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Seemingly-prehistoric accounting surf dude Pete Bowes has a rigorous work ethic: “No drinks before five and no drugs before midday. This is basic. No shoes, no haircuts. No shaving. No worries.”
He also has (or seems to have) a Big Fat Theory on the Tamam Shud case: that it was Alf Boxall wot dun it (basically). He calls this his “Boxall Code”, and is drip-dripping hints to it on his blog in the tags.
The story he’s posting in a series of vignettes comes across as vivid & homely, brutal and foolish: it’s like a themed short story collection based around a (so far) unlikeable main character. But unless it turns out that Pete has the flickerings of evidence to back it up, though, that’s all it remains. Was the Unknown Man in the RAAF’s 76 Squadron in Salamaua? Possibly. But not “probably” just yet.
In many ways, I’m sympathetic to this enterprise: reconstructing history “at the edge” is a perilous business, and the twin pigeonholes of ‘fact’ and ‘fiction’ are often a hindrance when your research is dealing with many uncertainties simultaneously. But hopefully Pete will start to be a little less opaque about what he’s trying to do, now that he’s got into the swing of it a bit more. 🙂
Keep watching nick, and nice to meetya – I’ve got something all the way to the end … even prof abbott says he has never seen a fiction that travels all the way, or any of the way.
– and Simon Singh the code-breaker is an old mate, kind of – though gerry feltus got a bit furry when I told him that I reckoned boxall thought that all coppers were mugs.
Prehistoric my arse, I’m pumping son – 69 isn’t a problem up here behind Byron Bay.
Pete: thanks for dropping by, I very much look forward to seeing where you take the whole story (though personally I’d always plump for pointy shoes over sadistic foot-binding)… it’s all good fun, right?
PS: I had a feeling you’d appreciate “prehistoric”, but no worries, I’ll use “antediluvian” next time! 😉
Dear Pete
so they got rid of all that radioactive sand-dump did they?
What became of Derek Abbott’s Facebook group? I made a few contributions, but became frustrated with his approach and drifted away. I now see that the group appears to have been removed.
FWIW, the nearest I came to any conclusion in the case was that this was not about international espionage, but had more to do with organised crime in post-war Adelaide; the Somerton Man most likely to have come from ‘up-country’ in search of work in the port of Adelaide and in response to a press advert placed by Jestyn offering rental accommodation.
Thus, he arrived in Somerton with the rental deposit money in his pocket, wearing a jacket apparently bearing a label with the name ‘Kernick’, which was later altered to read ‘Keane’. Whether Somerton Man’s name was Kernick,the jacket previously belonged to someone named Kernick or the Adelaide based Kernick’s employment agency, I was never able to establish.
que ?
Giulio: certainly could be, though the theory would be stronger if you could find such an advert in a local Adelaide, in (say) mid-to-late November 1948. Have you searched in Trove? Also, I once read a claim that Jestyn’s husband-to-be ran a (one-car) taxi company using that number, but don’t know if anyone has any evidence for that either. Do you know what her number was?
You blokes sound like a serious type of outfit, code-breakers, theorists and generally all around mystery-men. Especially you Nick.
This is good, because here we go ……. Everything posted from now on over on my SURFING blog – remember, the tags are the clues – represents parts of, portions of, various paragraphs, key words, known places and known people that are all part of this grand South Australian tale.
The really important stuff, the stuff that puts it all together, will only be available in the publication. Maybe next year.
There will even be illustrations, and a little Eureka philosophy.
I sincerely hope you like it. You would never have guessed.
pete
Pete: looking forward to it! I’m sure anything from you would be a surprise well worth having. 😉 Have you read Kerry’s book yet?
That’s where it all started last sunday week Nick – the little lady handed me an article printed in Good Weekend, a Sunday paper magazine, that had a couple of pages on Greenwood’s book. She thought I might find it curious.
Funny that, I have a library of Le Carre, Household, Littell, Furst, Buchan,and Banville’s fabulous The Untouchable, plus Pincher’s Too Secret Too Long –
The mystery was cracked at the Eltham Hotel on November 30 last – I had a lady who works there, Soraya, sign the scribble book I had compiled, date and time.
I sent Feltus an email that night just to let him know, and Abbott as well. Abbott asked a favour of me, a little thing about Boxall to be put into the book. He’s a lad that Professor.
But who knows, it all might just be a plausible fable. But it will be a fair read.
Pete: cool… I’ll waste no more of your precious clue-dropping time. 😉
Nick: “WANTED bungalow, pay cash 10 £ 1.500. Can give tenancy maisonette, all mod. convs, rent 22/6. Glenelg. Phone…” (etc.)
Adelaide Advertiser 27/11/1948 (via Trove)
Giulio: nice catch, well done! But it looks as though others have got there first, as Trove has 79 articles all tagged with Thomson’s full name, including army pictures (VX67088). A lot of his life emerges from the details… interesting!
away and running nick, can you let me know, as time goes by, how the wordpress structure handles the constant revelations?
I want it to be a coherent read, but there will be some flicking around as the case has many aspects – and each case will develop into a file, and each file will be discussed between george and peter in the permanent page. This should enable any latecomer to get a start.
That wasn’t too clear, I meant that every aspect will be developed into a dedicated file, and each file will be given a name, and as the files are added to they will be discussed by Peter and George. The final stages will be where all the files are linked.
…. well, that’s the plan.
Any comments will be appreciated, both here and there.
Pete: you’ve got an ambitious structure in mind, and default WordPress themes can be a bit clunky unless you have the ability to modify them very slightly. Let me have a look at what you’re doing over the next few updates & I’ll see if I can suggest a simple PHP hack you can make that would get you closer to where you want to be (I do a lot of programming in my day job). 🙂
ta nick, figured it out. the timeline is one page, the developing narrative is on the other. george smiley emerges with peter guillame. they have come very far in one day. i’ve set a bait.
thread to tapestry – read something never put forward before – something that everybody has always known … And I thought you blokes were all armchair dicks
had to pull it down nick, plus I beat you into solving this baby … so who do you know in the publishing business mate, this will make millions …. sorted.
What if the code written in the book is not a code at all, what if is written to just look like code?
Maybe this is why nobody can crack it, but why would someone do this?
– and just in case you blokes think that I’ve given up on this, well I haven’t, and what’s more … I’ve got it cold.
– and I’ m taking orders for the book already.
You blokes are hard to convince, here we have a code that has lost hundreds of thousands of men and women their hair, the code(?) written in the back of the rubaiyat.
That one.
and not one of you chaps has seen the bleedin’ obvious written there, it takes an old surfer from Aus to fall over it.
You should return to the fray, what little there was of it. This old thing is going to have a new life, about November this year. Pete
Pete: weeeeellllll… bear in mind that I get a hundred emails each year telling me how the answer to cipher mystery X is so bleedin’ obvious that a dead (and indeed stuffed) Norwegian parrot could have seen it, and hence I and my pampered researcher ilk must be myopic to the point of foolishness not to have seen it before.
Of course, none of these has yet successfully decrypted even a single dot. 🙁
All the same, I quite like the way you mix up fact, speculation and fiction in your blog, so… whatever it is you’re doing, keep at it. 🙂
Nick, I’m not sure if you’ve seen or heard of this yet. On the website of Gerry Feltus, in the comments section, he has posted a link to another man’s website. On this website he theorizes that the actual real information in the code is a phone number. Basically, he is thinking that most of the characters in the code are just random and that the only characters one needs to worry or look at are the Roman numerals. Not sure what I think of this but I thought you’d might be interested if you’ve not heard of or seen this yet.
Link to the website describing his findings:
http://www.simonfoxguitar.com/somerton_man.htm
it wasn’t Alf Boxall after all, he’s a very nice person. We have another in our sights and he’s not moving .. and there have been some developments, not to mention a credible explanation of the code imprinted on the back of the Rubaiyat.
the bleedin’ obvious –
Why would you write WRGOABABD?
(think .. White Red Gold Orange Alfred Boxall Alfred Boxall Dog)
Maybe, because you are a radio operator, you had to learn it as –
William Roger George Oboe Abie Baker Abie Baker Dog .
Serious now, all the bluster is over .. tomsbytwo is my cipher, live and on the internet.
