AIR OBSERVERS (Spotters)
Dulcie Blumson
Brian Jenkins
Una Trewartha
Courtesy Sue Trewartha
Una spent 10 months working for Drs Freda and Roy Gibson in 1942, when she was 18 years old.
As well as taking appointments, she did the normal housework, cooking and office work, as well as looking after two children. There was also a governess in the house.
During the war they were issued with coupons for petrol, clothing, tea, sugar and meat. Her mother made her a white overcoat from a woollen blanket as you didn’t need coupons for blankets. It was during sugar coupon days that Una gave up drinking sugar in her tea and still doesn’t have it.
As it was during the World War II years that Una worked for the Doctors, she did voluntary spotting work for the Observation Post which was situated near Alexander’s Beach, behind what was the Doctors’ house.
There is now a memorial there near the first group of houses at the Senior Citizens Village, near the Hospital, to commemorate this Observation Post. You can see it when you come out of Alexanders Beach.
West Coast Sentinel 8 November 1989.
A memorial to the Red cross volunteers who served as aircraft spotters during World War II will be unveiled on Ceduna’s foreshore on Saturday morning. The Ceduna Lions Club have built a granite cairn near the site of the World War II spotters station and a model aircraft is to be mounted on a tripod near the cairn. The cairn will be unveiled by Murat Bay Mayor Malcolm Puckridge at 10.45am on Saturday, just prior to the Remembrance Day ceremony at the RSL Hall. The names of the aircraft spotters have been placed in a jar inside the cairn. One of the few people left in Ceduna who served as an aircraft spotter is Mrs Gwen Betts. She said the spotters had used a small building on the foreshore which contained a few chairs, a table and a telephone. The foundations of the building and the flagpole indentations are all that remain of those days. The spotters staffed the station 24 hours a day for about three years during the War and had to phone Defence Department whenever an aircraft flew over Ceduna. Mrs Betts said she had worked in the shipping office at Thevenard at the time, and had only been able to spot on weekends. She had spotted on the 7pm to 7am shift but said she didn’t get tired. The spotters were disbanded when the Airforce took over the job at the Ceduna Airport when they arrived in 1945...
Carl Handtke’s son Mark, tragically killed in a car accident in 1993, made the metal plane which is on this memorial.
Una writes of her experiences of this time - “This was the most frightening experience of my life. I can look back and smile at this frightening experience, but at the time it was just terrible. It all happened during the war, in 1942. I was 18, and working in Ceduna at the local Doctors Gibson. There was an Observation and Spotting Post set up in the park lands overlooking the sea, directly behind where I worked. We were rostered for four hour shifts to report the markings etc on any aircraft which flew over and also all ships entering the port.
My first scare was when a Catalina Flying Boat landed in the bay and the engines seemed to be on fire. When reported, I was told it was surplus fumes burning from the exhausts.
All went well until one night at 10pm. I was on duty by myself, keeping watch, when I heard an almighty bang. On inspecting outside there was a volley of blasts from guns and as I looked towards Thevenard, there were about ten car lights coming into Ceduna. I just stood and froze not knowing what to do, too scared to move. I felt like running home as we had an air raid shelter in our back yard. I had promised not to leave my post. I really thought this is it, the Japanese had landed at Thevenard and were advancing and firing on Ceduna. After what seemed like hours the firing ended and quietness again reigned. I was relieved at midnight, by the next volunteer, but he could not tell me what had caused it all. I can tell you I did not sleep very well the rest of the night. Next morning, the police advised me what had happened. The local Volunteer Defence Corp were training on the beach firing blank ammunition and the car lights were the shift workers coming home from working on the wheat boat. After that experience, we girls were never allowed to be on night shift.”
Una spent 10 months working for Drs Freda and Roy Gibson in 1942, when she was 18 years old.
As well as taking appointments, she did the normal housework, cooking and office work, as well as looking after two children. There was also a governess in the house.
During the war they were issued with coupons for petrol, clothing, tea, sugar and meat. Her mother made her a white overcoat from a woollen blanket as you didn’t need coupons for blankets. It was during sugar coupon days that Una gave up drinking sugar in her tea and still doesn’t have it.
