On a hot January evening, 81 years ago, the quiet of Blayney’s main street was shattered by the sound of gunshots.

Originating from outside the Exchange Hotel in Adelaide Street, the shots had been fired by a desperate criminal, later identified as Cyril Norman. Startled locals hurried to the scene, where they found Norman in a life-and-death struggle with local police constable Eric George Bailey.

Bailey had been fatally wounded by the first revolver shot to the stomach but, despite the injury, he had immediately grabbed his assailant’s right arm and held him in an iron grip. Two more shots were fired as the men struggled on the town street, but Bailey never released his hold on Norman until he had him in handcuffs, giving instructions to a group of men who had rushed to his aid on how to do so.

“He shot me through the back. Don't let him get away… I had a go. I didn't squib it,” Bailey is reported to have told his fellow police officer Constable Grady when he arrived.

Bailey was rushed to Orange Base Hospital, but died 12 hours later on January 12, 1945, his wife at his side.

He died not knowing that the man he had apprehended was a dangerous criminal who had brutally murdered a Sydney gunsmith days earlier, battering him to death in his King Street shop, and then robbing the store of cash and several revolvers.

It was because of these stolen weapons that Bailey had approached Norman in the first place, having been told by a hotel patron that a stranger had been boasting about having a revolver and showing a large roll of cash.

After asking Norman about his business in the town, Bailey said he would like to inspect his room. It was then that Norman had drawn the weapon and shot the constable.

Bailey was 39 years old and had served 18 years on the police force. He had been posted to Blayney just eight days prior to the shooting.

Bailey was posthumously promoted to Sergeant 3rd Class and awarded the George Lewis trophy in 1945 for the most courageous act by a policeman. Later that year, he was also awarded the George Cross, instituted in 1940 by King George VI to recognise 'acts of the greatest heroism or of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger'. He was the first Australian policeman to be so honoured and was given an official police funeral in Sydney.

Cyril Norman was sentenced to death for Bailey’s murder, but this sentence was later commuted to life.