Bruce McLean retrieved the pilot's body from the Sabre jet crash at The Junction

He had the grisly task of retrieving the pilot’s body. Bruce is 90 now. He lives in South West Rocks. But back in 1966, he was a fire station officer at Cooks Hill. 

We reported last Tuesday about the 50th anniversary of the crash, which involved a jet from Williamtown RAAF base. 

This prompted Bruce’s wife Norma to contact us. Bruce is deaf now, but he was able to read a statement about his recollection of that ill-fated August night, all those years ago.

“I was standing outside the fire station, when this plane flew over. It was flying very low and slow. I thought ‘it’s going to crash’,” Bruce recounted.

He watched as the jet headed towards The Junction.

“The pilot had shed his canopy. He’d been ready to operate the device that could eject him with his seat when he was over the sea, one mile ahead,” he said.

But the plane flipped over. 

Bruce said he was the one who “put the bell on at the fire station”. 

With his men aboard the fire engine, they went to the site where the pilot crash-landed.

“He’d hit an iron roof and broke through with his feet. He went through big rafters and broke them.

“He went straight through the wooden heavy floor that he landed on inside. He was fully dressed, with helmet on and good shoes – he went six feet into the ground.”

Bruce said the pilot had “blood coming from his mouth”.

“I knew he was dead,” he said.

His body felt “very soft” through his suit. Bruce obtained some heavy rope to tie around the body.

“I tied him up as best I could. A policeman gave me a hand to pull him out of the hole,” he said.

“It’s hard to believe this happened 50 years ago. It was a terrible tragedy.”