In 1921 the border town of Mungindi on the Barwon River, which divides Queensland and New South Wales, was the scene of a flood. Acting Sergeant Reynolds from Queensland’s Mungindi Police Station had already been rewarded for good work in the rescue of a miner entombed at Oaks Goldfield in 1910. Reynolds was also recognised by the Royal Humane Society for saving 3 children from drowning in the Barwon River in 1920. In line with his duties, A/Sergeant Reynolds wrote to Police Commissioner Patrick Short, via Roma’s Sub-Inspector, to report on the flooded conditions in Mungindi.
Image No. PM0281 Courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum
Here is the letter in full, dated 18th July 1921:
Sir,
I beg to report following my report No. 99/21 from heavy rain the Barwon River at Mungindi rose to a height of 24 feet on 24th ultimo, this caused all the low lying country to be flooded and also flooded the streets of Mungindi and surrounded the houses by water.
On top of this it commenced to rain heavily, and on reports from other places higher up the river it was evident that a big second flood would ensue before the then conditions of the river had receded. The river gradually commenced to fall and by the time the second flood waters of the Barwon River started to rise at Goondiwindi the Barwon River at Mungindi was just within its own banks and remained so for several days till the flood waters from Goondiwindi commenced to arrive. Previous to this I warned all people along the river and also all people who owned low lying country to the effect that a record disastrous flood was inevitable. I specially requested them to remove all stock to the highest ground they could find and advised them to procure plenty of rations and firewood while the roads were still in a condition to travel.
My requests and advice was obeyed in every instance with the result that there is not a single report of any stock being lost, or any distress amongst the people who had to only undergo some inconvenience.
Image No. PM1281 Courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum
Previous to the second flood I got on the telephone to the clerk of the local council St George to see if I could be supplied with a boat but it was then getting too late to get a boat by Thallon and the only way of getting one appeared to be by river from Goondiwindi but Sergeant Bergin advised it would be unsafe to try it.
Sergeant Martin of N.S.W. was also trying to secure boats from N.S.W. and eventually succeeded in obtaining two Water Police and two boats from Newcastle.
The people of Mungindi then felt safe on both sides of the river, and they concluded if the worst came they could be removed by boats to a high ridge about six miles distant.
Previous to the Water Police arriving there was only one old boat on the N.S.W. side which was totally inadequate to meet an emergency.
On 8th inst. When the Barwon flood was reaching its highest a most extraordinary thing happened which probably saved the town of Mungindi from being submerged. The Weir River which heads somewhere in the vicinity of Dalby and empties into the Barwon River about fifteen miles above Mungindi. The Weir was in record flood equal to the height it reached in the year 1890. Its flood waters came down rapidly and were it empties into the Barwon there was low lying country on the N.S.W. side. The Weir seemed to take an unusual course by going straight through the Barwon River it flooded N.S.W. for miles and eventually covered the N.S.W. railway line in one place to a depth of six feet it caused much damage to stock in N.S.W. it took a lot of the Barwon waters with it but had it kept the Barwon River course it is hard to say what would have been the fate of the town of Mungindi which practically escaped the Weir flood.
Image No. PM1281b Courtesy of the Queensland Police Service
On 11th inst. the flood reached its highest 24 feet, 9 inches, two inches higher than the flood of 1914. There is no loss of stock on the Queensland side. Constable Willis and myself was daily patrolling in boats with the N.S.W. police everywhere round houses that were flooded to see that there was no distress and remove people who required removing.
I am attaching a clipping from the Sydney Daily Telegraph newspaper to show the condition of that part of N.S.W. which is bordering Queensland. I am attaching for my Commissioners and Sub Inspectors information photos of the flood, the contents of each photograph is explained on [the] back.
The river is still in flood and falling slowly from all appearances a large portion of country will remain under water for some time, the only losses on Queensland side of the Barwon was about £300 worth of vegetables lost by a Chinaman named Ah Chee. We had to patrol daily in a boat to these Chinese who were living on a raft to see they were all right.
B.J.Reynolds
Acting Sergeant 626
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This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available at the time of writing. The letter was written by Acting Sergeant Bernard John Reynolds, Mungindi Police Station, Queensland.
The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au
“FROM the VAULT- Policing Mungindi during the flood of 1921” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode