Eps. 5 From Soap Box to Sabre Jet

In this episode, Rod & Gary burrow into the 1950s with a focus on 3GL's innovative broadcasts. From the zany Soap Box Derby, where Happy Hammond famously competed, to the groundbreaking live coverage by Bill Acfield of an Avon-Sabre breaking the sound barrier, explore the era's daring entertainment. 

Featuring interviews, historical insights, and even a student-designed record cover, it's a trip back to a dynamic era in radio history.

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Transcript

Hello, and welcome to another edition of the station, Remembering 3GL. I'm Gary Newton. And I'm Rod McClure. Ah, and today, Rod, we're going to continue living in the 50s, but we'll narrow the focus, our focus a little bit. Uh, zero in on a couple of events that again give an idea of how that partnership of Reg Gray, the general manager, and Jack Matthews, chief engineer, along with a team of announcers and other behind the scenes people work together to bring fun, entertainment, and on this occasion, literally ground and sound breaking entertainment to 3GL's listeners.

Gary: And we've 

Rod: decided to call this episode From Soapbox to Sabre Jet. Why did we do that? I'll keep listening and all will be 

Gary: revealed. Ah, so it's 1950, no television, no computers, no McDonald's, stay focused please. Sorry. Now as I was [00:01:00] saying, or attempting to, in the 1950s people were very inventive, creative, if you like, when it came to keeping themselves amused and entertained.

Gary: No iPads, none of that sort of thing. Or McDonald's Rod. Yeah. Well, I think now I'm beginning to get it. Anyway. In Geelong for a few years, there was an annual event that drew huge crowds and also raised lots of money for charity. And that event was, 

Rod: give me a clue. 

Gary: Think, uh, think Bubbles. . Yeah. No, I'm not talking Michael Jackson here.

Gary: Yeah. And. Containers. I'm getting it, I know. It was the Soapbox Derby. It was of course the Soapbox Derby. It was a madcap event that drew thousands of people to Latrobe Terrace to watch crazy or maybe brave, I don't know, race each other in a variety of Homemade billy carts. You remember billy carts? 

Rod: I do, I had a billy cart actually.

Rod: I did 

Gary: too as a child. So in 1950, 

Rod: according to the Geelong Advertiser, pretty amazing, an [00:02:00] estimated 5, 000 people lined La Trobe Terrace in brilliant sunshine to cheer on the the combatants. Ah yes, 

Gary: of course. That year the beneficiary of the money raised was the Yarra Street Community Centre. 

Rod: Yeah, and of course 3GL was there to cover the event, which I'm sure Jack Matthews would have found a lot easier to organize than, um, you know, when he had to plot for the Warrnambool to Melbourne bike race.

Rod: Plot and planning for that Warrnambool to Melbourne 

Gary: bike race must have been very difficult. No doubt. Uh, now 3GL not only covered the event, but in 1950, Happy Hammond. was lucky enough to actually compete in it. And did she tell you who was Happy? Uh, well, no, because I never got to meet Happy, but Peter Ackfield, son of Bill Ackfield, who was a compadre and colleague of Happy's, tells a very funny story about Happy Hammond and his dad, but perhaps we'll leave that for a bit later.

Gary: Uh, so no, but I'm sure, uh, that he was in fact very happy, [00:03:00] because, uh, happy was 3GL's breakfast announcer at the time, and let's face it, you couldn't do breakfast without being happy. 

Rod: That's 

Gary: right. And he was in the celebrity race, which pitted him against Daybreak Dan. Exactly. Who was Daybreak 

Rod: Dan?

Rod: Daybreak Dan, alias John Stewart, he was the breakfast announcer on 3DB, so there was probably a bit of rivalry there between the two breakfast announcers. And who won? Oh, I should tell you who won. Do you know who won? I sort of know, but I'll let you explain. Alright, so 

Gary: according to the Geelong Advertiser, Happy Hammond had established a good early lead in the race, but his attention was attracted by some well wishers halfway along the track, and he lost control of his soapbox for some yards.

