The day lightning struck hockey players, killing 21-year-old Judith Larkins

For many of us, the rumble of thunder is a welcoming sound, the sign of an impending downpour after a hot or humid day. Water for the garden. Life replenishing.

But for a couple of Canberrans the sign of an approaching storm revives terrible memories of a spring day in 1963 when lightning tragically halted a game of hockey at Southwell Park in Lyneham.

The lighting strike on the afternoon of September 28, 1963 was so powerful that it knocked 20 of the 22 players from the Ex-Students and Barton teams off their feet, killing Judith Larkins, the 21-year-old centre forward for Ex-Students.

Margaret Hanson of Hawker remembers the tragic semi-final as if it was yesterday. "When I see the sky change and hear the noise of thunder I always think of that day, I'll never forget it, it was so extraordinary", recalls the 80-year-old.

"It was during the second half, and Judith had just scored a goal and we were back on the centre-way line about to restart the game," says Margaret, who was centre halfback and captain of the Ex-Students team.

"I'd just said to Judith 'great goal', tapped her on the shoulder, took one step back, then a giant white sheet descended from the sky and that was it. The next [thing] I remember lying on the ground and Judith's feet were in my face".

Nothing prepared Margaret for what she witnessed when she opened her eyes. "There was a burning smell and I soon realised it was Judith's rubber shoes, they were burnt onto her feet," recalls Margaret, adding "and her reddish hair was sticking up like she'd been electrocuted".

Still dazed, Margaret also noticed her hockey stick was missing. Then she saw it at least 20 metres away, "blown away by the force of the lightning strike".

Margaret's husband Murray was watching from a car with a friend, Ralph Westen, whose wife Billie was also playing in the game. "All the girls went down except one or two - it was like a battlefield out there," he recalls.

"With great presence of mind, Ralph, who'd served in the Dutch Army, said I'll go and call for an ambulance, you go and help on the field," recalls Murray.

Being well before the days of mobile phones, Ralph ran from house to house trying to raise the alarm and after knocking on about three doors finally got an answer and called an ambulance.

Meanwhile, on the field it was chaos with eight players spread-eagled on the ground for a prolonged time, with several receiving CPR by stunned bystanders and a group of off-duty policemen who raced to the scene from a nearby hotel.

Another current Canberran playing that day was Meg Hartmann (née Wallace) of Hawker who was left inner for Barton. "I was only about 1.5 metres away from Judith when the lightning hit," she recalls. "It was like someone came up and wrapped a black piece of material around me, and I was out to it." Meg's next memory is having her vital signs checked at hospital.

Like Margaret, when a storm approaches, no matter the time of the year, Meg's thoughts still turn to that fateful spring day. "I can tell when there's a severe storm coming, I feel it in my body," she says.

A fleet of ambulances ferried all the players to the Canberra Community Hospital where they were assessed, and where despite valiant efforts to save Judith's life, she remained unconscious and died about 12 hours later of heart failure. The doctor at the coronial inquest a few months later reported "there was evidence of burns on the right side of her neck, extending down the front of her body". Heck.

Incredibly, apart from Judith's untimely death, there were no long-term injuries to the other players. "One of our wingers lost her voice for a few weeks and another player was temporarily paralysed for a few days down [one side] for several days," reports Margaret.

Meg says her uniform - her boots, socks and shirt - all had scorch marks from the lightning strike. "I wish I could find them, but they seem to have been misplaced in successive moves," she laments.

One of the few tangible reminders of the fateful day is the Judith Larkins Shield which is awarded each year to the ACT First Grade Women Premiers. Although it seems the current crop of hockey players aren't all aware of the significance of the trophy.

"A few years ago, my hairdresser, a player at the time, reported winners were drinking out of the trophy - they didn't realise its history, I was a bit disgusted," says Margaret, who at one stage captained the ACT team.

"No one from the local hockey association has invited any of us back to talk about it or to present the trophy which is a little strange. It's as if the whole event was swept under the carpet."

Earlier this week, I met Margaret and Meg on the very field at Southwell Park where they'd been felled by lightning 58 years ago. It was the first time they'd seen each other since that fateful day. While they reminisced about the day that changed their lives, despite the blue skies, Murray and I kept an ever-watchful eye on the horizon to ensure no storms were brewing. Lightning doesn't strike the same place twice, does it?

Judith Larkins is buried in her hometown of Holbrook.

Since 1900, lightning has accounted for 590 deaths in Australia, making it the fifth most dangerous natural hazard behind heatwaves, flood, cyclones, and bushfire. According to Risk Frontiers, a company which specialises in natural hazards and climate risk services, of these 590 lightning deaths, at least 29 (4.9 per cent) occurred on or near sport fields, with most of these on a golf course or cricket field.

Apart from Judith Larkins' death at Southwell Park, there is only one other recorded case of a hockey player being killed by lightning in Australia. According to Risk Frontiers, 32-year-old hockey player Brian Roberts died in Hamilton, Victoria, on April 23, 1983. All but one of the players on the field were felled by the lightning and other than Brian, five of them were hospitalised.

Lasting legacy: Margaret Hanson worked for many years as a Sports Mistress at Narrabundah High and then as first head of the Department of Sport and Fitness at Canberra Institute of Technology. "I used to tell all my students about my brush with death - as a lesson to take care during a storm," says Margaret. "I think it was the only time they'd all sit up and listen". I bet they did.

Did You Know? Freda Bennett (1921-1991) also played in the fateful game in 1963. She told the coronial inquest into Judith Larkins' death that she "felt a terrific blow to the back of the head" and when she regained her senses, noticed "the remainder of the two teams had been knocked to the ground and were either stunned or unconscious". For over half a century, Freda was a driving force behind women's hockey in the ACT and Freda Bennett Circuit in Nicholls is named in her honour.

Difficulty: Easy, but please be exact.

Last week: Congratulations to Pattie Burke-Maxwell of Weston who was first to correctly identify last week's photo as a set of concrete stairs leading up Oakey Hill in Lyons. For many decades there had been a water reservoir at the top of the stairs, but both the reservoir and stairs were recently removed, and the area returned to grassland. "It doesn't feel quite right not being able to finish off a walk and to sit on the top step admiring the view of Woden anymore," laments Pattie, who just beat Peter Hall of Lyons, Amanda Nott of Curtin and David Evans of Fadden to this week's bragging rights.

How to enter: Email your guess along with your name and suburb to tym@iinet.net.au. The first email sent after 10am, Saturday November 6, 2021, wins bragging rights. Double passes to Dendy, the Home of Quality Cinema will be offered again soon.

Yes, you got it. It's the infinity pool at our very own Gibraltar Falls.

"They've made them look like a tropical paradise," reports Warwick Bradly, whose friend recently snapped the photo of the advertisement at Dallas Fort Worth Airport.

Even as a staunch supporter of tourism in the ACT, your akubra-clad columnist tends to agree with Warwick who "thinks the photo is overselling it a little".

I also think it's a bit cheeky for our national tourism body to be promoting the infinity pool which is located away from the safe main viewing area of the falls. Although access to the pool is not prohibited, local authorities "recommend visitors avoid being close to the edges at the falls as this is highly dangerous".

A spokesperson for ACT Parks and Conservation Service advises, "There are plenty of safe and established viewing areas around the waterfall ... a picture for social media is not worth risking your life or the lives of rescuers." The parks authority urges visitors to "please pay attention to signs, pathways and fencing in the area".