An evocation of Broulee and its surrounds

ALL BROULEE AND MOSSY.

By Stuart Magee

190pp.

$21.95

Reviewed by Robert Willson

In 1942 the 220-ton trawler Dureenbee was trawling off Moruya a bit after midnight. There was a crew of 11 on the boat. There was a good moon but a lumpy sea. Suddenly in the moonlight a Japanese submarine surfaced close to the boat. It circled around and over a period of 45 minutes raked the Dureenbee with machine-gun fire and slammed 10 four inch shells into its superstructure. The captain of the trawler hailed the submarine and shouted that they were an unarmed fishing vessel, but was unheard, misunderstood or simply ignored.

When the enemy submarine finally slid beneath the waves and was gone, one of the crew of the fishing boat was dead and two more were fatally wounded. It is a wonder the boat was still afloat. Flares were sent up and were seen in Moruya, where the gunfire had clearly been heard from out at sea.

A couple of hours later, a local trawler of 50 tons set off on a rescue mission. The crew were faced with a dilemma. If they showed lights they would make themselves a target for attacks by the submarine. If they proceeded without lights then the survivors might miss them. They lit up and ignored the danger from the enemy. When they reached the Dureenbee they found that the boat had been wrecked by enemy gunfire, but the survivors were all rescued.

In that year of 1942 there were many attacks by Japanese submarines on shipping around the Australian coast. The most spectacular was, of course, the midget submarine attack on shipping in Sydney Harbour, an event now commemorated in the Australian War Memorial in a very dramatic display. These events underline the fact that Australia was very much a battlefield in those days. World War Two came to us, as Stuart Magee reminds us in his book, All Broulee and Mossy.

The footbridge at Candlagan Creek, about 1950. One of the illustrations in Magee's book

Magee, a passionate historian of the NSW South Coast, has written a number of entertaining and informative books on a region that he loves. In 2001 he published The Clyde River and Batemans Bay. Anyone who wants to know more about places like Nelligan should turn to that little book. His new book is a detailed and comprehensive study of the area around Broulee and any reader will be fascinated by it. I found the chapter on the Aboriginal people of the area and their encounter with European arrivals particularly evocative. Magee has combed the files of ancient local newspapers to collect long-forgotten reminiscences.

The early pioneers of Broulee and those who came after them are given generous treatment. We meet Captain William Oldrey of the Royal Navy. After being pensioned out of the Navy with a fractured thigh, Oldrey took up grants in Broulee Village totalling more than 4000 acres. However, within a few years Oldrey’s grand plans were swamped by the economic collapse of 1841. He hung on for a while but ended his days at Port Macquarie. Today Oldrey Park in Broulee commemorates him.

Exactly a century later, World War II came to the area in the menacing shapes of Japanese submarines. Today the invasion of Broulee is by tourists from Sydney and Canberra. As they walk the beaches and soak up the sun they may want to know more of the history of the area, and Stuart Magee is their man. He writes in a gently humorous style. If you love Broulee, you will love this book.

Robert Willson was formerly Chaplain and Head of Religion at Canberra Girls Grammar School.

First published in The Canberra Times, February 7, 2004