Special features Aircraft Spotting Jan Baker. Oral History excerpts from Aircraft spotting. Soldiers of WW1. Walter Mewburn Mervyn Bay (Descendants of W Mewburn & S Eacott.)

Regular features. From the MDO . Nicholas Reynolds. Education Matters. Katrina Gauci Exhibitions & Events Photographic competition. Maritime Musings Lass of Geraldton David Austin Chairpersons report – Jan Baker

Friends of Mandurah Community Museum Newsletter April 2016

Page 1

After fiercely defending a statement relating to coast and aircraft spotting to our eldest son I thought it would be interesting to do the research relating to these people during World War Two. What led to the scoffing of our son was my stating his great grandfathers (both) had as-sisted in the spotting while living in Boyanup. One of these had been an aircraft mechanic in England during WW1. My son’s statement was along the lines of ‘they (planes) would never have been expected that far inland and that far south and away from the action’.

During WW2, particularly after the bombing of Pearl Har-bour, there were very real concerns for the safety of all people around Australia especially when the long areas of uninhabited coastlines were considered. There were coast watchers attached to the A.I.F and prior to his be-ing sent to the Northern Territory my father was one of those based to the north of Perth.

There are stories in Mandurah of Charles Wearne taking his boat out with teenagers to watch for refugees sailing down from both Singapore and the Indonesian Islands. These were occupied by Japan from March 1942, only 3 months after their attack on Pearl Harbour and a month after bombing Darwin. This placed Japan within 2,500 kms of Perth.

Occupation of Indonesia followed the defeat of the Allies at the Battle of the Java Sea, it is believed that the deci-sive air power of Japan had been formative in this defeat of the Allies. From the 1920s Japan had been pioneering naval aviation having commissioned the world’s first pur-pose built aircraft carrier, Hosho, however it is not clear whether they ever placed an aircraft carrier close to Western Australia.

While the Australian Volunteer Defence Corp had been formed well before hostilities commenced, following the attacks on Australia and the near presence of Japanese forces there was a major push to sign up more people during 1942. This resulted in a strength of some 100,000 volunteers serving both part and full time, unpaid for their efforts. Within the West Australian southern areas these groups were to be found from Geraldton to Albany and there are many records of the groups within town areas.

Present for websearching is information about people from as far inland as Wubin, there is also recording of the Williams Agricultural Hall which was built in 1898 the same time as our own hall, being used as the Dept. of Defence Centre for Aircraft Spotting. In Williams resi-dents worked a 24 hour roster keeping an eye out for enemy aircraft. The volunteers were trained in aircraft

recognition and equipped with a va-riety of visual and audio aids. Alt-hough they rarely saw Japanese planes, they tracked and assisted in find-ing many allied planes.

On page 2 in this issue you will find portions of oral his-

tories held within the museum relating to aircraft spotting in Mandurah and the South West as there was a spotting station here just in front of the current Museum.

Page 2

From Mandurah Oral History collection, relating to Air Craft Spotting.

(Hilda Cooper) [Aircraft spotting – volunteer] In Mandurah. This air force chap (Officer) came down, and he gave us a lesson or two. And as I say we set up on the corner near the bridge in the school grounds.

(binoculars) Yes. (Uniform) Only a badge I think. A few (aircraft) went over. I remember a bomber and I remember a tiger moth and a ?? battle. A few went over. We recorded them.

(Identifying) You told them what you thought it was and if you told them if in any way they were carrying on different, suspiciously. (relaying information) phone (see John Layton).

I used to go on duty with Sib Scott. She was a mate of mine. We used to go on duty together and we used to take our lunch and all that down there. The men mainly did the night. But there wasn’t a lot of us, you know.