Gary: By the time he had recovered himself, Daybreak Dan had forged ahead and, and won the race. Shock horror. He 

Rod: probably wasn't quite so happy, but never mind. It was all for a good cause, as they say. He'd be semi happy by then, wouldn't he not? So that was what? Well, [00:04:00] 1951. but then in 1951, the Humble Soapbox Derby was elevated to the status of a Commonwealth Jubilee event.

Gary: Oh, right. So, in that year, I'm told, more than 50 soapbox derbies were held across Australia, all around Australia, in 

Rod: fact. The winner of each city or town, wherever the event went to, they got to compete in the state final, and the state finalists competed against each other to decide the Commonwealth Jubilee Soapbox Champion.

Rod: To imagine today in 2024, is it? Uh, and who was the champion? I haven't got a clue, sorry, but more importantly in Geelong in 1951, another crowd in excess of 3, 000 lined La Trobe Terrace to cheer on the soapboxes and to raise money for the Geelong Apex Club Charity Fund. 

Gary: Now the Geelong advertiser also had this to say, remember this is 51, evidently there is no field in which women cannot compete with.

Gary: And [00:05:00] very often defeat their male counterparts. This was conclusively proved on Saturday afternoon when 15 year old Norma Island vested the, the boys to win her heat and semi final. Norma was beaten into second place in the final, but received a special award for being the best. 

Rod: Yep, and it wasn't only um, young Norma who was flying the flag for the ladies.

Rod: The Celebrity Race in 1951 was an all woman affair, and it pitted 3GL announcers Ina Straughn and June Hunter against each other. 

Gary: I'm not sure how Ina and June would have felt when they read the Geelong Advertiser the next day, which said most spectators were surprised at the skill displayed by Ina and June of 3GL.

Gary: It's something of a 

Rod: Backhanded 

Gary: compliment, I guess. But the addy did go on to say, Both women showed coolness and deft steering as they guided their soapboxes down the steep incline to make a thrilling finish. 

Rod: Yeah, well that sounds good. Years later when I spoke to [00:06:00] June about the race, She remembered it a little bit differently and she told me we were terrified, the pair of us.

Rod: I nearly wore the heels out of my boots putting the brakes on. She said someone had dumped a helmet on each of us and there were, we were there in Geelong football jumpers with three GL on the back. So I asked June who won and she smiled and said, just let's say I came second. 

Gary: So I think, uh, We've covered the soapbox part of this episode, now it's time to literally take off and fly.

Rod: Yeah, well, on Friday the 21st of August in 1953, well the sky really was the limit. That was the day 

Gary: when one of the most unusual firsts was achieved by 3GL, when it broadcast live to air the breaking of the sound barrier by an Avon Sabre flying 

Rod: over Yeah, and again, in 1990 when I interviewed Reg Gray and Jack Matthews, um, I got a bit of an insight into how 3GL made that little bit of [00:07:00] wireless history.

Gary: I understand there was a degree of luck involved, but um, neither Reg or Jack did. Could recall exactly how they came to, to get wind of what was being, being planned. Yeah, not 

Rod: exactly. Reg had an idea that someone, and he thought it may have been a friend of Jack's, who was working at Avalon, he told Jack that, uh, what was going to take place, and there was only one broadcast line available.

Rod: And Jack asked Reg if he wanted to broadcast the attempt to break the sound barrier, and Reg replied, My word I do. 

Gary: So, 3GL put in an order to secure the broadcast line and when word came out about what was going to take place, other radio stations began to make inquiries. 

Rod: Yeah, apparently, um, 3DB, ABC, they were all interested and they were not impressed when they were informed that the only line available had been secured by 3GL.

Rod: According to Reg, 3GL was encouraged to give up the broadcast line and take the coverage on relay from one of the other stations. And, no 

Gary: surprise. 

Rod: 3GL declined the offer. Yeah, in fact, REG, [00:08:00] or 3GL, offered its own description to the other stations, but, um, maybe their noses were a little bit out of joint and they refused.

