AN HONOURABLE FAMILY CONNECTION Long before Senior Sergeant Michael Morris pulled on the blue uniform, a connection to the policing world was already deeply rooted in his family. “Growing up, my grandmother was always telling me that I should join Victoria Police because my grandfather and great uncle were both brilliant policemen,” Sen Sgt Morris said. “As a teenager, I was a bit dismissive of this and didn’t quite understand their dedication to the job.” When Sen Sgt Morris was 19, he decided to join the force, and it was during the recruitment process that he learnt more about his family’s policing history. “When I was going through the Academy and my early training, my grandmother would tell me many stories about my grandfather and her brother, my great uncle, and their years in the job,” he said. One story that Sen Sgt Morris heard a lot was when his great uncle, First Constable George Willis, rescued a young boy who had fallen down a mine shaft in Ballarat. “George was awarded a highly commended certificate and Royal Humane Society Bronze Medal in recognition of his actions during the rescue, which saved the boy’s life,” Sen Sgt Morris said. It was on 26 May 1941 that Const Willis was called to a disused mine shaft in Ballarat after eight-year-old Graeme Dowling had fallen down it.
Graeme had landed on a false bottom — a small ledge formed by some of the top sections of soil collapsing and getting caught on the sides of the shaft as it fell — about 14 meters from the surface. He had miraculously avoided plummeting to the very bottom of the mine shaft, estimated to be about 92 meters deep. Const Willis arrived at the scene, along with two other police officers and a member of the local fire brigade, and quickly volunteered to go down the shaft to get the young boy. Using rope tied to a nearby tree and a belt around him, the other officers lowered the constable down the mine shaft. When Const Willis reached Graeme, who was unconscious, he knew he had to work quickly to get out before the small ledge collapsed. Tying another rope around the boy, the two were then pulled out of the shaft. Const Willis’ actions may have saved the boy’s life, but they ultimately ended up taking his own. Shortly after the incident, Const Willis started to become increasingly unwell, quickly losing his hair and becoming very aged in appearance. “My grandmother always told us how strange it was that he so quickly began to look like a frail old man, as he had been a very fit and active person,” Sen Sgt Morris said. “He was an exceptional athlete and had placed third in the Stawell Gift only a few years before the mine shaft incident.”
Over the next eight years, Const Willis developed severe asthma and other respiratory illnesses, which doctors deemed were the result of inhaling potentially toxic dust while in the mine shaft. On 23 January 1949, Const Willis was admitted to hospital with severe complications following an asthma attack and remained there until he died a few months later on 29 March. With doctors linking his illness to the on-duty incident, it was deemed that Const Willis had died because of his duties as a police officer and his name was to be added to the Police Honour Wall. “My grandmother, George’s sister, and his wife are no longer with us, but I know they would have both been so proud to see his name added to that wall,” Sen Sgt Morris said. “While I never met him, stories of George’s service guided me through my early years in the force and it’s an honour to be able to say he was my uncle.” Const Willis is one of four officers added to the Police Honour Wall on National Police Remembrance Day, which is held every year on 29 September to honour fallen police officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice while doing their duty to help keep the community safe. Images Memorial Wall Four names will be added to the Victoria Police Memorial Wall this year. Editorial: Danielle Ford Photography: Jesse Wray-McCann
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POLICE LIFE | SPRING/SUMMER 2021-22
