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[motto]

Keith and Mike talking of a parachute mishap at a display reminded me of an event that took place at Watsonia Army Camp, now known as Simpson Barracks, many years ago.
There used to be Open Days held when equipment and training would be demonstrated to the public for recruiting purposes and the V.M.V.C. was invited to parade their vehicles.
This particular day, the weather was somewhat wild and as we waited in a side street, lined up for the parade, a stick of paratroopers was inadvisably dropped, supposedly to land in the arena.
The wind speed was badly miscalculated and the paras descended all over the area. We watched one that came down in an adjoining street, just missing power lines. Another came down into the top of a large eucalyptus tree alongside where we were parked.
I'd always believed that in this situation the canopy would catch in the branches and the payload left suspended way up in the tree but that wasn't what happened at all. In this instance, the foliage simply caused the shroud lines to pull or collapse the canopy into a streamer that followed the unhappy trooper down through the tree.
The sound of smashing timber was quite loud as he broke off branches thicker than a broom handle and he landed with a fairly decent branch between his legs.
We hurried over to render assistance to find that he wasn't quite on the ground. As part of his kit, he had jumped with a pack that dangled below him with an armalite strapped to it. This was attached to his belt by a fairly long strap or lanyard. The pack with rifle had caught in a forked branch and he was suspended six inches or so off the ground.
It couldn't have worked out better for him as it greatly reduced his impact with mother earth. I lifted him by his belt, unclipped the lanyard and lowered him onto the grass while he took stock of his injuries. Fortunately, there was nothing broken but I bet he was stiff and sore the next day.
That was one club event that proved far more interesting that it first appeared to be. I wonder how many club members who were there that day are still active?
David

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by motto

This particular day, the weather was somewhat wild and as we waited in a side street, lined up for the parade, a stick of paratroopers was inadvisably dropped, supposedly to land in the arena. The wind speed was badly miscalculated and the paras descended all over the area.

The exact same thing happened at the Showgrounds many years ago. I was just a kid at the time and my father took my brother and me to the Royal Melbourne Show at night, and he insisted on watching the tent pegging in the arena, when all we wanted was to buy showbags and go on rides! Anyway there was an Army parachutist display scheduled as well, and we sat in the grandstand listening to the announcer on loudspeaker telling the crowd what was happening in the air, and peering into the night sky waiting for parachutes to appear. Presumably most of them landed outside the arena, but I remember a couple landed safely inside on the grass, then another one drifted across and slammed into the grandstand roof then fell straight down onto the hard clay trotting track. It was quite a distance from where we were sitting but we still heard the thud. Everyone waited for 20 minutes or so while the ambulance attended to him on the ground, while the announcer tried to put a brave face on things with comments like "these Army guys are tough." Eventually he was stretchered into the ambulance and it drove around to the exit, whereupon the Show continued as normal. Next day we learned he had died on the spot. It didn't seem real to me as a kid, I couldn't believe I'd seen a man killed in front of my eyes. Looking back now I can't believe they'd allow jumps at night, let alone in windy conditions.