Mantle of Safety

Australia’s Mantle of Safety Rev John Flynn of the Inland, the dreamer of Bush hospitals together with Alf Traeger the wireless inventor from Balaklava South Australia ringed the vast untamed northern half of the continent with a ‘mantle of safety’ that penetrated the isolation of lonely men and women and led to the birth of the Royal Flying Doctor service. For thousands of years the ancient indigenous people had spread themselves across the continent. Their spirituality and bushcraft had merged to form an identity that made them one with the land and the harsh inland of the Australian continent. With the occupation of the great southland by Europeans came the lure of unlimited land but with it came the battle to cope with the searing heat and the extremes of the Aussie landscape. By the 1840s few had understood or ventured into inland Australia. With the learned skills of aboriginal guides European explorers were beginning to reach across the harsh desert interior. What historian Geoffrey Blainey described as the “tyranny of distance” emerged as the common feature marking the landscape and shaping the Australian identity. ‘Tyranny of Distance’ Today Australia still remains sharply divided geographically and culturally by the coastal, urban ‘city- slicker’ who romanticises the interior bushland and deserts and the country ‘bush-people’ who are part of another world and who survive in the Australian interior with its vast properties and outback stations. The Bible Christian Methodists along with others were some of the first determined to take the Christian message and services to the back-blocks, the large cattle and sheep runs north of Broken Hill. With a Bible in one hand, a ₤5 note in the other and a dependence on Almighty God brave missionaries walked and peddled their push bicycles through the bush and over arid sand dunes to reach the heavily manned shearing sheds in the 1890s. This however, is the story of two brave Christian visionaries who changed the inland for ever by adopting technologies to provide human and spiritual services to the isolated communities of the inland. With the birth of John Flynn in November of 1880 at Moriagul in Victoria and a later connection with Alfred Traeger, a shy electrical engineer who became a ‘wizard’ in emerging radio communication, the incubation of another generation was in process. Together these pioneers would respond to the challenge that could be described as a ‘missionary conquest’ of the vast Australian interior. Rev John Flynn. Flynn was educated at Snake Valley, Sunshine and Braybrook Primary School. Unable to go to University he however gained some experience as a teacher. In 1903 he began training as a Presbyterian minister. In 1911 he volunteered for the Smith Dunesk Mission in the Flinders Rangers. The mission patrol extended to the railhead at Oodnadatta where a Nursing Home was established. Flynn was appointed Superintendent of the Australian Inland Mission. With the help of patrol padres and five camels he set up a network of Nursing Hostels built around the Christian message and caring services to remote homesteads and communities. Development was interrupted in 1918 by World War 1 but extra patrols were established in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland. Flynn was a dreamer who imagined a ‘flying doctor’ well before the days that it was practical to fly in the Aussie bushland. It was clear in Flynn’s mind that before any aerial medical services could take off more Australian Inland Mission nurses would be needed. “They were the infantry of the medical army.” By 1923 the mission had 23 nursing sisters in the field. As early as 2 May 1925 Flynn had declared that the practicability of a ‘flying doctor’ proposal would depend almost entirely on the adoption of wireless technology by bush residents to provide the important link between the doctor and patient. Encouragement and technical assistance for the other part of the project, the A.M.S.(Aerial Medical Service) came from Hugh Victor McKay and the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Service Ltd (Qantas). McKay died in 1926 but left a bequest of ₤2000 to open and finance Flynn’s work on the condition that the Presbyterian Church doubled the amount. The Church then backed the experiment on the condition that Flynn raised ₤5,000. Flynn’s persuasive call to action resulted in the birth of the Australian Inland Mission. Then the Federal Methodist Inland Mission joined the A.I.M. along with the Congregational Union in the Northern Territory. From 1926 Alf Traeger worked for Flynn and the concept of both the ‘flying doctor’ and radio development in the Northern Territory became central. The experiment was established at Cloncurry Queensland on 17 May 1928. and on that day Flynn’s