Gary: And I gather there was another bit of good fortune that may have contributed to 3GL being that one step ahead. 

Rod: Well, exactly according to Reg, and this is supported by a reference in the Geelong Advertiser, that Three Jobs Breakfast announced that Bill Ackfield had been a Spitfire pilot during the war, and Reg believed that Bill Ackfield and the pilot who was going to make the attempt, they, they knew each other, and maybe there's a little bit of inside information, you know, who knows.

Gary: Well, as luck would have it, we can delve into that a little more detail when I speak to Bill Ackfield's son, Reg. Peter Ackfield, who by the way, followed in his father's footsteps. Really? The Spitfire pilot? No, no, as a radio announcer. And like his dad, he worked at 3GL, but more of that later. Now, as we've mentioned previously, newspapers back in those days often gave people's initials rather than their Christian names.

Gary: W. H. Scott was another example. [00:09:00] In fact, the Addy even referred to Bill Ackfield as W. Ackfield, and again, I 

Rod: haven't been able to find out exactly why that was, but W, or Bill Actfield, went to Avalon and met up with, um, W. H. Scott. That was Bill. Yeah, we've since found out he was also called Bill. So I guess that was short for William.

Rod: Anyway, Flight Lieutenant Scott said he'd be happy to cooperate with 3GL in broadcasting his attempt to break the sound barrier. 

Gary: The day before the flight was made, Bill Scott went into the 3GL studios and was interviewed by Bill Ackfield and gave 3GL listeners an insight as to what would take place when he set about his record breaking attempt.

Rod: When the big day arrived, those present to witness the event included the Prime Minister, Robert Menzies. Ah! And judging by the Geelong Addy, the following day it reported that, um, well, it really was a day to remember. The Addy described it like this. A diving silver speck in a patch of blue sky between the light and fluffy clouds, then a gun like crack, crack, crack, and the [00:10:00] Australian built Avon Sabre Jet broke through the sound barrier 25, 000 feet over the Avalon airstrip.

Gary: Oh, I can see it now. Exciting. In fact, we've got a bit of that broadcast to play. Yeah, I look forward to that. And for the many thousands who couldn't be at Avalon, 3GL made sure they didn't miss out. While the Sabre was climbing and during the dive, 3GL listeners heard the comments of the pilot, Bill Scott, during his conversation live on air with Bill Ackfield at 3GL's observation point, which was At the airport.

Gary: At the airport, yeah. 

Rod: According to the Geelong Appetizer, again, 3Joz broadcast was one of the most successful of its kind ever heard. Not wanting to understate the coverage, the Addy went on to say that the description provided one of the most thrilling experiences to have come the way of listeners in the history of radio.

Gary: Mmm. The Addy. Addy explained that 3GL's planning and preparation to broadcast the breaking of the sound barrier entailed no small amount of organisation, with the station's officials and technicians busy for hours before the [00:11:00] Sabre Jet left the runway. 

Rod: Yeah, a recording of the flight capturing the sonic boom as the Sabre Jet broke through the sound barrier was made by 3GL, uh, with copies going on sale to the general public for 15 shillings.

Gary: Proceeds from the sale of the recording, uh, went to the Geelong Hospital. Unfortunately, the quality of the recording was not as good as Jack Matthews would have liked, but well, uh, you be the judge. Have a listen to a rather special piece of history. All right, clear to go, please. 101? 

Unsure: All right, here he goes.

Unsure: He's had his instructions from the control tower. He's had his increases of his autos on. And he's rolling. He's off, and he's no sooner off than he's wheeled her up. And the doors close over the undercarriage world, and here he comes. He's really traveling.

Unsure: Oh, this is remarkable. Straight after takeoff, he does a climbing roll. [00:12:00] Perhaps

Unsure: my reflexes are a trifle slow, but he was travelling so quickly then as he lifted it off the deck and went through his climbing well at an angle of about 40 degrees, but uh, he was travelling too quickly for me to get the binoculars onto him, and I was really scoping for him for a while, and now he's

Unsure: If that wasn't too clear to you, Bill Scott said that he would, uh, climb up above the clouds and see if he could see the aerodrome. As I explained before, it's necessary for him to be able to see where he's aiming so that he can project the sound of a sonic crash directly down to it. This is a beautiful thing.

