Article – Bush Search and Rescue Victoria

BSAR is 70 years old

BSAR is 70 years old on 6th May 2019.

BSAR search group near Marysville, 1952 — BSAR search group in 1952 near Marysville, soon after BSAR was formed

We don’t know the names or the clubs of the 11 volunteer bushwalkers who left the Russell Street Police Headquarters in 2 trucks early on Friday 6 May 1949 for Port Welshpool. There they boarded a fishing ketch and were landed on the east coast of Wilsons Promontory to join the large search for a missing bushwalker.

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Peter Briggs AO leads successful search for missing submarine AE1

BSAR Field Organiser and Retired Rear Admiral Peter Briggs lead the Find AE1 team that found submarine HMAS AE1 103 years after it disappeared during World War 1.

The fate of HMAS AE1 had been one of the navy’s most enduring puzzles, sparking 13 different retrieval attempts since 1914.

The 800-tonne vessel was discovered under 300 metres of water near Duke of York Island in Papua New Guinea.

Casing of HMAS AE1 submarine wreck — Casing of HMAS AE1 in waters off the Duke of York Island group in Papua New Guinea. Photograph: Fugro Survey/AAP

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The Police Search and Rescue Squad turns 60

Congratulations to the Victoria Police Search and Rescue Squad on turning 60 this year.

Over 60 current and former members of the Squad recently attended a reunion at Williamstown to celebrate.

Two special guests were Police Deputy Commissioner Crisp and Stuart Brookes OAM, a foundation member of BSAR and Field Organiser and Police Liaison Officer for many years.

Stuart was invited to attend because of his and BSAR’s role in the period leading up to the formation of the Squad in the mid 1950s.

Stuart’s remarkable account of that period in the history of BSAR and Police SAR, can be read here.

BSAR Field Organiser Peter Briggs on a different type of search – for submarine AE2

BSAR Field Organiser and Retired Rear Admiral Peter Briggs lead a team of Australians on a different type of search – a mission to preserve the WW1 submarine AE2 as part of the Silent Anzac Project.

Peter previously led a dive survey in October 2007 that found the 99-year-old submarine to be in “remarkably good shape”.

HMAS AE2 in Sydney, circa 1914. Source: Australian War Memorial

The well-preserved submarine was sunk by Ottoman gunfire off the Turkish coast in 1915. HMAS AE2 was an E-class submarine of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and was the first Allied submarine to penetrate the Dardanelles strait in a bid to secure the Gallipoli Peninsula.

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2013 Emergency Services Volunteer Leadership Forum

Eight Bush Search and Rescue Victoria members attended the 2nd Victorian Emergency Services Volunteer Leadership Forum held in May 2013. The event sponsored by the Emergency Services Foundation (ESF). Around 170 delegates from around Victoria attended, including CFA, SES, Volunteer Ambulance Vic (CERT Teams), Red Cross, other regional Search and Rescue organisations, and BSAR.

BSAR attendees Paul Phillips, Trevor Key, Eric Krista, Geoff Williams, Wayne Merry, Peter Campbell, Rod Costigan and Murray Irwin.

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Our name is now Bush Search and Rescue Victoria

We are now Bush Search and Rescue Victoria following a vote to comfirm our name change from Bushwalkers Search and Rescue.

Our name is also shortened to “Bush Search and Rescue” for common usage and elsewhere on this site.

We are also developing a new logo to match our new name.