Road/Rail Accident Wodonga Australia 8th May 1943.
Apr 30, 2018 20:57:01 GMT -5
CherieKropp, snow, and 3 more like this
Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2018 20:57:01 GMT -5
On the evening of 8th May 1943, 24 soldiers, 1 civilian, and the bus driver, were travelling in a bus from their camp, to a Saturday night dance at Albury NSW. At a level crossing in Wodonga, a Railway Engine collided with the Bus killing those 25 persons. The soldiers were home on leave after fighting in North Africa, so you can imagine joy and happiness in that Bus prior to the accident.
Why my interest?. My Father was the Fireman on the Railway Engine, but more than that, was lookout on the side of the Engine where the Bus was coming from. When he became aware that they were going to collide with the Bus, he gave the alarm,but it was too late and those persons were tragically killed. For the rest of his life he felt responsible for their deaths, why did he not give the alarm sooner. To some extent it ruined his life. Dad was my best mate, and I spent the last fortnight of his life with him 24/7. At night he liked me to mop his brow with a cool face washer. Not long before his death he said "Bobby, I don't think I sang out soon enough". So to his dying day he felt responsible for the death of those 25 people. A great mental load to carry, and I don't think we understood the torment he had to suffer.
Of course in 1943 we thought the Japanese were about to invade Australia, there was heavy censorship of information, and very little information was kept about the accident. The engine crew were instructed not to talk to anybody about it. However the newspaper ran stories about the accident, the mass funeral, and the court cases that followed. Dad kept a scrap book with all those stories pasted in it. There was a big fire at the newspaper office, and the originals lost. So Dad's scrapbook was about the only record of the tragic event. I always knew there was a story there to be told. But despite various efforts, was unable to get anybody to write it up.
However a few weeks ago the Australian Military made contact with me, knowing that I was the fireman's Son. I made them aware of the scrapbook, and they asked for a copy. It helped them with information to plan services for the 75th anniversary next Tuesday. There is to be two services at Albury/Wodonga, one at Albury Cemetery at 2.30pm where the soldiers are buried. The other is at Wodonga at 6.30 pm at the crash site.The army have invited my Wife and myself to be their guests at both services, and to read the poems I will post here. These poems were written at the time, and placed in the paper on the day of the mass funeral. Dad had a copy of them on the cover page of his scrapbook, so I know they were important to him. so it is with some treperdation and excitement that I go, and as I remember there will be tears. We will lay flowers and a card that our Daughter has prepared at a sign that I had made as a tribute to the engine crew. Where the rail track was is now a walking track, and the authority that runs it, has allowed us to put signs there. I feel rewarded that the story will not be lost, as the Army plans to have a service on the 8th May from now on.
The poems,
THE TRAGEDY.
It moved along at even pace,
A bus packed full of the human race,
Just filled with joy, so gay, with laughter,
With not one thought of the hereafter.
When suddenly from out the gloom,
A monster whistled out, "Make Room!"
The driver's vision not too clear,
Never knowing Death was near.
With hissing steam and grinding brakes,
To stop the iron monster takes.
The men leapt out with bated breath,
The sight confronting them was Death.
It was the irony of fate,
That took so many lives of late,
Our hearts go out to many Mothers,
Fathers, Sons, Sweethearts, Brothers.
Many through the East had trod,
Returning home with manly pride,
But now they rest beneath the sod,
Tho' murderous War they had defied.
From sympathetic hearts there flows,
Unstinted thoughts of patient sorrow,
For those they left, God only knows,
How they will face the dread tomorrow.
With all these souls at final rest,
Too hard for us to understand,
Tho' God, no doubt, has thought it was best,
To take them in His guiding hand.
SOMETHING LEFT.
Whatever life may take from you,
Of joy, of hope or grace,
This recompense must always stand,
There's something left in place.
Although our eyes are tear-dimmed,
And we're saddened for a space,
Whatever life may take from us,
There's something left in place.
To us the wisdom may not show,
As anguish we must face,
But bye and bye we come to feel,
That something is in its place.
Time sets its healing hands to work,
And some day we shall trace,
The meaning clear, and we shall find,
There's something in its place.
For every sorrow born must have,
Its recompense and grace,
Whatever life shall take from us,
There's something left in place.
