Errol Flynn

Ward Taylor V.

a sequel to the string of lies t some alleged New Guinea ] ers of 1926, written by the late fwood actor Errol Flynn in his , “My Wicked, Wicked Ways”, man who was libelled, former ict Officer Edward Taylor, of Guinea, commenced an action st the American publishers; and readers, who may remember the es published in 1960 (Feb., p. day, p. 23; and June, p. 113), be interested in the sequel. iver a man was made the victim }f irresponsible journalism, and 1 claim libel, it was Mr. Ted )r; but his approach to the :d States courts is making no ess against a mass of pro al and legal technicalities. fore he became famous Flynn several years in New Guinea, ilor, recruiter, goldfields adven and he even served a brief term Administration junior official. says, in the original edition of fork, published in 1958-59, that some prospectors were mur by natives near Madang, he on the staff of District Officer >r; that he was placed in charge ne of four parties which were out from Madang by District :r Taylor to seek the murderers; a dozen natives were rounded md were publicly hanged at mg by District Officer Taylor, the local native population entertained by Taylor at a lavish "Pack of Lies" mn describes the whole incident ;at detail, and says that he him vomited at “the most macabre I ever witnessed”. or to the publication of the (which, insofar as it relates to Guinea, is largely imaginative, apparently was ghosted for i by a professional writer) the was published serially by an lean magazine; and this sec giving Flynn’s account of the ers, came to the notice of PIM, vas described and challenged in February, 1960, issue, percussion was immediate, e story was described by Mr.

Taylor—now retired and living illina, NSW—and by other well n New Guinea veterans, as a of lies; and when the Territory’s lative Council met a few months

later, the scurrilous and libellous statements made in Flynn’s book were denounced by Messrs. J. K. McCarthy (Director of Native Affairs) and H.

Niall (Morobe District Commis sioner). Both of them were in the Territory service long before World War 11, both knew Flynn, and both knew the Madang incident never took place.

Flynn was very briefly a cadet at the Kokopo sub-station in the Rabaul District; and Mr. McCarthy said that the only patrolling he ever did was to wear a path between the station and the Kokopo hotel.

It was also stated in the Legco that Flynn was believed to cherish

a dislike of Taylor because, when Flynn was on the Morobe goldfield, and Taylor was District Officer at Salamaua, Taylor interfered with Flynn’s practice of coating copper coins with nickel or something, and persuading the natives to accept them as silver coins.

The Legco suggested that, for the good name of Australia, the Com monwealth Government should act in this matter for Mr. Taylor, against the publishers of the book; but Can berra did nothing, and it was left to Mr. Taylor to proceed against the publishers. The latter are two well known and very powerful corpora tions. (Over)

le American edition of My \ed, Wicked Ways duly appeared ISA and—as far as we know—it in the form in which it was lised. But when the British Corn wealth edition was published in ion by Heinemann’s in 1958, the le of the offensive section about “murders” had been deleted, jsisted by friends—and especially i generous New York attorney inated by friends—Mr. Taylor ' this year opened fire against publishers. le publishers engaged the best able legal talent, and the latter oyed every permissible legal de to embarrass the plaintiff—and, ng by the copies of the numer legal documents from the New Supreme Court which have led PIM . they really are masters le art. jw Guinea is on the opposite of the earth to New York. The ents on which Flynn’s calumnies based occurred over 30 years The legal processes in New York yery costly, even in the world’s expensive country—and Ted Dr is not by any means a rich

Legal Tactics

r. Taylor’s attorney clearly did nowledgeable best—but the pub rs’ lawyers met his every move more and more demands for sn “details” to show wherein n had written untruths and Dr was libelled; and by persuad :he Courts not to accept sworn ments that material published by idants as facts was completely ir example, they pointed out that •eferences were to “District Offi- Taylor”, which did not neces ' identify him as Edward Taylor, plaintiff. It is well-known that le time of the supposed crime, was only one District Officer Dr (Edward Taylor) in New ea: but the lawyers know that it d be a long, expensive process et proof of it across to that ; in New York. ;ain and again, defendant’s law succeeded in their applications e courts for more and more de and each time the judges seem ive allowed the plaintiffs only 10 0 days in which to provide the rial —although it was obvious ilaintiff’s attorney had to go back mstralia. and probably to New ea, to get the proofs demanded, ic libel and the damage done clear to the layman. But it also ry clear that, to bring the issue ial, a great deal more money—

and patience—is needed, and that the interests challenged will use every legal device at their command to make it difficult for plaintiff to pro ceed with his case.

At last report the case was com pletely bogged down in New York.

Writing in the latest issue of the Australian quarterly review, Quadrant, a NG District Officer of Flynn’s time, Eric Feldt, says some people might think Flynn’s book of value in revealing the character of the author, “Yet what do you know of a man who is a congenital liar?

Nothing that comes from his own mouth, as it cannot be trusted!”