Ralph Holmes (continued)

Ralph Holmes was a tall, handsome young man of about my age, with sparkling blue eyes and a wry sense of humour. His control of our meteorological section at Allied Air Headquarters was distinguished by leadership by example rather than direction. His pleasant, informal manner created an office in which the distinction between officers and other ranks was barely discernible, with the result that staff respected and admired him and, infected by his enthusiasm, worked diligently and enthusiastically. I found him an extremely pleasant boss and we quickly developed a deep friendship which continued until his death in 1981. One of the traits of his lively personality was an uncanny ability to label people with highly appropriate nicknames. Thus I became 'Boofhead' because I took a large sized cap, Geoff Martin became 'Bombo' because of his liking for wine, Herbie Whittingham became 'Durkin' from a rather bawdy limerick, while we called Ralph 'Homo' (from his surname) or 'Pinhead' because he took a rather small size in caps.

Having spent some time in the tropics, Ralph and I were somewhat emaciated when we first arrived in Brisbane, having endured the debilitating effects of the tropical climate, inadequate diet, and various tropical ailments. Being not too far short of six feet (183cm) tall we weighed closer to nine stone (126 pounds, 56kg) than 10 stone (140 pounds, 64kg). We embarked on a competition to see who could reach 10 stone first. During our lunchtime walks through Brisbane streets we regularly used weighing machines (penny-in-the-slot) to check our progress.

Bureau of Meteorology