It was a routine army training exercise that went terribly wrong. Three men died and eight amphibious vehicles sank when a convoy encountered bad weather and heavy seas at the Stockton Bight on March 8, 1954.
An emergency warning is active for a fire burning in in the southern part of Dalyellup, in Western Australia. Keep up to date withIn the early hours of March 8, 1954, a convoy of 20 amphibious vehicles —Departing from Shortland Army camp, in the New South Wales city of Newcastle, the convoy was en route for a landing exercise 30 kilometres north at Morna Point.
Terry Sargent, a trained machine gunner, was among the survivors and said the tragedy was still fresh in his mind, 70 years on."I know some fellas had nightmares over it."said the exercise began at 2am, with Colonel Jack James heading out past Nobby's Headland to check if the waves were suitable for the tanks."By the time we got out past Nobby's Headland, the waves were huge, we could not turn.
"Everyone was frightened, there were definitely sharks in the water, we saw them and it was a notorious part of the ocean," Mr Sargent said.also brought one of the tank's drivers, Noel Moran, to shore."I kept going in with others and pulling blokes out, they were seasick and very frightened," Mr Sargent said.He said there were reports of waves up to 6 metres hitting the tanks and it was local surf lifesavers who ultimately came to the rescue.
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