Bonnie Vale or Bonnievale near Coolgardie was the site of the Westralia gold mine. Bonnie Vale was gazetted in 1897 but became famous in March 1907 when unusually heavy rainfall flooded the mine with 160 miners inside. All the miners managed to get out before the main shaft was flooded with water, except for one. Only Modesto (Charlie) Varischetti remained inside.
The Westralia Gold Mine.
Photo retrieved from Outback Family History
What followed was a thrilling mine rescue that may be unfamiliar to readers because it happened so long ago.
At first Varischetti was presumed dead with no chance of survival unless he was in an area of the mine where there was an air pocket. Two days after the freak storm and flooding the rescuers heard Varischetti tapping. Varischetti became known to newspaper readers across the world as the Entombed Man.
A steam pump was rushed to the mine but only reduced the water level very slowly. The mine manager estimated that it would take a week to clear the shaft and there was no hope of rescue. Allegedly the mine manager’s seven-year-old son asked his father about using a diver to rescue the trapped man and this idea was taken up by the Mining Inspector who was on site.
Divers were sourced in Fremantle and two miners from Kalgoorlie who were experienced in both mining and diving offered their assistance as well. A special train was put on to get the Fremantle divers and the equipment needed for the rescue to Bonnie Vale as fast as possible. The ‘Rescue Special’ steamed to Coolgardie arriving two hours faster than the regular trains. Fast horses were waiting to meet the train and raced to the mine in Bonnie Vale. It was only four days after the flooding of the mine shaft that the first diver made his initial exploratory dive. By day six, the divers had reached Varischetti and gave him food, candles, a powerful lamp, and other necessities. Special Italian dishes were cooked for him by the wife of another Italian miner.
The Rescue Team at Bonnie Vale
https://purl.slwa.wa.gov.au/slwa_b6355955_2
It was considered too dangerous to put Varischetti into a diving suit and take him through the flooded mine. Instead, the divers visited him each day while the mine was being pumped out. On the ninth day it was considered safe enough to tie a rope around Varischetti and help him walk out through the remaining water and sludge. In reality he was so weak one of the divers carried him for most of the distance.
hen the doctors in attendance examined Varischetti they pronounced his chief trouble was ‘a nervous prostration of a purely temporary character’ and gave him a sleeping draught. The newspapers reported that he did look much better the next morning.
The divers who rescued Varischetti were feted and showered with laurel wreathes and expensive gifts, such as gold watches and purses of gold sovereigns. Gifts came from grateful miners across the country.
Varischetti on the other hand back to work down the mines and died from fibrosis in 1920. There is a memorial to him in the Coolgardie cemetery.
Just as many of us watched the progress of the Thai cave rescue of the soccer team by Australian divers, in 1907 readers across the world eagerly awaited news of the ‘entombed man’ of Bonnie Vale. In the years since there has been a film made about the story, a graphic novel written about the rescue and even a song celebrating the miracle of Bonnie Vale.
Further Reading
Bell, Lex, n.d. Miracle at Bonnievale. Retrieved from https://purl.slwa.wa.gov.au/slwa_b3096636_1 on 23 Dec 2023
Western Australian Museum, 2016. A Miraculous Rescue. Retrieved from https://museum.wa.gov.au/explore/wa-goldfields/dangerous-life/miraculous-rescue 23 Dec 2023.
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