DETAILS OF DEATH

Constable Richard Norden commenced with the ACT Police in February 1970. Prior to his policing career he had been a member of the Australian Armed Forces, being awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for service in Vietnam. On 30 October 1972 Constable Norden died as a result of injuries sustained in an ACT Police motorcycle accident in Canberra.

UPDATE – On the 11th November 2024, The Governor-General announced that His Majesty The King approved the awarding of the Victoria Cross for Australia to the late Private Richard Norden.

The citation for Private Norden reads:

“For most conspicuous acts of gallantry in action in the presence of the enemy in the ‘AO Surfers’ Area of Operations in the Bien Hoa province, Vietnam, on 14 May 1968 during the Battle of Fire Support Base Coral”

Full details can be read at Award of the Victoria Cross for Australia to the late Private Richard Norden | Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia

DETAILS OF DEATH

In the afternoon of 30 October 1968 Constable Burns was undergoing Police motor cycle training under the supervision of Constable Doaks in the Royal National Park south of Sydney. As Constable Burns followed Constable Doaks along Farnell Avenue his cycle skidded on the gravel shoulder of the roadway struck a guidepost and then collided with a tree stump. Constable Burns was thrown from his cycle into a tree sustaining fatal injuries. He died a short time later in the Sutherland District Hospital. The Constable was born in 1943 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 5 August 1968. At the time of his death he was stationed at North Sydney.

DETAILS OF DEATH

On Thursday 30th October 1851 a prisoner in the charge of Constable James Hopkins (173) went to the police hut at Carisbrook to get a light for his pipe. A short time later Hopkins went to the hut and asked where the prisoner was. On being told that he had not been seen since getting the light Constable Hopkins immediately rode off in search of him. Shortly after a drover reported that a police horse was on the otherside of the creek without a rider. A search party was dispatched and the following day Constable Hopkins’ body was found in the creek about half a mile from the police station. Constable Hopkins’ face had two large cuts on it which had apparently been inflicted by the hooves of his horse. A Coroner’s jury returned a verdict of accidental death.