SYDNEY BEACH TRAGEDY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25589, 17 July 1944, Page 3

SYDNEY BEACH TRAGEDY

WIVES WATCH HUSBANDS DROWN (0.c.) SYDNEY, July 8. Two brothers were drowned in heavy seas at National Park, 30 miles from Sydney, while their wives and families looked on. The victims were: Lester William Crouch, aged 43, and Reginald Boyne Crouch, aged 37, both of Syd- • The men, with their wives and families, were staying at their week-ender at Marley Beach, National Park. Lester Crouch was fishing from the rocks, when a huge wave.broke over him. He was carried into the sea. His wife called for help, and Reginald Crouch stripped off his clothes and dived into the sea in an attempt to rescue his brother. Big .waves were breaking, and both men were tossed about m the sea. Their wives and children were drenched with spray while they watched the men struggle against the current. John Crouch, Reginald Crouch s 16-year-old son, ran to a life-saving locker, broke it open, and returned with a lifebuoy. He then threw it as far as he could, but it fell short of his father. Three servicemen who had been walking through the - bush, got ropes from the locker and took them to the edge of the rocks, but the Crouch brothers were too far out for the ropes to reach them. The men were caught in a strong backwash and carried out to sea. Their families watched them until they disappeared when 300 yards from the shore.

Police in a private launch,,a Fisheries Department research ship, and naval cutters searched for the bodies without success. Both wives refused to leave the beach, where they waited through the night beside a fire for news of their husbands.