It is on the northern side of the defunct railway line, near the marker for where a pistol was found. It is a double-sided grey vertical board, with the following information.
Police Shelter Position
Stay low and aim straight
'Had they been without their armour, and could take proper aim at us, not one of us could have escaped being shot.'
[Superintendent Frances Hare, 1881]
In brilliant moonlight, Superintendent Hare led the charge on the colony's most wanted me - police murderers. Ned's opening shot scattered men into ditches and behind stumps and wounded Hare in the wrist. 'Good gracious! I am hit!'
Among the cordon were Aboriginal trackers and crack marksmen. They pelted away at the outlaws throughout the night. The muzzle flashes and pinging of bullets were broken by a few quiet lulls. An unnamed tracker was the second casualty, while he peered from a ditch.
'The trackers also stood the baptism of fire with fortitude, never flinching for one instant.' The Argus, 29 June 1880
Armour - Kelly Gang's Achilles heel.
'Fire away you bloody dogs, you can't hurt us!' [Ned Kelly]
Confident he was bullet-proof, Ned moved closer to the police - into their waiting gun sights.
Constable Gascoigne recognised the muffled voice inside the helmet, took aim and fired, ripping into Ned's arm and then his foot.
In disbelief, Gascoigne saw Ned Hobble away, just as rockets lit up the night sky.
[The weight of the armour was 97 pounds, or 44 kilograms!]
(With the back of the sign having the following information)
'Is that you Ned?'
Some police were close enough to hear wounded Ned Kelly ask his friend Joe Byrne for assistance.
Crouched near the side of the Inn, Constable Phillips listened, amazed at the hushed, but heated, conversation.
One sounded defeated; the other determined to go on.
'I always said this bloody armour would bring us grief.' Joe Byrne
Surprise rear attack:
'I fired five or six charges straight at him and saw them jump off his body. I cried out - This man must be the devil!'
[Jesse Dowsett railway guard and civilian volunteer, 1881]
By dawn, local reinforcements arrived. Thirty police encircled the Inn and were intent on revenge.
Some of the police retreated to a safer position, concerned not to be killed by the men opposite, as bullets pierced the flimsy building.
The police turned, startled by an advancing figure who staggered from tree to tree. It was Ned Kelly. Wounded and aiming poorly, the 'madman' fired anyway.
Bullets ricocheted off Ned's armour, with little effect, until he was felled by Sergeant Steele.
Address: Siege Street, Glenrowan, Vic, 3675, Australia
Visited: 2023, Monday, 31 December, 2018