This week marks 60 years since a deadly blast in the early hours of the morning shook Bega residents out of their beds.
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Peter Rogers of the Bega Pioneers Museum was 22 years old at the time and lived on the edge of town. He remembers the night clearly.
“It was a massive explosion, most of the district heard it,” he said.
“It ruptured windows in surrounding buildings and it really shook the dust off everything else in town.”
The explosion came from Constable Kenneth Coussens house in Girraween Crescent.
The constable, his wife and their nine month old son were killed.
Miraculously, their nine year old son Roger McCampbell survived the blast, running into the arms of startled neighbours who had flowed onto the streets.
Keith Beresford was an ambulance officer at the time of the blast, and one of the first responders to the scene.
“It woke everyone up for miles around,” he said.
“When I arrived there was already a crowd forming around the house, there was a look of horror on every face.”
To this day, Mr Beresford can’t believe the the young boy survived the blast.
“I didn’t treat him that evening because he was taken in and comforted by neighbours,” he said.
“But the level of damage to the house and the rest of his family, I couldn’t believe anyone could walk out of that alive.”
Mr Beresford had been an ambulance officer for three years at the time of the incident. He retired almost 40 years after, but still remembers the Bega bombing as the most horrific scene he ever attended.
“I’ve seen many nasty things in my line of work, car crashes and the like,” he said.
“But I’ve never seen anything like it again, I wouldn’t repeat what I saw that night.”
Four days later, shards of a 22 litre cream can allowed police to piece together the cause of the blast.
An homemade explosive device had been left on the family’s verandah by local man Myron Kelly.
Kelly had loaded the cream can with 240 sticks of gelignite, which could be bought at agricultural supply stores at the time, and left it on the front landing of the family’s home.
There had been bad blood brewing between the pair for some time. Const Coussens regularly issued traffic infringements to Kelly in relation to his tractor and rotary hoe.
Mr Rogers said Kelly felt targeted by Const Coussens, and let off the explosive out of vengeance.
What isn’t as clear is if Kelly intended to kill the constable, or merely spook him.
“At his trial he said he didn't intend to kill the family, but I don't know what he thought that amount of explosives would do,” Mr Rogers said.
“While nobody condoned what Kelly did, there was some sympathy for him because he didn't intend to kill the whole family.”
The Canberra Times reported more than 1,500 people attended the funeral service for the three victims on August 1, 1957 and most businesses closed as a mark of respect.
On the weekend, Bega Police will mark the 60th anniversary of the attack by laying a wreath for the family.
Bega chief inspector Tony Moodie said reflecting on the event was an important reminder for the current force.
“We need to be conscious that these things can happen, we don’t have complete control over our safety and unexpected tragedies are part of this work.”
Inspector Moodie said the most shocking part of the attack was that the constable was off duty and his family was involved.
“The true tragedy is that his wife and baby paid with their lives too, that’s why we are laying a wreath for the whole family.”
The date is remembered each year at the Bega police station where a permanent memorial was placed for the event’s 50th anniversary.
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