SWEPT TO DEATH

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21404, 31 January 1933, Page 11

SWEPT TO DEATH

TRAGEDY AT A CAMP FAMILY OVERWHELMED ■ v , 'EIGHT PERSONS PERISH PARENTS* HEROIC EFFORTS / One of the worst flood disasters in the of Illawarra, about 33 miles south Cf Sydney, occurred early on the morning of January 23, when a man, his wife,

»nd children, and two young visitors to iheir camp were swept to death. One , daughter, a girl of 16, was saved by the heroic efforts of threo rescuers, who brought her to safety from a perilous position. The total fatalities on the South Coast numbered eight, and it was considered almost certain that a ninth victim of the flood, a car driver who was missing, was drowned in a creek near Scarborough. His wrecked car was found.

- Those drowned at Stanwell Park were: j y-Vincent Kempt on Davis, aged 40, of 'Leichhardt. Mrs. Rosa Gladys Davis, aged 35. Vincent Davis, aged 12. Lester Davis, Aged nine. Clifford Davis, aged two. John George Phillis, aged 12. Allen Leslie Philjis, aged eight, of Annandale. A 15-year-old boy named Roy Burns, was killed at Beach. Out OH From the Road The Davis family, was encamped on a reserve near the bank of the Stanwell Park Creek. They had chosen a grassy slope between the creek and the roadway. Just north of their encampment the creek rises abruptly into the hills, passing under the roadway by means of a tunnel. When the fioodwaters, pouring at a great speed down from the hills, met the narrow tunnel they banked up, and, shooting through the tunnel as through a pressure hose, broke the bank of the creek and described a complete semi-circle around the Davis camp, before rejoining the main stream. •The new stream thus formed soon cut a channel ten feet deep and about 20 feet jride. The unfortunate family were thus, without' knowing it, completely cut off from the road. Two Phillis boys had a tent beyond the island thus formed, and would have been safe. They, however, had gone to the Davis tent when the storm commenced, being alarmed by the lightning. Their elder brother, Bruce, finding the teii't too'small, had gone to higher ground to bivouac. He had thought thereby to make them more comfortable. Sea of Angry Waters Awakened by the water entering the tent, and finding its depth rapidly increasing, Mr. Davis acted promptly. He fastened his elder sons and the two Phillis boys together with a length of clothesline, the other end of which he tied about his daughter's wrist. Mrs. Davis also took a grip on the rope. Laurel, the daughter, took the baby in her free arm. Mr. Davis then ordered Laurel, the only member of the party able to swim, to lead the way, while he followed, shepherding the children/. He ordered Laurel to make for the roadway. Unfortunately Mr. Davis was quite unaware that his camp was now a tiny island in a swirling sea of angry waters. Even Laurel, the only ultimate survivor, had no clear idea of what happened. The party had not gone very far from the tent when the girl, gallantly leading the way, plunged into the newly-formed channel. In the twinkling of an eye the whole party was swept down-stream, toward the sea. The rope broke, Laurel lost the baby, and the party was torn apart. Laurel never saw any of her family again.. When she came to herself she was caught by the wrist against a fallen tree, and her mother was held down beneath ber. The remainder of the party had been carried half a mile to the beach, oyer which they were swept into the raging surf. Rescue of a Girl Mr. Gordon Davidson, who was asleep in the kiosk on the camping ground, awoke, became alarmed at the rapid rise of the water, and waded to the home of Mr. David Hopkins, near by. He was joined by Michael O'Grady and Charles Richards, who had heard screams. The three, with Gordon Tonkin, slithered down to the. camping ground and Davidson waded to the kiosk, where he obtained a length of rope. The rescue party could hear low moaning and calls for help. They waded upstream to about 100 yards beiow the site of the Davis tent, and in a sudden flash of lightning were able to pick out a girl's form. The girl—who proved to be Laurel Davis—was securely caught. The rope with which her father had tied her wrist had become wadged in the fork of a tree. The water surged about her, periodically submerging her; but each time the plucky girl rose to the surface, she called loudly for'help, adding "cut the rope. 1 ' Mr. Tonkin tied one end of the rope which had been obtained from the kiosk about him, and with his companions gripping the other end, he plunged in to the girl's aid. Four times he was swept down stream by the rushing torrent. The fifth time he was successlul; and, grasping the girl, with one hand, he severed her bonds with the other and both were pulled to safety. She was in a terrible state from the immersion and her previous ordeal, and was weak and numb with the cold. She was taken hastily to the Hopkins' home, bathed and given dry clothes, and sat by the fire. She had sustained severe wrist injuries. Bodies Found In the morning Mr. Davidson revisited tjie camping ground. The former grassy slope was covered by large boulders and . trunks of trees. Not far from where the girl had been rescued the mother's body was found. There was a fragment of rope tied about her ankle.

In the afternoon, while turning over the flotsam on Little Beach, near Coalcliff, Stanton James Rae, a schoolboy, found the body of Clifford Davis. The body had been washed *ip on the sand and the head was battered by the rocks. Other searchers found the father's body near Scarborough. 'I: Many ca.r.pers had 4 occupied sites near the creek, and some took warning at the torrential rain which fell all the two previous days, and moved to higher ground. The Davis' camp was one which remained in position with such tragic results. Mr. K. Rurgis, of Kogarah, who was at the spot had attempted to save his car, but the water rose above the driver's seat, and he managed to assist his three children to a place of safety. Almost immediately the car was caught up in the floodwaters and carried a quarter of a mile away and wrecked. The steel body when found was battered and crumpled up.