Good luck
Well! New and probably important developments in the Tamam Shud case! It is likely that Somerton Man was a house painter, or he might have been assassinated. Take your pick. It has come to my attention that Prof. Abbott’s team has found that Somerton Man’s hair contains incredibly high levels of both strontium 88, and lead 206. But, note that these are natural stable isotopes, and are not radioactive. Also, it does not imply that these isotopes are present in anything other than the normal ratio of the natural strontium or lead isotopes. It is just that these isotopes are the easiest ones to measure with the methods at hand.
The strontium level is so extreme (50,000 normal levels) that it has to be down to particulate contamination on the hair. But this is very strange because particulate matter containing significant strontium is quite rare. I will suggest a few possible sources below. The lead levels are also very high (about 100 times normal) and could indicate lead poisoning, which might explain the liver lobules damage and the unusual pigment in the spleen. And there is the sinister possibility of an assassination.
From the CIA archives: In early to mid 1949 a CIA officer asked an outside contractor for input on how to kill people so as to give “the appearance of accidental or purely fortuitous death”.
The contractor suggested that tetraethyl lead (a colourless liquid with a slight musty odour) would cause rapid death if dropped on the skin of the victim “in very small quantities”. There would be “no characteristic pathological findings”, no local lesions, and “no specific pathological evidence”.
Google “lead tetraethyl assassination CIA” and look at “A damned murder Inc” by Alexander Cockburn of Creators.com
I think that deliberate or accidental poisoning with tetraethyl lead is a possibility, but there are other possible causes for the high lead levels. In 1948 some hair products contained significant concentrations of lead (and still do. In the USA the lead content is now restricted to 0.5% lead acetate). These products were known as “hair restoratives” and “Grecian formula” (Google them). It was noted that Somerton Man’s hair was starting to grey. But there is one problem: apparently the lead levels increase towards the hair root, and this is difficult to explain if the lead came from the application of a hair product. It is more easily explained by poisoning.
I have come up with the following possible sources of toxic levels of lead in the body (ie internal) and possible sources of external contamination of the hair with lead. It should be noted that high levels of lead in hair do not automatically mean lead poisoning. The lead might be coated and absorbed onto the hair, and the lead doesn’t get into the body in significant amounts to cause significant symptoms.
The possible sources of lead that could cause internal poisoning and concomitant high lead levels in the hair are as follows, in order of what I judge from limited experience in toxicology, and experience in other related areas, to be the most probable:
– A house painter who has been sanding back paint. Lithopone, a white pigment previously used in paint, can contain up to 5% strontium sulphate. The Lithopone paint could have covered earlier white lead based paint, and this would explain the extreme levels of both lead and strontium.
But Lithopone contains high levels of zinc, so it would be expected that the high strontium and lead should be accompanied by high zinc levels. It isn’t clear if this is the case or not.
– A worker in a lead refinery (such as Port Pirie which is 225 Km north of Adelaide). There were many cases of lead poisoning at Port Pirie in the 1920s and lead poisoning was still a problem into the 1950s). I wonder when the train from Port Pirie arrived in Adelaide?
– Mining lead ores (such as at Broken hill. The closest city to the Broken Hill mines is Adelaide. Broken Hill is on a direct railway line to Adelaide). Lead poisoning was a major problem at Broken Hill up to the 1920s and was still significant into the 1940s. I note that the Broken Hill express arrived at Adelaide at 9.17 am on the morning of the 30th November 1948 (Feltus page 32).
– Deliberate poisonings with lead acetate were still happening in the 1940s and several suspicious lead poisonings of children occurred in Australia in the 1940s (put down to ingestion of lead paint flakes, but this explanation is somewhat implausible in the light of modern knowledge of lead poisoning). Sugar of lead is thought to have been used as a poison since Roman times.
– occupational exposure to lead tetraethyl. A worker in a petroleum refinery, or a worker with leaded petrol. Aviation gasoline in the 1940s contained particularly high levels of lead tetraethyl as an octane booster.
– A painter, particularly working with red lead primer and sanding back paint with a lead primer undercoat. Cleaning and painting ships?
– A house painter sanding back lead paint.
– An assayer working on fire assaying gold ores. Large amounts of lead are used in the fire assay process. In the 1940s most of the fire assaying was being done in Western Australia (the Kalgoorlie gold mines etc). I note that the train line from Western Australia passes through Kalgoorlie and then onto Port Pirie, and thence to Adelaide or Broken hill.
– Particulate lead is produced in the zinc fuming process that was used in 1948 at Port Pirie for the purification of zinc. It is possible that a worker could be exposed to high levels of lead fume. It is clear from the high incidence of lead poisoning at Port Pirie that this is quite possible. OHS at the plant was clearly of slight concern for a long time.
– Drinking home made cider that had been treated with lead acetate (known as “sugar of lead” because of its sweet taste). Lead acetate was still being used occasionally in cider, and causing lead poisoning in the 1940s in Devonshire. It was widely use in the 18th Century as a sweetener and a preservative in cider (Google “Devon colic”). The Romans also used it in wine. Significant numbers of immigrants from Devon, Somerset and Cornwall (ie counties where cider is produced and with significant mining areas) settled in South Australia and commercial cider brewing commenced in South Australia in 1893.
– I have a record of strontium thiosulphate injections being used experimentally in the 1920s to counteract the effects of lead or mercury poisoning. Mercury poisoning through to the advent of penicillin (ie immediately post WW2) could come from treatment with mercurials for a number of diseases, including syphilis. I note that had some pupilar anomalies that can be caused by syphilis.
– there are a number of other vaguely possible sources of lead that could lead to lead poisoning in extreme cases, but I judge the possibilities to be of low probability, and I won’t mention them at present.
Some of the sources listed above could also contaminate the hair by direct contact. ie. Mining and refining lead ores. A painter sanding lead primer (red lead) or lead paint (Google “white lead”). Or gold fire assaying. And there is “hair restorative”.
I think that if the high levels of lead are due to long term systemic poisoning (ie not just surficial contamination of the hair) a “lead line” (also known as a “Burton line”) would have been detected during the autopsy. So, systemic lead poisoning (accidental or deliberate) must have been of fairly short duration. This seems to rule out occupational exposure which is usually long term. But, there are exceptions. Perhaps a one-of sanding of metal work coated with lead lead primer prior to painting? A ship painter?
Another, albeit vague, possibility exists that ties into the Beaumont children abduction of 1966 (The “Satin Man” case). The “Satin Man” set up a light metals casting factory (Castalloy) in 1949 in Adelaide and lead was probably used in some of the metallurgy. It is just possible that SM could have been a secondary metallurgist and was working on methods for the Castalloy factory. I note that “Satin Man’ lived at Glenelg, not far from the beach. There might just be a connection.
The levels of strontium in the hair sample are so high that they can only be down to surface contamination with strontium. But, how could anyone pick up particulate matter rich in strontium?
Strontium compounds do not appear to have been ever used in hair products or such like, or in general consumer products. Strontium compounds are (and were) only used in a small number of applications. These applications, listed in order of what I think are the most probable sources, are as follows:
– Strontium (Celestine, strontium sulphate) can be a component (up to 5%) of Lithopone pigment which was previously used in white paints.
– pyrotechnics. Particularly flares, fire works and tracer bullets. Some 1940s rocket related pyrotechnics (igniters etc).
– small arms ammunition. Strontium rich particles have been documented from both fire works displays and from gun shot residues. I note that the day before SM was found on Somerton beach, some clothes (including socks and an overcoat) and a rifle stock, were found on Somerton beach.
– mining celestine (an ore of strontium). Celestine had been mined at Wooldridge Creek, 40 km northwest of Oodnadatta and 106 tons was mined in 1941- 42 for munitions manufacture. It appears that there was no production in South Australia after 1942. Celestine is widely distributed in the far north of South Australia in small quantities, and crystals of celestine occur in modern drainage channels, so it is vaguely possible that SM may have picked up some celestine on his hair while washing his hair in creek water in the far north of South Australia. Celestine also occurs at the Perseverance gold mine, Kalgoorlie.
– Strontium is used as an additive in light metal alloys such as are used in car and motorcycle engines. A possible connection to Castalloy and the Satin Man?
– purification of caustic soda. In 1948 there was a caustic soda plant at Osborne, a suburb of Adelaide.
– Strontianite (strontium carbonate) is used to remove lead during the electrolytic production of zinc. There is an electrolytic zinc refinery at Port Pirie, but I have not been able thus far to establish when it began operating.
