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Volker’s Beam Ends Gallery

11 Apr

[flagallery gid=8 name=Gallery]

Here are all of Volker’s pictures from his trip.

— Inga

 
20 Comments

Posted in Beam Ends

 

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  1. David DeWitt

    April 11, 2012 at 10:32 pm

    Excellent! Great Job! I have all of the comments and the correct attributions but do not have the text of his trip that may be missing… :(

     

    • David DeWitt

      April 12, 2012 at 3:00 am

      Sirocco today is again called the Karenita!

       

  2. Gentleman Tim

    February 9, 2016 at 8:25 am

    What a tremendous trip and post, Volker! Congratulations and thank you for sharing these great photos!!

     

  3. Tony

    June 3, 2017 at 8:34 pm

    I the book Beam Ends, Mr. Flynn speaks of an Island with a small family on it, where me meets a twenty year old girl named Lucy. But he doesn’t name the Island. He says he made a “course some distance northward of Dent Island … safe … with none of those outcrops of living coral”. He says “the anchor was let go off a low-lying island” This is where he met Lucy. Does anyone know what Island this was?

     

    • Gentleman Tim

      June 4, 2017 at 2:30 am

      Excellent question, Tony. I don’t know the answer, or even if there is an exact answer, as Errol may have conflated, embellished, confused, or even deliberately obscured or fabricated some facts. But perhaps this old nautical guide can help, perhaps in Chapter III/IV, searching northward of Dent Island for a low-lying island with no “outcrops of living coral”, as Errol describes.

      Lucy’s last name was said to be Wilson, I believe. Maybe, too, there are some census or genealogical records around that show where a Wilson family lived in that sparsely populated area of Australia.

      bit.ly/2qOaubU…

       

      • Tony

        June 4, 2017 at 3:32 am

        Gentleman Tim,

        Thank you very much for the quick response.

        I completely overlooked the name Wilson in the book! Thank you for bringing that to my attention, it may be a big help in my search.

        When I was looking for information about Lucy and her island, I came across a post from a guy who’s great grandfather was the man that one of the Whitsunday Islands was named after. So I’ve put my questions about Lucy to him, as he may know some of the local history from that part of the world. If he responds I will post the information.

        There is a low-lying island not far from Dent Island that looks like it fits Mr. Flynn’s description, but I don’t like to make assumptions because they can easily lead you astray. You know what I mean?

        Once again, if I come up with anything, I’ll post it.

        Thank you very much for your response.

        Tony

         

        • Gentleman Tim

          June 4, 2017 at 4:18 am

          What a great mission you’re on, Tony! I wish you great success with your Flynnvestigation. Identifying that island will be a major historical Flynn history find.

          Though it doesn’t fit Errol’s description perfectly, I wonder if there’s a connection between Wilson Island and Lucy Wilson’s family? … Perhaps the mega-wealthy Wilson family of Australia, or someone else, has done a genealogical history of Australian Wilsons. If there were islanders by that name in the 1930s on such an island as Errol described, there’s likely some record or remembrance of them.

          [img]http://www.atn.com.au/graphics/islands/wilson-location.gif[/img]

           

          • Tony

            June 9, 2017 at 6:00 am

            Gentleman Tim,

            In Volker’s Beam Ends Gallery there are a couple of pictures that seem to be of The Domain where EF was a cave dweller in the mid 1920s.

            Some time ago I came across a picture of a homeless man taken in The Domain during the great depression. The man seems to be cooking something using tin cans for a pot and stove, and he’s using a rock overhang for a kitchen.

            Since the picture I have was taken shortly after Mr. Flynn lived as a homeless man in the very same place, I think it gives a very accurate idea of what his life must have been like at that time. That’s why I saved the picture.

            The problem is that I haven’t been able to post it here because when I try, I’m asked for a URL. I have no idea what a URL is, but I suspect it’s a web address.

            In any case, the picture is in my laptop, so there is no web address and I don’t know how to post it.

            Can you tell me how to get the picture on here? I think the picture would be of interest to Flynn fans, and I would like to share it if possible.

            Sorry to impose.

            Thanks,
            Tony

             

            • Gentleman Tim

              June 9, 2017 at 6:25 am

              Thank you, Tony. Will be great to see this photo. If you click ‘view image’, copy the (url) address (at top of page, likely beginning with ‘www’ or ‘http’)) and paste it here, we’ll all be able to click on it and view the image.

               

              • Tony

                June 11, 2017 at 2:12 pm

                Gentleman Tim,

                I’ve posted the link to the picture. Thanks for your help.

                Tony

                www.pinterest.com…

                Homeless Domain

                 

                • Sergio

                  June 12, 2017 at 11:45 am

                  I have to say, that unemployed/homeless man in the pic sure has nice shinny new shoes…when you first see it your overcome with Scooby Doo; Hunnnnnn?

                   

                  • Tony

                    June 12, 2017 at 3:22 pm

                    Sergio, thank you for giving me your impression of the picture.

                    I was also overcome with the “Doo; Hunnnnnn?” thing when I first saw the shoes.

