A Period of Consolidation (continued)

Another group of Bureau meteorologists and observers who provided a very special service was that which included people like Harry Ashton, Errol Mizon, Henry Phillpot, Bob Southern and Gwynne Wilson who were involved with the British Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (AWRE) trials at the Monte Bello Islands, Emu Field and Maralinga. Their exploits will be discussed later in this chapter.

Another Bureau character who made a striking impact in field offices was Pat Ryan. Joining the Bureau in 1937, Pat was one of the first three cadet meteorologists in Melbourne in 1939. Pat had difficulty in settling down to university life and transferred to the weather officers' forecasting course in 1942. After the war he was in charge of the meteorological office at Darwin aerodrome and later had the important responsibility of supervising the operation of the meteorological office at Mascot. Pat, and many dedicated weather officers like him, were mainstays in the provision of meteorological service to a rapidly developing aviation industry.

Although my own career looked promising, after Warren's death I became very much aware of the need to gain further academic qualifications. My contact with overseas meteorologists when attending the IMO meetings in Toronto, Washington and Wellington had made me aware of our isolation from the centres of meteorological research in the US, UK and Scandinavia. Warren's death somehow emphasised this isolation. I felt the need to broaden my horizons by studying overseas.

At the RA V Conference in New Zealand in 1948 I had talked to Ritchie Simmers, Deputy Director of the NZ Meteorological Service, who had mentioned the advantages to be gained in securing a Fellowship of the Commonwealth Fund of New York. This prompted me to apply for a Fellowship which I was lucky enough to win. My year in the US from September 1951 is the subject of Chapter 4.

Bureau of Meteorology