17/06/2026
Throw Back Thursday- Flames
On 22 January 1955, the devastating Black Sunday bushfires swept through the Adelaide Hills and South East of South Australia. Homes, businesses, farms and treasured possessions were lost in a matter of hours as fires raged across the landscape.
One account recorded in The First Fifty Years tells of a young mother in hospital with her newborn baby, desperately waiting for news of her husband and daughters as reports of destruction reached the ward. When her husband finally arrived, exhausted and smoke-stained, their family business had been destroyed and their home threatened. Around them lay blackened properties, fallen phone lines and frightened livestock.
Yet amidst the devastation, resilience shone through.
Families supported one another. Communities came together. The South Australian Country Women's Association quickly established an Emergency Bushfire Relief Fund, with clothing, money and practical assistance pouring into headquarters "like a snowball." Members worked tirelessly for months, distributing aid to those who had lost so much.
This story reminds us that wellbeing is not simply the absence of hardship. It is found in the strength to carry on, the kindness of neighbours, and the comfort of knowing that help will come when it is needed most.
The long road back began with small acts of care, generosity and hope—values that continue to guide SACWA today.
Source: The First Fifty Years – Golden Jubilee History of The South Australian Country Women's Association Inc. (1979).
