RAN Bristol Sycamore helicopter at Maitland during the 1955 flood. Photo by Jim Lucey
Tragedy in the flood: helicopter rescue that went wrong
The huge floods that hit NSW in February 1955 presented one of the first opportunities for helicopters to prove their value in civil rescue operations in Australia. Helicopters were still something of a novelty at the time, and rescue techniques were far from established. Helicopters still a novelty in 1955 Seven helicopters were committed to the operation, with most flying from the naval air base at Nowra and another RAAF machine coming all the way from Woomera in South Australia. One of the choppers was sped through its maintenance program at Nowra (10 days telescoped down…