Issue #390: All hail the Hercules & Max Hazelton

Celebrating the man who didn’t much care for the odds

During my research for my feature on the life of Max Hazelton, I managed to track down the newspaper clippings detailing the incredible search for him after his plane crash in 1954. The operation to find the grazier quickly became the biggest in Australian history, with up to 30 aircraft scouring the mountains to the west of Sydney. Yet, after five days, the RAAF scaled down their hunt, and newspapers all but declared him dead. “Hopes fade”, read one, to find the 27-year-old. His brother, Kerry, even told reporters much of the family had given up hope, while his good friend, Rex’s John Sharp, believed a memorial service was being planned.