -------------------------------------------------------------------- [Gosford Times ... 15th January 1954] A man who had begged in The Boulevarde, Woy Woy, on January 2, was sentenced to six months' hard labour at Woy Woy Court last week. He is William Kenneth Thompson, 45, labourer, of The Boulevarde, Woy Woy. Thompson was also fined £5, in default 10 day's hard labour, for having used indecent language, and a further £2, or four days, for having resisted Sgt. W. H. Ryan, of Woy Woy police. All the offences took place about 3 pm. Prosecutor (Sgt V. Taylor) said that, Thompson had a long history for various offences dating back to 1924. At Gosford in May last year, Sgt. Taylor added. Thompson had been sentenced to 14 days' hard labour for having begged, and at Woy Woy, a sentence of three months' hard labour had been passed for a similar offence. Obtained 1/Sgt. Ryan said that Thompson had obtained 6d. from each of two men by begging on January 2, and when warned of arrest, he had used indecent language. Thompson struggled violently with Sgt. Ryan, and Sgt. E. D. Benson was called to assist him. Sgt. Ryan said that Thompson was under the influence of drink at the time. He had been drinking constantly since being released from goal four months before, Sgt. Ryan added. -------------------------------------------------------------------