The photo of Eric Bumpstead next to British royals which appeared in the Gazette’s eight page special edition on 30 March 1983.EASYGOING and pleasant is how Eric Bumpstead remembers Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana.
The royal couple descended on Cockatoo in March 1983 – a town that was still reeling after the devastating Ash Wednesday fires ripped through the area just six days prior.
Eric, then captain of Upper Beaconsfield CFA, and brigade members Vic Greenaway, Nancy Boura and Linda Brodie (dec) were lucky enough to meet the British royals during what proved to be a media circus.
“The international press were there and there were a lot of English press,” Eric said.
“They had a tray truck that was tiered where all the press were – it was like grandstand.”
Eric shook hands and talked with Charles and Diana, but it all happened so quickly that it was a bit of a blur.
“I don’t remember what was said now, but they were concerned and interested in what had happened,” he said.
“They were easy to talk to and were pretty pleasant.”
Eric added that the couple was wary that the visit might have appeared to be a publicity stunt.
“They were concerned that they might have been intruding or it may not have been appropriate,” he said.
Eric and wife Joyce were also there when Prince Charles planted a tree in the grounds of the Cockatoo Kindergarten – a symbol of new growth for the town.
Eric, 76, who still lives in Guys Hill, was the captain of the Upper Beaconsfield CFA from 1973 to 1997 and is still a registered member of the brigade.
He remembers how uplifting the royal couple’s visit to the hills was.
The fires of Ash Wednesday swept through Victoria and South Australia, killing 75 people and causing widespread damage.
Six people were killed in Cockatoo and 21 in the Upper Beaconsfield/Belgrave Heights area.
Among those who perished were 12 fire fighters in Narre Warren and Panton Hill tankers who became trapped on top of a hill in Upper Beaconsfield.
Eric said Prince Charles and Princess Di’s visit was intended to lift the spirits of the relatives of those who died fighting the fires.
“Relatives of the deceased were lined up on the road and there was a wet running patch,” he remembered.
“I told them to shift out further onto the side of the road and then there was a roar from the press people to get them out of the way.
“Then I told them they were the relatives of the deceased and this is their day.”
The relatives of those who perished in the fires were among a crowd of about 6000 people, who witnessed the royal couple step from a limousine in McBride Street on Friday 25 March 1983.
The event was recorded in an eight-page wrap around on the following week’s edition of the Pakenham-Berwick Gazette.
A picture of Eric standing next to Di and Charles appeared on the back page.
Despite the scale of the event, Eric was stunned to see his face in the Gazette.
“I was surprised to see my photo in the paper that day,” he said.
