Dennis Monk enjoys his retirement in Lakes Entrance, going boating, crabbing, playing an occasional game of golf, meeting up with his mates on a Friday night and sitting back and enjoying the lake views from
his balcony.
He was born and bred in Albury, left school and became a builder. His mate was heading up to Sydney to do the exam to join the police force, so Dennis went along to keep him company on the trip.
“I waited in the car while he went in, but it was taking a very long time so I went to see where he was. An officer saw me and said ‘hurry up, get in there and do the exam’, so I thought I might as well and the rest is history. I joined the police force in 1970 and retired in 2000,” Dennis said.
But there was a time, 41 years ago, when he faced a dreadful situation and feared for his life and those of his colleagues.
This episode in his life had been pushed to the corner until a phone call from a retired police officer who researches past incidents in the line of duty.
The retired policeman had looked into an arrest in early 1984 of a heavily armed gunman in the remote bushland of the Upper Murray. He was astounded that the four police officers had not been recognised for their bravery and heroic efforts to avert bloodshed.
The situation had begun when a young man and his fiancée went to a farming property which he was managing to retrieve his car for the weekend. As they entered the home, they were ambushed by a stranger in jungle greens and had a gun pointed at them. They were tied up and feared he was going to murder them at any moment.
The terrifying ordeal included the erratic gunman explaining how to kill with a gun or knife. He carried a large hunting knife in a Rambo-style and forced them to watch the Alfred Hitchcock movie The Birds. They said it was as though he had a split personality, and he boasted he could disappear into the bush and not be found and they wouldn’t be around to identify him.
While he left them alone to get his camping gear, the young couple managed to free themselves and fled through the night for two hours to raise the alarm.
By 1984 Dennis Monk was stationed at Albury, after spending 10 years policing in Sydney, and was now a member of the Special Weapons Operations Squad.
A dog trapper working in the bush had come across a man whose vehicle had run out of fuel. After trying to tow the vehicle he realised the man had guns and was very erratic. He managed to negotiate that he would go and get fuel for him. He went straight to the police.
Along with three other colleagues, Dennis was assigned to the task of apprehending the fellow.
“It was unique where it happened and the mountains were covered in difficult terrain. Usually in policing you get called to a situation and are there before you have time to think too much about it,” Dennis said.
“This was different, we knew he had guns and a large amount of ammunition, he was trained in camouflage, there was no radio contact and no backup.
“We feared what would happen if this man got back into the community, he had to be stopped. We had hatched a plan, one detective, Pat Brear, dressed in the tracker’s clothing, pulling the hat down low, I swapped my police shirt with a farmer’s shirt and the other two officers took their police shirts off and just wore their blue singlets. Us three had bullet-proof vests, but Pat didn’t and was unarmed.
They travelled up lying on the floor of the vehicle not knowing when they may encounter him. They came around a corner and there was the car. The three officers had seconds to jump out into the bush while the fake tracker grabbed his jerry cans and headed for the car. Within seconds of reaching the car Detective Brear had a gun pointed at him and yelled “Now” and the three officers swooped in and tackled the gunman without a shot being fired.
“I have never felt so much relief in my life once he was apprehended. We just stood there in silence. We discovered five more cocked and loaded guns next to him in the vehicle, he was set up for an ambush. One gun had bullets that would go through any bullet-proof vest, which I later discovered was two years past its expiry date.
In July 2025, retired officers Bert Bennett, Pat Brear, Peter Beacroft and Dennis were finally commended for their bravery.
“It was a marvellous day. When I walked in it was as if we had seen each other yesterday. There were other police in uniforms getting awards and they all came up and shook our hands. The recognition means a lot to us.
Dennis went on to have a highly decorated career in the Police Force becoming an Inspector in Deniliquin for many years before retiring.
“As a child I used to come to Lakes Entrance for holidays and after retiring to Albury, I visited once more and loved the place. So here I am,” Dennis concluded.
