This month marks 90 years since tragedy struck Seven Mile Beach.
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Seven Mile Beach was growing in stature towards the end of the 1920s, and it was seen as a popular holiday resort.
Apart from surfing and swimming, the beach was used for races conduced by the Royal Automobile of Australia.
Once such race meeting was held on Saturday, November 16 and over lunch there were discussions about whether a race could be staged between a motor car and an aircraft.
This led to two men embarking on what was intended to be a short flight.
The pilot was Jesse O'Connor of Sydney, an experienced aviator with several cross-country flights to his credit.
He was accompanied by Wilbert Berg, a World War 1 veteran, who was working as a photographer for the Daily Guardian.
Spectators were horrified and they rushed along the beach to see if the men were safe - but there was no sign of life.
However as the Moth was turning towards the beach, it suddenly nose-dived into the ocean about 400 metres from the shore.
Spectators were horrified and they rushed along the beach to see if the men were safe - but there was no sign of life.
There was no lifesaving apparatus or surf boat to take would-be rescuers out to the stricken plane.
Nobody gave any thought to it being a hazardous task, but they rushed headlong into the surf, some fully clothed, while others stripped naked.
Hector Meville of Berry was one of the men who made it to the aircraft, and the body of Berg was brought to the shore and taken by ambulance to Kiama Hospital.
No sign could be found of O'Connor whose distraught fiancee, Edna Brown of Haberfield, had watched the drama unfold.
His body was found the next day floating in shallow water by a fellow aero club pilot, Milton Kent.
By this time the plane's engine had detached and sank where the crash happened. Now lighter, the rest of the plane drifted out to sea and was lost.
The brave actions of the men who tried to help were later mentioned in the South Coast Register, which stated "the heroism of the men who rushed into the sea excited the greatest admiration, and the memory of it will long live in the minds of those who witnessed it."
The paper noted they included prominent footballers, motorists, aero club members, and those from Berry and Kiama.