On Wednesday, August 31, 1949, mayor of Armidale L. E. Dawson launched a special appeal for the victims of the disastrous Kempsey floods.
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“The citizens of Kempsey have indeed suffered a major catastrophe, and our hearts go out to them in their distress,” the mayor said. “Armidale citizens will, I know, do all that is expected of them.”
The previous Friday, August 26, Arthur Lindeman had come on duty at Kempsey Aeradio at midnight.
Located at Kempsey airport, Kempsey Aeradio was one of 12 original stations built by AWA in 1938 to try to make the skies safer following several crashes.
Manned by five staff, the station provided 24-hour communication with aircraft overflying Kempsey on the Brisbane and Sydney route using a point-to-point Morse channel. The station also had one of the prime navigational aids used by aircraft at the time, a 33Mc Radio Range, along with an NDB (non-directional beacon) and a rotating light.
The equipment was not always reliable, with equipment failures contributing to the fatal crash of the ANA passenger plane Lutana on the Crawney Range the year before.
Find out more about the fate of the Lutana:
It had begun raining very heavily. By 2am the rain was torrential. Lindeman explained the situation to the flight checking officer at Sydney and requested permission to close the station. A regular freighter was due out of Brisbane about this time and permission was refused.
Torrential rain continued.
“At about 3.30am the wife of a local farmer and her young son arrived and asked if I had been outside lately,” Lindeman later recalled. “The water was lapping the top steps, a depth of about four feet. Equipment which could be moved was placed as high as possible after advising Sydney and Brisbane that the station was closing.”
With dawn breaking, the party headed across the airport for higher ground. As they passed through the airport gate, they eyed the snakes that coiled themselves round the fencing wires and gate posts. There were snakes everywhere.
Rain continued, with another eight inches (203mm) falling on the Saturday. The effects were devastating. “It was pitiful,” Lindeman said, “to witness houses, outhouses and belongings being washed down the river.”
Six people died in the flood, including a 13-year-old boy at Smithtown who drowned after he went out by horseback to get some cattle in for his dad. Rescue efforts were hampered by the collapse of the telephone system and the flooding of the local radio station.
Armidale citizens responded generously to the Mayor’s Appeal, including a £25 donation from Armidale Rotary to the Kempsey Club.
Jim Belshaw’s email is ndarala@optusnet.com.au. He blogs at http://newenglandaustralia.blogspot.com.au/ (New England life) and http://newenglandhistory.blogspot.com.au/ (New England history)