Australia - B&W photos give rare insight into criminal underbelly of 1920s Sydney

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Bloody murder scenes, abandoned abortion clinics and masked detectives: Incredible black and white photographs give a rare insight into the seedy underbelly of Sydney's crime world in the 1920s
By Greta Levy For Daily Mail Australia
02:08 AEST 23 Apr 2018, updated 02:29 AEST 23 Apr 2018


  • Archived police images give a glimpse of the brutal criminal underworld of Sydney in the 1920s and 1930s
  • The images show abandoned abortion clinics, fatal motor vehicle accidents and bloody homicide scenes
  • Crowds of onlookers gather at many incidents as police begin their painstaking investigations into crimes

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES


‘An abandoned abortion clinic, a freak fatality and blood spatter spread through a well-kept empty home - these eerie images capture a glimpse of Sydney's underworld in the early 20th century.

The haunting archived photographs give an insight into what life was like through the eyes of police in Australia's largest city during the first decades of last century.

It was a violent time in Sydney's history, between two world wars, when unemployment was high and respect for the law among many was low.

Cocaine was sold over the counter at chemists and used by dentists but back-alley dealers flourished as well. Bars and pubs were ordered to close at 6pm but 'sly grog' joints traded outside legal hours.

Darlinghurst, Surry Hills, Woolloomooloo and Kings Cross became crime war zones as 'razor gangs' fought to take over inner-city suburbs in the 1920s and 1930s.

Razor gang leaders Tilly Devine and Kate Leigh went head-to-head to assume control over the vice trades.

Pitched battles such as 1929's 'Battle of Blood Alley' in Kings Cross - a 30 minute brawl between two rival gangs armed with guns, razors and clubs - terrified the populace.

The bustling streets of the inner-city we know now filled with cafes and hipster bars is shown in these startling photographs as the scene of murders, backyard abortion clinics and mysterious fires.’

Click on the headline (above) to see images. WARNING: GRAPHIC.
 

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