Woomera - Reminiscing (Part 2)
Back to the 50's. Woomera West was constructed by the workers for the workers and their supervisors who built and maintained Woomera in the early days. The politicians weren't the only ones to have perks in those days. Apart from all the overtime, one of the perks went like this. At the beginning, Deparment of Works day labour force and contractor work force - together numbering hundreds - lived in tents for which they received a tent allowance or living under canvas allowance.
Eventually wood, galvanised corrugated iron and flywire huts were provided. Much more comfortable even if they weren't cooler. But these hundreds of men still received their tent allowance. Why? The tents were left where they were, the huts were built over the top of them and technically the men were still living under canvas.
Unfortunately the Dept of Works Head Office decided that the day labour force could not be trusted to act with decorum in their leisure time. While the staff wined and dined to their hearts' content in the Staff Mess, the "workers" ate in NO.8 Mess and were only able to buy two bottles of beer every few days. Cigarettes and tobacco were also rationed. Needless to say non-drinking, non-smoking types were the most popular in the camp and always had plenty of mates. So were Clubs like the Tigers Football Club which put on kegs once every two weeks on pay day. Luckily commonsense finally prevailed and these men were treated like responsible human beings.
I remember on one occasion the Village Football Club used NO. 8 Mess for a fund raising gambling night. The theory was that the gambling and the beer would draw lots of cashed-up day labourers and we would make lots of money. We chose a bad night, so unfortunately only seven men turned up. In the three hours they were there they drank an 18 gallon (80 litre) keg of beer dry and the Club had raised 550 pounds ($1100 in today' s terms) at the tables. Remember that in those days you could buy a brand new Holden for less than $2000.
Who will ever forget the Woomera West open air theatre which was extremely popular with all, but especially with the ladies from the Village. In winter, they would bring their blankets or sleeping bags often with a hot water bottle in the bottom on even the coldest nights, pay their"couple of bob" and sit on the hard garden seats for the next three hours. All this while they had a perfectly good fully-enclosed theatre in the Village.
Mind you many of the kids loved it, as they made a fortune picking up bottles and getting the deposit back. You weren't game to put your drink under your seat as it soon went. "Hey Mister, can I have your botttle when you've finished?" was a familiar cry.
New houses were still being constructed in the Village in 1952/53. Two of the types, the Hawkesly and the Riley-Newsum, were of Swedish design and instead of verandahs they had snow-catcher overhangs on the roof. Somebody had a wonderful imagination or should I say lack of initiative to redesign that part for our slightly different climate to Sweden. Still they were new and comfortable and allocation meant your family could now come to Woomera to live. The main problem was that while there was a very efficient wood heater installed, no cooling was provided until some years later. Perhaps again the Swedish influence. The brick homes in the "G" and "B" streets, usually allocated to Senior Officers had "breezaires" installed much to the disgust of those without. Over the years things became a little more democratic.
A fine example of what was not democratic was the Mess system in the Village for WRE staff and employees and contractor staff. This was based on the Armed Services mess system, i.e. Officers Mess, Sargents Mess and Other Ranks Mess and, in fact, were called that for many years until the Armed Services influence became diluted. They were then officially renamed the Senior Staff Mess, the Staff Mess and the Junior Staff Mess or Club. The single ladies were all housed in the Crumpet Farm - whoops sorry - the Ladies Hostel.
There were, of course, no hotels or common ground other than sporting clubs where friends from different ranks could meet, so an immediate problem was created. Membership was based on your status within the workforce coupled with your salary. Storemen, labourers, mechanics, drivers, tradesmen, etc, became members of the Junior Staff Mess; supervisors, clerks up to a certain salary level, and some technical grades became members of the Staff Mess; Senior Officers in all fields above a certain salary level became members of the Senior Staff Mess. If employees lived in single quarters, the standard of their quarters and living conditions changed according to their status in the Mess system.
Each Mess had living quarters. Here is how our great system worked.
Members of a Mess could be invited "down" to another Mess, e.g. a member of the Staff Mess could be invited "down" to the Junior Staff Mess by a member but the member of the Junior Staff Mess could not be invited "up"to the Staff Mess. So you had a situation which was a constant source of embarrassment. Tom Smith was a member of the Senior Staff Mess (SSM); Dick Jones was a member of the Staff Mess (SM); Harry Brown was a member of the Junior Staff Mess(JSM). They were all mates from way back having gone to school together. Harry could invite Dick and Tom for a night on the booze at the JSM; Dick could invite Tom but not Harry for a night on the booze at the SM; poor old Tom couldn't invite either of his mates for even one drink in the SSM.
Did I happen to mention the democratic process?
I was one of the lucky ones who had the best of all worlds. Having been promoted through the ranks from Assistant Storeman to Supply Officer, I became a member of each Mess in turn. Finally, as a member of the Senior Mess and for various reasons the other two Messes accorded me the privilege and honour of Honorary membership. This gave me the ability to enter any of the three Messes at any time. I was, however, not able to invite anybody to join me in any of the Messes. The ELDO Mess, when it was finally established, became a common ground for some.
And so life went on, confusing and frustrating as it sometimes was. Don't get me wrong, this was the system and the majority soon adapted and learned to love Woomera and it's quirky ways. The old tin and timber structures were replaced with much larger, sustantial, modern, air-conditioned buildings, but the rules remained the same.
Perhaps a brief mention of the mess dress codes may be of interest
to our modern pub/club frequenters. Neat and casual at all times. Never
thongs, always shoes and socks. After 6.00 pm, summer-long trousers or
shorts with long socks, shoes, shirt with collar. Winter-long trousers,
long-sleeve shirt with tie and coat.The dress code was so strictly policed
that it became second nature.
Dick Zehender (The Big Zed)
ex 29 Carinya St
ex 1 Boorong St
Woomera SA
The Centre of the Universe
E-mail: zehender@ozconnect.net
(21 Jan 2001)
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Memories of Woomera |
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