Monday, April 17, 2006

Donald Cowan 1916 - 2004

Donald Cowan born 4/5/1916
at 66 East Hamilton St Greenock Scotland.
Father: Duncan Fraser Cowan
Mother: Eva Cowan (nee Copeland)
Sisters: Anna Evelyn and Margaret (Madge)
Brother: Duncan
Greenock, Scotland
My Dad was a ship’s plumber, classed as a top tradesman. He was employed on submarines when World War 1 was declared and couldn’t be called up. However, by 1916, the Act was changed and he could volunteer, which he did. He was in the Royal Engineer’s signals. I would have first seen my Dad when I was three years old, as he was not discharged until July 1919.
I started school at 5 years old. The school was called Hillend and we all went there. At this stage I can start to remember things. The school was a beautiful building but had been rebuild about 1976 when I saw it again in 1978. Though our housing was sub standard we had at least open space near where we lived and were able to spend our school holidays in the open spaces.  Dad had a motorbike. I think it was in pieces as much as whole but we did have many a trip about on it. He and a friend had an old shed where they kept their bikes and repaired them. There was no electric light or anything, candles and slush lamps were used for lighting for the lathe, which was treadled, and the forge was a hand cranked blower which I turned many times to help Dad. He could do anything with a piece of metal.
We did have holidays at a little place called Sandbank on the other
side of the river Clyde.
Off to Australia
I don’t know when my Dad thought of going to Australia but he wanted to get away from the harsh winters and give us a better chance in life.
Dad may have had an application for a visa. I don’t know but he was trying to save what he could. His desire was to go to Sydney. The chance for us happened in a strange way. Dad had a friend George Levins whom he served his time with as a plumber and they remained lifetime friends. They had similar families, 2 girls and 2 boys. Mr Levins did not have employment like my Dad and he wanted to go to America to try his luck. He had a cousin in America but he came back home.
I don’t remember when she came to Australia but Mr Levins had a sister here. I think it was unexpected but a nomination came from her for the Levin’s family to come to Melbourne, but the exciting part was the permits were for 8 not 7. There were meetings between the two familles, several I think, and it was decided my older sister Anna would go to Australia with the Levins family. Anna would have been 17 years old and her being in Australia would mean the rest of our family could be nominated for Australia quicker than from UK. I can’t remember much about her leaving but Mum was very sad. It was in 1925 when all this happened and I was only nine years old.
It must have been about June 1927 that we received our visas to come to Australia. I remember having visits to the doctor for small pox injections and sore arms. As a family we kept it quiet for a while but when final arrangements were made it became known.
We had two choices of ships - one was the S.S. Barrabool, which Anna had come out on so that was the choice. Dad and Mum were also advised to travel via Capetown rather than through Suez Canal in Summer, although Capetown SA was the longer route. (The other ship came via the Suez and had all sorts of trouble and was in Fremantle when we arrived there on Australia Day 1928.)
My memory is being racked now. Before we left I think we had tea with Mum’s brother and family (Uncle Jimmy) then boarded the train at Greenock for Glasgow. This would be 22 nd December 1927. We had a compartment booked for ourselves on the train from Glasgow to London, travelling at night. I think we took turns at lying down on the seats so had some rest before arriving in London. We were late arriving because of snowfalls in Central England and did not arrive until about 9.30 am.
We had to board the Boat Train to Tilbury Docks. It was crowded and travelled very slowly. Boarding the ship is just a hazy dream - up a big long ladder, stewards standing on deck ready to take you to your cabins. Males were one area, Females another. Dad, Duncan and I were in a cabin of eight though it was a good size. Mum and Madge were in a cabin of four, one Yorkshire another Lancashire.

Australia Bound
We left London on December 23rd into the Bay of Biscay to catch the ail end of a severe storm and Christmas Day saw many empty seats in the dining room. We had turkey and plum duff for Christmas dinner.
My next recollection of the voyage was arriving at Las Palmas in the Canary Islands about 8pm. Calm seas, moonlight and fairy lights bobbing on the calm water. Ships cannot get close in there and the lights were the locals coming out in their boats, a lantern in the bows and laden with all sorts of things for sale; fruit, tobacco, cigars etc.