On that certificate it’s got twelve months, but I was there longer than twelve months. I know I was there all the time I was pregnant and before that. (Interviewer Eleanor Kay) (Vic Beacham) Vic was manpowered during WWII as he was the only technician maintaining telecommunications in the Collie district. This district was formed at the beginning of hostilities by taking part of the Wagin, Bridgetown and Bunbury districts. To assist the war effort he travelled by pushbike and train to save petrol, installed telephones in plane spotting centres. In addition he maintained a satellite exchange room at the rear of a brick shop, 1½ kilometres from the Post Office so if the original exchange was bombed, telecommunications could be maintained.

Yes, well say we take, I installed the phone at Darken, which was one place, as far as I know during the hours of dark-ness those centres were actually staffed and to enable communications to be maintained we connected that particular telephone line to a trunk line leading back to Collie, Collie was a fully staffed station 24 hours a day, and so if an emer-gency came up or they wanted to report any information on the plane going overhead, they were able to do so by just ringing in straight through to Collie and Collie would then put them onto the air force quarters or whoever was in charge of the plane spotting organisation.

(Identifying) I do remember seeing some of the booklets they got, they had plenty of time to read them up and so forth, but there’s all diagrams of the various type of planes that the Japanese might use, should they come into Western Aus-tralia, down the South West of course, they were up the North West of course, but those people that, you know, I don’t know now, I think they used to do about four hours each, but it went you know all through the hours of darkness, I don’t know in the day time, but these people are still about the town, they were towns people you see, so they could, if they saw an aeroplane of the enemy they could still report it on their own telephones, get through to the authorities con-cerned.

One thing that I was doing at the time there was, the only telephones that were being installed in the Collie district was telephoned belonging to plane spotting centres, so we used to have people that staffed these plane spotting centres, I think they must have done it probably at least 12 hours a day, all through the night I think, but probably some time dur-ing the day, but after hours at a place like Darken they would be night connected, their telephone service would be con-nected to a trunk line going direct through to Collie which was staffed all the time, continual staffing of the manual ex-change at Collie, and I installed a number of these telephones, so you know it was you know essential type of work that I was carrying out. (Interviewer Larraine Stevens)

(John Layton)

We had a Home Guard, Sharnett, who else was in the Home Guard, Muncie’s, Sharmon, Mainwaring, I can remember all those old chaps, they were old in those days. (Dick Morfitt) Yes, would have been some of the Morfitt’s, yes.

(Father in the Home Guard) Dad, he had a heap of telephones in his place and they were connected to the Coastal Watch, and some time a phone was ringing and you’d go round to 8 or 9 phones before you found the right one.

(assisting the Coast Guard) Well, he used to get messages in from them, I never knew what the messages were about but we used to answer the phone and we’d call Dad and he’d come in and talk to the blokes. They had outstations all along the coast.

Telephones, and the big boat, they one that he built, (Avenita) sort of confiscated for coastal waters, but Dad still had it, control of it. You know he went out on a search one night for people who were missing. And of course you couldn’t flash a spotlight or anything those days. Anyhow they did, flashed a torch looking for these people and they were lit up by Rottnest, you could of picked a pin up off the deck, I remember Dad saying “you could have picked a pin up and I was waiting for that big gun to go BOOM and be blown out of the water.” But they had to put a torch out because these people were missing, I don’t know, I suppose they found them, I don’t know. (Interviewer Jan Baker) Also referred to by Jim Marsh (Interviewer Jan Baker) but he believed it was in a different site, we are unsure whether the shed which was used during the war was shifted to the Mewburn Gardens. Should anyone know the answer to this would you contact us at the museum please.

Hilda Cooper aircraft spotting, Eastern Fore-shore. Western foreshore in background.

Page 3

Museum Development Officer February 2016 saw 336 visitors tour the Museum.

This marks a 36% increase on last year’s figures. A no-ticeable increase in international visitors was seen over this post school holidays summer period.

