Port Arthur massacre: We were there

Gaye and John Fidler will never, ever forget Sunday 28 April 1996.

Thirty years on, many Australians are too young to recall the grim horrors of that terrible day.

This eyewitness account explicitly describes the grim brutality that modern high-powered weapons of war wreak as they rip through bodies, lives and communities.

Lest we forget.

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 Just two minutes after the 10 old friends had all gathered in Port Arthur’s Broad Arrow Cafe, 17 shots were fired at patrons killing 12 in just 15 seconds.

Three were Gaye and John’s close friends.

Thirty-five people would eventually die and many were seriously injured.

Warning: This account may cause distress for some. Please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 for support.

Gaye Fidler picks up their story ...

At dinner with several friends in Melbourne, Beverly Howard (now deceased) announced she was turning 70 and asked if her friends would join her in Tasmania to celebrate. John and I, Kevin and Marlene Sharp, and Ray Sharp enthusiastically accepted the offer to join Wally and Beverly for the celebration.

We flew to Tasmania on Anzac Day 25 April 1996.

The day after Bev’s birthday, somebody suggested we visit the Port Arthur historic penal colony site on Sunday, a pleasant 90-minute drive south of Hobart. We all agreed.

I was delighted because the only time I had been to Port Arthur was when I’d just turned 16. Back then you turned off the road to the site and just walked around – there was nothing commercial and no entrance fee.

On Sunday morning Wally picked us up at 10.30am and we drove to Gary and Maree Broome’s flat near Hobart where we met Merv and Maureen Schadendorff.

We drove to the historic site, where we made our way to the Broad Arrow Cafe. After choosing a table, John and I visited the souvenir shop at the far end to buy gifts for our grandchildren.

We spoke with two gorgeous young girls behind the counter: 17-year-old Nicole Burgess and 26-year-old Elizabeth Howard.

Just after one o'clock, a young blond man lugging a heavy bag came into the cafe picking up a plastic food tray. He stood quietly in the busy queue in front of the bain-marie where he chose a hot meal and walked outside onto the deck. After eating, he reached into his bag and pulled out a video camera.

The couple next to him, the only others eating outside, were startled as he began interviewing them on video: “Great day, isn't it?”, “Hey, there's not a lot of Japs out today. What do you think about that? There are a lot of WASPS (White Anglo-Saxon Protestants), though, a lot of yuppies.” Unnerved, the woman he was quizzing moved away.

The 28-year-old put the camera back into his bag and flung it over his shoulder.

Meanwhile, back inside we chatted for around 20 minutes; me facing Maree and she with her back to the wall, so I didn’t see my surroundings and other people.

John and Gary were talking about their school days.

Wally Bennett, Ray, Kevin and Marlene Sharp had said they’d be there at 1.30pm; ever punctual, Kevin had them there a couple of minutes early.

They’re the only reason John and I are alive, because we were seated while they stood beside and behind us.

Marlene and Kevin stood at the end of the table with the other six of us seated: Wally stood behind John and Ray behind me.

Someone said something about joining a tour and Wally said he’d done the tour so many times he’d be our tour guide.

John and Gary continued to talk about the schools they’d attended. “Come on let’s go,” someone said, and Gary started to stand up.

At 1.30pm, the young man picked up his plates and headed for the cafe door. A lady held it open for him as he was struggling with his dishes and large bag.

He took his dishes back to the kitchen, turned to where there was a side-table and placed his bag on it.

Next thing, a very loud bang!

Everyone around me jumped with surprise. I thought a balloon had burst – no, it’s too loud. I looked to my right from where the sound had come. I could see movement but couldn’t define anything.

Then a second bang, which I thought was something exploding, a coffee machine came to mind.

“Ah, a re-enactment” flashed through my mind as we’d been in a very realistic one at Knott’s Berry Farm in the US.

John had looked across the room just in time to see a young man with long blond wavy hair turn and walk towards a table with two people, taking only a few steps.

He stood directly in front of Moo Yee Ng and Miss Sou Leng Chung before cold-bloodedly shooting them dead.

Next, he took one step sideways and was directly in front of the next person. He fired again at point blank range and the man slumped dead in his chair.

John remembered looking the gunman straight in the eye thinking: “why’s a good-looking Aussie kid doing this?”

John said he just couldn’t take his eyes off the shooter’s as he walked straight towards our group firing from the hip.

Next, he shot and killed 21-year-old Kate Scott from Western Australia, visiting Tasmania for a wedding.

Bravely, Anthony Nightingale ran across the room, and at the end of our table yelled “no, no not here!”. The gunman shot him dead.

John recalls as the shooter walked towards our group, there was no movement in his eyes, he was staring straight ahead and walking, not running. He knew we couldn’t do anything to stop him.

Next, he killed Wally and Ray who stood by our table with the one shot.

It was then I felt something hit me in my back and said to John “something’s hit me”, which caused John to break his eye contact with the gunman. John pushed me under the table. By this time, the gunman had shot Kevin, too.

