John, I read with interest your efforts to research the possible enquiries into the deaths on the La Rochelle. I wonder if the inquiry into the deaths got lost in the shuffle, so to speak? If these many deaths took place in today's society, I wonder if the results would be much different? One of my cousins looked into the history of the Germans on the Downs and he came across a couple of items in the Toowoomba Chronicle that dealt with happenings/disasters. It was interesting to me that the paper just said "A German was washed over the bridge when the river flooded" and "A German was run over by a horse and cart as it bolted down the street". I find it interesting that the paper did not put in the name of the person but just the nationality - it seems as though these were expendible persons from the community and did not warrant identification. Rather a sad commentary on the value of human life and humans in general. Did it make the person less human because he was a "German"? The collection of articles my cousin had were eye openers to be sure. cheers, Beverly.