This trend continued again in March, with a record num-ber of visitors smashing the previous March record set last year. The total for March 2016 of 763 visitors is a 17% over the previous year. This comes despite a de-crease in school visits during March 2016. This shows that general visits to the museum have increased noticea-ble during 2015/16. Professional historian Jeff Brownrigg visited the museum on Saturday 7th February to develop a Mandurah story for inclusion in the national WW1 project for the Depart-ment of Veteran’s Affairs Great War Memories website. Jeff has been travelling the country visiting communities which have a museum that has been researching their Great War veterans. Some of the ‘pilots’ for community sites, can be seen at this address: http://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/history/great-war-memories. Usu-ally they will involve the town (or local community) and most often will be stories associated with an object that people can visit in a display. There is no cost to commu-nities. Experienced historians will gather information, write the site and take photographs for inclusion. Jeff in collaboration with the MDO identified the story of the Dal-rymple School Honour Board and the Dalrymple family as a powerful, interesting story that is suitable for inclusion on this site. On the 31

st of March the Museum Development Officer

and the Manager, Libraries, Learning, Arts and Culture attended the WA Heritage Awards, organised by the Her-itage Council of WA at the Office of the Premier and Cab-inet Rooms. The Museum Development Officer was one of the three finalists in the category of Professional Con-tribution to Heritage in Western Australia. The award was eventually given to Alan Kelsall of the City of Fremantle for his work in preparing for the unprecedented Heritage Listing of the entire West End of Fremantle. Mandurah having placed in the top three is still a significant achieve-ment for heritage in this City. Wednesday 23

rd of March saw the Museum, in conjunc-

tion with Ruah Mental Health Support Services, put on a morning tea and cultural session as part of this year's contribution to the Stretch Arts Festival. 'A full class' including new migrants from Ethiopia and Russia heard topical Australian poems by 92 year old poet Olive Eves, heartfelt new songs by local young musician Iain Parker and the fascinating true story of local identity 'Old Martin' as brought to life by historian and Museum Devel-opment Officer Nicholas Reynolds. Participants were able to recall and share their own memories on postcards and in interviews with Roly Skender, Stretch Festival Opening Ceremony Artistic Director. Renowned local artist Trudi Whitcher demonstrated how our Mandurah memories will be infused with colour as they are lovingly pieced togeth-er with artworks from 3 edicol dye workshops offered to ruah clients and volunteers over the past few months. Stories and artwork will be archived for future generations and will be seen outside the Museum.

Education Officer. The education officer visited 3 classes for an incursion at Dudley Park Primary before they came to the Museum for their excursion. March was a busy month for excursions. 276 students visited. These students visited from Mandurah Baptist College, Halls Head Education Support Centre, Dudley Park Primary and Meadow Springs Primary School. Professional Development The education officer attended a Culture review. This session discussed what the Human Synergistic model is, what culture is, how culture works, what the results were from the LLAA survey conducted in August 2015 and how the model correlates with the City’s values. The education officer attended a web training course to become more familiar with how to edit the content on the Museum pages on the new City of Mandurah’s Website. Museum Holiday Program During March, the arrangements for the April Fishing Clinics took place. Posters and promotion was completed by Donna Stack the marketing officer from the City of Mandurah. This was sent to a data base of parents that had attended ac-tivities at the Museum, sent to all schools to display and selected City of Mandurah locations. The education officer contacted the Fisheries Depart-ment. Education officer Linda Wiberg agreed to conduct all the theory sessions for the clinics and provide bro-chures and publications for the bags that are given to the children. People have started making bookings. ANZAC Display This year the display will be of Light Horse memorabilia includes letters, photographs, diaries and written stories. Donna Stack from the marketing team has started pre-paring the posters and promotion in relation to this dis-play. Merve Wilson (president of Kelmscott-Pinjarra 10th Light Horse Memorial Troop Regiment) has agreed to be a guest speaker and launch the display. Both Nicholas Reynolds and Richard Rennie are both guest speakers. Nicholas will be presenting Fromells: Australia’s Blooding on the Western Front and Richard will be presenting Sounds of World War 1. Requests Some of the Park signs in the area are being upgraded. The museum education officer and volunteers assisted in providing information about the people these parks are named after. We had several people from the general public purchase photographs of Mandurah from our collection. the Mandurah area. Professional Development The education officer attended an event at the State Li-brary of WA . It was called Connecting and Collaborating: Teachers working with GLAM Educators. This was a great insight as to what other organisations were offering to teachers.