Shots seemed to be going off at about one a second.

It seems with us both hitting the floor, the gunman thought he’d shot John. John and I received shrapnel wounds, John looking like he had been shot between the eyes.

John was staring straight ahead, not moving – a shell lay on the floor directly in front of him.

John could see Gary sitting on the floor, his back against the wall, knees bent up with his left elbow resting on his thigh and his left hand holding the side of his bloodied face. John thought Gary wouldn’t make it … but, thankfully, he did.

The gunman showed no emotion at all, he didn’t talk, frown, yell – he just deliberately walked up to people and shot them.

John, laying between the tables, was totally exposed and thought he would die.

I kept thinking the shooter must run out of bullets, but it just went on and on and on.

I lay listening to each shot thinking there’s another life lost.

On the table next to us were Andrew Mills, Tony Kisten and his wife Sarah Kisten. Tony moved to shield his wife Sarah and was shot dead. Andrew was also murdered.

Fifteen-year-old Sarah Loughton was murdered and her mother Caroline Loughton was very badly injured.

Rob Elliott was shot in the arm and head causing serious injuries. Later, he was awarded the Star of Courage for his bravery during the massacre.

The gunman shot and killed staff members Nicole Burgess and Elizabeth Howard where they lay hiding behind the gift shop counter.

He then went into the gift shop area where several people were crouched in the corners, trapped with nowhere to go. It was here Peter and Bev Kelly hid, Peter turning up a display table.

Others killed there were Gwenda Neander, Ronald Jary. Pauline Masters, Dennis Lever and Peter Nash – who saved his wife, Carolyn Nash’s, life by laying on top of her – and Merv and Mary Howard.

Some customers had tried to escape through an exit door, but it was locked. Bodies lay on top of each other in a pile. One lady was sitting with a round hole through her head, another through her neck.

Coralee Lever and Vera Jary hid behind a hessian screen with others and survived.

The shots got closer again. Originally, I thought he just shot in our direction presuming he couldn’t get over all the dead bodies. Again, we closed our eyes and pretended to be dead.

No one has any idea what their bodies can do until put in a position like that; it felt like I had even stopped breathing – my chest not moving – completely still.

Merv and Marl could see the gunman’s legs from under the table and whispered “he is coming back”. The shooter walked up to us placing his foot right at John’s head. I still can’t believe that with all his ammunition he didn’t just shoot us again; anyway, he turned and walked away.

At this point there was great confusion, with many people not knowing what to do, as the gunman was near the main exit.

Silence fell for several seconds.

I’d seen a girl run out a side door wheelchair entrance earlier so John and I made a run for it. To get out we had to step over or past seven dead bodies, neither of us could remember seeing any of them, we were so intent on just getting out of the cafe. I thought at least I am going to die trying to live.

We ran down a ramp and headed towards the information centre. The shooting started again. It was obvious he was shooting at us from the corner of the veranda as there was no one else near us, but he gave up on us because there so many people out front of the cafe.

Many people outside still thought there was a re-enactment happening.

He now walked the short distance to the car park where, despite desperate efforts of visitors to hide behind and inside coaches, he killed four more people and wounded another eleven.

One of the coach drivers, Royce Thompson, was shot and later died of his wounds. Brigid Cook was shot and coach driver Ian McElwee injured, but both escaped and survived.

Winifred Aplin, running to hide behind another coach, was fatally shot. Then he shot Janet Quin who later died of her wounds. The shooter boarded a coach and killed Elva Gaylard. He noticed Gordon Francis in an adjacent coach and shot at him – Gordon survived. The shooter then noticed Neville Quin, husband of Janet, and chased him around the coaches, firing at him.

Neville boarded a coach, but the gunman followed saying: "No one gets away from me.” Neville ducked as the gunman was about to pull the trigger. The bullet missed his head but hit his neck, momentarily paralysing him. After the gunman was gone, Neville found his wife, who died in his arms. Neville was taken to hospital by helicopter and survived.

We ran in a crouched position to behind the information centre. There was a three-metre sheer embankment. John tried to push me up but there was nothing for me to grip. John kept looking back to see if the gunman was coming.

At the top of the embankment I saw a man running into the bushes. I pleaded with him help me; he came back and gave me his hand. John pushed and I was up. I helped John up and John helped someone behind him who in turn helped someone else.

[Revisiting Port Arthur after the massacre, I will never understand how we managed to get up that high embankment.]

We climbed through a fence and were considering whether to run across a large cleared area, but I was exhausted and had trouble breathing.

We were standing in the open when we heard a car coming up the road towards the toll booth being driven erratically and swerving about.  It was a yellow Volvo. We both thought thankfully someone is going for help!

Then the shots started again … it was him.

This is when he shot dead Nanette Mikac and her two little daughters.

Having seen the murders, people further up the road began running, telling drivers coming down the road what was happening. Cars reversed up to the toll booth where the shooter managed to block in a BMW. Inside were Mary Rose Nixon, driver Russell Pollard and passengers Helene and Robert Salzmann. The gunman shot Robert at point-blank range, killing him. Russell jumped from the car and went towards the gunman who shot him in the chest, killing him.