Unsure: It's now completed a full 360 degree turn as he turns around it, 90 degrees of bank, being perfectly in plan.

Unsure: [00:13:00] This is speed at this stage. We've got about 400 metres to 500 knots. Still incidentally less than a minute after take off. It isn't necessary with a jet engine to pause and warm it up as it is necessary with an ordinary off start commuter. And not for the same length of time. Making a diving power saddle.

Unsure: Listen carefully.

Unsure: Those clouds, they were about six to seven thousand feet, and he climbed down, he dived down toward us, and, uh, he just pulled the nose up and disappeared into those clouds. He probably did seven thousand feet in about ten minutes. Ten seconds. Climb to about 7, 000 feet or so. You heard him then say passing 10, 000 feet.

Unsure: And he's climbing at an angle of about, uh, 50 degrees. That is, 50 degrees from the [00:14:00] horizontal, not from the vertical. Just passing 20, 000. 20, 000, I see. Nearly four miles up already. Roger, I'm going to get 5, 570, cruise wise. There's about 84. I think it'll be alright for the dive. I can, uh, just make out the aerodrome through the cloud.

Unsure: Roger, Bill. What height are you at now? Uh, just past the twenty seven. Twenty seven thousand feet. You'll notice that Bill Scott's voice has changed as he has gone up higher. You can see a, um, very, very faint wave of trail as he leaves the clouds, and he's practically right overhead. Just, uh, a silver dot.

Unsure: Just passing into a group of, uh, fluffy cumulus cloud now. I've got the radio compass tuned into 3GL. I can hear an answer saying what I'm doing. What's it feel [00:15:00] like up there, Bill? Uh, quite nice, I guess. I'd like to be there with you, too.

Unsure: Uh, just passing 32 now. Roger. Uh, 75, 75 on the jet path. You'd better waggle your wings or something, Bill, we still can't see you. Uh, I'm slightly northwest, about northwest 3 miles. Uh, she's right there, can you see her? There you are, directly into sun, New Zealand. Yes, we can see you now. Roger. What's the altitude now, Bill, please?

Unsure: Uh, thirty seven. There's a thirty seven thousand feeling directly above us. I'm almost breaking my neck to get back and see him. Well, move your eyes for a bit. Thanks, Will. How cold is it up there, Bill? Fine, quite warm, thank you. He's now about 7 miles up. Well, my position now is 42, 000. About 5 miles north of, uh, [00:16:00] of the strip.

Unsure: Roger. I'm on my way down now. Roger, we'll call you when you come. Please, please.

Unsure: What is calling now, Mach number? One nine thirty seven nine five. Ah, death mode of the speed of sound. It's one nine eight, there's Mach one, we got it. Now listen to the crash. Crash at about, uh, thirty, no, nearly nine one.

Unsure: It takes about twenty seconds for the sound to get down. Mach number right now.

Unsure: I'll hold the microphone open for you, Bill.[00:17:00] 

Unsure: Seems a terrifically long 20 seconds.

Unsure: Did you get that? That was it. I didn't. Did you get everything? We certainly did. Three beauties. That was a good one. Come on down now. I have a tab. 10, 000. About 3 miles north. Diving over southwest. We should be picking up through the cloud any minute now. Now he's aiming straight. At the assembled crowd.

Unsure: Increasing the angle of his dive slightly. Here he comes. That's 570 knots. What's that? About 670, I guess. 670 miles an hour as he comes over the top of it. You listen to him. It's steady [00:18:00] as a

Unsure: rock as it came past. No, it's disappearing in the distance, in the direction of Melbourne. So, our listener's in footscray. May possibly be able to see him at about 3, 000 feet. 6, 100. 6, 100. Thank you. Just dropping gently back down now. Very unorthodox way of getting through a circuit height is to do a half climbing roll.

