Black Sunday on Bondi Beach, 1938 (Episode 23)

Grab a swimsuit and top off your sunscreen - we're off to Australia's beautiful Bondi Beach! In this episode, we're looking at the events of February 6, 1938, when a series of rogue waves dragged 250 beachgoers - many of whom couldn't actually swim - past the headlands and into the Pacific Ocean. Thanks to the incredible efforts of the lifeguards and bystanders, plus new surf lifesaving devices and training in the latest resuscitation methods, all but five of the victims survived. Of course, since this is an Ella episode, we'll be doing a few sidebars on her mild obsessions with wool bathing suits, the guilty-pleasure reality show Bondi Rescue, and sharks.

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Sources for this episode include: 

"Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Study", by D. Steele (Consulting) for Waverly Council, 2009

"Black Sunday 1938: Hundreds Washed Out To Sea on Bondi Beach as Freak Waves Kill Five, Injure Dozens", by T. Lennon (Daily Telegraph), 2015

"Black Sunday on Bondi Beach", by staff writer, (Surf Sports Forum), 2016  

"Plucky Rescue at Bondi", by staff writer, (Clarence and Richmond Examiner), 1907 

"Between the Flags: 100 Years of Surf Life Saving in New Zealand: Resuscitation Methods", by J. Webber, 2010 

"Bondi Beach lifesavers commemorate 80th anniversary of Black Sunday drownings with re-enactment", by D. Spicer, (ABC News Australia), 2018

"Black Sunday", by Waverly Library / Local History Collection, 2020

"Australian Beach Cultures: The History of Sun, Sand and Surf" by D. Booth, 2001

Bondi Rescue channel (youtube), 2007-present