New Great Australian Flying Doctor Stories Interview

New Great Australian Flying Doctor Stories

'Where's your thumb?' the doctor asked the injured ringer.
'Oh, we stuck it over there on the gatepost, fer safe keepin'.'
And just as the doctor turned around to the gatepost, he saw a crow heading skyward, thumb and all. So I don't know how the ringer actually lost his thumb in the first place, but it had certainly gone missing after the crow had flown off with it.

From the pilots, doctors and nurses who spread their 'mantle of safety' throughout the remote inland of Australia, as well as the men and women they treat on the ground, comes a brand-new collection of Flying Doctor yarns as told to master storyteller, Bill 'Swampy' Marsh.

Hear of those whose very lives depend on the Royal Flying Doctor Service, like the man suffering from extreme burns who rode his motorbike eighteen kilometres back across his property to get help while opening and closing every gate along the way because you 'always leave gates as you find them'. Out here, stoicism and a sense of humour go hand in hand, as in the case of the stockman with a compound leg fracture who, when asked by the Flying Doctor if it hurt, replied, 'Oh, it itches a bit.'

Through fog, lightning, thunder, flooding rains and dust storms, the Flying Doctor braves the elements to get to the remote outback landing strips where they're needed and the tales they live to tell will have you shaking your head in amazement.

Featuring the colourful and funny work of legendary Broken Hill artist Howard William Steer, master storyteller Bill 'Swampy' Marsh once again reaches into the heart and soul of outback Australia with stories of heroism and heartbreak and everything else it takes to live and work in this vast land of ours.

Bill 'Swampy' Marsh is an award-winning writer/performer of stories, songs and plays. Based in Adelaide, he is best known for his successful Great Australian series of books published with ABC Books: Great Australian Stories: Outback Towns and Pubs (2009), More Great Australian Flying Doctor Stories (2007), Great Australian Railway Stories (2005), Great Australian Droving Stories (2003), Great Australian Shearing Stories (2001), and Great Australian Flying Doctor Stories (1999).

New Great Australian Flying Doctor Stories
Harper Collins Australia
Author: Bill 'Swampy' Marsh
ISBN: 9780733325519
Price: $35.00

Interview with Bill 'Swampy' Marsh

Question: What originally inspired you to write New Great Australian Flying Doctor Stories?

Bill 'Swampy' Marsh: The original idea to write a book of flying doctor stories came from a newspaper article I once read about someone who had a bad accident out on an outback cattle station and, if it hadn't been for the RFDS, they would have lost their life. This in turn made me wonder about how vast this country actually is and how amazing the RFDS is in helping those in the isolated areas ... and it is a not-for-profit organisation.

Question: How did you go about collecting the stories for New Great Australian Flying Doctor Stories?

Bill 'Swampy' Marsh: This is my third collection of flying doctor stories and over that time, since I started in 1997, I've gathered a network of people in the outback and also at the various RFDS bases who help me get in touch with people I can interview about their experiences. Once I've got enough contacts I plan a trip out to visit as many of those people I can and for those that I can't get to, I interview them over the phone.


Question: Was it hard hearing some of the physically amazing stories such as the man suffering from extreme burns who rode his motorbike eighteen kilometres back across his property to get help?

Bill 'Swampy' Marsh: In actual fact, I was so taken by the raw basic human instinct to survival of some of these people that I was more in awe of what they did, in an attempt to seek help, rather than how they came to get injured in the first place.


Interview by Brooke Hunter