– Strontium chromate is used in some specialised paints. But high levels of chromium do not appear to have been found in the hair sample, which rules out strontium chromate paint as a source.
– cathode ray tubes (making and breaking)
– manufacturing special glasses and speciality glass products.
– purification of molasses.
– It is possible that some brands of safety matches might have used strontium compounds, but I have not been able to find any confirmation of this.
I note that gypsum was in short supply in South Australia in 1948, and it is possible that the taxidermist who made the cast of SM may have used a locally made plaster of Paris that contained significant amounts of strontium. Gypsum (used to make Plaster of Paris) was being mined in South Australia in 1948, and a lot of this gysum contains sporadic inclusions (sometimes large lumps) of the related mineral Celestine (strontium sulphate). So, perhaps the strontium is an artefact picked up from the plaster of Paris. This could be easily checked.
Conclusions? I would rate the possibilities as follows:
1) house painter
2) Primary or secondary metallurgy worker
3) somebody working with pyrotechnics, or using firearms
3) miner
4) gold assayer
5) others
Regarding possible poisoning with Digitalis. One possible significant effect of the lead poisoning (if the high lead levels in the hair reflect high internal lead levels, which is not always the case) is that SM would more at risk from what is known as accumulation. The therapeutic index for Digitalis is small. That is, the toxic dose is close to the therapeutic dose. If the liver and kidneys are compromised by things such as lead poisoning then toxic levels of Digitalis alkaloids can build up, and sudden death can result.
I am aware that this reads terribly; it certainly ain’t good English, but I think it is clear enough for the purpose.
Hop to it you lot.
Others being seamen ?
Here we have the lead based paint, and we also have the firearms, and the metals.
I have discovered that the mineral Celestine (strontium sulphate) was used in some white paints (“strontium white”) so, I now favour the scenario that the lead and strontium found in/on the Somerton Man’s hair probably came from him sanding back old house paint. Another thought – perhaps the stenciling tools in his suitcase were for interior decorating? He looks more like a 1940’s version of an interior decorator than a sailor or a general painter. I note that interior decorating would be admirable cover. In the 1940’s Australia (free and easy, overly trusting) an interior decorator would have unsupervised access to the homes of people of interest, embassies, government offices etc.
I’d be a lot happier with the interior decorator scenario if the tools were wrapped with pink gaffer tape, you know?
Pete, but I note that witness Stubbs said in evidence that SM was wearing “brown striped trousers”. Add in the dressing gown, which is a bit suspect for Australia 1948, and I think he could have been an interior decorator, 1948 version.
If SM was a sailor I doubt that he would have been doing painting and sanding work. From my, albeit limited, experience ship painters were weatherbeaten wrecks from the effects of sea air, sun, alcohol, the lead and the toxic paint solvents. If SM was a sailor he was an officer or somebody like a purser or radio operator. I do note however that there was a fireworks display earlier in the week in Adelaide, so SM could have picked up the strontium particles in his hair from fireworks smoke.
Pete – you’re right about the paint. Australia was shamefully slow to ban led paints for domestic use (in milking sheds it was banned in the 30s), but by the 50s if I recall, high-level lead paint was only permitted for marine use.
One of the enviro chem tests which I did (within the last 10 yrs) shows that if ppl had a mate on the docks, their house might still be painted with high-lead white paint, harming childen 2 generations later.. I won’t say where.
Hi again Pete, I do take your point and I agree that SM might have picked up the lead from the sanding of a ship. But, I could not find any cases of lead poisoning attributed to painting or other work by sailors. Ship yard workers, yes. But SM looks to “soft” and refined to be a ship yard worker. But I might be wrong. I am basing my opinion on general observations; I am fourth generation Williamstownite (Victoria) and some of my forbears worked on the docks and dock yard.
Fair enough BD, all a man had to do was walk around the topside of a boat when the rust was being rubbed off and the steel repainted – and even if he was just waving deck cargo nets off and on the boat he would have had a dose of lead poisoning.
I’m imagining what it would be like for a returned soldier to be introduced to an interior decorator, busy changing his home’s decor.
Pete, it is possible. But the lead levels in the hair seem to point to extreme exposure over a period of weeks. I haven’t had any success in finding any cases of lead poisoning in wharfies. We need more work on the hair samples to establish if the lead has been added externally, so to speak. ie. lead dust on the hair, or “Grecian formula” added to disguise greying hair. The present data shows that the lead levels increase towards the root end and this is more consistent with systemic lead poisoning. Also, the lead levels are so high that SM probaby would have been suffering all the nasty effects of severe lead poisoning. I am trying to account for the extreme strontium level in/on the hair. This doesn’t fit with the marine scenario except if the strontium comes from another source. Fireworks, flares, firearms etc. House painting does neatly explain both the lead and the strontium. As Janet has indicated, this does not preclude a marine connection – wharfies using marine paint on their and their mates houses.
BD –
Janet?
Diane, sorry!
BD, it looks like you might be leaning towards some kind of accidental death – courtesy of the conditions you have described above, or are you heading elsewhere?
Venona documents were only shared by Army signal intelligence, the FBI and the English. J. Edgar had no use for the C.I.A.
Hi Pete, I don’t have any firm opinions regarding the cause of death. Except that it appears that SM did die from some sort of poisoning. It might be possible to test the hair samples for digitalis and its metabolites. It can be done in normal circumstances, but SM’s hair samples have been harshly treated (embalming). If the test was positive, then we would know that SM was either taking digitalis for a dicky heart, or he could have been poisoned, deliberately or accidentally with digitalis. But, the poison, if it was poisoning, may not be digitalis, and poisoning with a single dose of digitalis would not show up in hair samples.
I do know that there were may accidental digitalis poisonings, right through to the 1970s. There was an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (I think, from memory) in the late 1970s or early 1980s that estimated that there had been more than 100,000 unrecognised accidental deaths in the USA alone over the years from digitalis poisoning. This is all on the public record, but, as you can probably guess, nobody has shouted it from the roof tops. Measures were quietly put in place (dissolution testing of digitalis tablets, limits on between tablet variation in content and bioavailability testing of the formulations). Bioavailability testing of all poorly soluble drugs and drugs with low therapeutic index etc is now mandatory in the first world.
What had been happening is that some batches of digitalis tablets could vary markedly in bioavailability, and some formulations (brands) were far less bioavailable than others. So, a doctor could start a patient on a low dose of a particular brand of digitalis tablet, and if that brand had a low bioavailability, then the patient might end up on a very high apparent (but not real) dose of digitalis. At some stage the patient might get another brand of digitalis tablets that had a very high bioavailability, and the extra digitalis that was absorbed might be enough to kill them. From memory, the bioavailability of various brands of digitalis tablets were found to vary by a factor of ten. Enough to kill in some cases.
See: Wagner JG, Christensen M, Sakmar E, Blair D, Yates JD, Willis PW, Sedman AJ, Stoll RG:
Equivalence lack in digoxin plasma levels. JAMA 224: 199, 1973.
Note: I have used the term “digitalis” to avoid confusion.
Around 1946 many Australia newspapers serialised the Ellery Queen mystery “The murdered is a Fox” which involved poisoning with digitalis. I wonder if this might have given somebody ideas?
I note that the Rubaiyat was found in a car belonging to a pharmacist and I think that it would pay to investigate what links there may have been between the pharmacist and the various possible players in the SM mystery.
I think I should clear up what appears to be a universal misconception in the Tamam Shud case. Every commentator has taken the evidence by the South Australian Deputy Government Analyst (Robert Cowan) at the Coronial Inquiry at face value. Specifically, it is assumed that if the autopsy samples had contained digitalis at toxic concentrations, then the DGA would have found this. But, this is not the case. The analytical methods available in 1948 were very limited by today’s standards. The most sensitive method for the detection and quantitation of digitalis in 1948 was a colorimetric assay using xanthydrol reagent. The problem is that the detection limit of this assay is much higher than the likely levels in the autopsy samples. And, there are other complications as well that I won’t go into. In other words, the fact that the South Australian DGA did not find digitalis in the autopsy samples does not rule out poisoning from digitalis.
Prof. Abbott’s team has posted additional mass spectrometric data for SM’s hair. My preliminary analysis of this data reinforces my previous conclusion that SM may have dyed his hair to disguise greying. The additional data reveal elevated levels of silver in SM’s hair, and hair dyes containing silver were, and still are, used to darken greying hair.
