CITY OF BRISBANE

Gary Rose

The year was 37, and the month was February and the 19th day, had just begun
On a warm and windy morning the Stinson’s engines fired, its last humming song was sung
She climbed from Brisbane town and flew on her way to Lismore with passengers and mail
But the clouds they were a gathering and the cyclone hit them hard with a force enough to break her soul.

And somewhere on her way she was plucked from the sky like a giant hand had pushed her to the ground
On a high and lonely ridge in the wild McPherson range the City of Brisbane died
And eight days had gone and the search was scaling down when O’Reilly started out anew
Reports had placed the wreck far out to sea with no hope left for passengers or crew.

But Bernard O’Reilly was convinced that he must help and set out in the bush where he was bred
For two days he trekked through that harsh mountain range in the hope he’d find them somewhere up ahead
From the top of a ridge he saw a sentinel, a burnt-out tree standing stark
It was eight miles ahead on the course that she flew, on through the forest dark.

Well three men had survived and Jim Westray went for help, but died from a fall along the way
John Proud lay there with a badly shattered leg and Joe Binstead tended him for days
Then ten days had gone when O’Reilly heard their calls and rushed on renewed in his quest
And there he found those two men just barely alive where City of Brisbane lay at rest.

I’ll bring a Doctor and a hundred men he cried as he left and rushed off down the mountain side
Only three hours had passed when the word was ringing out and an army of rescuers arrived
For eight hours they climbed through the rain that night, O’Reilly in the lead throughout
And another day and night they battled at their task and carried the survivors out.

And the memory lingers on for all those brave men O’Reilly, Binstead and Proud
And the five lonely graves on that rugged mountain side where the City of Brisbane died.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQWPILJqTDA   "City of Brisbane" - Briagolong Bush Band - from Gippsland in Victoria. From their album "seventeen"

The Stinson Model A airliner : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stinson_Model_A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk6XcvbIF1Y   The Riddle of the Stinson
This “rare” 1987 Australian film (which I am just about to view and which has good reviews), concerns the crash and rescue attempts of the ‘City of Brisbane’ Stinson model A airliner
in 1937 in the exceedingly rugged McPherson Ranges in what is now Lamington National Park (one of many), on the Qld-NSW border.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Riddle_of_the_Stinson - Jim Conway (Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band) is responsible for the harmonica score (along with many other film and radio projects.)

Some other stories from the Crash and related people are here : https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/4773644/one-mans-mission-to-find-a-missing-plane/
Historical news data and clips from Qld State Archives : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsHrvhOvNMc
Some Comments on modern Trek experiences and some Pics : https://www.aussiebushwalking.com/qld/stinson-crash-site-from-christmas-creek-


R-J