Page 4

…Walter MEWBURN…. 18956

14 Australian General Hospital and Reinforcements (July 1916 - November 1917).

Walter Mewburn, son of schoolteacher Robert Mewburn and Emma Mewburn (nee Eacott) was 43 years old when he enlisted in the AIF. He had previously served for five years in the Western Australian Infantry Regiment, a unit of volun-teer militia which existed between 1903 and 1911. Walter had tried in early 1916 to enlist but it appears that he was not accepted. At that time he gave his age as 45 years.

Walter successfully enlisted at Midland Junction where he was employed as a loco driver on the 28th of August 1916. He

undertook basic training at Blackboy Hill which would have meant he was near to his wife Priscilla and home in Stafford Street, Midland where many other railway personnel lived. Priscilla Hicks and Walter had married in 1901 in Helena Va-le. Later both Priscilla and Walter died within 6 months of each other. Walter was described as having a ruddy complex-ion with blue eyes, his height being average for the time.

Walter, like many other soldiers commenced his training at Blackboy Hill being posted to the General Hospital Corp, and for quite some time his record shows no activity until 12 months later he embarks on HMAT Kyarra for overseas. Kyarra had commenced its voyage in Sydney, collecting soldiers in that port, also Melbourne and finally Fremantle. One month later still on the Kyarra he succumbs to mumps. This infection had become a major problem for soldiers during WW1. The Kyarra arrived in Egypt on 19

th October 1917 where he was admitted to hospital with mumps. By February he is

posted to Belah (Moascan) and in June he left for the rest camp at Port Said, where he became ill and spent a month in the hospital. From then on until October he was re-admitted to hospital several times and unlike many other records it does not detail what he was sick from, however from October 1918 to May 1919 he appears to have resumed duties.

The interesting point about Moascar is that it served several purposes. We know that Walter was enlisted into the General Hospital and there was certainly a hospital there, the Australian Stationary Hospital, and the delay in Walter being shipped out might explain some form of training in first aid and hospital work. Moascar is also the middle distance between Port Said and Cairo which are joined by rail and then forming a further triangle in the rail journey is Alexandria. The Sweetwater Canal was part of the Canal boat network which would have assisted in supplying troops throughout the area. It was also a significant supply area for horses and mules – at one time under the supervision of Banjo Paterson (there are pictures of his wife shown in hospital nursing style aprons). We know that growing up in Mandurah Walter would have ridden horses and known his way around them; we also know that when he enlisted his occupation was Loco Driver. His period in Moascar is strangely lacking in detail except for numerous admissions to the hospital, not surprising due to the heat, illness and his age which by now would have been late 40s.

Walter Mewburn returned on the Essex, on the 16th July 1919 and was formally discharged on the 11

th of October 1919,

he received all three medals, the 14-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. Two of Walter’s brothers were not listed as going to war, but both Robert and George Mewburn (brothers of Walter) died on the 16

th and 24

th of August 1918 of influenza which was prior to Walter’s return.

Little is known of Walter post war. He continued to live in Stafford Street Midland where many railway workers lived so he may have returned to the Midland Railways as it was then known. There appears to have been four children, Elsie who died aged 3 ½ in 1909 who was remembered with ‘In Memoriam’ notices until at least 1932. There were three other chil-dren, Walter Richard born in 1903, Irene whose death was recorded in 1946, and Florence May (death unknown) who married Richard Davis.

Emma Mewburn (now Woolams) Walter’s mother, died in 1942. Sadly Walter Mewburn was severely injured at a level crossing, dying the next day on the 2nd of April 1944 in Midland. He was closely followed by his wife Priscilla who died in 8

th of November, 1944. Walter Richard, his son, married in 1941 and died in 1966.

