The WA State Emergency Service (SES) History from Civil Defence into the 21st Century
On Saturday, 23 January the Minister for Emergency Services, Fran Logan MLA, launched a book about the history of the WA SES. FES Commissioner Darren Klemm AFSM and SESVA President Greg Cook spoke about the history of the SES and their Volunteers at the launch.
The compilation of the history of the State Emergency Service in Western Australia, was intended to bring together as much of the history as possible from the Civil Defence days of the 1930s, to the formation of the State Emergency Service in Western Australia and covers the subsequent years, from when it was part of the Civil Defence and Emergency Service of Western Australia, part of the Police Department, its’ own entity as the State Emergency Service, in more recent years as a clear role within the Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia and finally in 2012 being merged into a fire culture within the new Department of Fire and Emergency Services.
The book sets out the timeline from Civil Defence to SES over a number of years and the subsequent fire and emergency agencies under which the SES Volunteers operate. It also attempts to cover some of the support aspects of the SES as well as a number of interesting operations and some of the committees involved.
Two chapters showcase all SES Volunteers who have received state awards or been honoured through the Australian Honours and Awards system for their dedication and distinguished service in the WA State Emergency Service. It is well recognised by communities at all levels of government that the true altruistic nature of State Emergency Service Volunteers provides significant social capital by instilling a sense of community and caring, a level of civic pride, and a sense of self-reliance and security for their own community.
The book consists of 213 pages with associated pictures and a short history of a number of the SES Units. There has been a limited number of the books printed and an eBook will be available for downloading in February via Amazon.
It has been compiled by Gordon Hall ESM and has been peer reviewed by John Capes OAM and Allen Gale – all SES Volunteers. There is a forward by the Minister for Emergency Services and the FES Commissioner.
Please direct all enquiries or requests for further information to Gordon Hall; gordon.m.hall@bigpond.com
