Marine Rescue NSW Deputy Commissioner Dean Storey and Regional Operations Managers from six regions have carried out operational familiarisation visits in the Botany Bay, Middle Harbour and Port Jackson areas. Senior Constable Paul Dalton showed the group around the NSW Wales Police Force Marine Area Command base at Sans Souci. Regional Operational Manager for the Monaro, Glenn Sullivan participated in these operational familiarisation visits.
Glenn Sullivan (above far right) is the Regional Operations Manager for the South East area of Monaro and has been appointed as the representative for one of six Marine Rescue NSW operating regions. These officers assist Unit executives and volunteers with the administrative, training and operational workload involved in providing our services on the water.
This might be something of interest to the historians out there Merimbula resident Rosie Young is seeking help with a history of saving lives at sea on the Far South Coast.
Should you have any information and wish to assist Rosie with her research, she can be contacted via email at rosieyoung@ozemail.com.au Rosie, whose husband Ted is a coxswain with Marine Rescue Merimbula, is researching the history of sea rescue on local waters, starting during World War II when a local police sergeant and oyster farmer mounted a rescue operation, saving many lives, after the SS William Dawes sank 12nm offshore. Rosie said this appeared to be the first rescue conducted from Merimbula. Years later, in the early 1970s, Merimbula resident Stan Delle Vergin saw a need to save lives using his own craft and started an embryonic rescue service. In 1992, former Flight Facilities Australia Merimbula Airport Manager, Laurie Gruzman QC, was awarded the Prince Philip Australian Medal for his invention in the mid-1980s of the Precision Aerial Delivery System, which allowed aircraft to drop supplies and equipment safely to people at sea. The establishment of the local Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol in the 1980s and the transition to MRNSW in 2009 saw significant changes in procedures. Rosie is seeking any information on the formation of the Merimbula RVCP. Copies of newspaper cuttings, articles in the RVCP’s Beam Ends magazine, photographs and other memorabilia from the early 1980s to early 2000s relating to the Merimbula flotilla would be extremely helpful.
