This year marks the 40th anniversary of devastating Cyclone Tracy. Her destructive winds made landfall in Darwin during the very early hours of Christmas day, 1974. 66 people died as a result of the tropical cyclone, and all power, water, sewerage and telecommunication services to the town were damaged. Most buildings were destroyed leaving families homeless and businesses in ruins. Due to the lack of food, clean drinking water and shelter, many people elected to evacuate. Those that remained rolled up their sleeves and commenced the very long, dirty job of cleaning up and restoring order to the city.
Anti-looting duty: this vehicle was one of 3 found on Millner Street, Darwin, packed with goods looted from destroyed homes and shops. Police Officers were kept continuously busy with arrests for looting following Cyclone Tracy.
Image No. PM 1933c courtesy of retired Constable 1/c Bob Latter.
Together with affected locals, the defence forces and police from around Australia joined in the massive restoration task. 12 Queensland police officers were seconded to the effort, and arrived in Darwin 2 days after the cyclone. The main functions of interstate police included search and rescue for people and, together with the RSPCA, animals, anti-looting patrols, court duty and controlling assembly points at the airport. All police officers worked 12 hour shifts in the steamy Darwin heat of day, and/or during long muggy nights. Naturally, tensions rose between weary police officers from all states dealing with emotional residents, looting thieves, destruction and death.
Ten of the twelve members of the Queensland Police contingent outside the Interstate Police Control Headquarters. Front row L-R: Constable 1/c T.Sheil, Sergeant 2/c J.Gill, S/Sergeant B.Nolan, Sergeant 1/c J.Brennan, Constable K.Rowbotham. Back row L-R: Constable 1/c R.Latter, Constable W.Hayes, Constable G.Moloney, Constable P.Buckley, Constable L.Potts. Image No. PM1933o courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
In early January 1974 the Queensland police contingent returned home, with accolades for exemplary conduct. Other interstate police had vacated by mid-January, however defence forces remained to continue rebuilding the broken city side by side with the locals. Cyclone Tracy traumatised many residents of Darwin, and it took years to rebuild the city, in fact, the severe weather event changed Darwin’s architecture brief, to ensure future buildings, including house had some chance of surviving another cyclone.
The Queensland Police Museum remembers the beautiful city of Darwin and its resilient people today, and wishes everyone a Merry Christmas!
__________________
This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available. The article was written by Police Museum Assistant Georgia Grier.
The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au
“FROM the VAULT – 40 years since Cyclone Tracy” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode
