RADIO OPERATORS

Greymouth Evening Star, 29 May 1936, Page 2

RADIO OPERATORS

TWELVE MONTHS’ LONELINESS

SYDNEY, May 19.

After 12 months spent on Willis Island, with only a dog as company, Messrs A. W. Hooper and W. L. Boyd, radio operators of Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia), Ltd., returned Sydney yesterday. Willis Island is a mere sand spit, 300 miles off the coast of Queensland. The radio station was established solely for the purpose of conveying weather warnings to the mainland, as the island is on the edge of the coral Sea, where cyclones originate. On many occasions, advices from the island have afforded several hours warning to ship m'asters and residents of coastal towns, and have enabled them to take precautions against gales. Messrs Hooper and Boyd said they found life on the island lonely, but otherwise quite agreeable. In the past the wireless operators had spent the whole period of 12 months without seeing even a ship, but latelv the Burns, Philp liner Malaita had passed that way once in six weeks, and the ship’s com P any , made every effort to provide them with fresh meat, vegetables, news papers, and letters. These articles were sealed in .tins and thrown into the sea They rowed out in a canoe and, on about half the trips, they succeeded in securing the floating pack a|e. At other times the tins were ried away by adverse currents. V illis Island teemed with bird and marine life. At times it was almost covered with terns and mutton birds, and the ground was thick with nests Thousands of turtles came ashoie dug holes in the sand, and laid 80 oi 100 eggs each. The young turtles would emerge later ami march to the sea like battalions ot soldiers Their inoJrress was interrupted by birds wjnch ffllnned them up in hundreds Many more were swallowed by sharks ami other large Osh, as they entered the water. -