February, 1937; a stinson airliner dissappears on a routine flight from
Brisbane to Sydney. The plane was supposed to land at Lismore to pick up
some passengers, but never arrived. Some people believed that low cloud
could have prevented the plane from landing at Lismore and would have continued
south; and , indeed, there were reports of the plane being seen further
south, but these were never confirmed.
People living in the Kerry Valley, reported seeing the plane fly over head
and towards the McPherson Range, Bernard O'Reilly heard these reports and
decided to investigate.
And, so began one of the most remarkable rescue stories in Australia's
history - a week after the plane was reported missing.
After forging his way through dense rainforest, Bernard, from the top of
Mt. Throakban, sighted a burnt tree some 8 km away. Three hours later he
discovered the wreck of the plane.
....and
two men - alive after 10 days!
Four men died in the crash, but three survived, Joe Binstead, John Proud
and Jim Westrey. Proud and Binstead were found by Bernard at the crash
site, they told him that Westrey had gone to find help.
After staying with the two men for a while, Bernard began the long journey
to get help for the two men, and on the way found Westrey's body at the
base of a waterfall - apparently he had fallen over the falls and died
as a result of his injuries.
Upon
Bernards return, the news of the survivors travelled fast. View
news article
The response from the local community was great ; Bernard, refusing to
rest, returned with a small group, including a doctor, while a large group
of farmers cut 16 km of track through the rugged jungle so the two men
could be brought out by stretcher. The victims of the crash were buried
in a common grave at the crash site. Jim Westrey was buried next to Christmas
Creek.
Stretcher
bearers
A
memorial at the crash site
A more
detailed account of this story is in Bernard O'Reilly's book "GREEN MOUNTAINS".
The
photographs on this page were kindly donated by (Big) Peter O'Reilly
from O'Reilly's Rainforest Guesthouse. |
The
Stinson wreck
Joe
Binstead rescued
Bernard
O'reilly finally resting
|
