Search and Rescue in Australia (circa 1924), and 100 years on. Otto Yuncken – A murder, a hero, a dynasty.

Photo: The rescue party riding out across a High Country plain with George in bandages and broken bones on the middle horse

‘At daybreak Yuncken made his third descent of the cliff and crawled along its face to Nichterlein, who, though in great pain and tortured by flies, was bearing his troubles with remarkable fortitude’. 

That descriptively live sentence is just one of many contained within the 2 Aug 1924 citation, awarding Otto Arbrecht Yuncken the Royal Humane Society of Australasia ‘Clarke’ Gold medal for bravery, following the almost fatal accident and dramatically reported rescue of 100 years ago.  However, it is the back story and the dynasty that followed that is perhaps of even greater interest.

Otto (Rob) Yuncken, (known by all as ROB so as to avoid confusing him with his father, also Otto) was born on 31 May 1903 and sadly, although living a worthy and fulfilling life, including service during WW2, he died suddenly and unexpectedly on 18 May 1951.

Without going into too much detail it is always interesting how fate and circumstance can change the direction of so many and so much, with just one minor influence along the way.  For instance, Rob’s father, Otto (Snr) Junken (surname was changed during the 1st war) was lucky to survive Martha Needle, the infamous Australian serial killer who murdered his brother Louis in 1894 and would have murdered him but for the intervention of a third brother Herman. With the help of Victoria Police, he set the trap and caught the black widow in the web with her poisoned set. Martha met her fate in 1894 at the end of the hangman’s noose as the third last woman hanged in Victoria. 

Photo above is of a young Otto with rifle

Image above is notice of the Award

So, on 26 February 1924 Otto (Rob) Yuncken and his friend George Nichterlein went up into the remote high country near the New South Wales / Victoria border for some ‘good old’ young lad’s mountaineering. Whilst climbing a cliff face on Mount Pilot, George fell about 30 metres and landed on a narrow ledge above a deep gorge. Rob risking his own life, carefully inched his way down to George, and whilst tending to his injuries moved him along the ledge to a safer place. He strapped him to a tiny sapling to ensure he would not roll off the narrow ledge and fall over the cliff during the night. Rob then climbed back up the cliff and alerted the guide who rode for 28 hours to gather a rescue party. During this whole time, Rob at great personal risk, revisited George a number of times bringing him food and supplies and checking on the return of the rescue party.

George Nichterlein was eventually successfully rescued from the cliff face by ropes and taken by horseback to a bush hospital for initial treatment before being transported elsewhere. The full citation describes in detail how hazardous this rescue was for all involved.

On 26 February 2024 it was 100 years since Otto (Rob) Arbrecht Yuncken rescued George Nichterlein, and on 2 August 2024 it was also 100 years since he received that prestigious Gold medal, which is still in the possession of the Yuncken family. Of even more centennial significance is that on Rob Yuncken’s 21st Birthday on 31 May 1924, he was the 6th Oarsman on the Melbourne University’s gold medal winning rowing team in the Australian University Championship.

The Yuncken family has for well over 100 years contributed to the building of the nation, with its family name attached to hundreds of buildings throughout Australia and synonymous with much of our architecture. 

Rob’s son John Yuncken OAM (1930-2015), also an architect, designed and oversaw more than just the construction and design of buildings. John was recognised for and awarded the Order of Australia Medal for his years of service on the Polly Woodside restoration committee in Melbourne from 1971 to 2015, including many years as Chairman. This huge undertaking saw the complete rebuilding and restoration of an original three master sailing ship from the late 1880’s, ironically the boom era of the Yuncken patriarchs.  Rob’s two daughters Judy Lumb and Anne Crump are still alive as are many other members of the Yuncken family.

This is not just a story of an Australian family dynasty.  It is the story of hard work and success.  Of a family who are descendants of European emigrant saddlers from the 1800’s gold-rush.  Migrant stock who helped build this nation, and who along the way, contributed to the preservation of its history and heritage.

The simple yet hard tough story of the rescue on that lonely mountain 100 years ago, is a contrast of times. There were no helicopters, no winches, no ambulances, no flying doctor service. You went in on foot or on horse, and dead or alive, you came back out the way you went in.  Alternatively, you stayed buried, a sleeper in the bush, perhaps in an unmarked grave or if you were ‘lucky’ in a pioneer cemetery.

Missing in Australia and Footprints in the Wilderness pay recognition to our native Australian first peoples and early pioneers.  In this story we pay special tribute to the bravery of Otto(Rob) Yuncken and the rescue team of Constables James Delaney, William Baker and High Country Grazier Charles Pendergast.