My Classmates (continued)

For those of us from warmer climates the overcast bleak weather and incessant winter fogs were depressing. I can well remember when, to keep warm in the early morning, we ran in small circles in the dense fog while waiting for the tram.

Six months quickly passed and we approached our examinations. I recall that we had been given assignments during the course and remember that Bryan Rofe had been disgusted when I was given a high mark for an essay which he knew I had written in a short time. The choice of subject was left to the student. I examined the evidence of the passage of a cold front through Macquarie Island, Hobart and Melbourne. The study must have been based on data about 30 years old. I suspect that the novelty of the subject may have contributed to the examiner's high mark.

Fritz Loewe introduced an unusual examination technique by submitting each student to an individual viva voce lasting some 15 minutes. He adopted a relaxed and friendly attitude which I found most enjoyable.

We gathered on the evening of 23 August 1940 for our farewell dinner. The cover of the menu is reproduced in Figure 1. Doug Forder took individual photographs of the instructors and students. Doug was a very serious young man, highly respected by his fellow students. His dedication to his studies was complete. The dinner was a huge success and reflected the sense of cohesion that we were beginning to feel.

Figure 1 Cover of menu for farewell dinner for members of the 1940 Weather Officers course, held on Friday 23 August 1940 at the Prince of Wales Hotel, St Kilda. The three photographs centre top are, from left to right, Pat Allender, Lennie Dwyer and Harry Newell of the Training staff. Other photographs are of course members. Anticlockwise from top left Ashton, Brann, Brown, Clarke, Forder, Garriock, Gibbs, Greenfield, Hall, Mason, McDonough, MacKenzie, Nettle, Retallack, Rofe, Rutherford, Senior, Shields, Smallman, Wiesner, Williams, Wright.

Bureau of Meteorology