They threw ropes up to deck and had a basket running up and down on a line, money first, goods afterwards. Some had permits to come aboard but were closely watched by crew members. All entrances to below decks were manned by armed crew. Every one enjoyed that night. We left about 11.30 pm and watched the fairly lights disappear.
Next stop Capetown, South Africa. The trip down the coast of Africa was good weather, a moderate swell on the sea. The days were spent walking round the deck or playing games. Parents sat and talked. Dances were organised by the crew. Areas of the deck were screened off and provided with extra lights and everyone enjoyed these times. A Scottish lad had an accordion and would play Scottish dance music. Some of the English looked down their noses at this rowdy behaviour.
We arrived in Capetown after two weeks. The ship took on coal there and we had a tram ride up to Table Mountain, a wonderful view. There was fresh fruit to buy. As soon as the ship was loaded we left and the ship was hosed down from stem to stern to clean off the coal dust.
After we left Capetown, we headed across the Indian Ocean to
Australia. The weather was warm and the sea only had a slight swell.  Everyone had changed from winter clothes to summer. When our luggage was loaded, we marked which cases were “Required on Voyage”. These were brought on deck about once per week and clothes could be changed over. The nights were hot and many slept on deck, although we didn’t as we had a big cabin with portholes. Time was spent as before; talking, walking etc. I think we had lifeboat drill once or twice down the coast of Africa.

Landfall Australia
We arrived at Fremantle on Australia Day, 1928. The ship was only moored and the mail taken off. Next day the unloading started. We were in Fremantle for about four or five days, then across the Bight to Adelaide. When we arrived in Adelaide some friends of people Dad knew who also knew friends of the Levins family met us. We had lunch at one place, tea at another then back to the ship, then off to Melbourne, arriving on the 9th of February, 1928.
The excitement at meeting Anna and arriving at the Levin’s place in Regent is all a dream, but we all seemed to fit in somewhere. I am sure my dad and Mr Levins never stopped talking, they were always pretty good at it.
The weather was very hot. The first weekend the temperature was 102 degrees. So we had arrived in Australia, our family was whole again. I know my Mum was happy being reunited with Anna.

Life in Australia
We are here in Australia, Dad’s dream fulfilled. The street we are living in is Downes Street, Regent a new lot of houses built on reclaimed land. One side backed onto the railway line, the other onto the pipe track from the reservoir where the street ended. The houses were for sale for 1000 to 1100 pounds, the Levens were buying number 11.
Dad, Madge and Duncan all found work and when number 13 next door became available to rent, mum and dad took it. I don’t know how we all fitted in with the Levens but we did it for a short time. A hole was soon cut in the fence. These houses were very basic, not sewered, no hot water, just a cold shower over the bath (not much good). We had to cart hot water from a wood fired copper in the wash house, so a bath was a chore but it was a house.
Mum and Dad soon turned the house into “Our Home.” Furniture had to be bought. Anna had bought beds before we arrived. We soon settled down. I was attending school in Tylor Street, Preston State School in the fifth grade. The houses in the street gradually filled up and were mainly rented. We all seemed to get to know one another and had many games of cricket in a paddock across the railway line on a Sunday morning. Sunday night’s tea was always a big meal and we often had some visitors to have tea with us. This was the pattern of our lives for a long time. Madge got mixed up with motor bike clubs that were around Melbourne over the 1925-1930 period. This was how she met Bert Phillips. We all got on well together, Dad, being interested in motorbikes.
The Depression was starting to be felt in 1929-30. Jobs were hard to get, men were going on the dole. Factories were starting to work short time. Mr Levens lost his job at the Tramways work shop. Duncan had a job with the Glen Iris Brick Co. Dad lost his job, though he got his plumbers licence. The man he was working for just didn’t have enough work to keep them employed.
Dad was lucky he got a job at Footscray Gas Works. It meant a bit of travelling but it was a job. I think it would be early 1931 when we decided to leave Downes Street. The house was damp and cold, our beds were always cold at night time. The Levens gave their house up also and moved to Crawley Street to a house with more space.
They were buying their house at last which they later lost. We moved to 110 Spring Street Regent on the other side of the railway line, but near the station. The house was old but at least it was dry, we were more comfortable there. It had two bedrooms, lounge room, dining room and kitchen. The laundry and toilet were outside. Mum soon had it looking nice. It also had a bathroom with a chip heater so hot baths were a more regular thing.
