Worked hard for war effort
As a nine year old child living on Phillip Island, Kevin Findlay heard news in 1939 that war had been declared while at the home of his cousin, while behind their dairy, on an electric radio.
He raced home to tell his parents, who he remembers were “stunned”.
A pupil at Cowes Primary School at the time, he recalled that life went on fairly normally at first, until 1942, when reality really set in with the bombing of Darwin, and the Sydney submarine episodes.
“The war then came to Cowes Primary School in a major way,” said Kevin.
“We had vegetable gardens at school to help with food supplies. These were instigated by head teacher Kevin Gerrity.
Quotations from Winston Churchill were framed and put up on the classroom walls.
“We were regularly trained in the use of zigzag trenches dug at the school in the event of an attack.”
“Bombs were brought into school to show us. Magnesium was even used to demonstrate the effects of incendiary bombing.”
Kevin remembers that all Cowes Primary School children had to have a small suitcase packed at home, because of the possibility that they might be evacuated at a moment’s notice from the Island to other parts of Gippsland.
This was because of the Islands close proximity to the naval base at Cerberus, and the thought that the island could be strategic to the enemy’s plans.
School children worked hard for war effort
The children at the school, which was then in Thompson avenue, where the Civic Centre now stands, collected every bit of scrap metal, aluminium, rubber and other recyclable material in the district for re-use.
The girls knitted scarfs, mittens, socks and made protective clothing for distribution, and many a penny concert was held to raise funds for the war effort.
Every adult had an ID card, Kevin remembers, and based on that, they were issued with ration books for tea, butter, sugar, meat and where appropriate, petrol.
As a member of the Cowes community, Kevin had some fairly onerous duties, for one so young.
But this was expected and all part of the war effort.
He was a member of the Volunteer Air Observers’ Corps; and he was a war savings collector, going from home to home each week collecting one or two shillings towards the cost of a war saving certificate.
When 16 shillings had been collected from each person, Kevin brought the certificate for them from the post office, for which seven years later, the government would pay one pound.
And his third job was as an assistant at the local theatre.
The theatre, set up in the old shire hall, was run by Bill Schooling and Connie Maugham.
A World War 1 veteran, Charlie Croft, was the doorman.
The films came down by ferry for satire day nights, or Bill Schooling collected them in his car, which ran on kerosene.
In the summertime, there were also screenings on Wednesdays and Fridays. Screenings started with a newsreel; then a travelogue was shown; another support film would be fitted in before interval, then another newsreel, a cartoon, and finally the feature film hit the screen.
Kevin was employed for three shillings a day, for a number of jobs.
He wound every foot of film back by hand after each showing; sometimes had to set up the hall; had to arrive at 7 pm to open the door and take the tickets, and then dash upstairs to play the records which doubled as background music.
At interval, he ran the slides of the coming attractions, and after the film was over, folded the seats back ready for the cleaner.
His pay did finally increase to four shillings a day.
