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Federation and MeteorologyBureau of Meteorology
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Table of Contents

Memories of the Bureau, 1946 to 1962

Foreword

Terminology

Prologue

Preface

Chapter 1: The Warren Years, 1946 to 1950

Chapter 2: International Meteorology

Chapter 3: The Timcke Years, 1950 to 1955

Chapter 4: A Year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Chapter 5: The Dwyer Years, 1955 to 1962
Leonard Joseph Dwyer—A Complex Character
Reorganising the Bureau
Public Weather Services
Forecasts for the General Public
Importance of Radio Stations
The Advent of Television
Automatic Telephone Forecast Service
Beacons
Wording and Verification of Forecasts
Warnings
Services for Aviation
Atomic Weapons Tests
Atomic Weapons Tests—Mosaic G1 and G2
Atomic Weapons Tests—Buffalo 1, 2, 3 and 4
Atomic Weapons Tests—Operations Antler, 2 and 3
Atomic Weapons Tests—Minor Trials
Instruments and Observations
Radiosondes
Radar/Radio Winds and Radar Weather Watch
Automatic Weather Stations
Sferics
Meteorological Satellites
Telecommunications
Tropical Cyclones
Bureau Conference on Tropical Cyclones
International Symposium on Tropical Cyclones, Brisbane
Hydrometeorology
Design of Water Storages, Etc
Flood Forecasting
Cloud Seeding
Reduction of Evaporation
Rain Seminar
Cloud Physics
Fire Weather
Research and Special Investigations
International Activities
The International Geophysical Year
The Antarctic and Southern Ocean
International Symposium on Antarctic Meteorology
International Antarctic Analysis Centre
ADP, EDP and Computers
Training
Publications
Management Conference
Services Conference
CSIRO and the Universities
Achievements of the Dwyer Years

Chapter 6: A Springboard for the Future

Appendix 1: References

Appendix 2: Reports, Papers, Manuscripts

Appendix 3: Milestones

Appendix 4: Acknowledgements

Appendix 5: Summary by H. N. Warren of the Operation of the Meteorological Section of Allied Air Headquarters, Brisbane, 1942–45

Endnotes

Index
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Training

In 1954 Neil McRae had taken over from John Lillywhite in charge of the Training Section of Central Office. Neil had an appropriate background for this position, having had a distinguished record in mathematics and physics at the University of Melbourne and having demonstrated his capacity for a complete understanding of the theoretical aspects of meteorology in published papers and in his involvement in various conferences. In addition to his involvement in and supervision of the training of meteorologists, weather officers and observers he also made a significant contribution to the quality of Bureau publications such as the AMM.

The retirement of J. C. Foley from the position of Chief Scientific Officer in June 1957 occurred at a time when Len Dwyer was heavily involved in reorganising the Bureau, serving on the Atomic Weapons Safety Committee, participating in the work of the newly developed WMO and initiating an upgrading of a wide range of Bureau activities.

For a considerable period there was a reshuffle of staff acting in various positions in the Bureau's Central Office and if my memory serves me correctly George Rutherford was in charge of the Training Section for a period before he was promoted in charge of the Central Office Central Analysis Office which eventually became the Melbourne World Centre of the WMO World Weather Watch. A major development occurred with the return to the Bureau of Bruce Retallack on 17 March 1960.

Bruce was one of the South Australian schoolteachers who had joined the Bureau in 1940 as a preamble to wearing RAAF uniform as a member of the RAAF Meteorological Service. He served with distinction as a RAAF forecasting officer during the war years and after demobilisation with the rank of squadron leader in 1946 was appointed head of the Mathematics and Physics Department of the Bendigo School of Mines. He was thus ideally qualified to take over the responsibility of Supervising Meteorologist of the Bureau's Training School.


Organisations in Australian Science at Work - Central Analysis Office (CAO)

People in Bright Sparcs - Dwyer, Leonard Joseph; Foley, James Charles; Lillywhite, John Wilson; McRae, John Neil; Retallack, Bruce James

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Gibbs, W. J. 1999 'A Very Special Family: Memories of the Bureau of Meteorology 1946 to 1962', Metarch Papers, No. 13 May 1999, Bureau of Meteorology

© Online Edition Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre and Bureau of Meteorology 2001
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