Elevated levels of silver in the natural environment are quite rare and most cases of silver poisoning (argyria – check out the images on Wik*pedia) were, and are, due to excessive use of hair dye containing silver.
Incidentally, one member of MI5 or MI6 in the 1940s had slate grey skin with a strange metallic sheen, the result of excessive use of hair dye containing silver. I am not suggesting there is any connection: it is just an interesting example.
I also note that hair dye containing silver can cause eye damage. SM possibly had sustained some injury to his eyes because his pupils were found to be small and irregular in outline at autopsy.
So, it seems possible that SM was dying his greying hair with a formulations containing lead and n silver. I think the possibility that the lead and silver came from metallurgical or mining exposure is downgraded because other elements such as copper and zinc were not found to be anomalously high.
Strontium is elevated in SM’s hair. I have made fairly extensive searches in the patent literature and elsewhere, but I can find no mention of strontium ever being used in hair products or similar. Or in any other general consumer products, apart from paint, that could be ingested, or yield dust that might stick to hair.
The chemical components in hair will avidly absorb (chelate) heavy metals, but not alkaline earth metals such as calcium and strontium. So, it is probable that the elevated levels of calcium and strontium are derived from the water in which SM was washing, or derived from some sort of industrial dust. If the strontium was derived from water then this would rule out suburban Adelaide because the Adelaide reticulation water was obtained from the Murray River and rivers in Australia have very low levels of strontium (from memory). There are some bores in South Australia and elsewhere in Australia that have water with elevated levels of strontium, but I will have to dig out their locations. I have previously looked at the geochemical distribution of strontium in South Australia for other reasons and I have the data on file (somewhere).
An unusual feature of the mass spectroscopy results for SM’s hair sample is that the data are very spikey for many of the elements. This might be due to the embalming process, or due to post mortem decay. For some elements that are present in foodstuffs and water at very low levels (such as titanium and zirconium) and which are not significantly absorbed by the body, the spikes are probably due to these elements being present in particulate matter sticking to the hair (i.e. environmental dust).
I think that a thorough analysis of the mass spectrometry data will throw up clues as to SMs whereabouts in the last couple of weeks of his life.
I wish I had paid more attention in science class. Is it possible that a diet high in seafood and a malfuntioning congested liver could result in such high levels of strontium, or would you have to eat a whale a day?
Sorry, I meant kidneys, not liver. I should have paid more attention in biology too.
BD said –
“I note that the Rubaiyat was found in a car belonging to a pharmacist and I think that it would pay to investigate what links there may have been between the pharmacist and the various possible players in the SM mystery.”
Jestyn’s uncle (her father’s older brother) was a chemist/pharmacologist, living in Mosman NSW in 1943. Was he visiting Glenelg in 1948?
.
Debra,
a whale a day would be required. Almost certainly the strontium is down to some sort of surficial contamination. The extreme spikes in the MS data support this.
I am now inclined to think that the lead could have come from lead based spray which was used for fruit trees. This was usually lead arsenate, and there is some doubt about the detection of arsenic by the methods use.
And, the stencilling tools could have been used to stencil boxes of fruit. Up until the 1960s fruit often was packed in wooden boxes with details stencilled onto the box.
In 1949 the PMG (Post Master General; a Federal Government department) established a “listening post” in the Somerton drill hall. I understand that “listening post” is an Australian (and probably British) military term for a radio communications interception post. But why establish the post in 1949? I note that the Cold War commenced in earnest about this time. And why Somerton Park?
In 1949 there were a number of developments in South Australia that would have made it a target for spies (Woomera rocket range, uranium mining and future atomic weapons testing) – including spies working for the USA. In the late 1940s relations between the Commonwealth and the USA were at a low ebb for a number of reasons and it could be expected that the US would also have been keeping a close eye on developments in Australia.
I note that the Somerton drill hall was situated on the corner of Scarborough and Gordon streets, Somerton Park, and was about 500m from 90A Moseley Street (ie Jestyn’s residence in 1949). I also note that late in 1949 the Army turned the drill hall over to the North Brighton Progress Association who established a pre-school kindergarten and youth centre there. Strange. Either the listening post was only used for a few months, or else the pre-school was inspired camouflage. (The Mail (Adelaide) 11th February 1950 page 49).
Australian Archives: Refs: Item details for: AP567/1, 1949/199 Constructing a sound resistant partition for PMG listening post at Drill Hall, Somerton, SA
Clearly they were listening for radio communications between Jestyn and her masters.
Debra,
have a look at the geochemical distribution of strontium in Australia which are presented in:
de Caritat, P. & Cooper, M., 2011. National Geochemical Survey of Australia: The Geochemical Atlas of Australia. Geoscience Australia, Canberra.
You can see the low-resolution maps for each element if you search for “geochemical atlas australia”.
The “Top outlet sediment 0-10cm fine” is probably the most relevant to strontium (and other elements) levels in food and in environmental dust. You will note that the area around Murray Bridge, South Australia, is a coincident hot spot for the elements strontium, lead, silver, tin and titanium, which are the elements flagged as interesting by Prof. Abbott’s team. At present I do not know the exact locality of this hot spot, but I will endeavour to obtain more information.
It is unfortunate that there does not appear anything definitive in the literature regarding diet and related strontium levels in hair. And this is the case for most other elements. So we will have to go back to first principles to see what insights we might be able to discover regarding SM’s last fortnight.
The titanium MS data are very spikey and this is consistent with surficial contamination of the hair with either environmental dust (dirt), or paint dust. I note that titanium dioxide has been used in paint from about 1915 onwards. It is unfortunate that titanium is a very common element in environmental dirt – and continental “dirt” worldwide would average about 0.4% titanium. But I think the titanium is down to surficial contamination with something, probably paint dust, other than environmental dirt because I would expect to see a nexus between the titanium and the aluminium if the spikey titanium readings were due to environmental dirt (aluminium is ubiquitous in environmental dirt and worldwide continental dirt would average about 8% aluminium.
B Deveson: the details of listening post are quite a find.
If any spies were transmitting from the area, there are a number of possible affiliations apart from the “usual suspects”.
For instance, there is Zionism and the new State of Israel (founded 14/5/1948). The fact that Nurse Jessie is buried in the Jewish section of Centennial Park Cemetery may suggest that she had Zionist sympathies, even if she did not officially convert until much later in life. By 1948, _Haganah_ (paramilitary precursor of the IDF) had been running covert overseas intelligence ops for some years. Why would _Haganah_ have had a presence in Adelaide? It is possible that it was interested in Woomera, Salisbury etc. But there are perhaps more likely targets: (1) Nazi/other European fascists who had fled to Australia; (2) local anti-Semites; (3) Palestinian Arab refugees and/or; (4) members of Christian groups seen as opposing Zionism (such as the Temple Society or “Templers”, many of whom were interned/re-settled in Australia during WW2 and the Israeli war of independence).
PS if those raised lead levels in SM’s hair are from fruit spray, it could be another link to the Riverland.
When did she convert to Judaism? Definitely a political convert then?
B Deveson: http://www.clw.csiro.au/publications/technical2001/tr45-01.pdf also mentions: Dogramaci S. (1998) Isotopes of sulphur, oxygen, strontium and carbon in groundwater as tracers of mixing and geochemical processes, Murray basin, Australia. PhD Thesis, School of Earth Sciences, The Flinders University of South Australia.
It is entirely possible from what I know of Jessica that she was involved in espionage during and after the war, while the Somerton Man was just an unwitting pawn in the whole scenario, probably killed because he happened to have met the nurse and was suspected of being either one of her contacts or victims. This is likely why she was so horrified when she saw the bust (realising what had happened).
Katie-Dee: spies and romance definitely make for any number of great stories but… is a beauty parade of entertaining stories all that we actually have here?
Nick and Katie-Dee,
a further bit of evidence that supports the “espionage hypothesis”. The sole remaining file in the archives that deals with the SM case; “Unidentified body found on Somerton beach SA”, was raised by the “Investigation Branch, Central Office, Melbourne and Canberra”. In other words, the organisation that co-ordinated the activities of the various state Special Branches.
This demonstrates that the SM case was suspected of having security implications.
