Vietnam War

Wednesday, April 16

Sisters mark 50th anniversary of Operation Babylift tragedy

Adelaide’s Sisters of Mercy are commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of Margaret Moses and Gyoparka Makk, two Catholic women who were on board an aircraft that crashed while evacuating babies and adults during the fall of Saigon.

Rosemary Taylor AM - mother of a thousand children

Rosemary Taylor, the Adelaide woman responsible for evacuating more than 4000 orphans during the Vietnam War, died on New Year’s Eve aged 81. At her insistence, a simple funeral Mass was held at the Holy Spirit Church, Seacombe Gardens, but her life and death has touched people all over the world.

Rosemary Taylor in Saigon in 1974 with one of the McGowran’s four adopted daughters, Rosi, who is now a violist at the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and mother of two. Rosi attended Rosemary’s funeral, along with her sisters: Fiona, a nurse; Heidi, a violinist, linguist and writer; and Lisi, a musical educator who played the cello during the Mass.

On human horror, human nobility and Rosemary Taylor

Of the thousands of Vietnamese children placed in adoption by Rosemary Taylor, few came to Australia due to her frustration with negative attitudes among the local immigration and welfare authorities. However, she made an exception in the case of one couple, Dr Brian and Susi McGowran, whom she agreed to meet on a visit to Adelaide in 1971. Rosemary arranged for them to adopt five girls. Dr McGowran wrote this tribute.