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A PIECE of Albury’s history in the form of a 1930s gold cigarette case went on display at Albury’s Library Museum yesterday.
The late Reg Turner received one of seven cases awarded by the Dutch Government after he helped rescue the Uiver, a lost Dutch plane.
The Uiver was caught in an electrical storm in Queensland during the 1934 Centenary Air Race and Mr Turner sent a Morse Code signal from Albury’s power grid to communicate with the plane.
His son, John, presented the gold case to Albury mayor Kevin Mack, and said it was fitting to have it officially donated on the 80th anniversary.
“I talked to my three sons and my sister talked to her three sons and we decided it should be on display,” Mr Turner said.
“My father smoked but never used the cigarette case, it was always a family heirloom.”
“Dad had kept it in a black tin and I had it in a bank vault for the last 20-odd years.”
“It’s finally home in Albury and I think this is where it needs to be.”
It was a community effort to rescue the plane, which was supposed to be flying from London to Melbourne.
The memories began just outside of Henty for Reg Ruhe, who was just 12 at the time.
He recalled the exciting moment when he was woken by his uncle in the middle of the night at his grandparents’ house.
“My uncle Fred Pertzel had closely followed the race and I stood on the veranda at the time, there was a storm brewing,” Mr Ruhe said.
“We could see and hear the Uiver circling around and my uncle thought it was one of the centenary air race planes lost.”
“We had no electricity in those days, so we lit a torch to find the number for The Border Morning Mail and told them the plane was coming.”
The community banded together after that phone call and created a runway using their car headlights.
While the Uiver didn’t make it to Melbourne that night, the plane and its crew were saved.