The series that the document appears in contains correspondence files that “cover a wide range of police activities including investigation of criminal offences, traffic accidents and traffic breaches, registration of aliens, missing persons, inquests, warrants for desertion by Armed Forces personnel…” “This series was begun by the Investigation Branch, Central Administration, Attorney-General’s Department in 1927.”
The series also contains such riveting material as:
Greyhound dog alleged to have been run over and killed by ‘crown’ car on 27 September 1947
Tulips, roses and hyacinth bulbs stolen from Parliament House gardens
Theft of 60 Green Rubber Garden Hose from Parliament House
…so I wouldn’t get too excited.
B Deveson, you say “coordinated the state special branche….” I could be wrong but it’s my understanding that the various branches of the federal police (established by Billy Hughes during WW1 when the Qld govt wouldn’t guarantee his security) had substantial powers, especially in regard to matters such as counterespionage (i.e. it is a myth that no such body existed before ASIO was formed)?
Debra, you are correct! I jumped too quickly and I should have checked things. Confirmation bias at work.
Debra and Katie-Dee,
I did not mean to impugn the professionalism of the NAA and I have always found the NAA to be very helpful. In about 2001, just after the story in the Weekend Australian on Somerton Man (“The man with no name” Janet Fife-Yeomans), a retired policemen put out an inquiry asking for anyone with any information to contact him. He had mentioned that most of the SA police files were missing. I did a quick check of the NAA system and located three files so I contacted the policeman and gave him the details of these files. Unfortunately I have lost many of my records and all of this is from memory.
I seem to remember that this policeman said he was doing work for the SA police investigating old cases.
I think the descriptions of the files indicated that they were SA police files, so it is possible that the SA police asked for them back. I think the policeman had a Scottish surname, possibly McDonald or McIntyre. It wasn’t Gerry Feltus.
Incidentally, in the follow up generated by the Fife-Yeomans article somebody mentioned that some of SMs dental work was of Eastern European origin (not further explained). It might pay to go back to the Fife-Yeomans article and see what responses it generated.
Furphy, that is my understanding as well. But, as you would be aware, relations between the police in the various states, and between the State and the Commonwealth/Federal Police, were not always smooth.
Ask yourselves why Jessica not only worshipped with the most radical socialists in the Adelaide reform Jewish community but was also a card carrying member of the communist party and later the greens. She never shut up about it
I think the excerpts below provide some interesting background re the concerns of the local spookbusters in 1948. As we now know, it was optimistic to assume that the replacement of the Commonwealth Security Service by ASIO would create an organisation that was: free of political interference, interested in pursuing Nazis/fascists and cleared of infiltrators (especially since the MI6 agent sent to advise on ASIO, Roger Hollis, was himself a Soviet double agent ).
(_The Barrier Miner_, 15 April 1948, p1.)
(_The Advertiser_, 18 November 1948, p1)
Hello Helen: what is your source for Jessie’s alleged Red and Green affiliations? Just curious.
Katie-Dee: I don’t know whether she was born into Judaism or converted after developing Zionist sympathies, but the grave is powerful evidence that Jessie practised the religion in later years. Her mother’s maiden name (Lee) is one of the most common surnames in Anglo countries and is also reasonably common amongst English speaking Jews. (While the stereotypical Germanic/Slavic surnames are less common than one might think.)
the rest of the family was buried in Presbyterian graves in Melbourne – she is the only Jewish one from information I have.
Some notes regarding the Lee family:
Jessie’s parents were Thomas Lawson Harkness and Ellen Lee, who married in Freemantle, Western Australia, 23rd March 1916 at the Johnston Memorial Hall by special licence according to the rites of the Congregationalists. Thomas was 29, a bachelor and a “linesman”. His present and usual addresses were both given as “Steamship Dimboola”. His father was John Moir Harkness “Chemist” and his mother was Ellen nee Lawson. Ellen was aged 22, a spinster, occupation home duties. Her present address was given as 295 Wellington Street, Perth (ie, Perth, Western Australia) and her usual address was given as 59 Princes Street, Sydney (New South Wales). Her father was Edmund James Lee, labourer, and her mother was Jessie nee McDougall. The witnesses were: Ethel R Wright and Elsie L Bowes.
Ellen Harkness nee Lee, home duties aged 88, died 12th June 1982 at Moorabbin (Victoria). Usual place of residence 89 Patty St Mentone. Her father was Edmund James Lee, labourer, and her mother was Jessie nee McDougall. The informant was Ellen McLeish of 89 Patty St Mentone (Ellen McLeish was a daughter, and sister to Jessica). She was cremated at Springvale Crematorium. Undertakers Stevenson, Summers and Blair. She was born in New South Wales and had resided in Australia for 88 years. Married at Freemantle at age 22 to Thomas Lawson Harkness.
Her issue was: Thomas Lawson aged 64 years, Edmund James aged 62 years, Jessica (sic) Ellen aged 60 years, Jean Moya (sic) aged 59 years, Ellen Mary aged 54 years.
Edmund James Harkness married Margery Syme 1940 in Victoria.
Edmund James Lee married Jessie McDougall 19th July 1882 at Sydney, Bethel House George Street according to the rites of the Congregational Church. Edmund was described as aged 24 and
a bachelor, born in London. He was a labourer, living in Sydney, father Edmund James Lee, waterman. His mother was Susan Haywood. Jessie was described as being 20 years of age, a spinster living in Sydney. Her father was Alexander McDougall, stonemason, and her mother was Elizabeth nee Breasy. The witnesses were John (illegible) and Nellie Stuart.
Edmund James Lee, aged 77 of 39 Ashmore Street Erskinville (Sydney) funeral 23rd April 1935. “Father of Ted, Charlie, Nellie, Jack and Jess.” Sydney Morning Herald 24th April 1935 page 11.
His father is recorded as James E. Lee and his mother as Susan.
Helen Foxton,
do you know if Jessie was interested in herbal or alternative medicine at all? I ask because I have wondered if SM, arriving after a rough overnight train trip (that is my recollection from the 1950s) and, recovering from some illness, received a cup of invigorating foxglove tea. “Just the thing to get you going again my dearest.” I note that Jessie was a nurse and her uncle was a pharmacist, a pharmacologist and a pharmaceutical manufacturer, amongst other things. Jessie’s ancestry appears to be basically Scotts-Irish and I note that foxglove is a drug that originated in Scots-Irish folk medicine and digitalis is an Irish plant. Digitalis was not used in any other folk medicine apart from Scotts/Irish and Scandinavian.
I find the use of the term “digitalis” in the coroners report a bit odd because the term digitalis properly refers to the dried leaves of foxglove, not to the pharmaceutical preparations. He seem to be implying that the digitalis drugs were administered as an herbal mixture rather than as a “pure” pharmaceutical preparation (such as a tablet containing digitalin). I note that digitalis leaves would probably go unnoticed when mixed in a pasty, except for the bitter taste.
I am not trying to insinuate that Jessie might have deliberately poisoned SM, only that it would be easy for accidents to happen. The recommended dose of Digitalis Folia (dried digitalis leaves) is given as 1/2 to 2 grains (32 to 128 milligrams) in the 1898 British Pharmacopoeia. From memory, the therapeutic index of digitalis can be as low as a factor of four in some cases. In other words, it is possible that as little as half a gram of dried foxglove leaf could be fatal.
BD: thanks for those details. It is looking more and more like Jessie was a late life convert to Judaism.
The union of T. L. Harkness (jun.) to Ellen Lee appears to have been what they called a “mixed marriage” at the time, in more ways than one. That is, the Lee family seem to have been Congregationalists (“Johnston Memorial Hall” seems to have been attached to Johnston Memorial Church, the main Congregational church in Fremantle) and working class (295 Wellington St, Perth seems to have been a lodging house at the time) And, in 1926 T. L. Harkness (sen.) was advertising his business in Prosperpine in _The Catholic Press_ just below mention of a “Grace Harkness” attending Proserpine Convent School. Which also makes a Jewish connection through the Harknesses unlikely.
All the same, you never know: my grandfather was born into a mixed marriage in the same era; as a compromise he and his siblings were also divided into protestants and Catholics!
There is a very interesting file in the NAA – it contains a transcript of all the takes made during the production of the 1978 TV program concerning the Somerton Man mystery (ABC report “Inside Story”. Interviewer Stuart Littlemore). Lionel Leane, Len Brown, Paul Lawson and others, were interviewed by Stuart Littlemore. The material is in the NAA. Search for “The Somerton Beach story” 1977 Series number C673. Item bar code 7937872.
