Doonside, Bringelly & Paddington OTC stations assisted ARIA in many space programs leading up to the 20th July 1969 landing on the moon. “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. We were using HF radio to communicate with US military aircraft, mainly in the Pacific Ocean, who were communicating directly with the spacecraft. All messages were passed through Paddington back to ARIA Control in the US.

At the conclusion of this program we were allowed to keep all the radio equipment paid for by the space program. Certificates were sent to the 3 stations & the manager had them framed & hung in their offices. Here is a badly faded copy of the Bringelly certificate, supplied by Don Withers & the pictures on it have disappeared. Someone might know where the originals ended up?

Regards,

Neil Yakalis

Peter’s daughter, Jo Carver, advised that Peter passed away last night.

His passing was peaceful and the family is grateful for that.

Peter was living in Nambucca NSW independent & on his own until he became unwell in December. He never lost his fabulous sense of humour.

I have no other details at this stage but will update you if I hear any more.

May He Rest In Peace

Here’s a photo of him with a couple of his great grandchildren.

The below photo is from the Feb 1972 Transit magazine.

In 1975 I was transferred as SRO from Townsvilleradio/VIT to Thursdayislandradio/VII.

At that time OTC on T.I. was the only CRS station left manning a Flight Service (FS) Unit on behalf of D.C.A.

At VII, CRS and FS units had separate operation rooms, divided by a large glass window.

In 1977 Weipa took over the FS function from OTC.

1) Does anybody have a photo of the CRS and Flight Service Unit console on T.I.

2) I remember that the DCA RX and TX equipment was ancient. Does anybody know what type of RX and TX were used by DCA on T.I.

Thank you and regards,

Herman Willemsen,

Employed by OTC & Telstra Coast Radio Services

1966-1996

Alex had a Seniority date of 17.2.1943 so that may make him about 92 years of age at his passing.

Alex’s daughter, Christine Murdoch, advised Keith McCredden of Alex’s passing.

No other details are known at this time but I will update you on funeral service details when they become known or you can check for yourself by clicking here.

Alexander Griffiths transferred to OTC from A.W.A. as Telegraphist, studied in the Cable School and then served at Cottesloe from 1954 to 1957 when he returned to Sydney for a refresher course. Alex went to Suva later that year.

Alex worked on the Apollo-Soyuz launch for OTC at Doonside in 1975

May He Rest In Peace

A number of ex OTC work colleagues and partners gathered on the weekend of the 14^th / 15^th of January to celebrate Tom McKnight’s 60^th Birthday.

The friendships and associations spanned many years and included OTC training, Carnarvon Satellite Station and Perth ITC (Gnangara).

Neil Atwell and Tom McKnight even spent time at school together in Perth before joining OTC with Neil turning 60 only days before Tom. A great weekend was enjoyed by all of those in attendance.

Those present are ( L to R ) Kevan Bourke, Denham Dunstall, Tom McKnight, Roly Morin ( front ), Neil Atwell, Rod Pernich ( front ), Ian Briggs and Andy Hemus.

I had the rather enviable honour to attend the Australia Day Celebrations on none other than Direction Island yesterday.

The site of the old cable station and wireless station are long gone, but the history of the site is well recorded with plaques along the walking trail. I’ve been truly humbled in the knowledge of the personal sacrifices and hardships that these people endured in such remoteness.

I encourage anyone with the means or motive to get over to the now uninhabited “Rat Island” should they venture to the furthest western point of Australia here at Cocos (Keeling) Island and experience this themselves.

Best Regards

Tony Fisher (ARF)

Had a great reunion with the ex – Brisbane Radio VIB mob at Bribie Island on Sunday. Stayed for nearly 5 hours and got sunburnt!

Left to Right:

Gareth Evans, Ross Dennis, Peter Hewitson, Kim Warren, Duncan Dadswell, Robyn Downey, Bob Perkins, Steve Fraser,

Kneeling: Chris Joseph, Dean Fernandez

Missing from the photo:

Kirpal Singh who had gone to get his wife.

Our wives/partners were there but didn’t get in on the photo shoot.

Peter Hewitson

The daughter of Maurice (Maurie) Matthysz, Vivienne, has advised that Maurie passed away on Sunday 22 January 2017.

Maurie commenced at OTC in Melbourne in 1955, transferred to Sydney and spent a lot of his working life at Paddington.

Maurie worked in Madang in the early 70’s, Guam from 1980 to 1983, 1985 to 1987, Norfolk Island from 1988 to 1990 before finally returned to Guam to finalise the closing of the station.

Maurie battled diabetes for a number of years and then developed macular degeneration which he maintained was the ultimate insult as he couldn’t read and enjoy the new computer and communication technologies.

A Funeral Service for Maurie Matthysz will be held on Tuesday 31 January at 10.00am at the Macquarie Park Crematorium.

I had the pleasure of working with Maurie in the ITMC at Paddington from 1975 to 1980. He was a very gentle and generous man who was well-liked by everyone who worked with him or worked for OTC and knew him.

May He Rest In Peace

Clearly Maurie liked that shirt …..

