Newtown bombing victim Aimee Milne to be awarded Victoria Police Star 80 years after horrific event

Few crimes have rattled the Geelong community more than the fatal bombing of the Milne house. The innocent wife of a Geelong detective was killed in the murderous act, but her tragic death has been remembered more than 80 years on.

FEW crimes have rattled the Geelong community more than the fatal bombing of the Milne house.

In 1936 plainclothes detective Fred Milne, famous for catching Melbourne’s most notorious crooks, lived in Manning St, Newtown, with wife Aimee and their two youngest children Chloris and Norman.

The family had moved to Geelong from Melbourne a few years earlier after Milne chased famous criminals including Squizzy Taylor and gang The Narrows.

On July 12, Senior Detective Milne and his wife were in bed by 11pm.

The Milne house after it was bombed in 1936.

It had been an uneventful Sunday with nothing to warn of the horrific events that would unfold.

At 3.20am the couple woke to find a bomb had been flung into their bedroom — Sen-Det Milne was the target.

For whatever reason the device, which was made of gelignite, didn’t explode, but a second bomb thrown inside only a few seconds later did.

Sen-Det Milne was seriously injured, but along with his two children, survived.

Aimee Milne died at the scene.

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Today, eight decades on, Mrs Milne will be the first civilian to be awarded the prestigious Victoria Police Star.

The honour will be awarded by Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton to acknowledge the unique and often unpredictable dangers of police work.

Although Mrs Milne was not a police member, investigations found her death was intrinsically linked to her husband’s work.

Superintendent Peter O’Neill, who has been instrumental in organising the posthumous award, said Mrs Milne had made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.

Closest living relatives of of Aimee Milne, siblings Rory Milne and Nancy Milne at the gravesite in Geelong. Picture: Alison Wynd

“This gives us the opportunity to recognise her contribution and to dedicate her grave,” Supt O’Neill said.

“In a way Victoria Police can right the wrong of the past in the fact that we didn’t acknowledge her at the time.”

Mrs Milne’s closest living relative, Rory Milne, said it was “an absolute honour” to be able to see his grandmother’s sacrifice formally recognised.

“It means a hell of a lot to us … because Aimee was never really fully commemorated when she died,” Rory said.

Aimee Milne. Picture: Supplied

Plain clothed detective Fred Milne. Picture: Victoria Police

He said the advent of World War II in 1939 meant many sacrifices were simply forgotten.

“My grandfather, by all accounts, was a really terrific detective and it was due to his vigilance and being such an honest cop that he was targeted by criminals in the 1930s that were running pretty rampant in Melbourne at that time,” Rory said.

Rory, who only met his grandfather once, said the loss of Mrs Milne was felt across generations.

“But even though we never knew our grandmother, we certainly grew up knowing she was missing from over lives,” Rory said.

The new plaque at the gravesite of Aimee Milne. Picture: Alison Wynd

Rory said his grandfather never recovered and was left permanently traumatised by the incident of 1936.

His father, who was nine at the time of the attack, was also emotionally scarred.

“My father was in the house at the time … he didn’t really ever want to talk about it,” Rory said. “It had a huge impact on his life.”

At the time investigators found at least 2.2kg of gelignite were used in the two bombs. Mrs Milne was believed to have been holding the first bomb in an attempt to throw it outside when the second device was hurled into the bedroom and exploded at her feet.

Giving a statement to detectives a few days later from his bed at Geelong hospital, Sen-Det Milne said: “The man who was responsible for this crime has taken life without gratifying his desire for vengeance by killing me.

“I have done nothing to deserve this. I have done nothing but my duty. It is dreadful that an innocent woman should be the victim of such a crime.”

Detectives investigating the case rounded up suspects who, in the past, had been accused of making threats against Sen-Det Milne’s life, but there wasn’t enough evidence to tie any of them to the bombing.

One of the strongest suspects was Edward George Carr.

Carr, a career criminal had an alibi for the time of the bombing and was never charged. The case remains unsolved.

Mrs Milne’s sacrifice will be acknowledged at East Geelong cemetery today.

Originally published as Newtown bombing victim Aimee Milne to be awarded Victoria Police Star 80 years after horrific event