Above and Beyond

At the beginning of 2020, Australia was burning. We saw it on our TV screens, we listened to continuous updates about it from our car radios and we breathed in the smoke that drifted into our towns and cities. This extreme devastation was juxtaposed with the overwhelming grit, determination and the coming together of people far and wide to support the communities who had been impacted. 

As a member of the Army Reserves, Tom Harley, a teacher from the Humanities department at Box Hill High School, went to lend his support. As the summer holidays drew to an end and our teaching staff were busy organising classrooms, preparing units of work and getting ready to meet their new classes, Tom was still stationed hundreds of kilometres away in East Gippsland, the shire that was bracing to face a second wave of emergency fire warnings. 

Boarding a bus in early January, Tom was taken to Bairnsdale and from there he was stationed up at Swifts Creek, a community who were in the thick of the fire storm. He says, “It was such a surreal experience. At one point the entire town was evacuated and people were bracing for Armageddon and then at the last minute the winds changed, and the community was spared. It was nice to witness the incredible human spirit; when they were faced with losing everything, they really banded together”. 

During the 29 days Tom was stationed in East Gippsland, he was part of the team that helped set up a regional staging area or home for over 400 firefighters including a group from the United States; helped to set up evacuation shelters, cleared roads, and helped people protect their property by wrapping up houses and sheds in foil material and, clearing the scrub in the surrounding areas. On the final day that he was there, he formed part of a team that were called to a search and rescue effort for a missing 4 year old boy. 

“That was really confronting. We were about to board a bus to return home and everyone was called to support this search and rescue effort. The little boy was found after 36 hours. I honestly never expected to be involved in a disaster effort so close to home, but working with the SES, the Police, the Melbourne Fire Brigade, the Country Fire Brigade – there were so many agencies on the ground – who were and are, just incredible at what they do”. 

The Amy Reserves are men and women who want to do something exciting, challenging and rewarding in their spare time while learning new skills and giving something back to the broader community. This is the first time that the Army Reserves in Australia have been mandated by the Governor General to support a State of Emergency since WW2. Tom Harley has been in the Army Reserves for six years.

- Ms Kylie Pearson