Unsure: Down come the wheels. The three undercarriage wheels hop down like a, a dragonfly that's got tired of carrying them curled up. The nose is well up with the undercarriage down. Now a gentle left hand turn, which will bring him up at the end of and in line [00:19:00] with the strip, preparatory to landing. 1 I 1 O Avalon, setting on final 3 in the green.

Unsure: Am I clear, please? 1 I 1, clear to land. 1 I 1, A very gentle left hand turn, lining up on the strip, down to about 150 feet. 100 feet. Leveling after that. Oh no, he's much slower than that. His binoculars are very deceptive. In fact, he's on. Touchdown. A little puff of smoke from the tyres. 

Rod: I can remember a stack of those recordings of the breaking of the sound barrier, being kept in the storeroom under the stairs in James Street, and I'm not sure what happened to them, I think a lot were just destroyed, but I have a feeling that some copies were also donated to the Canberra, and just a little thing I noticed when having listened to the broadcast online, there's a picture of the record label that has all the details of the occasion.

Rod: But it's got the wrong date. It says the flight took place on [00:20:00] September the 21st. Yeah. But it was actually August the 21st. Sorry to be picky. 

Gary: Well, no, I think that's fairly relevant, isn't it? Just a month difference, isn't it? It's not out like that. Like a minute. Yeah. Or it's a month. A month, yeah. Alright.

Gary: So, after listening to that marvellous piece of history, it's probably a good time to get a little insight from Bill Ackfield's son, Peter. Peter Ackfield was born a year after the breaking of the sound barrier, but he has many fond memories of how proud his dad was of that day at Avalon. He also gave me a bit of a glimpse of how father and son, Bill and Peter, got involved.

Gary: Peter, what are your recollections of your dad's involvement with, uh, the breaking of the sound barrier back in 1953? 

Peter A: Well, I can only tell you what I've heard, Gary, because I was very young at the time. I was born in 54, so I may not have even been born. But, um, dad had been a pilot in the Air Force during the Second World War, and for the rest of his life remained a huge [00:21:00] aviation enthusiast.

Peter A: Gary. Uh, went on to get his, uh, civil license here and, and continue flying. And so apparently he, uh, He met Bill Scott before the event and they had this instant rapport, pilot to pilot sort of thing and that carried over to, uh, to when they were speaking on air. And I remember listening to Dad asking questions and making observations thinking that, uh, really you had to be a pilot to do that.

Peter A: And so I've heard it a few times over the years. I know Dad was very proud of it and I think it also brought him to the attention of, uh, Melbourne radio managers. And of course, he eventually moved to Melbourne to continue his career there. It was a very exciting event for all involved from, from what I've, from what I've been told over the years.

Peter A: Well, the recording that was made, 

Gary: which was sold for 15 shillings to the public back then to raise money, I believe, for the Geelong Hospital, [00:22:00] certainly was, uh, gives a great, a great insight into, to the whole, um, uh, and, and a never done before, you know, a broadcast from, from a plane to someone on the ground at, uh, Avalon airport describing what was actually going on above, uh, 35, uh, 25, 

Peter A: 000 feet, uh, over, over his head.

Peter A: Well, I think that price, the 15 shillings, was, is also an indicator of how impressive the whole thing was. Um, not necessarily my dad's involvement, but the whole event. Um, because 15 shillings would have been a lot of money. In those days. And, uh, obviously people paid it. Yeah, they did. And, and perhaps again, a bit 

Gary: like the Good Friday Appeal, I suppose people paid it because they really wanted to do their, their little bit to help and feel, you know, that they'd, uh, they'd contributed to, uh, what was clearly a, uh, a monumental event back in the day.

Gary: In 

Peter A: 1953, August of 1953. And in some small way, I was probably a [00:23:00] beneficiary of that because I was born at Geelong Hospital a little while later. The, uh, the, the Sabre Jet, the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Sabre Jet was a really significant step for Australia. It was quite different to the American Sabre Jet, um, the Avon, the Rolls Royce Avon, uh, jet engine that they wanted to put in it was actually too big for the existing design.

