Heroic rescue remembered on 40th anniversary
A then sergeant at the 19th squadron based at the old Durban airport, Bill was the one who was lowered into the tumultuous, oil-slicked sea in driving rain to pull the seamen to safety.
Thursday, 25 July marked the 40-year anniversary of William ‘Bill’ Reily’s heroic rescue of four Indonesian fishermen after their freighter ‘Tong Nam’ broke in half about 10 nautical miles off Tugela in a wild Westerly, and 32 crew were forced to take to lifeboats.
A then sergeant at the 19th squadron based at the old Durban airport, he was the one who was lowered into the tumultuous, oil-slicked sea in driving rain to pull the seamen to safety. “We received the call at about 2am,” Bill recalled. “There were no Navy swimmers in those days, so there was no-one else to do it. If there was a rescue, we went out.
“We got to the ship at about 5am. It was still dark and raining heavily. It was a state seven sea, so it was too rough to go down. At first light we re-positioned ourselves over the ship and as I was the youngest at 29, I had to go down. At times I was so deep underwater that my ears hurt. It was a tricky rescue, but the pilot was very good to be able to hover over the ship.”
Later it was surmised that the ship’s cargo had shifted, causing it to snap in half. Bill received no accolades or medals for his heroics, just a good showing certificate from the Airforce.
READ ALSO: Alert diver rescues swimmer at Isipingo Beach
What he did earn, however, was a walloping from his wife Teresa who was forced to hike to hospital to give birth to their daughter Colleen after Bill left her stranded that night. “My wife still hasn’t forgiven me for that, 40 years later,” he laughed. Teresa was pregnant with their second child, but the baby wasn’t due for another two to three weeks, so when the distress call came through, he thought nothing of responding.
While helping the rescued fishermen onto stretchers at Addington Hospital later that morning, Bill, still dripping wet and covered in oil, was greeted by Teresa’s sister to say she was in the hospital, having contractions. Little Colleen, completely unaware of the drama heralding her arrival into this world, was born at 1.15pm. “We like to say whenever Colleen’s around, there’s never a dull moment,” he joked. And Teresa, like most hero’s partners, when asked about Bill’s heroics that morning, merely shrugged it off as “it’s all in a day’s work”.
Bill was also part of the five helicopter crews of 15 Squadron who successfully lifted hundreds of passengers off the Oceanos that sank off the Transkei coast, near Coffee Bay on 4 August 1991 while on a voyage from East London to Durban. “We received the call in the early hours of the morning. As it was off the Transkei coast, we loaded extra fuel drums. We landed on a kopje and as the sun came up we could see the ship listing badly to its starboard side. My first thought was a lot of people are going to die here today.”
However, thanks to Bill and the other brave rescuers, all 571 people on board were saved. They picked up and ferried countless loads of about eight people at a time to the beach. “As we left with our last load at about 1pm, we saw the stern going down as the ship sank.” To this day the Oceanos is the greatest maritime rescue in history. The Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in America wanted to award the rescuers with medals, but the Airforce refused.
READ ALSO: New Old Bill inducted at MOTHs AGM
Bill, who was born in Johannesburg, joined the Airforce at 16 as he always wanted to fly. However, leaving Port Shepstone before completing his matric, he was forced to first complete a four-year apprenticeship before becoming qualified to begin training as a flight engineer.
He clocked more than 3 400km on helicopters and was the squadron leader of 15 Squadron when he retired in 2008. Over his 41-year Airforce career, he was involved in more than 50 sea and mountain rescues. His heroics on the Oceanos were eventually recognised when he was awarded the first ever Air Force Cross a month later.
Bill Riley has been the Picardi Bazooka Old Bill for the past four years and he is keen to recruit new Moths (Memorable Order of the Tin Hat). Any ex-service men or members of good standing who were in uniform who are keen to join Picardi Bazooka, call Bill on 083-611-2096.
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