There is much material that wasn’t used in the final cut of the program.
I have noted some of the interesting matters. Some of these points have been previously discussed but I think it is worthwhile to repeat them.
Page 6. Evidence of Arthur Anzac Holderness (Tram conductor).
“I cannot remember having seen a man like the plaster cast in court.”
My comment: Why wasn’t Holderness shown the photographs of SMs face? I also note that Holderness was only interviewed immediately prior to the inquest, six and a half months after SMs death.
Page 9. Evidence of Gordon Kenneth Strapps.
“I should say he had brown striped trousers on.” (My underlining).
Page 11. Evidence of Dwyer.
“The pupils were smaller and unusual, uneven in outline and were about the same size.”
Page 13. Evidence of Dwyer.
“….. destruction of the centres of the liver lobules …”
“…. peculiar cellular reaction under the oesophageal mucosa but I have not found an answer to that.” My comment: Possibly due to recent ingestion of an irritant? An irritant poison perhaps?
Page 15. Evidence of Prof. Cleland.
“If the man had access to diphtheria toxin, that certainly could be a possible explanation, but it would be very unusual. He would have to have access to a place where diphtheria toxin was being manufactured. A very small amount would cause the haemorrhages. Botulism can be ruled out because of the time, the death in those cases do not occur shortly after administration. Deliberately taken by mouth, the poison of botulism could be fatal. On the other hand, there would be an incubation period of 12 hours.”
Page 27. Detective Leane.
Leane documented the weather conditions for the week prior to SM’s death, but he did not mention that on the night of SM’s death (30th November) there was a new moon. This point may be important because it appears that street lighting along the Esplanade was scanty, and it was situated on the inland side (ie eastern side) of the Esplanade. I have based this on aerial photographs taken in the late 1930s.
Pages 32-33. Supt. Brown.
“…. in this case we found envelopes, which indicated that he corresponded with or some person (sic) and then (my underlining) we also found air mail stickers for those covers (?) envelopes ….” (Brown was interrupted at this point by the interviewer (?). “Right. Just go back”. Pipps heard and then inaudible background instructions.
My comments: Did Brown mean that the air mail stickers were found somewhere else, and not found with the envelopes in the suitcase? There was nothing that could be called “air mail stickers” listed in the suitcase contents. The interruption was unfortunate. Brown could have possibly disclosed important information. Was this interruption at this point accidental, or was there somebody monitoring what Brown was disclosing and decided to close down this line of interview?
See also page 51-53 below. Who were “them” and were they the people who closed off tis question?
Page 38. Supt. Brown
Rubaiyat found by children of a doctor or chemist in the car that had been parked in Jetty Road, Glenelg, opposite the Pier hotel.
Page 40. Supt. Brown.
“… some phone numbers … written on the back of the book …”
Page 40 – “…… chemist had his car parked in Jetty Road, Glenelg, near the Pier Hotel ….. discovered …. this book in his car – had been thrown into his car …. on the 30th November 1948.”
Page 41. Supt. Brown
“… tell me about the phone numbers. You rang them both?”
“Yes.”
“Both Adelaide numbers?”
“Yes. Both Adelaide numbers. One phone number belonged to a person living … in the Glenelg district. ….. The lady of the house said she didn’t know the deceased.”
Page 44. Supt. Brown,
“You said there were two phone numbers in the back of the book.”
“Yes”
“What about the other one?”
“Yes. The other phone number .. was of a business …” (Note: Identified elsewhere as being a bank)
Page 51-53. – A strange reaction from Paul Lawson. He was very evasive. Who are the “them” that he and Stuart are referring to here? Why was it “tender ground”?
S – “did any of them think they knew him? (Somerton Man)
L – “I don’t know. By the way, you’re on tender ground (laughs).”
S – “Explain why?”
L – “Cut it boys.”
S – “Well don’t worry about them.”
L – “No, I’m not going on with that part of it.”
Page 61 – “I think that he suicided ….. suicide because back about 100 yards from where he was sitting on the seat, I found a hypodermic syringe.” Leane.
Page 62 – Stuart. “So what happened to the hypodermic syringe, do you remember?”
Leane “”It’s all down there in the place, still.” (from later in the interview “the place” he is referring to seems to be the police storage facility.)
Page 64 – “Police have it” (the hypodermic syringe). Leane
Page 151. Olive Constance Neill.
“There were other people further down, at the waters edge”. My comments: There is no indication that the police made any attempt to find these possible witnesses.
Page 157 – Patrick James Durham, the police photographer and finger print expert gave evidence regarding photographing and finger printing SM’s corpse. But, strangely in my view, Durham was not asked about photographing the “code” in the Rubaiyat. As I have mentioned previously, the images of the “code” clearly indicate that the writing was present only as indentations in the back cover of the Rubaiyat. This point is important because it indicates that the rear page was torn out before the book was apparently thrown away. The fact that Durham did not mention photographing or otherwise dealing with the “code” and telephone numbers possibly indicates that he was not directly involved in this aspect. But, if he wasn’t involved, who was, and why? Durham was the logical person to handle this sort of investigation. Perhaps the Rubaiyat was examined by some other group?
Page – 175 “…. destruction of the centres of the liver lobules.” I am surprised that this was not followed up. It indicates that SM had either suffered a significant infection/disease, or had previously been exposed to toxic materials. I remember that one of the pathologists (Dwyer?) commented that there was unusual pigment in the spleen. It wasn’t the usual sort of pigment that comes from age, disease or exposure to usual toxic materials (such as alcohol), and the pathologist could not identify the cause of the unusual pigment (he ruled out malaria from memory). I am reminded that the pathologist also mentioned that SM’s pupils were irregular and of differing sizes. There are various diseases and injuries that can cause this, but nobody appears to have followed this up. Chronic lead poisoning is now strongly indicated.
B Deveson: fascinating, isn’t it? Like many other SM researchers, I’ve been through that transcript several times in the last few years, and each time I do something new pops up. But in many ways, I think we should be finding a way to look directly at the data in the original pathology reports and the coroner’s reports, rather than a TV documentary. Surely the “document” we need to read most carefully is the Unknown Man’s body itself?
For example, the ‘not less than eight hours before 9.30am’ time of death estimation would surely have been based upon a rectal or liver temperature measurement: but as I understand it, numerous features affect this calculation, such as:
* the deceased’s original body temperature prior to death (illness can give higher body temperature than normal)
* what the temperature was of the thing the body was found laying upon (for heat conduction)
* the ambient temperature and whether there was any wind or not (for heat convection)
* how many layers of clothes were worn (for heat insulation etc), etc.
Perhaps if we were to redo that same Time Of Death calculation *but* with a modern forensic pathologist’s knowledge and mindset, we might get a different answer: and it would be good to place all the factors on a web-page so that the calculation can be openly reviewed. Thinking about it now, I’m actually quite surprised nobody seems to have done this to date. For example, there’s a helpful online Java TOD calculator here: http://www.pathguy.com/TimeDead.htm
Hi Nick,
I fully agree that we need to focus more on the primary evidence, particulary the autopsy etc. and get professional input. I am seeing if I can get a pathologist who is also an expert pharmacologist and toxicologist to look at the autopsy etc data. Also, I have been thinking about all the wasted effort where several people spend a lot of time and effort digging out the same information, or following a particular lead. But I can’t think of a workable system that would reduce the wasted effort, apart from posting findings that usually have petered out. As an example, I spent a lot of time tracking down Charles (Charlis) Mikkelsen, a Norwegian shoe maker who arrived in Adelaide in 1932. He looked to be an excellent fit, and a photograph of him as a small boy seemed to support the possible identification. But when I located a relative in Norway I discovered that Charles was reported to have died in 1940 when the Norwegian ship M/S Tirranna was captured by the German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis. I think there still is a very small chance of identity substitution in the circumstances, but there things rest. I also spent a lot of time early on in tracking down all of the 1945 graduate nurse class of the Royal North Shore hospital, partly in the hope that SM might be related to one of these nurses. There was a nurse, Esther Grace Reynolds, so when the matter of Mr H C Reynolds emerged from the swamp I spent some time in tracing her family and connections. But nothing came of it and it would be a shame if others expended time and resources duplicating what has already been done. But, what to do? And how to do it?
