Roy DOYLE

On 29 March 1956, heavy rains fell in the Mackay area with torrential amounts falling in the Pioneer River catchment area. Police from Mackay were sent out to maintain control of the situation. It was not long before the Pioneer River began to rise and the current became swift. At 5.30am on 30 March the river reached 45ft and continued to rise. Evacuations were begun and people were moved to the top floor of the Cremorne Hotel. The flood peaked at midday on 30 March stopping only a few metres from the top floor of the hotel. By 3pm the river had receded a great deal.

Constables Porter and Doyle who had been doing duty at both ends of the Forgan Bridge waded over to Senior Sergeant McNaught to announce that all was okay on the northern side of the river. McNaught advised them that all dangers had passed in the Cremorne area and that they should stay around for a short while until their shift ended at 5pm.

About 3.30pm a man named Lorenz Heinrich Fedderson, who had been drinking at the hotel, waded into floodwaters and began to swim out into the deep water of the river which was running very strongly. He soon got into difficulty and when his plight was noticed, Constables Springer and Crowe obtained a row boat and went to help him. These two officers then got into trouble when an oar broke and had to jump from the boat. While Springer dragged it back to shore, Crowe went after Fedderson. Constable Doyle deciding to assist Crowe in the rescue, waded to a retaining wall, climbed it and then dived into the river. He reappeared floating face down in the water. Roy Doyle was sent to the Mackay Hospital but his condition deteriorated and he died at 1.40pm on 1 April. Investigations later showed that when Doyle dived into the flooded Pioneer River he struck his head on a submerged block of concrete which knocked him unconscious and caused massive head injuries.