I finished four years at school at the end of 1931, obtaining my Merit Certificate and in 1932 started the impossible job of finding work. Jim Levens and I walked the streets of Collingwood, Richmond and the City, time after time looking for work, walking miles everywhere, you felt hopeless.

First Holidays
Time seemed to drag through till a highlight - Bert Phillips, Madge’s boyfriend, asked us all to go camping with his family for Christmas 1931. They had two big tents and all the other gear. We went to Balnarring Beach. This was our first holiday in Australia. All our family were there including Bert Phillip’s two sisters, brother and father and Bert’s sister’s boyfriend, making thirteen of us. A fisherman had started hiring row boats and we hired one and that was my first time fishing. We caught mainly Leather Jackets. The fisherman showed us how to skin them so back to camp. A huge basin of chips were made and we all enjoyed fish and chips for tea that night. The holiday soon ended but we all enjoyed ourselves.
It was then back to try and find a job.

Finding Work
In 1932 the depression was really being felt. Duncan lost his job at the brick works as they cut production in half. Housing was at a stand still. He worked in two radio companies but the wages were very low. Madge lost her job in the shop in Regent. She got a job with Bancroft’s Dry cleaning that was up and down a bit but we survived.
A Christmas came again and in November 1932 we had a bad flooding in Gippsland around Lang Lang, Bass and Tooradin. All were badly flooded and a lot of damage was done. We arranged to go to Balnarring again with the Phillips at Christmas. It was impossible to get to the same spot as the previous year as the tracks were blocked and trees were down. The creek had flooded and they had to cut a track through to the sea to let the water away so we had to camp in a more open space near the arena area. We asked if the fisherman would hire his boat out to us and he said “no fish out there.” Bert had his guns with us so we did some shooting instead.
We got a boat about the end of the holidays although the fisherman still said there wasn’t any fish but there were plenty of young Grey Nurse Sharks about, 18 inches long but sad to say no other fish. The sharks were coming into Western Port feeding on the cattle and sheep washed down with the floods, hence the feeding frenzy.
I am not sure of all the details or when they happened but Duncan was working for Bert Phillips in the bake house at night time and had bought himself a motorbike, a little BSA two stroke and many a night I would be called to push him to help get it started. Jobs were still scarce, Bert had to sell off one of their van’s and was doing deliveries himself in the daytime. I am not sure if everything is in the right order up till now,1933.
Duncan had bought himself another motorbike, a Triumph, when he had an accident going from work to school. He was doing a turning and fitting course. His leg was broken and his bike damaged and was in hospital for a time. It must have been February when I was standing at our back door we could see up Stewart Street to the Station when I saw Dad coming home, his tool bag over his shoulder. He had had enough of the conditions where he was working. It was high risk jobs and his work was being questioned and just terrible work conditions. There were no work clothes supplied in those days. This was a sad day for all of us, Duncan with a broken leg in plaster and I was not working, the depression was still very bad.

A Turning Point
This is a start to a new life for all the Cowan Family. Dad had spent
some time looking for work but industry was low and houses were not
being built, factories were on short time, unemployment was high.
I think Dad had the thought of making pipe fittings on his mind for
sometime. The fittings he had been using at work were in very poor
quality. We talked about it for a while and Dad went and spoke to the
manager of plumbing supplies in McPherson. He gave Dad a good
hearing and said they would be interested but to show him some
samples. I don’t remember how we did it all, getting pipe tools, a
forge which we made to heat the pipe as a means to bend the
samples. We had a few discussions about it Dad said “How about it,
boys?” and we said “Yes”. Dad said what money we had would go
anyway (if you had any money at all you could not get the dole).
We got the samples made and Dad went off with them in his bag.
Just then Jim Levins came in and said he got a job at last and I could
get one there as well. I though about it and said I had promised Dad
and would stay with my promise. I can’t remember if he came home
with an order but was promised one. We would buy the pipe from
McPherson’s and agreed on prices. It was less than Dad thought as
what he had was a retail price list and discounts were off that price
list. Dad also had William Adams, another supply house, and they
also said would give us orders.
Getting Started
We must have made our first order at home, looking at the invoice
book marked 110 Spring Street. They would have been hand made.
