The Stinson (1st March)

In the early hours of Monday 1st March 1937, Bernard O'Reilly and the locals were organising 2 rescue parties. The first led by Bernard and accompanied by Dr Lawler would follow Bernard's route back up the Christmas Creek to the Stinson survivors. 
Another party would cut a 14 mile long track along the ridge to ferry out the stretchers (Bernard’s fast route was too steep and treacherous for men to carry stretchers, even the ridge route required men at the front to carry the stretcher extended over their heads while the men at the back held it below knee height, in an attempt to keep it relatively level). 
Bernard’s party started out at 3am and arrived at the wreck site around 11am. They triaged the survivors and carried them up to the ridge. 
The Ridge party arrived around sunset.

Dr Lawler had been prepared to amputate Proud’s leg at the crash site but as the fly maggots had eaten the putrid flesh, they had actually slowed down/prevented gangrene infection setting in and poisoning the leg. The leg was saved but Proud never regained full use of the limb.

The Stinson (28th)

At about 8am on Sunday 28th February 1937, Bernard O'Reilly reached the summit of Mount Throakban, where he waited for the swirling mists to clear momentarily…and then suddenly I saw something which made me jump. Eight miles away by map, on the third range, “Lamington Plateau”, just where it swelled up to join the border range, was a tree-top which was light brown…the brief view gave Bernard a reference point to aim for. 

The view from Mt Throakban (from 'Green Mountains & Cullenbenbong')

Some 8 hours later, around 4pm, he heard a voice ahead and sent out a “Cooee” which was answered. He came upon the plane wreckage (22 miles from the Guesthouse) with 4 bodies still trapped inside, and unbelievably 2 men barely alive beside it.

John Proud a 30 year old mining engineer…his eyes far back in his head, like a corpse, lying as he had lain for ten days on that wet ground with a broken leg that was green and swelling and maggoty…Proud had been in the act of writing his final message (carving into a piece of the tail plane with his pen-knife).

Joe Binstead a 54 year old wool buyer…his hand was like raw meat. His legs, too, were like that, and the legs of his trousers were worn away in crawling over the rocks (Binstead had been keeping them both alive by crawling to a nearby creek, 300 yards away down an almost perpendicular slope, and filling a thermos, which had survived the fire, with water).

They asked after Westray (James Westray a 26 year old English insurance man, the only other survivor, who though burned in the crash had gone for help on the day after the crash)

Toolona Falls

Bernard gave them a quick cup of tea and after a half hour, at around 4:30pm, left to get help. Following the track left by Westray for ½ mile he came upon a waterfall plunging down a 30’ cliff and signs where Westray had fallen down the cliff. A further 2 miles on he came across the body of Westray (he had damaged his ankle in the fall and died of internal haemorrhages) sitting against a rock starring out towards his goal.

In the growing dark Bernard continued along the Christmas Creek and down the mountains towards the settlement of Lamington and civilisation, to raise the alarm and a rescue team. Lamington was the closest population centre to the wreck site at around 9 miles.

The Stinson (27th)

On Saturday 27th February a young bushman acting on a his own reasoning with regards the missing Stinson, set out on the bush-walk of his life, with an “Expect me when you see me”

Bernard O'Reilly took a hessian sack to act as a coat and a jam tin billy, 2 loaves of bread a pound of butter, 6 onions (to be roasted in the camp-fire), and some tea & sugar in a sack. (His 4 year old daughter Rhelma had wanted to accompany him).

He set out from the 'Green Mountains' guesthouse to the Border Track and the lookout at Mount Bethongabel (12.6km from the Guesthouse), where he sent his horse to find his own way home and continued alone on foot.

The view down into New South Wales from Toolana Lookout on the Border Track

The Stinson (26th)

Friday 26th February 1937 a reward is posted by Airlines of Australia, the owners of the Stinson, for any information that might lead to the discovery of the plane, and the fate of its crew and passengers.

Mrs. H. Proud, mother of Mr. John S. Proud, one of the Stinson's passengers, made an offer to the company of £500 for a continuation of the aerial search in the Broken Bay region, and particularly around Patonga. The company, however, decided not to take advantage of her offer, but decided to make another search of that area, at the company's own expense.

The Telegraph (Brisbane) 26th >>

Living up at ‘Green Mountains’ guesthouse on the Lamington Plateau, Bernard O’Reilly only caught up with the national newspapers on Friday 26th, when he visited his brother Herb in the Kerry Valley at the foot of the mountains.

But he did listen to the locals who were sure they had heard the Stinson passing over as usual, headed towards the ‘Lost World’ up in the McPherson Range.


Below: the Kerry Valley from near 'Green Mountains', with the promontory of  'Lost World' on the left.  

The Stinson (24th)

Wednesday 24th February 1937

Maitland Daily Mercury 24th

Sydney Mail, 24th

Jean at Archerfield on 26th, The Telegraph (Bris)

The 'Miss Jean Batten' referred to, was a female pilot and New Zealand's greatest aviator. 
In the 1930s she set solo flying records. In 1936 she was the first person to fly direct from England to New Zealand. In February 1937 she was in Australia prior to her long distance Australia to England flight.
She joined the search for the Stinson, convinced it had gone down around Berowra, and what is now the Ku-ring-gai Chase and Brisbane Water National Parks.


All newspaper articles on the Stinson sourced from Trove.

The Stinson (23rd)

Tuesday 23rd February 1937, the Royal Australian Air Force which had been participating in the search for the Stinson, call off their search.

The main area of the search was focused on the Broken Bay area (for all those 'Home & Away' fans, the next bay north of Summer Bay), as the lighthouse at Barrenjoey had not logged the passing of the plane.