vision became a reality, without any fuss the first flight inaugurated the Aerial Medical Service. It was the worlds first flying –ambulance service. The doctor’s first case was to save the life of a desperate man who had cut his throat.! The ingenuity of Alf Traeger became extremely important and was well advanced “A ‘Mother’ wireless station would be erected in anticipation of the successful invention of the Baby wireless Transmitter, of which Traeger’s latest experiments gave every hope of final success.” Finalising a radio link would give birth to a bush community that could be heard but rarely seen. “That circle on the map meant that a “mantle of safety” would be cast over an area exceeding a quarter of a million square miles.” Alfred Herman Traeger Alfred Traeger was born on 2 August1895 at Glenlee, Dimboola, Victoria. Alf moved with his parents to a property near Balaklava, South Australia in 1902 and attended the Balaklava public school, later Martin Luther School and a Technical High school. He was always intrigued by radio. These were the days of pioneering crystal sets and radio development and even as a twelve year old Alf made a telephone receiver and transmitter between his father’s tool-shed and the house. World War 1 was a tough time for those of German descent but he studied mechanical engineering and worked for an Adelaide Trade House handling electrical repairs. Later he formed a business, Traeger Tranceivers Pty Ltd. It was an ABC radio engineer in Adelaide who recommended Alf Traeger as a wireless technician to John Flynn. By 1929 combining radio with the flying doctor service was becoming urgent and Flynn knew his concept depended almost entirely on providing a link between the doctor and the patient. This meant widespread adoption of a practical wireless technology by bush people. Traeger began to work with Flynn in 1926. He set out to discover the wireless link that would weld Flynn’s chain of dreams of nursing homes together. With advice from a first World War veteran and the help of a specially designed Dodge Buckboard, in November 1926 inland tests between took place between Alice Springs, Birdsville and Hermannsburg Mission. “They took it to the Centre, and when it ‘worked’ their overstrained faces glowed, and with wild shouts they threw their hats in the air and joined hands in an hilarious ‘merry –go-round’ with the little machine in the centre.” The old Dodge, was packed with boxes, its swags and dusty tarpaulins, its tools and mats and water-bags. A pulley drive from the jacked up back wheel generated electricity for a radio transmission. Batteries proved expensive and unreliable. Traeger began work on a power generation system and radio transceiver, for two way wireless radio for the Flying Doctor network. It was a challenge because it had to suit people who knew nothing about radio but who were faced with emergency situations and intense loneliness. Inspired by Flynn’s vision, Traeger pushed on refining his equipment with the use of bicycle pedals from The Malvern Star Company to drive a generator. “ Eagerly they rapped the little instrument again, and the morse shot out to the distant amateurs who were listening in to the test. The Baby Wireless Transmitting and Receiving Set was a fact.” Traeger had invented a generator that would change peoples lives for ever. Mounted on a firm cast base under a table it meant peoples hands could be left free. A transceiver was also built into a box.---“Flynn’s dream was realized. Australia in her most isolated areas girdled by Nursing homes; a Flying Doctor established at a Base Station; and now the perfected wireless machine to link the doctor with his patients!.” In November 1928, “ Traeger presented the new pedal-powered radio to Flynn who replied: ‘Go home and get your Sunday suit. I want to take a very important photograph.’” Sir Sidney Kidman, the ‘cattle king’ of the north supported the project and the first test transmission took place 320 km north of Cloncurry. Can you imagine the suspense as Alf Traeger and Rev G. M. Scott, another A.I.M. man set up the maiden set and aerial on 19 June 1929. The station managers wife at Augusta Downs Station made the first transmission in morse code. “What shall I send?” asked Mrs Rothery as she sat before the machine. “Send anything!” replied Traeger eagerly.—“Send, ‘Hello Harry!” suggested Scott as he watched the keys. Mrs Rothery started ‘H-e-l-l-o’ “Its too jumbled,” broke in Traeger, “See, the ‘H-e-l-l’ is a jumble of dots, but you have spaced the ‘o’ correctly. Try again.” The message intended to be, ‘Hello Harry’ came through as, ‘O hell. O hell, Harry’. We are told the message finally read, “Greeting by wireless service from Augusta Downs first radio installed.

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