New, ?15,000 hospital operated by the Australian Inland Mission was opened in Birdsville in August, 1953, after the original hospital had been destroyed by a fire two years earlier. Pictured at left are two of the handful of white women in the town, Sister V. Roden (left) and Sister L. McKay outside the hospital. Birdsville is also a base for the Flying Doctor Service. Patrol Padre Les McKay, who succeeded the late Dr. John Flynn to the Flying Doctor Service, is pictured (above) with two native patients at the hospital, Topsy and Alice. The aerial photograph shows the complete township, while the one and only street, Adelaide Street, is shown (second from top). These exclusive pictures were taken by a Telegraph photographer who flew into Australia's outback with the Royal Geographical Society. November 25, 1955. (Photo by The Telegraph Newspaper Co. Ltd.).