Bill Brand

Geoffrey Frost – Former Senior Sergeant Victoria Police Search and Rescue Squad 1987-1998 The Bill Brand story is easy to tell but there’s a lot of ground [history] to cover.  I had a lot of material to condense. I will start in 1976 when I joined the squad after completing the Diving Aqualung Diving Course, Bill was then the Senior Sergeant in charge of the squad, soon to be Inspector. In reflection, by the time Bill Brand was promoted to Inspector in [1978], he was without  Peer in Australia and I am confident in saying he probably had no Peer in the World. He was Mister Search and Rescue. His leadership incomparable, no one came close. The great breadth and depth of his operational experience is unsurpassed, unmatched and legendary. He had an uncanny ability to precisely match the situation with a measured response of the right resources in the right place to win the day.   This was stuff not in any text books. He was not a proponent of throwing hoards of untrained

Duncan Brookes - Bush Search and Rescue Victoria Thank you to the Brand family for the opportunity to pay tribute to Bill on behalf of the bushwalkers; “The Bushies”. Who are the bushies?  In the 1970s and 80s Bushies was shorthand for the volunteer bushwalkers’ search and rescue group, which were then and still are, called upon by the Squad to assist in bush searches.  Now called Bush Search and Rescue or BSAR.  That connection with Bill is obvious. But there was much more to Bill’s relationship with the bushwalking community.  By the late 1960’s what is now called outdoor education was taking off in schools.  Trips were sometimes led by inexperienced or poorly trained teachers.  Bill, in his role, was only too aware of the near misses and some tragedies. A new, innovative Bushwalking Leadership Course was established, aimed primarily at teachers.  Bill was on the managing Board from its inception.  This outstanding course built around experience-based learning and robust me