                    But If you zoom in you’ll see that the tops of the shoes are cracked open from him squatting on the balls of his feet. His hat has a split in the brim, the clothes are a little shabby, his hair is still trim, and he’s only got a week of growth on his beard.

                    So, he could be someone who has recently become homeless, maybe after a period of economic hardship due to the loss of a job.

                    All the clothes fit him well, so it’s unlikely that old clothes were bought at a second hand store and used as a costume.

                    If this was staged, then they had to find someone who happened to have his own cracked shoes, shabby clothes, and split hat, because those all seem to fit him. Then they had to tell him not to shave for a week.

                    The cans he’s cooking with, and the other stuff around seem rusty and well used, so they are authentic, I think.

                    The rocks at the location match the ones I’ve seen in pictures of the Domain, even those posted by Volker.

                    Lastly, the picture is being preserved for posterity at Cold store PIC/15611 Fairfax archive of glass plate negatives, National Library of Australia. So they surely think the picture has some credibility.

                    Staged or not, this picture gives a startling glimpse into how Errol Flynn lived during his time on the streets in the Domain. Surely he cooked like that, in rusty cans, squatting in the dirt.

                    It begs the question; how could a 16 year old, from an upper middle class and well respected family, end up living like this?

                    And it may answer the question of why Mr. Flynn was so motivated to go to a hellhole like New Guinea, suffer hardship, risk his life, and do hard and sometimes disgusting work in an all or nothing struggle to become successful.

                     

                    • Sergio

                      June 14, 2017 at 12:03 pm

                      Tony – Thank you for sharing – this was truly a time even the best of men ended in this fashion or even worst!
                      It was very hard times for more than people can imagine, especially today as the young are so clueless to times such as those.
                      I who came from a country whose everyday richness where not as those such as in this great country, and while I was growing up there, still had many remnants of those times ( Great Depression) which still affected people and its country. My parents surely filled me with the times, and yet they managed and had always said how blessed they were to get at times small things such as flour for bread and semolina for making pasta, of which was their major staple to their diet – one reason even though we are Sicilians and eat pasta on a regular basis, my father until his dyeing days a few years ago, still struggled to eat a small bowl of spaghetti.

                      Its a good thing they keep these pics in archives as you have posted for evidence in generations to come, so they too, in some way, try and comprehend those days which shook the “World” not just the US as many perceive it only touched. This I found out in talking with the young today; only think it was a US problem, no one else was affected.
                      With so many lies being push into our younger generations, such as there was no genocides of the Jews, Russians etc. – pictures and memos of times such as these in the plenty help and prove there was such and to keep remembering so these days never come back….

                      In reference to Errol in all this; one could go one way or the other. The majority of those I knew and talked to in life, who spent it during those times such as my parents and friends of, and even though they did well in life later on, where not very big spenders, luxury, etc. They always remembered those very-very hard times and held on to their money just in case. Where in others, fewer in numbers such as Errol went the other way; they never had it then so now that they did, they spent it faster than they got it before it was lost and or taken from them. Which is the right way? Who knows? But I can assure this. Those such as Errol had one hell of a great time!

                       

                    • Tony

                      June 14, 2017 at 1:33 pm

                      Sergio,

                      Your June 14, 2017 reply was very moving for me to read. You have great knowledge and insight into those times. Thank you for opening my mind to the reality of how the world was during the great depression, and how it forever changed the people who lived through it.

                      I think everyone should read your post. And anyone who is lucky enough to read what you wrote will surely see those times in a different way, and they themselves will be forever changed in the way they view the world they live in.

                      Thank you so much.

                      Tony

                       

            • Tony

              June 9, 2017 at 6:26 am

              Errol Flynn lived as a homeless man in The Domain during the 1920s, and this is a picture of a homeless man taken in The Domain shortly after Mr. Flynn lived there (click on link). I think it gives a very accurate idea of what Errol Flynn’s life must have been like at that time, don’t you agree?

              www.pinterest.com…

               

              • Jack Marino

                June 11, 2017 at 6:49 am

                Tony,

                Great info and photos of your trip. Is there any info in the YOUNG ERROL by John Hammond Moore that can help you? I haven’t read that books since the 80s, so I don’t remember, but I’ve talk to Mr Moore and his knowledge of Errol before he left for England is remarkable.

                 

                • Tony

                  June 11, 2017 at 1:22 pm

                  Thanks Jack,

                  That’s a great idea, I’ll look into that book.

                  Tony

                   

              • Sergio

                June 15, 2017 at 10:00 am

                Tony – Thank you very much for those very kind words…

                 

        • nenabunena

          April 1, 2024 at 12:46 am

          Thank you for sharing Tony and Tim, I’m currently reading Beam Ends and wondered if there was information about Lucy Wilson, similar to info on the woman Flynn stole the jewelry from. I wonder if she ever left the island, I felt bad for her, being left there.

           

  4. David DeWitt

    June 14, 2017 at 2:17 pm

    Just enjoyed all of these wonderful gallery photos, again! What a magnifiscent trip! Thanks, Volker, and Steve and Genene …