Today is the National Police Remembrance Day. Each year, on September 29, vigils, services and marches are held nationally to commemorate National Police Remembrance Day to remember and honour all police officers who have been killed in the line of duty, and also remember and honour officers whose death did not occur as a consequence of their duty. Last month, August 2023, the Queensland Police Museum applied for the name of Billy Esldale to be added to the Queensland Police Honour Roll, based on this research.
Recently, I received a long awaited letter notifying me that I was elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (UK). The Council elected me a Fellow in recognition of my contribution to historical scholarship. Founded in 1868, the Royal Historical Society (RHS) is a successful learned society, membership organisation and charity with a 150 year history. Today, the RHS is the UK’s foremost society working for historians and history.
Following a bloody affray during an arrest, the Brisbane Courier described Sergeant McDonald as ‘an old Crimean warrior, having taken part in the three great battles of Alma, Balaclava, Inkermann, and the final assault on Sebastopol. In proof of this he now wears with his ordinary uniform the medals and clasps he received for services in that campaign, and also the Victorian Cross, as a special mark of distinction commemorative of his bravery in an incidental collision with the Russians’