Analysts' Conference, April 1950 (continued)

Warren's pencilled notations are interesting. He was obviously concerned that many of the recommendations would require additional manpower and capital equipment to implement and his remarks were designed to carry the message that the ideas were good but getting the money to implement them would be difficult.

Some typical notations were: "These matters are and have been under constant attention and action taken for improvement when such is practicable"; "Entirely a matter for the Director who would consult D/D's to extent necessary or desirable"; and "Planned for long term but not yet practicable".

I can understand Warren's caution. He had the difficult task of convincing responsible Commonwealth Ministers and the Canberra bureaucracy that the Bureau should be given the manpower and financial resources to rebuild the Bureau. There were a host of projects needing attention. Warren's problem was to establish priorities of things to be done. Above all he had to protect the good relations he had established with the Public Service Board and Treasury. He believed that "softly, softly, catchee monkey".

The detailed record of discussions during the conference makes interesting reading. They include subjects such as definitions, frequency of radiosondes, charts for synoptic analysis, telecommunications, forecast verification and terminology, use of facsimile for transmission of analysis statements as well as techniques for synoptic analysis and prognosis and forecasting. Although Warren had concerns that available resources made it difficult to implement the recommendations he realised that they deserved serious consideration. It is interesting that most were implemented within the next 10 years.

Bureau of Meteorology