Barrenjoey lighthouse

The Cairns Post 22nd

The Stinson (25th)

Thursday 25th February 1937 after a week the search is called off, and all official air, land and sea searches are terminated.

Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton) 25th >>

The search held the whole nation's attention, as shown by the article below published on 25th from the Daily News in Perth.

The Stinson (22nd)

Monday 22^nd February 1937 Day Three of the search for the Stinson continues, concentrating in New South Wales.

 A conservative estimate of the winds over the McPherson Ranges on the Saturday, assessed the wind speed at 80 miles per hour. The winds had been more moderated at Brisbane 70 miles to the north, and along the coast, though damage was widespread.

The Stinson (21st)

Sunday 21st February 1937 the search for the Stinson continues with many reports of sightings of the plane, including some within 60kms of Sydney.

The Truth (Brisbane) 21st Feb

The Truth (Brisbane) 21st Feb

The Stinson (20th)

Saturday 20th February 1937, a search is initiated after the Stinson fails to arrive at Sydney. 

With no radio aboard the aircraft, searchers didn't know if the pilot Captain Rex Boyden flew the inland or coastal route (the final decision was his when he was in the air and could access the conditions).

The search planes were forced back by the strong ‘cyclonic’ winds that had threatened the Stinson the day before. 

Theories considered a forced landing to wait out the storm or a crash into the sea.

<< The "Morning Bulletin" (Rockhampton) 20.2.1937

The Stinson (19th)

On Friday 19th February in 1937, the 'City of Brisbane' a Stinson A monoplane (36' long with 3 engines) carrying 2 crew and 5 passengers on board, vanished somewhere between Archerfield in Brisbane and its Sydney destination...

The 'City of Brisbane' >>

The sounds of the ABC

 A sign of the times? 

The ABC has made the decision to close its libraries in Adelaide, Hobart and Perth.

Background article from 'The Guardian' on the ABC's decision to axe its Sound Library and make its ten specialist Librarians redundant.

Quotable quotes:

• The ABC is dismantling its historic sound and reference libraries (which are packed full of 100,000 CDs and 373,000 vinyl as well as books and journals after 85 years of collecting) across the country and making 10 specialist librarians redundant to free up floor space and save on wages.
• Library sources say they believe between 5% and10 % of the collection will be digitised into the Broadcast Music Bank.
• ABC Broadcaster Lucky Oceans stated “The theory behind it is that people aren’t using hard copies and that it’s all digitised. But you know it’s those same people who were saying that vinyl is dead."
• The extensive collections in Adelaide and Sydney would all but disappear, along with all the skill and knowledge of the library staff to “better align our operations with the ABC’s strategic aims”.

 

And in art imitating life or life imitating art a Radio National article on cuts to Trove.

Sydney history in stone

What are the chances 2 different books on a linked but largely unknown obscure topic both arrived within days of each other?

‘From quarantine to Q Station : honouring the past, securing the future’ by Dannielle Viera, Jennifer Cornwell, Simon McArthur, Dr Peter Hobbins, Dr Annie Clarke, and Dr Ursula Frederick.

Once home to generations of Aboriginal people attracted by the abundance of seafood, the deep coves, fresh breezes, clean water supply and remoteness from the fledgling colony of Sydney made North Head at the entrance to Sydney Harbour an ideal place for the creation of a quarantine area.

Before the development of modern medicine, infectious diseases posed a major public health threat. The only known means of protecting communities from outbreaks was to isolate sufferers and those with whom they had been in contact. 

Q Station with Sydney behind

For immigrants in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries who had already endured the long voyage to Australia, quarantine could be a frightening and traumatic experience. Separated from healthy family members, those in quarantine had no way of knowing whether they would see their loved ones again. Some children left the Quarantine Station as orphans, and some women as widows, alone in a strange country with no means of support. 

The accommodation at Q Station

‘From Quarantine to Q Station’ tells the fascinating story of the evolution of this site, from its early days as the colonial Quarantine Station through its transformation to the peaceful accommodation and conference facility now known as Q Station. 
 

The wharf and arrival area of the station with the rebuilt hospital on top of the hill

Richly illustrated with more than 200 colour, sepia and black & white photographs, many dating from the late-1800s, this captivating, well-researched book takes readers on an evocative journey through time. Newspaper articles, archaeological research and anecdotes from detainees bring the past to life, while modern preservation and restoration efforts are described in fascinating detail.

The main street in the mini settlement of the quarantine station

‘Stories from the sandstone : quarantine inscriptions from Australia's immigrant past’ by Peter Hobbins, Ursula K Frederick, and Anne Clarke. 

Sailing to Australia from Lincolnshire aboard the the ship the "Canton" in 1835, 16-year-old John Dawson watched in alarm as three of his sisters developed smallpox. Although all survived this dreaded disease, their faces bore tell-tale scars for the rest of their lives. Yet John left an even more enduring memento of his family's perilous voyage in the soft sandstone of North Head.

Carving a lengthy message proclaiming that the Dawsons had landed here to perform a month's quarantine, John began a tradition that continued until Sydney's Quarantine Station finally closed in 1984.

During its 150 years of operation, nearly 16,000 people were held in isolation on this headland. Interned for days, weeks or even months, many followed John's example, leaving an extraordinary gallery of more than 1600 carved and painted sandstone inscriptions.

Combining intensive archaeological investigation and historical research, this book illuminates Australia's past through the portal of these intriguing and often evocative inscriptions, as well as North Head's numerous headstones. 

Drawing upon historical records, diaries and other writings, the book highlights the dramatic personal and social effects of diseases that once terrified the community. This book conveys the compelling personal stories of lives lived not just in despair, but also in hope for the future.