I have been reminded by Robin Tuckfield of the near tragedy for OTC and its staff that occurred in the early hours of 18 January 1977 when a commuter train derailed at Granville NSW. It seems to me to be a timely reminder of what could have been and how lucky we are that no OTC staff member lost his or her life however I am sure that those who were directly involved will never forget that day.

Let us take some time to reflect on the 83 poor souls that did lose their lives in that disaster.

Details of today’s commemoration ceremony are available at http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-18/granville-train-disaster-40-year-anniversary-memorial/8190150

From Robin Tuckfield in memory of the event and the impact that it had, and still has, upon him.

Several people from OTC Operations and Engineering were on the train that day. Most were in the three carriages that were destroyed by the bridge.

I was one of the “lucky” ones. I nearly missed the train, and so I was several carriages back from the bridge. I usually travelled in carriage 2 or 3 with other OTC Head Office employees.

It was a hot day in Sydney, maybe not quite as hot as today, but close to it. After running to catch the train, I just jumped on, through the first door I came to, and stood in the doorway to cool down in the breeze.

No air conditioning in those days. I think I was in carriage 5 or 6, but I didn’t know at the time, and keep forgetting since.

When the train came to a stop. We had definitely derailed. I stuck my head out the door, and saw the bridge fall, the power wires arching and sparking as they came down all around.

After finding I could do nothing more to help, I walked back along the train line to Parramatta, and then back home.

Day 1 after, I became very sick next morning when I was getting ready for work. I did not understand why, but took the day off and was OK by lunch.

Day 2 after, I had the same experience, and realised I was experiencing what is now called PTSD. I forced myself to go to work. I took a bus to Clydesdale, then train to work. I do not know how I looked, but I could hardly talk. I was drained. I think I felt worse than the day of the accident.

I still experience the occasional “stress attack” and avoid the first three carriages of a train. If the train jolts or brakes suddenly, it comes back.

And as I said, I was only in the back of the train. Those survivors in those first carriages have had a hard 40 years.

From Feb 1977 Transit:

Granville Victims OK

Five OTC staff were travelling on the 6.09 from Mt. Victoria on the day that it crashed at Granville.

Two were injured, and three escaped virtually unharmed. They were:

Don Cocks – Senior Accountant, who suffered injuries which kept him in hospital until the week end following the crash.

John McDermott – Senior Engineer, who was travelling in the carriage crushed by concrete. His injuries are expected to keep him in hospital for another couple of weeks.

PhiIlip McKenzie (Administration Section Clerk), Bill Linney and Robin Tuckfield), (both Technical Officer Grade 2’s)

GM’s Column read:

Five OTC people in rail crash

I cannot refrain from expressing the distress which I know we all felt at the rail tragedy at Granville and echoing the concern we felt in OTC House when we learned that five members of the organisation were on the wrecked train.

While some were injured it was a great relief to be told that injuries did not appear to be very serious even though some had been very close to the worst damaged carriage.

I found it particularly distressing to read how many young people were among the 83 killed and the aftermath of distress, particularly among families and friends.

From Apr 1977 Transit:

Letters

Granville survivor

Dear sir,

As mentioned in the GM’s column last month, I was one of the few fortunate survivors of the Granville train disaster.

When the train – which I had boarded only two minutes before – finally ground to a halt following the derailment, I was standing in the aisle near the rear of carriage three.

This was directly below the 170·tonne Bold Street Bridge which was soon to collapse.

A few seconds later, a loud rumbling noise was heard above, and, as if in slow motion, the roof of the carriage began to cave in on top of me.

For at least thirty seconds the rumbling continued to flatten the wooden carriage and obliterate all but the dimmest light.

When the devastation ceased I lay on the floor of the aisle in a space 90 cm by 60 cm by 50 cm high.

The roof had crashed to within a mere 10 cm on the left side of the carriage and 90 cm on the right side which was still under the slab.

An hour later my limited air supply was reinforced by an oxygen supply poked through the 10 cm gap to me on a long PVC tube attached to a stick.

Four hours after the accident occurred, I was finally dragged out by my legs from the right side of the train suffering from injuries to my spine, ribs, elbow and hands.

I would like to thank all those who wished me well or visited me during my period in hospital.

In particular I would like to thank those who tried to console my wife during the four and a half hour period I was missing.

J. J. McDermott

Senior Engineer

Operations Branch

Can you fill in the missing names of this photo taken circa 1976 on the occasion of the retirement of STO2 Ray Woods from Doonside.  The photo was supplied from Alan Gravelle’s archives. Does anyone who attended know the details of the venue where the retirement function was held?

Head Office staff are in the photo and, as Doonside staff saw them infrequently, the names may not have been known by Doonside staff or simply forgotten. There are 3 names needed to complete this puzzle.

The names may be as follows but, as it was 40 years ago, confirmation is requested through your considered input.

Back row: Peter Croswaite (Senior Engineer Radio), Ron Flood, Peter Hamersmar (workshop) Barry Stockbridge, George Maltby, Austin Housman, Percy Day , John Hampton, Tom Heatley, Bill Day (Bringelly) , Alan Ritchie, Geoff Warner, Harry Stone.

Front row: Peter Seaton , Laurie Lynn or Milton Cale (??), John Burdinat, Murray Oakley , Ray Wood, Mike Tobin, Alan Gravelle, Dale Young.