We had to find a small factory, find machinery and get going ( we
brought a screwing machine from McPherson’s –electric motor,
pulleys, shafting and brackets). Travelling around on my bike I saw
this factory advertised in a house in Northcote. The factory was in
________________________________________
Page 13
13
Fitzroy and cheap and so we decided to take it ( factories were not
easily found). It had been a paint factory and the people who owned
it were ashphalters and also used the yard. Duncan knew a chap, an
electrician just starting on his own and got him to wire the motor. We
worked hard getting the shafting up. We started with one screwing
machine, one power hacksaw and one blower for the fires.
We had to make tools to bend the pipe, a big block with pins init to
bend the bigger pipes and sand to fill the pipes.
Money was getting low and the bills were mounting. We must have
worked very hard to get going. We attended auctions and scoured
second hand shops for parts. We could only drill holes by hand.
When we got the screwing machine going, we found it would not
screw properly. We thought we had “bought a pup”. We got in touch
with McPhersons and the manager who sold us the machine came
out with a can of special ouster oil. We had been using a water
compound, then “Hey Presto”, we applied the oil and perfect threads.
It was a special oil, very expensive, so we had to make ways of
saving it, for example making trays for the parts to drain into.
Troubles were still there though. The dies supplied with the machine
were not right. British Standard pipe threads are 11 threads per inch
(BSPI) for pipes 1 inch and over. The dies with the machine were
American standard Briggs 11 ½ TPE, so back to manager Watson at
________________________________________
Page 14
14
McPhersons. Luckily Suttons Tool Gauge of Northcote were able to
re-cut the existing dies and make them right- more delays. Dad must
have had this in his mind for some time as he quickly made jigs to
bend the pipes hot. The lengths of pipe, up to 2-inch diameter, were
cut in half and tail end screwed to the end, which was plugged. The
pipe was filled with sand, hammered to pack the sand tight. The pipe
was then heated to about cherry red, locked into the jig, which was
then turned 90 degrees with a lever. The pipe was reheated and
another bend made until the pipe was used. The sand was emptied
out and the bends cut to size, then threaded each end to a standard
length of thread. Galvanised bends were galvanised first then
screwed. The bend was supplied with a socket. Steam bends were
painted red, gas black. Steam pipe was thicker than gas pipe due to
the greater pressure used.
We used the following method for pipes 4-6 inches. The pipe was cut
to length, threaded each end and bent separately. Each piece was
fitted with tail end and long length to give leverage to pull the pipe
around when it was hot. That was where the skill came in and also
the hard work, especially when we were hungry! We had no electric
light so that stopped us working long hours, anyway we were tired
after about 9 hours per day. It was not easy work as a lot of it was
manual labour.
________________________________________
Page 15
15
1933 seemed to roll along. We acquired more customers. I think
they came to us and we found it hard to do all the work with the three
of us.
Balnarring Holidays Again
As Christmas drew near, holidays were discussed again. Bert got
hold of a set of wheels, axles etc and we helped him make a trailer as
he only had one van to cart all the camping gear. We got a 5 gallon
drum from the paint place next door and made sure it was clean.
Dad fitted a socket to it and we got a tap for the drum. This was to be
the source of hot water when it sat on the fire was kept full of water.
We went to Balnarring Beach again.
Building the Business
I think it was 1934 we found we could not do all the jobs ourselves
though Mum and Madge helped by painting the bends. It was a case
of when we were doing one operation, another was stopped,
retarding output. We decide we needed another machine. The one
we had was slow when we were using it for small tubes. The year
before I had screwed 700 pieces of ¼ inch (bore) pipe, each end, by
hand. This new machine was faster, the dies lasted longer and didn’t
need any special oil. We also acquired another power hacksaw.
In 1934 we gained more customers. I think we would have been
supplying all the major suppliers of pipe fittings . We were at least
________________________________________
Page 16
16
making a living if not full wages – more than a lot of people. We
employed Mr Levens, Dad’s friend and his son Jim for a short while,
mainly to do a job Dad quoted for altering bends 85 degrees to 90
degrees. The company was overstocked and we didn’t make any
money from that job.
Through 1934 to 1935, we must have been kept busy. I think it must
have been late 1934 when we left Delbridge St. There was some
concern by the paint factory next door and the owners with so much
inflammable material about and our large fires though there was no
danger from the fires as they were completely out when we left.
