I WAS THERE … At the Coronation in Queen Elizabeth.
I have a Welsh background and my parents had very little, but they saved for weeks to afford a trip to London from Wales. I sat on Dad’s shoulder and waved my flag, hidden in the crowd. Like all children in the UK, I was given a signed bible.
Unfortunately, I was only 3 so I don’t remember much but I’m told I enjoyed the day and went home a tired little bunny.
I WAS THERE … When the Russell Street bombing occurred, 27th March 1986.
I was in the RAAF and my role was to do security checks on all new applicants to the RAAF. I also did security vetting for upgrades to Secret, Top Secret clearances etc. The Victoria Police used to assist us with criminal record checks and identity checks.
I was based in Gratton street, a small records office and my weekly tasks was to walk down to Russell Street police station to pick up any checks/results completed by Vic Pol.
On the day of the bombing, I had just called in to pick up our documents and was on my way out towards the front of the building. A sergeant called me back to collect an additional document just as the bomb exploded.
I felt the building shake, panic momentarily went through the building, then emergency procedures and training kicked in and we were all evacuated through the back.
As I returned to my workplace I could see a plume of smoke, sirens wailed through the city and news readers began interrupting programs to break the horrifying news.
My boss had feared the worse so as my face appeared round the corner he broke protocol, ran over and hugged me. It was only then that I realized how close I came to being a victim of that shocking attack.
Sadly, Angela Taylor was not so lucky, she became the first police woman to be killed in the line of duty.
Heather Hartland,
February 2022
I have a Welsh background and my parents had very little, but they saved for weeks to afford a trip to London from Wales. I sat on Dad’s shoulder and waved my flag, hidden in the crowd. Like all children in the UK, I was given a signed bible.
Unfortunately, I was only 3 so I don’t remember much but I’m told I enjoyed the day and went home a tired little bunny.
I WAS THERE … When the Russell Street bombing occurred, 27th March 1986.
I was in the RAAF and my role was to do security checks on all new applicants to the RAAF. I also did security vetting for upgrades to Secret, Top Secret clearances etc. The Victoria Police used to assist us with criminal record checks and identity checks.
I was based in Gratton street, a small records office and my weekly tasks was to walk down to Russell Street police station to pick up any checks/results completed by Vic Pol.
On the day of the bombing, I had just called in to pick up our documents and was on my way out towards the front of the building. A sergeant called me back to collect an additional document just as the bomb exploded.
I felt the building shake, panic momentarily went through the building, then emergency procedures and training kicked in and we were all evacuated through the back.
As I returned to my workplace I could see a plume of smoke, sirens wailed through the city and news readers began interrupting programs to break the horrifying news.
My boss had feared the worse so as my face appeared round the corner he broke protocol, ran over and hugged me. It was only then that I realized how close I came to being a victim of that shocking attack.
Sadly, Angela Taylor was not so lucky, she became the first police woman to be killed in the line of duty.
Heather Hartland,
February 2022
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