References AIF Papers for Walter Mewburn from National Archives of Australia: AIF Attestation Paper of Persons Enlisted for Ser-vice Abroad. Statement of Service. Application to Enlist in the Australian Imperia Force. Casualty Form – Active Service. Army Form B 103. First World War Embarkation Rolls for Walter Mewburn Australian War Memorial. < http://www.awm.gov.au/people/rolls/ Digitalised record at: < Metropolitan Cemeteries Board. Government of WA. Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. West Australian Online Index. Retrieved 01-04-2015. http://www.bdm.dotag.wa.gov.au/_apps/pioneersindex/default.aspx? >. Ancestrylibrary.com Trove information. N.B. All newspaper articles accessed online, using Trove (National Library of Australia). Birth of Walter recorded in diary of Robert Mewburn. (copy held at Mandurah Community Museum).

Research by Jan Baker.

Albert Mervyn BAY 6705

Mervyn Bay was born in Mandurah in 1895 to Fritz Bay and Rachel (nee Mewburn) Some sources give

his name as Albert Mervyn Mewburn Bay, however it appears he was known as Mervyn throughout his

life. Fritz Bay died when Mervyn was 5 years old and Rachel remarried to Charles Geddes in 1903. The

couple appear to have had one other child, Charles. Rachel Geddes was born in Mandurah to Robert

Mewburn and Emma (nee Eacott) in 1876. Mervyn appears to have been educated in Maylands while

having close contact with Mandurah and stating he was taught by Mr Dalrymple. He appears on the

Mandurah Primary School honour board. On enlistment he gave his occupation as a station hand alt-

hough he had done two years as an artificial limb maker.

Mervyn enlisted in April 1917 and commenced his training at Blackboy Hill. On enlistment he stated he

had served 2 years as a school cadet and 1 year with the 89th infantry militia unit. By November while

still in Perth he had progressed from private to corporal and then sergeant. He embarked on the Argyll-

shire on the 9th of November 1916 and while on board appears to have spent some time in the ship’s

sick bay. This voyage was to take some time with the ship held up in several African and other ports

with a slow convoy, they were to spend Christmas anchored off Dakar, and not arriving until January

11th 1917. A letter to Mrs Dalrymple at that time from H Wilkins tells that ……’ Mervyn Bay is aboard

with us. He is also a sergeant.’ In England on arrival, Sergeant Bay was to revert to private as appears

to have happened with several of the soldiers that have been researched and in his case he is promoted

and demoted depending on his moves during his war service.

It was some six months prior to him being posted to France arriving in Le Havre on the 10 th of July,

however he was then wounded on August 4th and this necessitated him to be transferred to England,

being admitted to the Northampton War Hospital with a gun shot wound to his left thigh - severe, his

mother being notified of his arrival and injury by telegram. A month later he is transferred to Harefield

for recuperation and from here he proceeded to furlough.

2nd of November, 1917 saw Mervyn Bay being transferred to the Australian Mechanical Transport Sec-

tion as a motor driver in Weymouth. Weymouth was where he remained until admitted to hospital for a

month in August 1918, this admission does not carry any information however August was just as the

worst Spanish Flu outbreak commenced and we find his discharge papers stating he is unfit for service

due to bronchial catarrh. Following his discharge from hospital Mervyn is posted to a wool classing

school. In August 1918 he is marked as AWOL but it is later changed to being in error.

It appears that by the end of his service in England he has been made up to Sergeant and he is shipped

home on the Militaidis and is finally discharged from the 5th Military District (Perth) on the 14th of March

1919. For his service he is awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

In July 1917, just prior to proceeding overseas from England for the first time Mervyn Bay married Bes-

Page 5

In July 1917, just prior to proceeding overseas from England for the first time Mervyn Bay married Bes-

sie Burrows in Bradshaw. A newspaper article dated 21st March 1919, about a Mandurah Welcome Home

stated that ……….’Sergeant Bay was over three years away and served a long time in the trenches. He

has brought an English bride with him, and intends staying in Mandurah for some time.’ It is not clear

how long he remained in Mandurah as newspaper articles show he commenced the Bay Transport Com-

pany around 1920 as a single man operation. This quickly grew until in 1937 as the business expanded

and moved premises twice. It appears that the business was still in operation into the late 1960s.

