A different telling of the Somerton Man story .. Part 2
And there, where two pages of the photo album had been stuck together for what must have been many years we have the long awaited revelation that the Somerton Man is Carl ‘Charlie’ Webb. Derek Abbott triumphant at last after so many disappointments. The publicity he garners is immense. His image is published worldwide. The Professor now walks in a gilded light.
One thing though ..
Colleen Fitzpatrick had no hand in identifying the man labelled ‘Charlie’ in the album as being the Somerton Man. She was happy enough to walk away after ascertaining that a man named Charles Carl Webb was the Somerton Man, everything considered, but as to whether the man labelled Charlie in the photograph is one and the same had nothing to do with Colleen Fitzpatrick, this is what a work colleague of hers told me last year. It was all Derek Abbott’s work.
There appear to be many pages of photos in the album being examined by Stuart and Cristy Webb (pictured) but we don’t know how many more of them were stuck together, and we don’t know if any more of the photographs were labelled. Consequently some questions arise.
Was this ^ the only photograph in the album with names appended?
If that was indeed the case would you regard it as being suspicious! Like someone has done some manipulating?
Were the two pages stuck together in what must be a decades old album the only ones?
How is it that the pages were only found to be stuck together in 2022, ninety or so years after the photos were taken? Family photograph albums are usually well thumbed through. Perhaps the years of storage is the answer, but if that was the case you might suspect the whole album to be glued up. Not by water though, both photos are perfectly clear of stains. According to ABC news, the ‘musty’ album was kept in a ‘back room by the Webb family.’ The article went on to say the two Webbs were assisted by their Aunt Julie in finding the album.
Are there any more photos of Charlie in there? Any at all of Richard Charles?
Why the apparent secrecy regarding the other photographs in the album? Privacy is no longer a reason for not giving public access to them, either that or the modern day Press vipers have lost their investigative bite.
And given the difference in height between Charlie (aka the 5’11’ Somerton Man) and the 5’8’ Grandpa is the same as that between Grandpa and Grandma – being three inches – why wasn’t a question raised when the photos were first exposed. I asked this question to Stuart Webb last year, his response was that Charlie must have been stooping. Stooping? If the older man was stooping in order to appear to the same height as his wife all we would see is the top of his head.
Stuart’s answer alone tells me we’re all being taken for mugs here, and also indicates there might be other photos of interest in that album.
The Somerton Man .. 
So, Derek Abbott decided that one photo was all he needed to confirm the SM man’s identity-out of how many in the family album? And, this particular photo just ‘happened’ to have been stuck behind others. Perhaps it’s me, but I would have wanted to see more of the Webb family’s photo album and, more importantly, their names (in full), before arriving at a verdict.
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Abbott needed a Charlie and if Shabs is right he picked the wrong one and Stuart Webb got the year the pic was taken wrong. That aside, the one thing that is unarguable is that Abbott’s Charlie is not 5’11”.
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Same result every time. Carl Webb is not Somerton man.
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Before 1948 aircraft captains provided passenger lists into Australia on arrival. From 1948 air travel passengers filled in their own arrival cards which were handed in on arrival. No doubt checked against the passenger’s passport for verification. There should be a record of Somerton man arrival on Pan Am into Sydney in November 1948. At the moment the available records are from Jan 1951 on, under Dept of Immigration control. From 1948 to Dec 1950 they were under Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics. Pan Am DC4 aircraft San Francisco to Sydney was a “Sleeperette Service” which carried a limited number of passengers.
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No. 1: What’s the betting that the passenger list(s) of PAA, for Nov 1948, have already been ‘reconstructed’ by authorities, just in case inquiring minds, such as yourself started to inquire?
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Pan Am Brochure:
PAN AMERICAN OFFICE SYDNEY:
Hotel Australia, 45 Castlereagh St, Mezzanine Floor
GROUND TRANSPORTATION: Pan American furnishes transportation from the Airport to the Hotel Australia in Sydney, a distance of six miles. If, however, you are being met by friends or if you intend to use hire car service, please inform the Pan American Representative so that your luggage will be separated from that being taken to the Hotel Australia
Somerton man was at the Hotel Australia in Castlereagh St Sydney, but his luggage never turned up there. He had to go up the street the following morning and pick up a new case and essentials to get by, to push on to Melbourne
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The question on my mind at this particilar juncture be with regard to Steve H @ Ann O; That is, will she also stick her fat head in the sand with our sweet balking Colleen Fitz and her bunch of philoginist ‘Charlie’ suckers?
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