May 23: On This Day in World History … briefly
Bank robbers and murderers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow died in a hail of bullets when they drove their car into a police ambush in Louisiana.
1934: Violent end for Bonnie and Clyde
Bonnie Elizabeth Parker (October 1, 1910 – May 23, 1934) and Clyde Chestnut Barrow (March 24, 1909 – May 23, 1934) were American criminals who traveled the Central United States with their gang during the Great Depression, known for their bank robberies—although they preferred to rob small stores or rural gas stations. Their exploits captured the attention of the American public during the ‘Public Enemy Era’ between 1931 and 1934, and they are believed to have killed at least nine police officers and several civilians. They were killed in May 1934 during an ambush by law officers near Gibsland, Bienville Parish, Louisiana.
The portrayal in the press of Bonnie and Clyde was sometimes at odds with the reality of their life on the road, especially for Bonnie Parker. She was present at 100 or more felonies during the two years that she was Barrow’s companion, although she was not the cigar-smoking, machine gun-wielding killer depicted in the newspapers, newsreels and pulp detective magazines of the day. Nonetheless, numerous police accounts detail her attempts to murder police officers (although gang member WD Jones contradicted them at trial).
The picture of Parker smoking a cigar came from an undeveloped roll of negatives that police found at an abandoned hideout, and the snapshot was published nationwide. Parker did chain smoke Camel cigarettes, although she never smoked cigars. According to historian Jeff Guinn, the photos found at the hideout resulted in Parker’s glamourisation and the creation of myths about the gang.
Researchers have said that Barrow and Parker were shot more than 50 times each; others claim closer to 25 each, or 50 total. Officially, parish coroner Dr JL Wade’s 1934 report listed 17 separate entrance wounds on Barrow’s body and 26 on Parker’s, including several headshots on each, and one that had snapped Barrow’s spinal column. Undertaker CF ‘Boots’ Bailey had difficulty embalming the bodies because of all the bullet holes.
Arthur Penn’s 1967 film ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway revived interest in the criminals and glamourised them with a romantic aura.
Most notable historic snippets or facts extracted from the book ‘On This Day’ first published in 1992 by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, London, as well as additional supplementary information extracted from Wikipedia.
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