Royal Military College Staff Cadet Julian Knight in 1987 was bashed by Kokoda senior cadet acting CSM Philip Reed, in coward punch breaking Julian’s nose.
Julian Knight’s legal testimony:
“At around 0100hrs on Saturday 23 May 1987, I left the Private Bin (nightclub) with Kokoda Company 3rd Class cadets Craig SMITH (CSC No 5318) and Doug BARTLE (CSC No 5225).
As we were leaving we crossed paths with a group of six ADFA cadets who were about to enter the club, two of whom were RAN midshipmen dressed in their White Jacket Mess Dress uniforms.
SMITH, who was drunk, made some loud derogatory remarks about the Navy as he passed them. After further derogatory remarks by SMITH, a fight ensued between us and the ADFA cadets in a laneway near the Private Bin nightclub. Although Staff Cadet SMITH had provoked the confrontation, I was the one who initiated the fight by throwing the first punch.
During this encounter I suffered a broken nose and two chipped front teeth. When an ADFA cadet and I were the last ones fighting the fight was broken up by the intercession of the others present. My injuries were treated at 5 Camp Hospital at around 0130hrs by the Medical Officer on night duty, Lieutenant K.E. MILLER. I told Lieutenant MILLER that I had been in a fight with civilians in Civic. I was kept in (Duntroon) 5 Camp Hospital for observation and I was discharged at 0930hrs by the duty Nursing Officer, Flying Officer D. THOMAS.”
Then later at approximately 0130hrs on Sunday 31 May 1987, I was quietly drinking at the end of the main bar with Meg when REED strode up on my right side and once again ordered him to leave.
I retorted, “I’m not going anywhere.” REED repeated his order, “You’re leaving right now!” I became irritated, and turned to face REED and shouted, “I’m resigning, alright! So why don’t you fuck off and leave me alone!”
REED looked stunned then slowly turned and walked meekly back to the other senior cadets. I thought that REED would now finally leave me alone. When I leaned back on the bar a civilian standing next to me asked me why REED was hassling me. I did not know the man, who was heavily built and about 6’1″ tall with brown shoulder-length hair and a brown moustache. I told him that I was a cadet at Duntroon and that REED was a senior cadet who wanted me to return to the barracks. The man nodded in reply then went back to drinking with his back to the bar next to me.
Only a few minutes later REED, who was a similar size to the civilian standing next to me, returned and shouted at me, “You disobeyed me. I fuckin’ hate that! You’re leaving right now!” The civilian standing next to me calmly told REED, “Why don’t you leave him alone?” REED stepped towards the man and snarled, “Mind your own business”, as he slowly grabbed the man by the front of his shirt. A scuffle broke out and THORP, who had been sitting on a bar stool near the entrance a few metres away, ran over with his right hand raised and clenched in a fist. He was aiming for the civilian who had stuck up for me.
I spotted THORP and thought that the least I could do for the civilian who had stuck up for me was to protect him. I swiftly stepped forward and pushed THORP back towards the door.
THORP retaliated by punching me in the face. As I wrestled with THORP, I noticed that my nose had started to bleed. At this point, I was jumped from behind by another 1st Class cadet, who pinned my arms to my sides in a “bear hug”. I was swung around by the cadet who had hold of me. I still had my arms pinned to my sides so I used my back to push myself and the cadet holding onto me backwards into the crowd at the end of the bar. I finally managed to break loose from the cadet’s hold. As I did so I saw THORP raise his right fist to hit me again so I quickly threw a punch at THORP’s face. Our punches connected simultaneously.
Before I could throw another punch, I was again grabbed from behind (REED). I lent forward and was just about to break loose from the cadet’s grip when I was hit squarely in the centre of the face. I did not see who threw the punch but it had come from my right side where REED had been standing.”
The force of the blow split the bridge of my nose. I put my hands up to my face and when I took them away, I saw that they were covered in blood. I was bleeding heavily from both nostrils and from where the break in the bridge of my nose had split the skin. Blood covered the lower half of my face and flowed onto the front of my jacket.
A bouncer grabbed me and the cadet who had been holding onto me by the back of our collars, then walked us down the short flight of stairs and pushed us out the front door onto the sidewalk. The other cadet hesitated while the bouncer went back upstairs then re-entered the club. I remained outside on the sidewalk wiping the blood off my face. I was bleeding profusely from a broken nose and I angrily flicked the blood off my hands onto the pavement.
Meg, Liz’s sister and her husband came out of the club moments later to see how I was. As they gathered around me, Staff Cadets Craig SMITH and Simon MACKS arrived on the scene from another nightclub. I was enraged and as I pulled my switchblade knife out of his jeans pocket I yelled, “I’ll be ready for the bastards next time!”
SMITH looked down at my right hand and cried out, “He’s got a knife!”
In an attempt to calm me down, Liz’s sister persuaded me to cross the street onto Northbourne Avenue’s dividing nature strip and walkway.”
In September 2025, after 38 years, Julian Knight is having his nose fixed by proper medical doctors. Julian is to receive acute surgery to fix his nose and to restore his normal breathing at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne. We wish him ever success and full recovery back to normal life. Ironically, St Vincents is located in Fitzroy just 4km from the site of his Hoddle Street shooting spree outside Clifton Hill railway station.
We hold the abusive culture of Duntroon along with adjacent ADFA culpable for such a violent altercation training culture. RMC Duntroon’s Camp Hospital in 1987 had clearly failed to properly medically fix Staff Cadet Julian Knight’s nose bashing injury at the time. Staff Cadet Julian also suffered a broke forearm on Duntroon college campus from senior cadets.
What an asylum!
Read More from Julian’s time at RMC Duntroon that we have previously documented on this website…
