A U S T R A L I A ' s
 R O Y A L   F L Y I N G   D O C T O R   S E R V I C E .
           " I n   t h e   O u t b a c k   b e f o r e   t h e r   w a s   a   F l y i n g   D o c t o r   S e rvice, serious
     illness or accident commonly meant death. Most Outback Stations
     had their own little cemeteries, where those who died were buried
     - more often than not without any kind of burial service."
   The story of the Royal Flying Doctor Service is the story of how Medicine,Radio & Aviation combined to work in the service of those who live,work & travel in the vast Australian Outback.
As the first of its kind in the world, it had its beginnings in Queensland in May 1928.Today,operating from 14 bases,& covering more than 2 MILLION SQUARE MILES, the service reaches right into the heart of the Australian continent.
   Originally known as The Aerial Medical Service,under control of the Australian Inland Mission (a part of the Presbyterian Church),it was in the 1930s that the AUSTRALIAN Aerial Medical Service (an honorary,non-denominational body ) was formed,with sections in the various States,affiliated to a Federal Council.
First of the sections to be formed was the VICTORIAN Section,with a base at Wyndham in the Kimberley region of W.A.(see Part 5),
followed by bases at Port Hedland (Part 3) and Kalgoorlie (Pt.4)
also in Western Australia)
   The NEW SOUTH WALES Section was formed in 1936 at its Broken Hill Base. Originally planned to be near the local hospital,the site chosen for the Radio Base was found to be unsuitable,due to interference from local radio sets. Changing the site resulted in a delay in opening the base, which eventually occurred on July 28th1939. The base building & Operators residence had been financed with the help of the NSW Country Womens Association & built as a memorial to the Pioneer women of that State.
   Earlier, in October 1938, the section's Radio Base was opened with powerful transmitting & receiving units which produced clear signals. The Radio equipment (built in Sydney)transmitted on 44.5,72.6 & 148.5 meters. At first it had only a small number of stations on its network.(Before the Radio Base became operative, communications were by telephone or telegram - not very satis-factory for the service!
   For a time, both the NSW & South Australian sections used the Broken Hill base, until the S.A.section established its own base at Alice Springs in 1939. Until then, the Broken Hill base covered not only outback NSW, but also extended over a huge area of the Northern Territory & northern  South Australia.(see map overleaf)
   Until 1952, the Broken Hill Callsign was VK8SK. In July of that year, it was changed to VJC(used for Medium Wave) VJC(2) used for Long Wave, & VJC(3) for the Short Wave Length.
   The first Radio Operator at the Base was Mr.W.H.Blue, who came
to Broken Hill on May 25th 1938,having given up work in New Guinea to accept the position. Soon after taking over, he reported that Radio Contact had been made with stations as far as 1,200 miles away. He resigned on May 1st 1940, his place being ably taken by Mr.Frank Basden, who, later that year, became     Chief Operator & Base Director - one of the longest serving officers in the Royal Flying Doctor Service.