A rescue mission in Pacific waters prior to July
1957. Picture: FILE
Thursday, July 25, 1957 radio messages seeking aid for seriously ill women – one on board a ship at sea and the other on Pitcairn Island – flashed across the South Pacific for a few days.
Radio receivers in Fiji picked up the messages and Royal Navy, merchant ships, RNZAF planes and medical personnel were alerted in dramatic attempts to bring assistance to the two women.
The Fiji Times reported on Thursday, July 25, 1964, both women were in satisfactory condition.
One of the women, Ms Margaret, a 29-year-old Melbourne nurse, arrived in Suva after a 580-mile mercy flight from the 10,000-tonne United States cargo ship, Sonoma, anchored off Funafuti in the Gilbert and Ellis Island.