On 7 February 1927, James Liddle (aged 31) and his children Edna (10), Ronald (8) and Colin (3) were boating on the Condamine River with Annie ‘Nance’ Kocho (40, wife of Fred Kocho), Susanah Kocho (35, wife of Wilfred Kocho) and her children Vernon (12), Evelyn (10), William (9), and Robert (2) and her niece Patsy O’Shea (13). They were all Condamine locals except for Patsy who was from Sandgate.
They had been up the river and were returning downstream when their boat hit broadside against a tree. About to hit another tree on the other side of the boat, it seems that most of the occupants of the boat scrambled to one side, which caused the boat to capsize. James Liddle who was rowing, managed to clutch onto Colin and they were swept into a partly submerged tree. Vernon and Evelyn Kocho were swept to the same tree which was about 20 yards away from the boat. The other occupants of the boat were whirled towards the centre of the river and James rapidly lost sight of them.
The cries of the children attracted the attention of the townsfolk who rapidly made plans to form rescue parties. Mr. V. R. Ball, who was an accountant at a Miles bank and a strong swimmer, tied a rope around his waist and made several attempts to swim out to the people clinging onto the tree. Because of the strength of the current his attempts were unsuccessful. It was decided that the only way to reach them was by boat.
In the meantime, a messenger was sent to Joe Bishop of ‘Riverlea’, 10 miles from the township. His boat which was moored 20 miles further up the river was collected and transported i to the scene on a tractor. A rescue party was quickly organised and comprised Joe Bishop, Geoff Morgan, William Lawton, Lawrie Sheehan and Gordon Mundell. The rescue boat entered the water after 10 o’clock in the pitch dark. The four clinging to the tree were rescued from their precarious position in the tree branches after they had been clutching it for four hours. They were all exhausted when brought to the bank.
Sergeant Donaghue and a large group of people arrived from Miles in 12 cars. One of the cars carried a small rowboat, however the darkness precluded the search for the other missing people that night. The following morning fifty people joined in the search with other groups searching further downstream. In total it took the searchers almost a week to recover the bodies of the seven who drowned.
The Condamine River was in flood at the time of the accident. The water had commenced rising on the previous Tuesday and the bridge was completely submerged. The river was 15ft. over the bridge and had a total depth of 31ft.
There are many reports of this tragedy, but the following have been sourced for this article:
Beaudesert Times (Qld. : 1908 – 1954), Friday 11 February 1927, page 5.
Daily Standard (Brisbane, Qld. : 1912 – 1936), Tuesday 8 February 1927, page 1.
SOURCE: National Library of Australia – Digitised Newspapers.
