When the eye of Cyclone Tracy crossed Darwin between midnight on Christmas Eve and 7am on Christmas Day 1974, it destroyed or badly damaged at least 70% of homes in Darwin. It also damaged and cut-off communications.
My grandfather was Telegraph Officer in Charge at the Chief Telegraph Office (C.T.O.) in Sydney, and played a crucial role in helping arrange communications in the wake of the cyclone.
A report to the acting Superintendent of the C.T.O., written by my grandfather on 7 January 1975, gives some sense of the work required of them for what was being called the ‘Darwin disaster’.
A letter of thanks from the Director General of the Postmaster General’s Department acknowledged specific assistance given by C.T.O. staff, including my grandfather.
And a later memo, reiterated appreciation for the important work of all involved, noting that such efforts can often go unrecognised.
[It] is unfortunate that deeds such as those of our Post Office staff are never adequately acknowledged in the general publicity associated with the disasters which occur in this large continent from time to time. However, in many respects this in itself could well be a compliment because the performance of our people under these most trying conditions has always been such that it would only be news if “the system” broke down.
– Excerpt from a memo from the Director General of the Postmaster General’s Department, dated 20 January 1975, copy held in private collection
It’s fifty years since Cyclone Tracy devastated Darwin. It remains one of the worst natural disasters to impact Australia, and resulted in dramatic changes, most notably in building industry reforms and disaster response.
Selected references
National Museum of Australia, ‘Cyclone Tracy’, https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/cyclone-tracy, accessed 17 November 2024.
National Archives of Australia, ‘Cyclone Tracy, Darwin’, https://www.naa.gov.au/help-your-research/fact-sheets/cyclone-tracy-darwin, accessed 17 November 2024.
Australian Disaster Resilience Knowledge Hub, ‘Cyclone Tracy, 1974’, https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/resources/cyclone-cyclone-tracy-darwin-1974/, accessed 3 December 2024.
Australian Disaster Resilience Knowledge Hub, ‘The Commonwealth response to Cyclone Tracy: Implications for future disasters’, https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/resources/ajem-apr-2012-the-commonwealth-response-to-cyclone-tracy-implications-for-future-disasters/, accessed 15 December 2024.
ABC Radio Nation, ’50 years after Cyclone Tracy-powerful memories of horror and hope’, https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/bigideas/50-years-after-cyclone-tracy-memories-of-horror-and-hope/104452992, accessed 7 December 2024.
Historical Society of the Northern Territory Inc, ‘The Storm that changed Australia’, https://www.historicalsocietynt.org.au/cyclone-tracy-50-years-commemoration, accessed 15 December 2024.
ABC Listen, ‘The Weather That Changed Us: Cyclone Tracy fifty years on’, https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/the-weather-that-changed-us/cyclone-tracy-fifty-years-on/104624034, accessed 13 December 2024.
Bureau of Meteorology, ‘Remembering cyclone Tracy: Lessons from a ‘perfect storm”, https://media.bom.gov.au/social/blog/625/remembering-cyclone-tracy-lessons-from-a-perfect-storm/, accessed 15 December 2024.
Untangled Family History 
My mother’s cousin was living in Darwin at the time. He and his family survived, but his home and possessions, including the old Family Bible with it’s many generations recorded inside, were completely destroyed.
Fortunately my grandmother had at some stage copied the whole family tree into a school exercise book, with passed to my mother and now to me.
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