The mood in Bondi was festive in February 1938. Sydney had recently celebrated its sesqui-centenary with a grand parade called “Australia’s March to Nationhood’’ and celebrations were set to continue until April. On Saturday, February 5, the first Empire Games to be held in Australia had opened at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The city was brimming with visitors and many of them joined the usual crowd of Sydneysiders flocking to Bondi.

media_camera Lifesavers resuscitate bathers after three freak waves hit Bondi Beach causing undertow that swept nearly 200 swimmers out to sea on 'Black Sunday' on 6 February 1938.

On that weekend the weather was clear but a large swell was hitting the coast. On Saturday, lifesavers on patrol at Bondi had been busy pulling people from the heavy surf. They had even notched up a record of 74 rescues in one hour.

Despite the heavy seas, beach inspectors Tom Meagher and Aub Laidlaw decided to open the beach on Sunday, February 6, mindful that there would probably be a big crowd. As cars and trams disgorged more and more people, the crowd grew bigger than usual.

As the tide moved out, more and more people ventured out to a sandbar that ran parallel to the beach. The morning had been relatively quiet for those patrolling the beach, but now things were becoming more active. The beach inspectors were busily blowing their whistles, waving people into safer areas, and other lifesavers were swimming out to help people out of difficulties.

In the afternoon members of the Bondi Surf Bathers’ Life Saving Club were gathering for surf races as the casual bathers continued to enjoy the water. Boat crews were out in the water dropping buoys to mark out a course for the races.

Ted Lever, 16 at the time, was a member of the Bondi Amateur Swimming Club but would soon be invited to join the renowned Bondi lifesaving club. He was there on the beach that day and found himself helping out.

“It was just on three o’clock in the afternoon and all of a sudden these waves came up,’’ Lever recalled yesterday. “A rapid succession of three waves washed in to the shore, wiping away the sandbank and washing people into the water. The first wave knocked a lot of people off the sandbank, the second wave did worse and the third wave committed more trouble.’’

After the terrible day, Meagher described the impact of the waves: ``As each wave surged high up the beach, the next followed closely on it. There was not the usual break for the water to recede.’’

Suddenly the water was filled with people struggling to stay above waves. The lifesavers on the beach quickly went to work.

The surf reels, pioneered by Sydney lifesaving clubs, spun into action. The reels fed out a line that could be taken by a ``beltman’’ -- a lifesaver wearing a belt with the line attached — to take a line out to people in trouble.

“We had on the beach, at that particular time, all the reels that were available,’’ Lever says. ``We had lines going out to the people that were to be rescued.’’

media_camera Clem Walsh was honoured by Turramurra High School in 2001 for his heroic efforts as a lifesaver on Black Sunday. Picture: Troy Snook

He remembers one Bondi beltman who brought in about 25 people, one after another. “There were lots of people clustering around and trying to get in [to shore] from the three big waves.’’

One of the main problems was not lack of assistance but too much unskilled help from the huge crowd on the beach. They rushed to help operate the surf reel lines.

“We had to get rid of them off the lines because they could cause more drownings,’’ Lever says.

One beltman, George Pinkerton, was dragged under water by members of the public trying to haul him in. He ended up in need of medical attention. Once the lines had been cleared and a certain amount of order restored, Lever says, the lifesavers got on with the job.

“I was co-opted into the situation because I was a strong swimmer and they put me on a line,’’ he says.

Even when the well-meaning public had been cleared from the lines to leave them in trained hands, there were still problems. The beltmen often found themselves swamped by swimmers seeking assistance. Some of them had to punch their way through a wall of distressed bathers to get to others in more danger.

The lifesavers noticed that the men in trouble usually seemed to be in more of a panic than the women.

As the beltmen and reel operators struggled to reach everyone, some men took to the water on surfboards or other equipment. Ashur Hart had the only surf ski on Bondi Beach and he headed into the waves. Being only a novice on the ski, he capsized it but was able to rescue people by helping them cling to the upturned craft.

media_camera A modern Bondi Beach. Picture: Erin Byrne

Lifesaver Carl Jeppesen is said to have simply dived into the surf to rescue six people without the aid of a surf reel.

The surf boat was still out after laying the buoys but the crew were waiting for the race to start and were unaware of the drama going on. Nobody thought to signal them, but even if they had the crew would have found it difficult to negotiate all of the people in the water and the strong rips and waves.

As the stricken swimmers were brought to the beach, about 60 were unconscious and many needed to be resuscitated. At one stage there were 20 people strewn across the beach being given resuscitation treatment by lifesavers.

It was difficult to tell exactly how many people had been rescued during the course of that chaotic 20 minutes. The club records say 180, but news reports at the time put the figure as high as 250. The people rescued came from all over Sydney and from overseas. One of the men rescued was a sailor from the visiting USS Louisville.

Given the scale of the disaster, it seems incredible that only five people drowned. One of them, Carl ``Sweety’’ Saur, a German-born chef from East Sydney, died while saving a girl.

Visiting US doctor Marshall Dyer helped resuscitate swimmers.

“I have never seen, nor expect to see again, such a magnificent achievement as that of your lifesavers,’’ he said. ``It is the most incredible work of love in the world.’’

media_camera Christmas Day: Thousands flock to Australia’s most well known beach. Picture: Supplied

Lever says: “There were probably many heroes on that day, and I would think that that was the day that surf lifesaving in Bondi came of age. We were given all of those things to deal with, we lost five people, but it was a tremendous day in surf lifesaving history.’’

For his part in the rescue, Lever was made an honorary member of the lifesaving club until he earned his bronze to become a full member.

The club’s official line was that ``everyone did his job’’ and some effort was taken not to point out particular heroes. Jeppesen played down the individual activities of those who braved the waves and gave credit to everyone who joined the effort.

“It must be realised that though perhaps less spectacular, the work on the beach and in the clubhouse was just as necessary if not more so,’’ he told a newspaper.

Instead of recognising individuals for their efforts the Surf Life Saving Association of Australia recommended the entire club for a special meritorious award.