Some Stories by Colourful Freddie Soutter (continued)

On return to the Regional Maintenance Centre I made a report of the installation, documented with photographs. Shortly after, when on a maintenance visit to the RFC, Arch Shields saw me and said that although pleased that, at last, the Bureau would receive more accurate wind reports from Double Island Point, he was concerned as to the strength of the above ground cable and asked what velocity of wind did I think it would withstand. I made a wild guess and stated in excess of a certain rate of knots and promptly forgot about our conversation.

Several years later, while I was doing an all nighter at the RFC, a cyclone heading in from the Coral Sea towards Gladstone turned and headed for Double Island Point. During the night, when bending down studying the latest satellite photographs, a warm and friendly arm came across my shoulders. It was Arch. He then paid me a wonderful compliment and said that the latest wind velocity recorded at Double Island Point was that of the figure I had stated several years earlier, and that the anemometer was still working which meant that the strainer wire and posts were still in place. Several years later a fire burnt the cable which had to be replaced, however, the strainer wire and posts stood up to the heat of that fire. It was truly a warm and friendly compliment, one that along with other friendly exchanges gave me a great admiration of Arch Shields.

Bureau of Meteorology