How newspaper brought all hope in times of crisis

While the paper was forced into a six-week shutdown it continued to bring the news to the community through its digital platforms, before returning to full production in the new, physically distanced world where lives had been lost and everyday heroes had emerged.
Four years earlier, the community had been reeling from the decision to amalgamate Bankstown and Canterbury councils as it was feared that a merger would impact negatively.
However, smooth sailing ensued and the Torch was only too happy to publish the success stories along the way.
Times have often been tough though.
In the 1930s, publisher and editor Les Engisch frequently wrote about the need for the local community to support their fellow residents “in times of crisis”.
“One of the regrettable things in this country is the fact that thousands of men are compelled to seek assistance from the State, to prevent them and their families from starvation,” said one article.
Also making the news was the story of Beryl Morrin, 13, who was attacked by a shark near Kentucky Reserve, Georges Hall, on New Year’s Day, 1935, resulting in both her arms being amputated.
For the next few years, the impact of World War 2 dominated the paper, which continued to print each week despite the rationing of print paper.
Bringing things back to a local level, a Picnic Point resident complained about straying cows eating her vegetables and a Georges Hall boy was badly gored by a jersey cow while rounding up his parents’ herd.
From 1956 to 1959, David Joseph Scanlon, ‘a man well liked by everyone’ then unidentified and known only as ‘The Kingsgrove Slasher’, broke into homes and attacked 25 sleeping girls and women by slashing their clothes with knives, scalpels and razor blades – eventually moving on to cut the women’s bodies too.
Fleeing the scene on his last night of mayhem, Scanlon ‘virtually ran into the arms of arresting officers at the foot of Nannygoat Hill, near Turella Railway Station’ and the chase for Sydney’s terroriser was over.
In another shocking incident in July, 1969, a Cessna 182K aircraft crashed into the waters of the Burrendong Dam, near Wellington, NSW.
The aircraft was owned and piloted by Bass Hill resident Alderman Arthur Samuel Laundy (father of pub king Arthur and grandfather of former Federal MP for Reid, Craig).
The probable cause of the accident was that the aircraft was flown at an unsafe height.
On May 27, 1980, during a visit by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Bankstown was accorded city status; the Royal visit was covered across six pages in the Torch.
The rapid post-war boom in development, reflected the Government’s immigration policy, making Bankstown one of the most multicultural cities in Australia.
Other newsworthy events include the Father’s Day bikie massacre in 1984, Town Hall burning down in 1997, the Lakemba police station shooting in 1998 and the Skaf serial rapist gang jailed in 2000.
That year was also one of celebration with the $42 million Dunc Gray velodrome cycling venue opening in time for the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
A landmark shopping centre since 1966, Bankstown Square was transformed into Centro Bankstown in 2008 and re-branded Bankstown Central in 2013.
The establishment of the shopping centre was a moment of significance in the development of Bankstown as a satellite centre of south-western Sydney which continues to go from strength to strength.