CYCLONE TRACY : Continuing biography of Crusading Editor,"Big Jim" Bowditch

On  Christmas Eve l974 , Bowditch  went on a round of  parties.  At one he had a row with  his wife and  she  went home .  He then  drove  his   VW Khombi van   to  a party in  a  printery .  As the evening wore on and the  rain from Cyclone Tracy  bucketed down,  Bowditch became  an aggressive  nuisance.  Finally , three men  bundled him  , struggling and protesting, into a  sedan and  drove away, the idea   being to  take him home to Fannie Bay. Along the way he  grabbed the driver by  the throat.  Because of  the  torrential rain and  gale force wind,  it was hard  for the driver to see and he missed  the drive way  at the Bowditch  residence , causing   the car to  sink  down in the flooded lawn .

  

Betty  put her head out the window and said  she did not want Jim  home and to  take him  away . Despite that,  Jim  was “ thrown out ” and as the car  reversed in a flurry of mud and water , he tried to climb  on top .  However, he fell off  , and  the  car drove  away  into  the  tempest .

 

 

Bowditch  then  went upstairs and  took off his  sodden  clothes. Betty  and daughter  Ngaire  sought  shelter in a  downstairs  room  as the house began to break up.  Bowditch went   to  rescue  a Persian cat   just as the house  blew apart . Both the cat and  Jim  became   airborne. On landing , unhurt,  Bowditch joined his family  in  the downstairs room , and  they  huddled under  a table.

 BOWDITCH  IN  A  FROCK

At daybreak they emerged  to  view the destruction . The main part of the house with  large picture windows  had been torn apart . As all his clothes had been blown away,  Bowditch , only wearing underpants , donned  one of  Betty’s dry   tennis frocks which had been in her car.  It was a  smart little  outfit , white with   green  piping. Unfortunately, nobody  got a photograph of  Big Jim in  a  tennis frock .

 

Through some   means ,  clad  in  a T-shirt and  jocks, apparently reluctant to  be seen  at large  wearing a dress, Bowditch  was   taken to the printery  , where he had left his  van.    Like  most of Darwin  , the  printery was  surrounded  by  wreckage and damaged  and  upturned cars. A scene   of chaotic   devastation  . However, right side up ,  little damaged except for a broken side window,   was  Jim’s van.  It started without any  trouble , and just as he  drove off  he  hit a Great Dane dog , Ollie , which nervously   bounded  in front  of  the vehicle.   Two headlights were broken in the  collision.  The large dog , apparently unhurt,  was  abused by Bowditch .  He said  his van had  survived   destruction in the  fierce cyclone only to be damaged by a  dog as big as  a  Shetland pony.

 

Bowditch, still  wearing  underpants,  turned  up  at  the    residence  of  reporter   Kim Lockwood and told  him  that at least  20  people had been killed  in the cyclone ; the final toll is given as  71,which included 22 missing at sea ,  with  those injured close to 700.   Lockwood  gave Jim  a  pair  of  shorts .

The  Bowditches  lost  just about everything in the cyclone  including  irreplacable photographs and  papers. Gone with the wind were title papers relating to  grandfather Manning’s printery in England.   The battered   Walkley  Award for the Sea Fox  saga  also  disappeared . Another loss  was  the script for the  Barcoo Rot  revue  he had  played a big part in writing in   Alice Springs  nearly a quarter of  a century  ago. 

 FLASHER JIM  RETURNS

While  Jim insisted  on staying on to report the  destruction of  Darwin,  Betty and  daughters Ngaire and  Sharon   drove south in a convoy . With them were the two pet dogs, Fosters and Snoopy,  which they smuggled into  various  accommodation places  along the way.  After reaching  family relations in Port Augusta, they made  their way  across to Sydney  and stayed with the  Freedens for six weeks.  They also spent some time at  North Head Quarantine Station  where  people they knew from  Darwin  had  been  accommodated.

 

One of  the  earliest   journalists to lob in Darwin after the cyclone from Sydney  was “Flasher ” Jim  Oram  who travelled  light - in  a suit.  Once  he  got to Darwin he  abandoned  the  suit coat and  tie  and chopped  the trouser  legs off at the knee . He and Jim were soon working as a team to cover the  major story. Bowditch later   flew south  to see Betty and  daughters  and  then  went  back  to  Darwin .

As part of the Whitlam  Government’s  campaign to  rebuild  Darwin  instructions were  given to employ as many people as possible  in government  positions.  Due to this   directive ,  Bowditch, journalist  Peter Blake  and  even  the Great White Hunter , Allan Stewart,  were given  jobs in the  Information and Public  Relations  section  in Darwin . Blake and  Bowditch  became involved in the production of a magazine for  the Animal Industry  Branch .  With  his  early desire to  go on the land , Bowditch thought  working  for the  AIB  would be   an ideal job , but it was  not  to be .

 
SEND  IN  A  SUBMARINE

Stewart brought an unusual  entrepreneurial   flair to the  government department . It could  be said that he  took to the  job like a duck to water , but a  duck  not usually seen  on public service  ponds.   Sent to  the Sydney Royal Easter Show to help with the  Northern Territory’s  stand , he was  in his element.  Leaving the stand to be manned by mere  public servants ,  he made a bee-line for  the  Members’ facilities  where  he  lubricated  his tonsils, met old   business associates, cronies , and rubbed  shoulders with top   military brass,  with whom he got on  exceptionally  well .

Imagine the surprise of  the   staff  actually  working on the   NT   stand when the Royal Australian Navy Band  turned up and began to  play.  It was so noisy  people could  not  make themselves heard . It was  hard to sell the glories of the  Territory because of the  enthusiastic  naval band . The  Great White Hunter had  arranged  the band’s   visit from his  headquarters  in the  Members’ Bar .   An exasperated member  of the  NT  team , Dick Timperley ,  said he  would not be surprised if Stewart  organised a  band of  Scottish  pipers to  parachute in on  the  stand , which  would  have  been  an  awesome sight for  bystanders looking up the  kilts.

Because of damage  done to the  Fort Hill  powerhouse  during the cyclone, the supply to Darwin  often used to  switch off for some   reason  which the Department of Works  seemed unable to  determine.   On  one occasion  Clem Jones , former  Lord Mayor  of Brisbane, and a member of the Darwin Reconstruction Commission  ,  was in the Travelodge  when the  power cut out.  He  drove to the powerhouse and  asked  for an  explanation.   Court proceedings were disrupted  when the power suddenly  went  off. 

The situation was so  serious that  it was discussed at a special meeting of the Legislative  Assembly . Stewart  sat in the public  gallery and listened  to  the  debate .  Irritated  by what   he heard ,  he  caused a stir when he  called out   an  obvious military type solution to the  the problem : get a  submarine to come to  Darwin and  run a giant  extension   cord  down to the  vessel’s  powerful  generator.  The  Speaker  cried “ Order! Order !” Stewart , more red faced that  normal ,  apologised, and  stomped out. NEXT: More drama.