We found another factory in Brunswick. It was bigger and had better
access for loading and un-loading. It backed onto a clay hole that
was abandoned because they struck an underground spring and the
hole half filled with water. The Brunswick Council yards were next
door and they were dumping waste into the hole. They built a
destructor and the waste from that was also being used as filling.
We soon got going in the new factory with more space. I brought a
bike. I could buy one for the cost of travelling by train and bus. Dad
travelled by himself for an hour then we brought a second hand bike,
an awful thing that was hard to ride but the three of us battled on
morning and night, on our bikes.
________________________________________
Page 17
17
A Start in Furniture
It was at 31 Albert St Brunswick West that the idea of making metal
furniture was born. I thin we were finding that we could not get any
bigger or turn out any more than we were selling. Other things were
selling but the other things were thought of but not possible because
of the outlay required. Memory serves me that the suggestion of
metal furniture came from the manager of McPhersons. They
promised supplies of tubing as it was all imported. A C Healing was
manufacturing chairs etc and their chrome chairs were appearing in
the shops. We decided to try and that was the start. (I don’t think
Dad was all in favour as it away from his normal line of work.)
We found out how the tube was bent cold and we stated to make a
machine, hand operated. We worked nights and weekends trying it,
got it working, and made it bend the pipebends cold as well ½ and ¾
pipes. The speed was certainly different with two of us doing about
300 a day to one doing 500 cold. We got hold of some American
catalogues from somewhere and copied some designs from them
though the cantilever chairs was the most popular.
There was a lot of ground work to be done someone making the
leather seat, chrome plating, upholstering and table tops.
________________________________________
Page 18
18
I think it would have been at this time we bought our first car 1928 six
cylinder Durant Tourer, it was in good condition and gave us a new
look on life, before it was only work.
The furniture was a new venture for us. We employed a free lance
traveller but I don’t remember him being much good. I don’t
remember how the orders came in but we seemed to be supplying
country shops and then we got the order for the Settlers Club Mildura.
I can’t remember the numbers but it was a large order. When I think
back on those times I find it hard to remember details. I know we
employed two more hands; one a welder another had to take
Duncan’s place on the screwing machine. He became quite good
and he and I became friends. We must have been busy with this
large order. It all would have to be assembled and packed for rail. I
do remember the family worked to about 2.30 is packing it ready for
despatch. It was still there in 1954 when we visited Mildura.
We seemed to keep busy. Duncan looked after the furniture with a
lad and I did a bit of everything including packing orders. After I got
my licence delivering fittings, a carrier did the furniture. We were at
least living better and were able to have outings by car with friends. I
learned to dance and started going out a bit then Duncan came and
learnt too with one car it was easy going out together.
________________________________________
Page 19
19
Through 1935 /1936 we just seem to keep working with the fittings
and furniture. It is hard to remember certain times when things
happened. Stackable chairs were not known and we first saw them
in a German catalogue we had a loan off. The picture was only not
much bigger than a postage stamp and was hard to see how they
were made. Our first attempt was no good, stacked up but wouldn’t
un-stack. We then found out how it was done. We made some
chairs then found out they had to conform to certain standards for
health reasons (18” wide). Though these chairs were make in
England buy the 1000’s, we never saw one and what we made were
designed by ourselves and had the design and method of locking
chairs together approved by the Health Dept.
I don’t remember making many at Brunswick. Having them painted
was a problem, a lot of cartage back and forth. Chrome furniture was
getting more popular in shops and as I can remember we were kept
busy. In 1936-37 the people who owned the factory wanted to sell
and offered it to us for 800 pounds. Dad went and saw the bank but
________________________________________
Page 20
20
would they would not lend us the money then the Brunswick Council
stepped in and acquired the whole property. They wanted the rights
to use the clay for their own use that meant looking for another
factory.
We looked at several factories, one in Richmond with a shopfront but
it was not suitable, having poor access. The South Melbourne factory
was the best available, it was a case of furniture against fittings. We
took the South Melbourne Bank St factory, it was close to the City,
and we thought it would help the furniture business. So much more
work fitting it out in those days. Machines were driven from line
shafts by belts and fast and loose pulleys on counter shafts. It took a
bit of installation works. We soon got it into production. It was a nice
light airy and clean factory with offices upstairs and we had a small
room for our own use. We were kept busy as orders for furniture
were increasing. The stackable chairs were becoming known and
some good orders were coming in.
