Bruthen

Bruthen is a small town located alongside the Tambo River between Bairnsdale and Ensay on the Great Alpine Road in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. At the 2006 census, Bruthen had a population of 624. Bruthen is 26km east of Bairnsdale and 311km east of the state capital Melbourne.HistoryBruthen is an Aboriginal word from the Brabiralong people of the Gunai/Kurnai tribe meaning ‘long wooden point’. Alfred Howitt claimed the proper name for the area around Bruthen was Murloo, meaning ‘pipeclay’.Noted explorer of Gippsland, Angus McMillan, first passed through the area of what is now Bruthen on 14 April 1840 on his early explorations from the Omeo region. The Post Office opened on 15 January 1862 and the first school opened in 1872.On 27 November 1958 an RAAF Avon-Sabre Fighter Jet crashed on the outskirts of Bruthen, narrowly missing the populated area of town. Flight Lieutenant Ralph Oborn was flying from New South Wales to the RAAF base in Sale when his engine ‘flamed out’. Oborn ejected at 500 ft, suffering only minor injuries, and became the first person to safely eject from an aeroplane in Australia.