There are
times when because of our locations we are a witness to incidents.
We were doing a magnetic survey with the Catalina at Charleville
and it was our day off. We were staying at an old hotel, I think
it may have gone under the name of The Railway but my memory is
not that good. The date was September 1959 approximately and the
weather was extremely hot. I went up on the roof of the hotel
where there was a small shelter and usually cooler. A staff member
was also up there. We suddenly saw smoke coming from the roof
of the church across the road and heard people shouting. I went
and got my camera and managed to take three shots before our roof
became too hot. The wooden church and presbytery were destroyed
in a few minutes. Years later, my son was working in Charleville
and he told a reporter of the local paper (The Western Sun) about
the photos, resulting in the reporter wanting a copy of the photograph.
I copied one of my slides and it was printed in the local paper
on 17 June 1992. There is a new church now and the hotel is gone.
Maurie Miller
December 2003
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