Then there was a change in our lives as far as the manufacturing of
pipefittings. Stewards and Lloyds were a huge manufacturer of pipe
of all sizes as well as fittings in the UK with agents in Australia. They
decided to set up manufacturing in Australia. After a while, the
Melbourne people told all the merchants we were supplying “No pipe
unless they bought the fittings from S &L”. We thought that was the
end of fittings but they assured us they would still place orders with
________________________________________
Page 21
21
us to cover all our orders and they did. In a way it worked out all right
but we knew they could stop us at anytime. It meant only delivering
to one place but were glad we’d started the furniture and were getting
known.
In 1937-38 we were going along not too bad. The depression was
easing slowly and we found we had worn out our first car, the Durant,
which had done us good service. Many happy hours had been spent
out in it at weekends. We had taken the head off the engine, saw the
damage, put it back on and went out looking for another car. We
bought a 1932 Vauxhall 25HP Sedan. This would be late 1937 and
that Christmas we bought some camping gear etc, packed up at
holiday time headed off, where we were going to stay unknown.
Holidays at the Lakes
We arrived at Lakes Entrance as the sun was setting and were taken
by the place and stopped there for our holidays. The car went
beautifully
1938 came and we seemed to keep busy. Orders for furniture just
seem to keep coming in. The country stores kept placing small
orders better than city stores. We found a good upholsterer in Sturt
St and sold a few lounge chairs. Chrome furniture was new and was
slowly taking on. The stackable chair was also being accepted for
many purposes. Painting was still a problem though we tried a
couple of places but they were not very good so we decided to do our
own painting. Duco Dulux was not far from us in South Melbourne.
________________________________________
Page 22
22
We got in touch and they sent around a chap, George Campbell, who
had served his time at “Arnold”, the manufactures of spray
equipment. He listened to what we wanted to do and he had a small
air compressor and spay gun etc. sent to us then came and showed
us how to use it. As it was mainly stacking chairs we were painting
and we built a gas fired oven to take them. It held 12 chairs stacked
with spaces. We found that when you sprayed 12 chairs and stacked
then in the oven and baked them for about one hour you had about
another 12 sprayed. I think that we did some of this at nighttime. We
knocked a windowpane out, installed a fan and build a spray booth.
In those days we had to wash frames down by hand, undercoat then
finishing coat. Duncan and I got quite expert.
I can’t remember really who did what then in the assembly of the
furniture. We employed another lad on the machine I’d worked on
and I was doing all sorts of things, packing fittings for delivery. It was
easy as Stewards and Lloyds were not far from us in South
Melbourne.
We were not making a lot of money but were living all right ,having
days out at weekends and drawing some money for our own use.
Duncan and I went dancing at night it was very popular in those days.
1938 was drawing to a close we decided to go to Lakes Entrance
again. We had the car serviced but trouble with a boiling radiator
________________________________________
Page 23
23
stopped us at Sale. We had it looked at and had a meal there but not
long after leaving Sale it started again. We had a little bucket of
water and travelled at about 20 mph and kept filling the radiator up as
we went along. We got to Lake Entrance late that night. Next day we
took the care round to the Tambo River and flushed out the radiator
(took it off the car) and had a good holiday!
1939 started off more of the same. The war clouds were forming.
We were finding our hand operated bending machine slow and
decided to look for a power-operated machine. It was not easy to get
one. We saw one in a German magazine but lost where it came
from.
We were getting known and work started coming in from different
sources: schools, factories etc. We decided we needed a showroom
and took in part of the top floor and removed a wall to stairs and
________________________________________
Page 24
24
installed a fancy rail. This gave a view of the show room as you
came upstairs to our offices.
Our whole plant was very basic and a lot of work was done by hand
or crude methods. We obtained a catalogue on bending machines
from an English firm called “Hillmore” They had one for the making of
tubular furniture. We wrote to them asking for price and delivery, but
got no answer. I think we wrote twice. A traveller for a firm of
Engineering Supplies said he was going to England and could he
help in anyway.