More cars were arriving; seeing what was happening they quickly reversed back up the road. The shooter pulled Mary Nixon and Helene Salzmann from the car and shot them dead.

He then transferred ammunition, handcuffs, the AR-15 rifle and a fuel container to the BMW.

Unbeknown to us at the time, he then left the historic site. Just up the road outside the general store he killed one more person and kidnapped another, who he later murdered.

[Along the road back to where his killing spree began with the double murder of Seascape Cottage guest house owners, David and Sally Martin, before entering the historic site, he randomly shot and injured passing motorists.]

For us, at the time the fear was horrendous, not knowing where he was; all I wanted to see was armed police so at least someone could fight back.

As we crawled back into the undergrowth we could hear the shots aimed at the people in the toll gate office and those in cars.

We met up with a young couple, Bev and Peter Kelly from Lara, near Geelong. They’d hidden under a counter when the shooting started and stayed there until they knew the gunman was outside. The four of us found a low spot and huddled together and talked in whispers in case he came back. We just couldn’t stop shaking. We kept thinking help must come soon, but it took over an hour before it arrived and that’s when we eventually left the bushes.

Our friend Merv came looking for us said Kevin was dead, we already knew Ray and Wally were gone. He said Gary had been shot in the face. Later, Gary said he’d seen us going up the embankment and thought of following but knew he’d lost too much blood to go anywhere. Gary went off to hospital with Maree and survived.

I headed over to Marlene who was sitting at a table on the front veranda. She was in shock, covered in blood. She looked up and said: “Kev’s dead.”  I tried to comfort her but felt so helpless – we’d been friends since I was 15 years old.

Staff member Sue Burgess was asking people if she could help them and came up to me. I looked into her eyes – they looked so sad – I asked if she was okay. She said “my daughter is in there” pointing towards the cafe.

I asked if her daughter was okay. “She’s dead,” Sue said. It was Nicole, one of the nice young girls John and I had spoken with earlier in the gift shop.

Such a waste of so many lives.

 

In memory

Thirty-five murdered:

• Winifred Joyce Aplin, 58
• Walter John Bennett, 66
• Nicole Louise Burgess, 17
• Sou Leng Chung, 32
• Elva Rhonda Gaylard, 48
• Zoe Anne Hall, 28
• Elizabeth Jayne Howard, 26
• Mary Elizabeth Howard, 57
• Mervyn John Howard, 55
• Ronald Noel Jary, 71
• Tony Vadivelu Kistan, 51
• Leslie Dennis Lever, 53
• Sarah Kate Loughton, 15
• David Martin, 72
• Noelene “Sally” Joyce Martin, 69
• Pauline Virjeana Masters, 49
• Alannah Louise Mikac, 6
• Madeline Grace Mikac, 3
• Nanette Patricia Mikac, 36
• Andrew Bruce Mills, 39
• Peter Brenton Nash, 32
• Gwenda Joan Neander, 67
• William Xeeng Ng, 48
• Anthony Nightingale, 44
• Mary Rose Nixon, 60
• Glenn Roy Pears, 35
• Russell James Pollard, 72
• Janette Kathleen Quin, 50
• Helene Maria Salzmann, 50
• Robert Graham Salzmann, 57
• Kate Elizabeth Scott, 21
• Kevin Vincent Sharp, 68
• Raymond John Sharp, 67
• Royce William Thompson, 59
• Jason Bernard Winter, 29

 

Many injured

At least 23 people were injured during the murderous events of that sunny autumn Sunday. Not all have been identified but most are listed here:

• Michael Sargent
• Gary Broome
• Neville Quin
• John Fidler
• Gaye Fidler
• Sarah Kisten
• Thelma Walker
• Pamela Law
• Peter Croswell
• Patricia Barker
• Graham Colyer
• Carolyn Loughton
• Coralee Lever
• Vera Jary
• Carolyn Nash
• Dennis Olson
• Nicole Burgess
• Rob Elliot.
• Gordon Francis

 

Bravery awards

Among those awarded for their bravery that day were:

• Lynne Beavis – A nurse who risked her life to treat the wounded and dying inside the Broad Arrow Cafe while the shooter was still onsite.
• Peter Croswell – A survivor who was shot protecting two women colleagues.
• Kevin Sharp and John Fidler – Who both helped protect others.
• Rob Elliott – A survivor who was awarded the Star of Courage for a conspicuous act of courage in circumstances of great peril.

Guns and ammunition

The shooter used a Colt AR-15 semi-automatic rifle in the cafe, and an L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle (battle rifle) both with chambers suitable for high-powered .223 and 7.62x51mm (.308) calibre ammunition.

The easy availability of these high-capacity, semi-automatic weapons and maximum-wound-effect ammunition was a major contributor to the high death toll inflicted in such a short time.

These guns and the ammunition were legal in Tasmania at the time of the massacre.