Farewell to the grand man of Marine Rescue NSW

Bruce Mitchell (centre) with Commissioner Stacey Tannos (left) and Deputy Commissioner Alex Barrell (right). Photo: Phil Campbell.

Much loved figure retires

Marine Rescue NSW stalwart, Bruce Mitchell, has retired after a long and distinguished career with the service.

A self-employed businessman, Bruce enjoyed sport and game fishing with his mates, and by his own admission, “Wasted a lot of money on boats.”

Those boats included a 26 foot flybridge cruiser, a Quintrex centre console, a Shark Cat and a Pride Gazelle.

After retiring in 1998, it was not long before Bruce joined the then Australian Volunteer Coast Guard (AVCG) at Port Kembla in 2001.

Bruce rose quickly through the ranks, taking on the role of Deputy Commander in 2002, followed soon after by the role of Commander before eventually being appointed as Squadron Commodore.

When the AVCG transitioned into Marine Rescue NSW, Bruce was offered the role of Regional Coordinator, a position that evolved into the paid role of Regional Operations Manager Illawarra, and more recently, Zone Duty Operations Manager Illawarra.

In his role as Zone Duty Operations Manager Bruce has earned respect for his dedication to marine safety and to the volunteers under his care.

Asked about his time with Marine Rescue NSW, Bruce said that he’d seen a lot of change, and it was definitely for the better.

“I’ve seen lots of good changes, with a better fleet, improved radio communications and much better training,” Bruce said.

“It is, however, getting harder to attract volunteers as everyone is travelling more and are not as available to volunteer as they used to be.”

“I’ll be doing my bit to address that by spending some of my retirement doing radio shifts at the Marine Rescue Shoalhaven unit.”

For Bruce a few rescues in his long career stand out in his still razor sharp memory.

“Sometime around 2008,” said Bruce, “I was on radio duty and a lady rang me worried about her husband.”

“He was due back the night before, and had not returned. She had no idea of his car’s rego or model, or where he was fishing from, only that his car was blue.”

“Working with VKG Warilla, we had the police check the ramps, and after ringing some of his mates were able to find his car still parked at the ramp at Kiama and where they’d last seen him on the water, a place called Mount Fuji, off Kiama. That led to a big search on the water and in the air.”

“He was eventually located, alive, by a trawler way down the coast off Burrill Rocks. He was lucky it was summer and quite warm, or he might have perished. It was a good lesson in the importance of letting people clearly understand where you are going before you head out.”

Sadly, not all the rescues Bruce was involved in have had such a positive outcome.

“I remember,” said Bruce, “a lady rang around nightfall when I was on radio duty. Her husband was due back at 3pm, and she was worried as it was getting late and the weather was deteriorating.”

“It was cold and windy, and conditions on the water were pretty bad, serious enough that the search had to be postponed at one point. Her husband and his three mates were all found the next day, still in their lifejackets, but the cold weather had claimed them. That one shook me up for a while.”

Bruce’s position as Zone Duty Operations Manager will be filled by Stuart Massey, who as the Illawarra’s Regional Training Manager, brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the role.

Thank you Bruce for your service, and all the best for your retirement.