The weight of memories after Bali's darkest day
The weight of memories after Bali's darkest day
12 October 2022
The memorial in Kuta, honouring the 202 people killed in the Bali bombings of 2002.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the 2002 Bali bombings. Around 11pm on 12 October 2002, three bombs were detonated, two in popular nightspots in Kuta – the Sari Club and Paddy’s Bar – and one in front of the American Consulate in nearby Denpasar. The explosions killed 202 people, including 88 Australians, and hundreds more were injured.
Salvation Army officer Neil Venables travelled to Bali in the weeks after the bombings as part of The Salvation Army’s emergency relief response. He was there to provide medical supplies and support to the relief efforts and connect with Denpasar Corps personnel who were providing practical and emotional support at the local hospital.
Initially, Neil thought he would “think twice about going back” to Bali – “not because of any fear of danger, but because of the weight of memories” – but he has returned several times since.
In 2003, on the first anniversary of the tragedy, he spoke to Barry Gittins about his experiences, which were published under the heading of ‘The Night Innocence Died’ in the War Cry (now Salvos Magazine) 11 October 2003 issue. Neil’s recollections of that time are as confronting today as they were 20 years ago.
Captain Neil Venables had not yet heard of the events in Bali as he sat in a church service at Morley in Western Australia on Sunday morning 13 October 2003.
“People were praying for the victims in Bali; my wife, Lisa, and I looked at each other and said, ‘What’s happening in Bali?’
“The reason the news shocked us so much was that our family had holidayed in Bali in January 2002; we’d been there a couple of times and were familiar with Bali and its people.”
All the Westerners injured by the bombings had already been airlifted back to hospital burns units in Perth and Adelaide, but the Balinese victims were still contending with a hospital system in crisis.
So, the Salvos, recognising the extraordinary efforts already in motion to assist the Aussies and fellow Westerners, joined a network of private and corporate citizens to provide medical supplies, clothing etc. for the Balinese.
Neil, who went to Bali in ‘business mode’ to ensure the safe delivery of donated supplies, says a chance encounter while he was there still causes him to experience dread whenever he sees an ice cream van.
“I was calling [a colleague in Australia] to touch base, and I was standing right next to a van, much like a Peters ice cream van – those big, refrigerated vehicles.
“It was hot, and I was trying to get some shade, and so I had my elbow up resting on the van as I was talking on the phone. All of a sudden there was this realisation – in that van were victims’ bodies. My whole demeanour changed.”
His spiritual watershed experience came during meeting people and seeing the conditions.
“I was escorted into the mortuary and turned around and was faced with about 20 news cameras; they weren’t on air, but they were positioned. To the left of the cameras, there were 50 to 60 coffins.
“It hit me as I walked up the corridor. I’d been talking to a journalist in Australia, and I had to stop the call – these weren’t coffins like we have, they were just stacks of boxes.
“All the bodies, in body bags, were lying on the footpath stacked next to each other.”
Neil had seen dead bodies as part of his service as a Salvation Army officer, but never, never like this. Surrounded by the evidence of cruelty and destruction, Venables cried out silently to God. “Oh, my God,” he recalls thinking. “Father, forgive them!”
The Australian Government hosted a memorial service at Parliament House in Canberra to mark the anniversary on 12 October. A ceremony was also held at the Australian Consulate-General in Bali.
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