Meanwhile records show he returned to England around 1924 and he and Bessie appear to have had

their first and only child, a son Terrence Mervyn in 1926. The couple continued to visit England over the

years and of course their business was growing with them living in Claremont. From news articles,

Mervyn’s mother Rachel Geddes and stepfather appear to have retired down to Mandurah with Charles

dying in 1935 and Rachel dying in 1966 having outlived her second husband by 30 years. Over those

years Mervyn and Bessie, his wife, are mentioned on repeated occasions as holidaying or visiting Mandu-

rah and staying with Rachel Geddes, one of the last surviving Mewburns to live in Mandurah.

Albert Mervyn Bay passed away on 14th February 1972, with Bessie preceding him in 1968. Their son

Terrence Mervyn passed away in 1999.

References

AIF Papers for ………………………. from National Archives of Australia: AIF Attestation Paper of Persons En-

listed for Service Abroad. Statement of Service. Application to Enlist in the Australian Imperia Force.

Casualty Form – Active Service. Army Form B 103. Deputy Commissioner, Repatriation Commission.

20/4/1936. Transferred to Australian Imperial Force.

First World War Embarkation Rolls for ……………………... Australian War Memorial. Retrieved ………(date)

……….., at: < http://www.awm.gov.au/people/rolls/R1991402/ >. Digitalised record at: <

Metropolitan Cemeteries Board. Government of WA.

Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. West Australian Online Index. Retrieved ………………………………..

http://www.bdm.dotag.wa.gov.au/_apps/pioneersindex/default.aspx? >.

Trove information.

N.B. All newspaper articles accessed online, using Trove (National Library of Australia).

Page 6

Page 7

Photographic awards March 2016 The launch of the Local History Photographic Awards 2016 took place on Heritage Day, November 2015. The awards were designed to encourage and reward community participation in entering historic photographs relating to various aspects of ‘life’ in Mandurah.

The following local businesses kindly donated vouchers and items to support this competition. Murphy’s Irish pub do-nated $100 voucher. The Bridge Garden Bar & Restaurant donated a $100 gift voucher, Spurs Restaurant donated a $60 voucher and Terrace Art Framers, Emma Blyth and Christian Fletcher donated a $50 voucher, a cooler bag and coasters that came to a value of $100.

There was a pleasing response of 27 entries from local community members and people further afield. Madeley, Crawley, Bassendean and Mt Claremont. A total of 242 photos were submit-ted which showed the history of Mandurah over time.

The photographs were scanned, the details of the entrants and the captions and stories that went with the photographs were recorded. I would like to thank the Museum volunteers for their time and sup-port in completing this task. Pictured Left. Debbie Elliot & Margaret Rogers

A special Awards Evening took place at the Mandurah Community Museum of Friday 18

th March. Mayor Ma-

rina Vergone presented the four winners with a certifi-cate and prize. 60 guests enjoyed wine and cheese while viewing the photographs that were entered. These were displayed in a Power Point and on boards within the Museum. The feedback from the guests was very positive, they enjoyed viewing and discussing the photographs with each other. Pictured Right Viewing photos submitted. Brett Barnes.

To show our appreciation, each entrant received a book of a selection of photographs that were submitted and a thank you letter. The entrants were thrilled with the book and loved that their photo was in it. These books are on sale at the Museum for $10 The photographs entered are now part of the Mandurah Community Museum’s collection. Pictured Left. Katrina Gauci assisting Mayor Vergone presenting a prize to Sharon Goreham

Page 8

Mandurah Community Museum, 3 Pinjarra Rd, MANDURAH WA 6210. Telephone: 9550 3680. Email: museum@mandurah.wa.gov.au Internet: www.mandurahcommunitymuseum.org Opening hours. Tuesday to Friday. 10 am to 4pm. Saturday & Sunday. 11 am to 3pm. Closed Mondays and Public Holidays.

