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Federation and MeteorologyBureau of Meteorology
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Table of Contents

Weather News

Introduction

History

Personal Notes

Retirements
Mr. B. W. Newman
Retirement of Walter Dwyer
Gerry O'Mahony—Thirty Years On
The Retoubtable George Mackey, Retd.
Retirement of ADR [Neil McRae]
A Long and Fruitful Innings [John Lillywhite]
Pat Ryan Retires
Harry Ashton Retires
'Fly Boy' Retires [Bill Brann]
Our Actor Steve [Lloyd]
Our Man in the Region Retires [Keith Hannay]
ADM Retires [Allen Bath]
Regional Director Queensland Retires [Arch Shields]
ANMRC Head Retires [Reg Clarke]
Vic Bahr's Last Bow
Long Serving Officers Retire [Jack Maher and Kev Lomas]
Allan Brunt Retires, 38 Years in 'the Met'
Henry Phillpot Retires
A Stout With a Dash! [Reg Stout]
Around the Regions [Keith Stibbs]
Bill Smith Bows Out—47 Year Record
Smooth Traffic Ahead for Keith Henderson
Happy Retirement, and Happy Birthday too! [Ralph de la Lande]
Air Dispersion Specialist Calls it a Day [Bill Moriarty]
Bob Crowder Retires
Grass Looks Greener for Tony [Powell]
Farewell France [Lajoie]
Forty Four Years in Meteorology—John Burn Remembers
Des Gaffney bows out
After Only 41 Years . . . Shaw, Enough! [Peter Shaw]
Brian Bradshaw departs, 45 Years On . . .
Bill Ware Ends on a High Note
Peter Barclay Retires
Mal Kennedy Retires
'The Ice Man Goeth . . .' DDS Neil Streten Calls it a Day
Dan of the 14,016 Days [Dan Lee]
A Launceston Boy Gone Wrong: Peter Noar Bows Out
It's Official—Climate Change Confirmed [Bill Kininmonth]
Victorian Forecasting Legend Bids Us Farewell [Ian Russell]
Gentleman Doug Gauntlett Retires
Queensland Regional Director Calls it a Day [Rex Falls]
Assistant Director (Services) Retires and Tributes Flow In [Bruce Neal]
NSW Regional Director Retires [Pat Sullivan]

Obituaries

Observers and Volunteers

Media

Computers


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No. 216 August 1974, Item 2652 (continued)

"It's all a far cry from those days back in the 1930s. We were a very small show then—perhaps 45 for the total staff of the Bureau. The capital cities were responsible only for forecasting and about the only outlets were the daily newspapers. They used the 5 pm forecast for the previous day in their reports.

"We had very little in the way of upper air obs. The Melbourne balloon went up from a platform on the top of No. 2 Drummond Street and we'd follow it through an optical theodolite. If it went into cloud that was the end of it, and all we could get was wind speed and direction at various heights. Once a day at Melbourne and Darwin the RAAF sent up a biplane with a thermometer and a hygrometer attached to the struts. It would level out at every thousand feet up to 16,000 ft, when the pilot would take the readings by glancing across at the instruments from his open cockpit, and the procedure would be repeated for every thousand feet on the way down. It wasn't until well into the war that we had radiosondes and radar to track balloons. Still, this early training certainly gave the mets a 'feel' for observing," John recalls.

"The more we learn about the atmosphere the more we realise how complicated it is. Aviation is a major user of meteorological skill, and while our expertise is continually improving, we still have to beat such problems as clear air turbulence forecasting."

It is obvious that aviation met. is a subject particularly dear to the heart of John Lillywhite, and perhaps this can be traced to his early days when Henry Barkly was building up this aspect of the Bureau's service. W. S. Watt was the director at this stage, followed in 1940 by H. N. Warren who came from Tasmania to take charge of the met service during the war. When Warren died in 1950, his AD Administrative, E. W. Timcke took over; when he retired in 1955 his AD Admin, L. J. Dwyer, became Director until his death in May 1962 and present incumbent Bill Gibbs took over. So John has served under all the Bureau's Directors apart from the first man, H. A. Hunt, who served a record 23-year term between 1908 and 1931.

After a round of farewells in the last weeks of July, John took his leave on Friday, July 26. All in the Bureau will wish him well on his trip to Europe this month with Doc Hogan, and look forward to seeing him again late this year. Wherever he settles, we hope he keeps in touch with his many friends in the Bureau.

In a letter to John, Bill Gibbs has written thanking him for his long and devoted service to the Bureau and wishing him a happy overseas tour before his retirement. Bill has written that all Bureau staff, and Bill in particular, will miss his encyclopędic memory, his ready wit, his sound judgement and above all his warm and sympathetic friendship.


People in Bright Sparcs - Lillywhite, John Wilson

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