On a slightly more positive note, I have been wondering about two unusual physical characteristics of SM. His high calf muscles, and his ears with a much higher than normal cymba to cavum ratio. Various hypotheses have been put forward to explain his high calves; a ballet dancer, a stockman, an athlete etc. High calves aren’t common, so investigating what professions or sports might develop high calves would seem to be of some value for identifying SM. With this in mind I started to search for information on high calves (high insertion calves) and, contrary to what I and others have been assuming, one is born with high calves. You can’t do any exercises to move the calf muscles further up the leg because the positioning is determined by the length of the Achilles tendon. You are either born with a long Achilles tendon, or you aren’t.
But, this does not mean we can forget about looking for lost ballet dancers and the like because high insertion calves are said to be an advantage in ballet dancing, and in other endeavours. So, at this point it seemed that the cause had not been advanced. Damn, I said to myself.
Then I turned my attention to ears with a much larger than average cymba to cavum ratio. I wandered around my local shopping mall trying to get some statistics on cymba/cavum ratios, but after a while I realised this was not one of my better ideas. So, back to the keyboard for a safe random selection of “Intenet” ears, with no threat of GBH or other unpleasantness. And, yes, I looked at several hundred Internet ears and did not find a single “SM type” ear. This supports Prof Henneberg’s contention that less than 2% of the population have such ears. So far, so good.
And then I had a stroke of random luck. In my general browsing on the Internet I came across a photo of one James Dasaolu, who did have a high cymba to cavum ratio. Who is James Dasaolu? and so what? you are probably thinking. Well, James is a sub 10 second/100 metre sprinter.
Then, an inspired thought. Could high insertion calves (=long Achilles tendon) be genetically associated with a high cymba to cavum ratio? The first twenty or so photos of sub 10 second sprinters that I was able to find which showed the cymba/cavum showed that all the sprinters did have a much higher cymba/cavum ratio than normal.
It isn’t much, but it is something new, and we need new information from whatever source if we are going to identify SM.
I am not saying that SM was a sprinter, only that he had the genetic capacity to be one. I think there is a good chance that we will find that SM was a sprinter at school, and/or his parents, siblings or cousins might also have been good at sprinting. Of course there is still the possibility that SM never used his genetic inheritance, or the records may not have survived.
Putting it another way, if we have a possible candidate for SM and we discover that this candidate was the school champion sprinter, then this must increase the likelihood that the identification is correct.
B D, I’ve been thinking along similar lines and have been trying to find genetic conditions that mild auricular dysplasia (unusual ears), anodontia (fewer teeth than normal) and/or hypertonia (pronounced muscle tone/stiffness) in the lower legs. I have found some that come close, but they usually also include other symptoms that SM does not have. Still looking.
Carlos on November 8, 2011 made what I think is a very significant observation about the code, and Nick agreed. Carlos observed:
“There is one detail that I would like to remark: the second line is crossed through, and it is re-written again… as row number 4. In my opinion, this can lead us to think that the note is NOT a message (nor even a text). In a normal text, changing the position of a line has no sense, as the text loses all of its meaning. So, when I first saw this case, my first hypothesis was that the note was an encrypted LIST (not a text). It could be a list of names, telephone numbers, places… because in a list, we can put the second row in the fourth position without losing the meaning. In a normal text or message, we cannot do this.”
I think that the absence of the last six letters of the alphabet, if we allow that the “W”s are actually “M”s, is good evidence that plaintext is all numeric, with each digit, zero through to nine, encoded by either of two unique letters. Something along the lines of A to J coding for the numerals 0 to 9 and the letters K to T also coding for 0 to 9. This smacks of a cipher hastily improvised by an amateur and I note that there is some evidence that suggests that the code was written in haste, possibly by a passenger in a car travelling on a rough dirt road.
I say this because when I processed a high resolution image of the code I found that the strokes that form the letters of the code sometimes continue beyond the edges of the letters. Note that here I am refering to the faint strokes that have not been copied onto the overlay (or pehaps onto a photographic print) with black ink. The only situation in my experience where this happens is if I am trying to write in a moving vehicle. The degree to which the strokes continue beyond the edges of the letters suggests an extremely bumpy ride by a car passenger. In 1948 bumpy dirt roads were probably the norm on the outskirts of Adelaide. They certainly would have been almost universal outside Adelaide. Australian was, and still is, the dirt road corrugation “Capital” of the world. I think a train journey, even in South Australia 1948, would not be sufficiently bumpy. A plane passenger in 1948 (unpressurised aircraft flying at 6 or 7,000 feet) could probably experience a bumpy ride depending upon the weather.
I find the very lumpy distribution of the letters of the code (only 16 alpha characters if we count the “W”s as “M”s) very strange. My understanding is that all (?) encyphering systems flatten the distribution. So, the ciphering system is outside the ordinary.
I wanted to check the probability of a string of 44 letters of general text only contains at most twenty alpha characters. Or, putting it another way, what is the probability of a text of 44 characters not containing six or more alphabet characters. I used the text of Dickens’s “A Tale of Two Cities” and found that only 1.7% of alpha strings of 44 characters did not contain more than twenty distinct alpha characters. For a string length of 50 characters (the code could be said to contain 50 characters if the crossed out line is included) the percentage drops to 0.67%. This, of course, is only relevant to a monoalphabetic substitution cipher.
What sort of numeric information could require enciphering, and why? A bank account perhaps, but Commonwealth Bank accounts in 1948 appear to have six digit account numbers and this probably applied to other banks as well. And I can’t imagine why somebody would want several bank accounts in Australia in 1948. But, I am reminded that the second phone number found in the Rubaiyat was that of a bank. Phone numbers? But phone numbers at the time also included an alpha exchange character. The only information that I can think of that would fit the bill is technical and scientific data.
I wonder if the high frequency of the letters A and B might be a consequence of what is known as “Benford’s law” or “First digit law”?
Byron: the codebreakers at the time concluded – quite reasonably, I think – that the frequency distribution of the letters in the ciphertext was consistent with the frequency distribution of the initial letters of words in the English language. I haven’t seen anything that has offered a better rationale for this basic statistical observation.
Incidentally, I have a better quality scan of the page which I’ve been meaning to post about for a while. I’ll try to get that up in the next few days, it might well clear up a lot of the practical issues and questions you have about the note.
Nick, there is one interesting situation that is consistent with a) the letters being unenciphered initial letters of English text, and b) the point made by Carlos. The “VIC” system (Straddling bipartite mono-alphabetic substitution super-enciphered by modified double transposition ! ) used a Russian folk song. Perhaps the SM code is a list of the initial letters of four folk songs, or similar, as an aide memoire? Maybe we should be looking at popular folk songs or poems, or suchlike?
“The VIC system used four memorised keys. Key 1 – the date of WWII victory over Japan – 3/9/1945; Key 2 – the sequence of 5 numbers like pi – 3.1415; Key 3 – the first 20 letters of the “Lone Accordion”, or famous Russian song/poem, and Key 4 – the agent number, say 7. Key 1 was changed regularly. Key 4 was changed irregularly.” See: wow.und.nodak.edu/org/crypto/crypto/lanaki.crypt.class/docs/russian/russ2.kript
“This Sunday, 60 Minutes will reveal for the first time the identity of the mysterious nurse who was romantically linked to the Somerton man, and talk to the woman who claims she’s the Somerton Man’s granddaughter.”
Gawd, I hope it isn’t Svetlana!! Nick, get ready for some trolling overload on Monday.
“….who was romantically linked….” Did anyone actually imply that at the time? I thought that was just contemporary gossip?
There seems to be a reluctance to consider that the Somerton Man case might have intelligence overtones. Australia, effectively at the arse end of the world, might be regarded as a backwater where nothing of interest to intelligence agencies was happening in the 1940s. I beg to differ. I think the following demonstrates that Australia, including Adelaide, was an important area for Soviet intelligence operations in the 1940’s.
Breaking the Codes: Australia’s KGB network 1944-1950. Desmond Ball and David Horner.
Pages 341-2.
“Two good indicators of the relative importance of the NKGB’s espionage operations in a particular country are the size of the local Residency and the volume of cable traffic between the Residency and Moscow Centre. The number of KGB personnel reflects both the number of contacts being cultivated and agents being run by the Residency, and the value of the information to Moscow. ….
