The Seven Stages in the Life and Career of Dr W. J. Gibbs

• First stage, the early years 1916–40;


• Second stage, the war years, 1940–46;


• Third stage, the post-war period, 1946–51;


• Fourth stage, study in the US, 1951–52;


• Fifth stage, research and development, 1952–62;


• Sixth stage, Director of Meteorology, 1962–78;


• Seventh stage, retirement, 1978–.

In the first stage which began with his birth at Bondi (Sydney) on 17 October 1916, Bill Gibbs grew up in the care of his mother and his maternal and paternal grandparents, having never known his father who had left on a troopship bound for Europe to fight in the First World War and was killed at Ypres (Belgium) just before his first birthday. After a happy childhood and early education at Fort Street Boys' High School, he attended Sydney University with the support of a fund endowed by a wealthy landowner to support the education of children whose fathers had been killed in the War. He first encountered meteorology as part of his geography studies at Sydney university but his first job was in the research laboratories of Amalgamated Wireless of Australia. On 6 November 1939 he was taken on by the Bureau of Meteorology's Sydney Divisional Office and in March 1940 he was transferred to Bureau Headquarters in Melbourne to undertake his training in weather forecasting which continued through until August of that year.

Bureau of Meteorology