Ned Kelly's Last Stand

1880 Dressed in home-made armour and with revolver blazing, Australian bushranger Ned Kelly burst out of the Glenrowan Inn, which was surrounded by about 30 State troopers.

The most wanted outlaws the country has ever known, the four-member Kelly Gang, had £8,000 on their heads, at a time when a labouring man's wages were about 15 shillings a week. Their crime, among many others, was the murder of three policemen at Stringybark Creek.

At first the dumbfounded police could not understand why their bullets did not stop him. Even in the dawn light, they could see the helmet he was wearing, but when they aimed at his torso, nothing happened. Then they realised that under his long overcoat must be more armour, so they began firing at his legs. It wasn't long before he was brought down in a hail of bullets. Ned Kelly was hanged on November 11, 1880 ...

Tagged: australia, crime, bushrangers, history