It was 85 years ago when the Albury community banded together to help a Dutch plane make an emergency landing.
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That famous landing of the Uiver aircraft on the Albury racecourse in 1934 is the centrepiece of a new exhibition at the Albury Library Museum celebrating the city's long-standing links with Holland.
And the Netherlands Ambassador to Albury Marion Derckx was on hand to not only officially open the exhibition Albury and Australia's Dutch Connection,on Saturday, but stand in as the aircraft during a reenactment.
Ms Derckx said the story of the Uiver isn't just about the Dutch people, but the bravery and "quick-thinking" showed by the people of Albury.
"Albury played a historic role in the landing of the Uiver and it is a beautiful story worth telling over and over again," she said.
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"It shows how people can turn into heroes in minutes. The time between the call to action at midnight to the landing of the Uiver, where about 70 cars were in place making a landing strip with their lights, was only about 20 minutes.
"This was a time before the internet, before apps and messaging, this was a time very much of people knocking on each others doors asking for help - that is incredible."
Ms Derckx said she wasn't surprised people are still interested in the story 85 years later. "This resonates with people, it gives hope, and I know there is quite a large community with Dutch heritage around Albury," she said.
Albury Council mayor Kevin Mack said the reenactment of the landing, where audience members played cars and made a runway of lights and Ms Derckx played the Uiver, couldn't have been told any better.
"I don't think we could have shared this story any better than dragging you out of the mud as the Uiver,"he said.
"The Uiver is the tie that binds Albury and the Netherlands. It is a romantic story but also one of commitment of a small community that made a great outcome out of nothing, it could have been a terrible outcome."
Cr Mack said it is "really critical" the story continues to be told.
"It is important that we continue to share this story with the next generation and I challenge everyone to go and tell five other people under the age of 20 this story," he said.
