The Complete Book of Australian Flying Doctor Stories

by Bill "Swampy" Marsh

For the first time, Bill Marsh's terrific collection of outback yarns centred on the Royal Flying Doctor Service are available in one bumper volume. the Royal Flying Doctor Service is a unique icon of Australian culture. Since its beginnings with the Reverend John Flynn in 1928, the RFDS has helped build our nation. the Flying Doctors, and the remote stations and communities that they serve, have become enduring symbols of what it means to be Australian. the Complete Book of Australian Flying Doctor Stories is a fascinating, moving and often hilarious collection of true stories about the life in the Australian Outback. 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.

Genres: Nonfiction, Short Stories

749 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 18, 2012

Reviews

[Shreedevi Gurumurty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since its beginnings with the Reverend John Flynn in 1928, the RFDS has helped build our nation. The Flying Doctors, and the remote stations and communities that they serve, have become enduring symbols of what it means to be Australian. The Complete Book of Australian Flying Doctor Stories is a fascinating, moving and often hilarious collection of true stories about the life in the Australian Outback. Hear of those whose very lives depend on the Royal Flying Doctor Service, like the man suffering from extreme burns who rode his motorbike 18km 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.The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia (RFDS, informally known as The Flying Doctor) is an air medical service based in Australia. It is a non-profit organisation which provides emergency and primary health care services for those living in rural, remote and regional areas of Australia who cannot access a hospital or GP due to the vast distances of the Outback. It is one of the largest and most comprehensive aeromedical organisations in the world.Until the 1960s the service predominantly hired aircraft, pilots and service technicians from contractors. After this point, the service moved on to purchasing its own equipment and employing its own pilots and mechanics.

[Sanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a couple of Bill Marsh's books and they do not fail to entertain.

Bill compiles stories told to him by the characters of the Outback Australia and has spent many years travelling the Outback in order to find these funny characters who will swing a story or two.

A very long 800 page book which I found thoroughly enjoyable, and could just imagine my brother reading it and chuckling away to himself on almost every page.

Bill gathers these characters from all sorts of places and their 'adventures' are definitely amusing since Bill writes them in the language used by the speaker.

Funny, silly, intuitive, sad, clever, and all round worthwhile reading...especially if you're a bedtime reader.

[Wirranook · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection of stories that really exemplify the spirit of Australia. I love how much John Flynn's mission was emphasised and how the stories proved it true. There is a really wide range of funny stories, short ones, tragic ones, and very long and entertaining ones. These are spaced out quite nicely, so you don't have a whole section of just depressing tragic stories. There is some explicit language and references as expected from our culture, and some injury descriptions are fairly gory, but that's what makes it great!

[Shirley-anne Greenhalgh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed how the stories in this book brought to life the Australian outback in the twentieth century. Apart from a few stories toward the end of the book that I found a bit dry, I laughed and cried and was even in awe of the strength and humour of the pioneers that settled the remote regions of this vast country and was impressed with how the Flying Doctor Service grew from one man’s dream into a life saving venture.

[Shelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the stories. I like the way they were told by the people themselves. I could relate to many of them as I have lived in some of the areas and been to others which made many stories very interesting.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was full of great stories. Some information about the story tellers, or changing the order of the stories so the reader had pieces of information sooner, would have made the book easier to understand for those not familiar with the RFDS or rural Australia.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really inspirational book that I really loved reading!

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent stories of a wonderful service to people in outback Australia.

[Azlan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend everyone read this! Outstanding.