In June 1949 …………… the Canberra Residency had grown to seven officers and “co-opted” collaborators. …………. This is a substantial intelligence establishment – not as large as the KGB and GRU Residencies in New York, Washington or London, but larger that anywhere else in the Anglo-American part of the world. The volume of cable traffic reflects both the amount of important information being collected (and deemed necessary to report by telegraph), and the degree of attention Moscow Centre was prepared to devote to a particular area of operations. Telegraph services were supposed to be used to report only the most important and most urgent intelligence. …. The Residencies in New York and Washington were the most communicative. The New York Residency sent some 1,300 cables to Moscow Centre in 1942. The Washington Residency began in 1943, taking over some of the operations previously conducted by the New York Residency, and in 1946 Washington sent more than 7,000 cables to Moscow Centre. In return Moscow sent about 1,000 cables to New York and some 2,650 to Washington in 1945. By comparison, in 1946 some 600 cables were sent from the Canberra Residency to Moscow Centre and over 300 from Moscow to Canberra (or about a third the number Moscow sent to New York).”
I note that we know nothing about the activities, or even the size, of the GRU operation in Australia, and I feel that the size of the GRU organisation in Australia in the 1940s probably exceeded that of the NGKB. The presence of Zaitsev in Australia suggests this.
Page 343, and other pages; Ball and Horner describe how the information about MacArthur’s plans, and other information, was used by Stalin to gain the best advantage in the war in Europe, and to delay the war in the Pacific to gain advantage. Stalin had information about allied war plans leaked to the Japanese (also the Germans) to prolong the war. One example: Stalin had details leaked to the Japanese concerning the Australian army’s plans to re-take Balikpapan, a strategically important oil producing area in Borneo. Japanese resistance was expected to be light, but the Japanese heavily reinforced the area and 444 Australian troops died as a result.
Colonel Victor Sergevitch Zaitsev was the Tokyo GRU Residency’s contact with the Sorge espionage network in Japan. The Sorge network was of great importance to Stalin because he was able to reduce the number of his troops on his eastern borders to reinforce his army in the west. There is also good evidence to suggest that Stalin was able to manipulate the Japanese into attacking the USA (“Operation Snow”). This was of great benefit to Stalin because a) it widened the war for all the allies, bar the Soviet Union, who did not enter the Pacific war until the week before it ended (so they could occupy Japanese territory before the allies could get there). b) it allowed Stalin to move troops from his eastern border to the war with Germany. It has been said that if the Soviets had to fight both the Germans and the Japanese, Russia would have fallen. From information supplied by the Sorge network’s informants in the Japanese government, Stalin knew that the Japanese would go to war with the USA if the USA stepped over a certain line. Stalin’s agents, Harry Dexter White, Harry Hopkins, Henry Morgenthau and others close to Roosevelt (including his wife Eleanor) made sure that the USA did step over that line.
In other words, the Sorge ring was of great importance to Stalin. So, why was Zaitsev moved to Canberra in 1943? The Australian authorities did not realise that Zaitsev was an intelligence officer, and there was no surveillance of him. In fact, nothing is known about his activities in Australia. He must have been up to something during the five years he was in Australia.
Ball and Horner. Page 144. “The Australian security intelligence authorities remained unaware that Zaitsev was a GRU officer until at least five years after he left Australia. Zaitsev’s specific espionage activities during his five years in \Australia remain matters of speculation. He was presumably too important an officer for the GRU to leave unproductive for such a long time. Two possibilities have been canvassed. One is that he was engaged in setting up some “illegal” network that was to remain quiescent until the next war but which, for whatever reason, was never activated. It was Vladimir Petrov’s firm belief, in 1954, that his GRU “neighbours” had established an “illegal apparatus” in Australia. The second possibility is that Zaitsev was running a very high-level agent somewhere in the Australian government.”
As for Alfred Hughes, he joined the Military Police Intelligence unit in 1940 and transferred to the Security Service in Sydney in 1942. Hughes (cover name Ben) worked for Moscow Centre and was the NKGB’s “principle source of operation intelligence in Australia.” (Page 240). Hughes was the principal counter espionage authority in Sydney, so it is obvious why Walter Clayton’s “Klod” group (so! evidence that the NKGB did have some sense of humour! or maybe just deep cynicism?) was able to operate so effectively. I note that after WW2 Hughes went back to the police force, working in the Sydney vice squad for fifteen year. What a marvellous position to be in for a NKGB operative. Think of the opportunities Hughes must have had to suborn the high and the mighty caught on vice matters. It is thought that Soviet intelligence got traction in the UK in the 1920’s by suborning people caught by the vice squad. I think it is significant that Guy Liddell was the then head of the vice squad in London.
“Spry, until his death ….. maintained a forlorn hope that Hughes’s membership of the KLOD group would not be publicised” Page 336. So, Spry was of a mind to bury embarrassments. Maybe he buried the Somerton Man case?
In June 1949 ASIO (newly established in March 1949) was conducting surveillance on Semyen Ivanovich Makarov who was reckoned to be EFIM in the Venona traffic, the KI resident in the Soviet embassy in Canberra. The newly formed ASIO followed Makarov as he sailed back to the Soviet Union aboard SS Stratheden. ASIO tailed Makarov when the ship docked in Melbourne on the 24th June and then when it docked at Adelaide. Makarov easily shook off his tail (Ray Whitrod and Ernest Redford) in both Melbourne and Adelaide (Ball and Horner. page 305).
I can’t imagine that Makarov was just sightseeing in Melbourne or Adelaide. And, why did Makarov deliberately lose his tail? Surely, if he was not up to something it was to his advantage to lead the ASIO tails all around town, wasting their time. Also, by his actions Makarov was revealing to ASIO that he knew he was being tailed. So, I feel that Makarov was meeting contacts in Adelaide.
There is evidence that a high level “illegal” was operating in Adelaide in the early 1960′s.
In 1962 the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation “ASIO” found that the Russian ambassador to Australia, Ivan Fyodorovich Kurdyukov “Ivan Skripov”, tried to have a state of the art high speed radio transmission device delivered to somebody in Adelaide. From memory Peter Wright mentioned the high speed “squirt” transmitter, which was probably to be used to transmit to Russian satellites passing overhead (ie very low transmission power required, particularly if used with a directional aerial, which would have made detection by the Australian authorities difficult, particularly in an area with a lot of radio noise such as a city suburb).
The “Ivan Skripov” case is unusual, even by espionage standards, because the ambassador was directly involved, and because the need for clandestine radio communications implies extreme urgency of the information being transmitted. The only other case that I am aware of at this time where the Russians were found to give squirt radio transmitters to agents was the Portland spy ring case. Unfortunately, ASIO decided to prematurely abort the case because they were so interested in discovering the technical details of the high speed sending device. Rumours at the time suggested that workers at Woomera had been interviewed by ASIO. There was also evidence that Soviet submarines were active in the Great Australian Bight, probably monitoring rocket launching activities at Woomera.
Recently a suspect has been named: http://www.smh.com.au/national/a-spy-like-horrie-20131013-2vgbd.html
Horace Allan Pile b 22nd February 1923 Coolac, Vic died 5th August 1971 at St Kilda
father Allan Reginald Pile 1895-1979 mother Annie Arnall 1897-1947
Alf Boxall said that Jestyn was a good friend of the wife of one of the Water Transport Unit instructors and this probably explains how Jestyn came to meet Boxall at the Clifton Gardens Hotel. It might be enlightening if we could discover the identity of Jestyn’s friend and we might be able to identify her friend’s husband from: Item details: MP742/1, 251/1/722. Water Transport Personnel GRO 771/43.
Also, Item details: SP1008/1, 420/88/42. Hiring of premises at Clifton Gardens occupied by 1st Australian Water Transport Group. box 27. That is something that we did not know. The 1 AWTG had premises at the hotel. It is strange that Boxall did not mention this.
Seeing as this is where it all started ..
The vignettes are all linked, fiction and reality have been mixed up like a saucepan of chilli marinara. And it’s a lovely blood colour.
Send me your address, Nick old sport, I’ll bung over a copy about mid year.
pete: looking forward to reading it (I’ll email separately). We may have our differences over the Somerton Man (and probably not that many, if we can put spying to one side), but I really love the way you write dialogue, so I’m sure it’ll be a good read. 😉