The second half of 1939 saw some good products when were able to
help in the design. RMIT was building a new Lecture theatre with
desk and tip up seats. The problem was not being able to stand up
with a desk there. Duncan discussed it with them and solved the
problem for them and got the order. I think it was 110 seats.
Melbourne University was also building and was impressed by our
design and ordered seats for the School of Engineering. There were
also two other lecture theatres being build and we got orders for them
through the builder, 700 chairs and separate desks.
________________________________________
Page 25
25
When the Emily McPherson School of Cooking saw the theatre, they
also ordered one for the cooking school, so we were quite busy with
all that work.
We also had an order for 300 cantilever chairs for the Aust Expo New
Zealand. This was happening in the middle of 1939 and war clouds
were darkening and Duncan being in the Military, he would have
been called up. We didn’t know what effect that would have on us.
We had finished the assembly work at the colleges and we had the
loan of a carpenter from the builder to help us. We also had an order
from APPM Burnie, Tasmania for pipe work which Dad looked after.
It was quite large long lengths of 8” pipe, flanged each end expansion
bends, all pressured tested to 250 lbs/ sq inch without one leak! We
bought our first electric welding plant to do this job.
War is Declared
Lancaster over Bendigo
________________________________________
Page 26
26
Duncan had to report to a drill hall in Windsor. This left me to look
after everything. The shipment of chairs to New Zealand was up in
the air, the Expo was going to be cancelled then wasn’t then delivery
date was brought forward then put back. Boxes had to be got quickly
and packed, contents declared and valued – eventually they went off.
Duncan and George Levens in Artillery Reserve Uniform
I had been having tennis lessons in the city in the evening but that
went as Stewarts and Lloyds turned up with a load of pipe in various
lengths, 2 sizes to be threaded for the new army camp) being built
(Puckapunyal). They were threading 2 sizes and we were doing the
other two – in all 15 miles of pipe.
We employed an office girl before this time and that was a help.
Duncan could come home after 5 o’clock. I think the quoted for troop
carrying chairs and spotting chairs came in then and he worked on
them at nighttime. I don’t remember if we applied for exemptions or
________________________________________
Page 27
27
the tender Board did anyway but Duncan went to Broadmeadows for
a while then was discharged.
The first Defence order was for 1200 troop carrying chairs for trucks,
312 spotting chairs followed. These were for observers for the anti
aircraft batteries. We ended up making 23,000 troop carrying
chairs. They took a while to get going as some sheet metal parts and
machined parts had to be organised. We unfortunately lost the
chance to be supplied with a lathe that we could have made parts
ourselves.
I will have to go back a bit. We did get a quote for a bending
machine, but I think War was declared so any chance of that coming
was hopeless. The factory next door was taken by “Simmonds Aero
Carriers” maker of parts for the building of aeroplanes. They soon
had 3 shifts going.
The last 3 months of 1939 are hard to recall so much happened.
Christmas holidays were asked to be restricted. We had a week at
Lorne that year (1939) came back a bit refreshed with jobs to get
underway. Although the information we got with bending machine
gave no dimensions, it as least gave us how the machine worked and
we decided we could build one from the drawings from what we had.
________________________________________
Page 28
28
1940 has started with us being busy. Work started with building the
bending machine. Duncan drew up all the drawing and patterns,
castings were made and machined. Other parts were formed by us
from all sorts of scrap steel etc. We chased around and got a car
gearbox from a “Standard 10” English car. It was just what we
wanted, “gate gears” and was easily fitted. Another part was made
from a differential from some French car. A box had to be made to
house this. Dad worked on the building quite a lot during daytime.
We worked at night. I think it took about 3 months till it was
operating. Getting the formers machined was a problem for a while.
The engineering firm who said they could machine them could not.
Then Geo Campbell from Duco Dulux and another chap were going
on their own to make radio parts, said they could and did, although it
took time as were having them cast, and they were different sizes.
The spotting chairs we were making had a lot of parts. I think it was
about 210 different pieces, taking in bolts, split pins, little “c” clips and
a lot of welding. They were zinc plated. The war rules were that to
save cartage, you had to use the nearest subcontractors. Quintans
electroplaters who were doing our chrome plating set-up a small plant
to just do zinc plating in South Melbourne so that was taken care of.
