Bushwalkers Wilderness Rescue Squad
| Formation | 1936 |
|---|---|
| Location |
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Bush Search and Rescue New South Wales (BSAR NSW) (previously known as Bushwalkers Wilderness Rescue Squad (BWRS) and Bushwalkers Search and Rescue (B S&R) is a remote area land search and rescue service in New South Wales, Australia established in 1936. BSAR NSW is a wholly volunteer operated, self funded incorporated association and a specialist squad of the Volunteer Rescue Association (VRA).
The squad was formed based on the premise that the best people to search for missing bushwalkers are experienced bushwalkers, who are expected to understand the bush, to know how to navigate in difficult terrain, and to know the hidden passes and the common mistakes walkers make while trying to find a route in difficult country. These days BSAR NSW searches not only for bushwalkers but also for elderly missing persons, despondent persons and victims of crime.
Prior to formation of the Bushwalker Search and Rescue Section in 1936, various bushwalking clubs realised the need for an organised search and rescue capability. A search exercise was held in 1932 by members of the Sydney Bush Walkers and Mountain Trails Club looking for three lost walkers near the Royal National Park. The lost walkers were located by their distress signal of three smoky fires even though the day was misty. There was a boom in bushwalking during the 1930s so a need for an adequate search and rescue response was identified.
During early 1936, Ninian Melville of the Federation of Bushwalking Clubs NSW proposed that the federation form a 'Topographic Bureau' that could provide walking information and to 'record particulars of persons who would be available in cases of emergency for search and rescue parties'. Ninian was transferred to the country before this idea could be implemented.
On Saturday 3 October 1936, four young men set off to walk from Govetts Leap at Blackheath to Richmond via the Grose Valley. The men took only enough food for three days as they were certain they would make Richmond by then. A track was followed for the first two days but on the third day the track became hard to spot and the men encountered heavy vegetation. On the fourth day heavy rain soaked the men and on the fifth day the men decided to split up: two would push on ahead and the other two would continue at their own pace behind. Later that day, one of the lagging men, fatigued and out of food, could walk no further and decided to stay in a cave whilst the other would speed up and catch up with leading pair. On the sixth day this man caught up to the leading pair but after encountering thick scrub and not having eaten for 30 hours one of the three men could not continue and camped in a cave whilst the remaining two pressed on. Later that evening, a search party from Richmond had found the two walking men about 10 miles from Richmond and 20 miles from Blackheath. The search team and located men then proceeded back together to the second cave to pick up the man resting there by evening. The young man in the first cave was picked up by the group around 10:00 am on the seventh day.
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