Honouring police who died at Stringybark Creek

Police members, veterans, descendants and the local community came together at Mansfield Cemetery last Friday for the rededication of the headstones of police officers Kennedy, Scanlan and Lonigan, killed in an ambush by the infamous Kelly Gang almost 150 years ago. The strains of bagpipes filled the air as a lone piper walked from each grave. Wreaths were laid in memory of Sergeant Michael Kennedy and Constables Michael Scanlan and Thomas Lonigan. The fourth member and sole survivor of the police party, Constable Thomas McIntyre, escaped the Kelly Gang on horseback and raised the alarm in Mansfield. Senior police chaplain Jim Jung delivered the rededication and noted the previous rededication in October 2013, when restoration work was carried out on the police graves. The latest restoration work was made possible through the efforts of Police Veterans Victoria and donations towards its police memorial graves project. Mr Jung spoke of the 178 Victoria Police members who have died in the line of duty and are remembered on the Honour Roll at the Police Academy Chapel in Glen Waverley, close to the eternal flame. “We promise to never forget the service they gave to our community and are fulfilling that promise to their families today,” Mr Jung said. Leading Senior Constable Michelle Stevens described how she came to be the local “self-appointed caretaker” of the graves. Joining the police force 22 years ago, with the last 12 stationed in Mansfield, she said it was a privilege to speak at the rededication and that she had come to “feel a very personal sense of responsibility for these graves”. “I was first introduced to these graves when I was still new to Mansfield. “On one of my first van shifts with Leading Senior Constable Richard Cameron, he brought me to this cemetery. “He was very knowledgeable about Victoria Police history, and I had studied and taught history before joining the police force,” Leading Senior Constable Stevens said. “All three graves had weeds growing on them and spiders making mansions,” she recalled. “Looking after these graves is about making sure that these three men do not simply become names from a distant historical event or supporting characters in the larger story that has grown around Ned Kelly,” she said. “One of the challenges with this part of history is that Ned Kelly has become one of the most famous figures in Australian history. “But sometimes, when a story becomes that famous, the people around it can disappear into the background. “Kennedy, Lonigan and Scanlan deserve better than that,” Leading Senior Constable Stevens said. “They deserve to be remembered not simply for the manner of their deaths. “But for the service that came before it, and the families and communities who were left behind.” The restoration work is a visible reminder that these men still matter and that their story will continue as part of Mansfield and Victoria Police history, she said. The great-grandson of Sergeant Kennedy, Leo Kennedy, shared his family memories as one of eight children and the ritual their father Frank had of regularly visiting the Stringybark Creek site, driving past the Mansfield police house, the police monument and the three police graves. “My Dad told us another part of the story,” Mr Kennedy said. “This was a family tragedy,” he said. Mr Kennedy is co-author, with Mic Looby, of Black Snake – The Real Story of Ned Kelly, published in 2018, which he said will be updated for release in 2028. The service concluded with the Police Ode and an address about the broader police graves restoration project.