Prologue — About events
It happened just after midday, the Wednesday following the Easter long weekend. Six masked men appeared out of nowhere, bursting into the Settling Room of Melbourne’s Victoria Club. Dressed identically in overalls, faces hidden behind balaclavas, they moved like a military unit, armed with heavy weapons: machine guns, Tommy guns, automatic assault rifles.
The crew
In the Melbourne underworld, a gang is called a crew. And the crew that carried out this robbery was a who’s who of Melbourne’s armed robbers.
Raymond “Chuck” Bennett, the General — the leader and mastermind.
Ian “Fingers” Carroll — Bennett’s right-hand man and confidant.
Normie Lee, the Accountant — his family ran a dim sim and spring roll factory.
Vinnie Mikkelsen — the hardest man in town, and Carroll’s long-time protector.
Laurie Prendergast — a young, likeable larrikin and Bennett’s protégé.
Tony McNamara — the weak link.
Yes, the culprits were known to the police. They just could not prove it. In fact, the Victorian Police Commissioner later referred to them as “the greatest team of armed robbers ever assembled.” They were all tied to the Painters and Dockers Union, which controlled Melbourne’s waterfront and most of its crime.