Making parts by hand was hard work, slow etc. Fred Shaw next door
manager, suggested a power press – 2O Ton. We ordered one but
delivery was slow. We bought a 6” engine lathe and another drilling machine. Duncan was in McPherson’s talking to a salesman in the receiving store when one of their trucks pulled up with this drill on board. He said “How much?” The chap said 20 pounds so he said
“Ours”. Later the chap said he was caught out and should have been
smarter.
1940 was looking gloomy. Rationing was being introduced; petrol,
clothing, footwear, food, linen. You walked where you may have driven before to save petrol. The bending machine was almost finished.
International trucks came and wanted some 1¾ “ to be bent and slotted in a hurry. They were for side outlets for exhaust on the trucks in the hot desert in the north. The fumes in the hot desert were putting the drivers in the middle of the convey to sleep.
We didn’t have time for casting so bought a slabs of steel 10” by 4” that had been knocked into round by a drop hammer. We got the blank mounted on the lathe and started turning the steel. It was very tough. I don’t know how long it took to do but we worked all night on it.
After the turning was finished a piece had to be cut out to form a straight piece for clamping. That was cut out with a hand hacksaw. That took sometime, spelling each other with the hacksaw. We got it cut through and soon fitted straight piece in place and had it welded, some cleaning up and former was ready for use. The mandrel to fit up inside the tube was already made so it was quickly on the machine and set for trial. I think it was quite successful and the lengths of tube was checked and we were off bending these pieces. I can’t remember how many we made but I know International  called in every day and picked what was ready and they were sent out on light planes who caught up with convoys and fitted them on the spot. Another machine that we built about that time was an abrasive cutter. It was fast and quick, a 12” cutting wheel, and it took over from the power hacksaw. Petrol rationing saw the appearance of “Gas Producers”, mainly on trucks. “NASCO”, GMH’s spare parts division, start making gas producers and wanted some parts made. This was a 2” tube bend to go over back axles on cars but the strain on the bending machine was too great and we had to make some parts stronger and also anneal the tubing (heating the tube in a furnace). About this time, GMH came with the drawings of a canopy for trucks. We gave prices and were given orders. We also had increased orders for more troop carrying chairs although this time they were painted green, about 12,000 this time. It is hard to remember everything as things were moving so fast and we were busy. We found we had to make a special machine for the canopy bows, hand operated but it was accurate. We made thousands of canopy bows for all sorts of trucks. Our private lives  went on much the same. Madge went out to Footscray and managed the Barncrofts dry cleaning factory. They had army orders for cleaning and dyeing uniforms. We were finding it a lot of travelling from South Melbourne to Regent, especially with the petrol rationing. We looked for a place nearer and found 31 Talbot Ave East St Kilda and shifted over Christmas 1940-41. This was a bigger house with 3 bedrooms, sleep out, lounge, dining room, kitchen and bathroom with gas water heater. This cut travelling down quite a lot as were working late some nights to 9 o’clock. The year 1941 saw us busy with orders for more chairs – 3000 spotting chars and bread racks. These were folding racks for transporting beard baked in Melbourne and delivered to various army camps in Victoria. They folded flat for easy return transport. I’m not sure when the black out came in but were had to have hoods on headlight and taillights.
We had a great lot of girls working with us during the War. I remember one girl had a husband in the Army in England and one, Bertha Peel, had an airman in England. One girl, Irma, her father was German. One of her brothers was in Germany when the war broke he couldn’t get out and was drafted into the German army. Her other brother was drafted into the Australian Army – brother against brother. Ivy Wilson and Thelma were two of the girls who worked upstairs assembling chairs and wrapping. By this time we had about four welders, Tom Horton on the bending machine and 7 girls. Fred Anderson was a musician in the Regent Theatre who used to get on the drink and resign at night and come in and ask us to forget what he’d said last night. When the Japanese came into the War, the demand for trucks slowed. We made 400 jungle carts, hand pulled cars with motor cycle sidecar wheels.  We made stretcher racks for jeeps, all in a hurry, and bedside tables for hospitals. Towards the end of the War when it looked like ending, orders stared to get cancelled for example, pipe work for some work boats and some stretchers. The work we started was collected and dumped – a real waste. The inspectors on some things wasted a lot of time inspecting some jots that were only going to scrap because they were cancelled.
Unfortunately this is where Dad ran out of steam.