White Rocks Reserve

White Rocks Reserve, west of the town centre, is the small piece of broken ground where the 1915 picnic train shooting took place. It is now a quiet park with a memorial plaque and a few information boards, and is almost completely overlooked by visitors.

The site is worth the short drive out for the story alone. The reserve itself is unremarkable; it is the historical weight that makes it interesting.

things to do sight
A story
On New Year's Day 1915 two former cameleers, flying a homemade Turkish flag, opened fire on a picnic train carrying Broken Hill families to the annual Manchester Unity Order of Oddfellows picnic at Silverton. Four passengers were killed and the gunmen were both shot dead by police a few hours later. It was the only attack on Australian soil during the First World War and remains one of the strangest incidents in the country's history.

Other places in Things to Do