As it was during the World War II years that Una worked for the Doctors, she did voluntary spotting work for the Observation Post which was situated near Alexander’s Beach, behind what was the Doctors’ house.
There is now a memorial there near the first group of houses at the Senior Citizens Village, near the Hospital, to commemorate this Observation Post. You can see it when you come out of Alexanders Beach.
West Coast Sentinel 8 November 1989.
A memorial to the Red cross volunteers who served as aircraft spotters during World War II will be unveiled on Ceduna’s foreshore on Saturday morning. The Ceduna Lions Club have built a granite cairn near the site of the World War II spotters station and a model aircraft is to be mounted on a tripod near the cairn. The cairn will be unveiled by Murat Bay Mayor Malcolm Puckridge at 10.45am on Saturday, just prior to the Remembrance Day ceremony at the RSL Hall. The names of the aircraft spotters have been placed in a jar inside the cairn. One of the few people left in Ceduna who served as an aircraft spotter is Mrs Gwen Betts. She said the spotters had used a small building on the foreshore which contained a few chairs, a table and a telephone. The foundations of the building and the flagpole indentations are all that remain of those days. The spotters staffed the station 24 hours a day for about three years during the War and had to phone Defence Department whenever an aircraft flew over Ceduna. Mrs Betts said she had worked in the shipping office at Thevenard at the time, and had only been able to spot on weekends. She had spotted on the 7pm to 7am shift but said she didn’t get tired. The spotters were disbanded when the Airforce took over the job at the Ceduna Airport when they arrived in 1945...
Carl Handtke’s son Mark, tragically killed in a car accident in 1993, made the metal plane which is on this memorial.
Una writes of her experiences of this time - “This was the most frightening experience of my life. I can look back and smile at this frightening experience, but at the time it was just terrible. It all happened during the war, in 1942. I was 18, and working in Ceduna at the local Doctors Gibson. There was an Observation and Spotting Post set up in the park lands overlooking the sea, directly behind where I worked. We were rostered for four hour shifts to report the markings etc on any aircraft which flew over and also all ships entering the port.
My first scare was when a Catalina Flying Boat landed in the bay and the engines seemed to be on fire. When reported, I was told it was surplus fumes burning from the exhausts.
All went well until one night at 10pm. I was on duty by myself, keeping watch, when I heard an almighty bang. On inspecting outside there was a volley of blasts from guns and as I looked towards Thevenard, there were about ten car lights coming into Ceduna. I just stood and froze not knowing what to do, too scared to move. I felt like running home as we had an air raid shelter in our back yard. I had promised not to leave my post. I really thought this is it, the Japanese had landed at Thevenard and were advancing and firing on Ceduna. After what seemed like hours the firing ended and quietness again reigned. I was relieved at midnight, by the next volunteer, but he could not tell me what had caused it all. I can tell you I did not sleep very well the rest of the night. Next morning, the police advised me what had happened. The local Volunteer Defence Corp were training on the beach firing blank ammunition and the car lights were the shift workers coming home from working on the wheat boat. After that experience, we girls were never allowed to be on night shift.”
Lorna Schwarz
West Coast Sentinel Spotters Honoured The Volunteers who spent many hours looking out for aircraft from Ceduna's foreshore during WW2 have been remembered. On Saturday morning, Murat Bay Mayor Malcolm Puckridge unveiled a cairn in memory of the World War 2 aircraft spotters. The granite cairn has been built on the former site of the spotter's shed by Dudley Kelly and the Ceduna Lions Club. Behind the cairn stands a tripod holding a model aircraft. The cairn unveiling, held in conjunction with the Remembrance Day flag raising ceremony, was watched by a large crowd of spectators. In the crowd were four former aircraft spotters including Brian Jenkins who had travelled from Adelaide for the occasion. Other former spotters at the ceremony were Mrs. Lorna Schwarz, Mrs Una Trewartha and Mrs. Dulcie Blumson. The spotters maintained a 24hour post for about three years during the war. The spotters shed had aircraft identification charts on the wall and a telephone to report all aircraft and ship movements to the Defence Department. |