Friends of Mandurah Community Museum, 3 Pinjarra Rd, MANDURAH WA 6210. Meetings are second Tuesday of the month at 11 am. The mission of the Friends is to provide assistance and support to the Museum in all its endeavours. The ‘Friends’ also seek to promote the heritage and history of Mandurah, and to assist other like minded bodies. Membership of the Friends is by a yearly member-ship fee of $10 due each August.

Maritime Musings. Mandurah Area Shipwrecks. Lass of Geraldton The Lass Of Geraldton was a two masted wooden schooner built by William Garrard at Geraldton Western Australia in 1865. Her registered tonnage was 38.28 tons. She was a an odd vessel that was made from the timbers of a wrecked ship African. Garrad purchased the ship’s ma-terial from Lionel Samson who had bought the wreck of African for the sum of seventy pounds, and he also built two other vessels from African’s timber. The Lass of Geraldton was built originally as a cargo vessel but later lengthened aft in order to carry passengers. This made her very unstable causing her bows to rise up sharply, then she would dive burying the bows in the sea. The captain and crew had to make sure the Lass of Geraldton’s bows were heavily weighted to counteract the problem of instability.

The Lass of Geraldton departed Fremantle at 8.00am on 25 March1867 bound for Bunbury under the command of Captain Henry William O’Grady with a four man crew. The vessel was in ballast with about 15 tons of sand, and the only cargo on board was 2 tons of flour. At approxi-mately1.00pm on March 25th, while the ship was under full sail with a fair wind, Captain O’Grady went aloft to check his position and noticed a slight squall approach-ing. This squall hit the vessel a short time later and she became unmanageable despite the efforts of the captain and crew. She heeled over and sank within five minutes. The Lass of Geraldton was about ten miles south of the Peel Inlet and about seven miles from land and the crew had no time to cut the ropes securing the ships lifeboat to the vessel before she sank.

Two passengers and three crew were drowned. The only survivors were Captain O’Grady and Peter Thompson who managed to swim ashore after about five hours in the water. Captain O’Grady told the court of enquiry that he held on to passenger Mr Shenton, who had been clinging on to a hatch for about four hours, and only let go of him when he realised he was dead. Mr Shenton was part owner of the vessel. The Captain also reported seeing two dead crew members. The enquiry found the Captain and or any of his crew were not to blame for the sinking of the Lass of Geraldton.

Chairpersons Report. During February and March I have been away. Yes, we did visit museums but mostly we checked out historic houses, more on that in a later newsletter.

As you know we shelved progressing with Constitution changes due to a review by Department of Commerce. We have now been informed that the new forms are available on the website, we will download these and take time to review them.

Following recent meetings we were able to purchase the noticeboard and Dave Austin, with the assistance of Ethan, has mounted it on the wall near the entry to the Museum. The picture below is of our secretary Phyl Har-dy with the board showing various events coming to the Museum.

At the same time, Phyl completed the purchase of a lap-top from the Mandurah Muskateers. (Computer volun-teers who refurbish donated computers) which will be used by both the Maritime annexe volunteers and others at the Museum. It is planned to also purchase an A3 scanner with money donated by Mayday. At this stage we are still sourcing such a scanner which is rather ex-pensive and needs to be chosen carefully. We are taking advice regarding a suitable scanner from archivist Ursula Brimble who also volunteers at the Museum.

We have been fortunate recently to receive two other

large donations, one from Alcoa in recognition of the vol-

unteer work undertaken by Greg Gauci (husband of our

Education Officer). The other donation was from Grill’d

Mandurah who have a donation tin and chose us to re-

ceive one month’s donations. Jan Baker.