Mercury Amateur radio in Hobart bushfires
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Use ;fladio “lrrespon
P sible” radi 0 messages
in emergency
IT would be appreciated if the Dir-
ector of the P.M.G. Department would Help was' enlisted
from Post Office
answer the following matters through
the Press. .
On Tuesday, Fehruary 21, his de-
partment was approached for permis-
sion to use amateur radio frequen-
cies to assist Civil Defence Communi-
cations, if required, in the Strickland, THE Commissioner of Police (Mr. Fletcher) had enlisted
Elderslie and Nugent areas. .
The reply which was, | believe, a the support of the Post Office to suppress irresponsible mes-
directive from the director, was that
“amateur frequencies are not to be sages over mobile transmitters, so evident on the day of the
used under any circumstances” — great fires.
despite the fact that he was informed
that a state of emergency still exist- The Director of Posts and master-General recognised The commissioner had
ed and that the radio vehicles he Telegraphs (Mr. R. R. Gil- the Government appointee also confirmed that on that
[
offered as an alternative would not son) said this yesterday, re- — the Commissioner of day he had ample communi-
suffice or, in fact, be available. plying to questions from Police — as the supreme cations available in all areas
His suggestion of using the Army Mr. E. A, Beard, who wrote authority in the emergency. of the State.
communications was not practical as to “The Mercury” on the The commissioner had In fact — in addition to
in the main outbreak an Army unit use of amateurs to help not surrendered any of his his own facilities
was assisted by a ‘mobile radio unit the
civil defence communica- *"|authority on February 21. Army was helping the Sig-
belonging to and operated by a radio
amateur.
tions on February 21. No civil defence emergency nals .unit in the Nugent
Mr. Gilson said the Post-'had been declared, {‘area.
The director was informed also of
the seriousness of the situation. Irresponsible messages
Further, as a counter to the re- had spread alarm and de-
quest | believe he personally contact- spondency, and had hamper-
ed the Controller — Inspector Fletch- ed fire-fighting.
er — and offered him the use of the Mr. Gilson said the P.M.G.
radio. vehicles. fully supported the Govern-
Does this mean that if, in the un- ment in its endeavours to
forseeable future, another emergency have an orderly and effi-
eventuates, radio amateurs will be cxent. organisation for emer-
prevented from assisting communica- gencies.
tions in this State? It consequently supported
Why, then, are they permitted to
the commissioner in his re-
assist in emergencies in N.S.W, and
quest to help eliminate un-
Victoria, when alternative communi- lawful and misleading re-
cation facilities are more plentiful roris over mobile transmit-
than in Tasmania? ters.
It is understood that the P.M.G.
has been co-operative to civil de- ~ Any action necessary dur-
fence before this. )y ing future emergencies
Lindisfarne. E. A. BEARD. would be taken in.conjunc-
tion with appointed authori-
Invaluable help by
ties. :
Mr. Gilson added that the
P.M.G. had played a signifi-
tht cant part in determining
the communications scheme
for the Civil Defence Organ-
isation. .
radio operators
WE would like to addweight to the complaint of Mr. E. A.
Beard, as regards the conduct of the P.M.G’s. Department,
towards the amateur radio operators, during t?e recent
bush fire crisis. 2134b7
Being attached to the Civil Defence vigil on a little, fire-blackened hill out
Organisation, we were able to gain a in the middle of nowhere, just acting as
first ‘hand knowledge of the -services a repeater station, if required,
performed by these people with their When we personally visited such a
radio equipment. ; lonely spot and inquired from the
Some of the readers may not be aware operator as to how long he intended to
that after the fire had raced through remain there, we were simply and
outlying districts, there was no com- honestly told, “Until a replacement ar-
munication by means of P.M.G. wires— rives.”
they had been.burnt to the ground. We earnestly appeal to all the people
However, by a deal of foresight and in those areas served by the amateurs,
the strategic placing of -radios and particularly Colebrook and Richmond,
operators at such places as Colebrook, to give us their whole-hearted support
Richmond, Woodbridge, Mt. Rumney, . and backing in making public the mag-
Mt. Wellington, and a host of other nificent effort of these, as yet, unsung
vantage points, communication ‘with heroes.
stricken areas was maintained through- We feel sure, that if another such
out the critical stages. emergency arose, the services of these
We, personally, went into many of people would again be of untold value,
these areas and saw for ourselves the as indeed they were on this occasion.
magnificent work these amateurs were Hobart. LITTLE BOYS BLUE.
doing.
. Sometimes their vigil lasted for 36 -
hours, often without sleep and with
little food. Sometimes it was a lonely
5 (5163
Work of amateur radios
in emergency praised
SUPPORTING the valuable work carried out by the amateur radio operators, |
think | can speak for the people of Colebrook and Richmond.
From “Ash Tuesday” until the follow- through our “control” station at Belle- to anyactions of our radio members.
ing Friday when the radio operators rive, we would know of any irrespon- On the other hand, we have received
appeared at Richmond and Colebrook it sible radio messages. messages of gratxtude from the very
was a period of frustration as far as com- On the contrary, these mobiles spent highest levels down to those for whom
munications were concerned, With the a lot of time and travelled many miles we spent our time helping, without any
P.M.G. lines down the only means of (even at the request of the police) to thought of reward and certainly not ex-
communication to Colebrook were mes- check out reports of fires in certain pecting’condemnation, especially without
sages taken through by individuals using areas. In some cases these proved to be foundation,
whatever transport was available and. false reports handed to the police, so Frankly, it disturbs me greatly to see
the police network. consequently our mobiles saved the any member of our community with
The council chambers being locked up, police quite a lot of time and trouble. such an attitude towards these young
except during normal working hours, it If at any time irresponsible messages men who did such a magnificent job.
was necessary to use private telephones were handled by our mobiles (this 1 Mr. Gilson should substantiate or pub-
to contact Hobart and elsewhere, making - doubt very much) they would be handed licly withdraw allegations or inferences
things more difficult. in, and accepted for re-transmission of unlawful and misleading reports inso-
Should another emergency arise, let by our radio operators in good faith.’ far as it concerns the amateur radio
all tapes be automatically cut, and let To date we have not heard of one single service.
these essential volunteers get on to the case of “alarm or despondency, etc.” due Bellerive. L. CORDELL.
job with their radios, as this proved to TT T e e e eenty
be the most satlsfactory communication
of all in the circumstances prevailing ‘at
the time. -
As Controller for Civil Defence and
Emergency Service for the Richmond
Municipality, I wish to thank all the
operators who tirelessly and cheerfully
carried out a splendid job.
Richmond. e F. S. KELLY.
Obviously Mr. Gilson or Mr. Fletcher
have been misinformed. As most mes-
sages from amateur radio mobi}es came