Peter A: And so they had to increase the size of the fuselage, the circumference of the fuselage to fit that in. And so it was very different to all other Sabre jets. So what else did your dad say about, about that actual broadcast and, and what happened back then that you recall? I, I mean, I know that he was very proud of it and excited to be involved.

Peter A: And he didn't say much about his, uh, you know, his overall feelings about it. Um, but as I say, I know he was very proud of it. And excited, excited by it and, uh, and happy to have been involved. But I suppose the credit has to go to the manager of [00:24:00] 3GL at the time, Reg Gray, who was still the manager when I started work there as an announcer in 76.

Peter A: Yeah, no, that's interesting. That's something we should discuss 

Gary: as well. The fact that you followed. In your father's footsteps, working at the same station. That's, that's pretty amazing and pretty, you must feel very proud about that too. 

Peter A: Yeah, it was a fun ride. It really was, but it all came about by accident.

Peter A: Um, I had no experience, no training, and I think Reg Gray was a bit sentimental. And that's why he gave somebody as bad as I was an on air job. So, um, I, I managed to get a bit of a grounding there enough to get me into Melbourne and, uh, work on, uh, other stations around, uh, around Melbourne. 

Gary: You had a very successful career.

Gary: Absolutely. Uh, and of course, Reg, Reg Gray, um, well, he started, I guess in a similar fashion. So he probably had a great deal of empathy for you. Uh, you know, he, he came to, to the radio station from, although he lived in Melbourne [00:25:00] and he'd been in Sydney working and he came to the radio station, uh, in the belief that he would be selling advertising, uh, only to be told the very first moment he walked in the door here, here's a copy of the Geelong advertiser and go and read the news.

Gary: Uh, so, uh, He had to improvise as well. And, um, it was, uh, and obviously a career was formed from that as 

Peter A: well. Indeed. And of course, as you'd be aware, Gary, um, newspaper copy It's not written to be read aloud. No. It's often quite cumbersome and, uh, and difficult to read. So he, he must've done a wonderful job.

Peter A: Yes. Well, they 

Gary: said, uh, apparently the, uh, the, the powers that be said, well, he only mispronounced one word, incomparable and otherwise. He had the job as an announcer, to which he said, but I, I came as a salesperson. 

Peter A: I'm surprised they criticized him for messing up one word in the whole thing. As I said, [00:26:00] it sounds to me like it was a wonderful performance.

Peter A: Getting back to your dad now, his love, cause he, he was in the air force. Tell us. That's right. Give us his history. Well, he joined the air force, um, after being with the air training corps and, um, he was fortunate. I think he felt at the time he was unfortunate, but fortunately the war ended just before he got everywhere he went.

Peter A: And so, you know, perhaps the Germans knew he was coming and they gave up. We don't know, but he was never involved in combat. So he had a free round the world trip and pilot training and wonderful experiences. I had a quick look at his logbook not so long ago, and it was Spitfire Mark 2, Spitfire Mark 5.

Peter A: Uh, I'm not sure if you're familiar with these planes, but we're away, the Thunderbolt, um, and of course all the training, all [00:27:00] the training aircraft. But, um, I was surprised about the Thunderbolt. I didn't realize that they were available to Australians. A gigantic fighter. But he had a wonderful time and he met mum.

Peter A: Mum was a war bride. They were over in England. Dad had been a naughty boy. He took a plane up without permission. So he was sent to a disciplinary squadron and mum was part of the ground crew or ground staff at this disciplinary squadron. And they met and married overseas in, I think it was 44 or maybe early 45.

Peter A: And so she came out here having never experienced anything like Australia. Um, so it was, it was interesting, uh, the two different points of view that they had. Interesting growing up in their house. And the love of flying has followed through the family, hasn't it? Well, indeed, my brother was accepted into the, uh, fleet air arm, and was going to be flying off HMAS Melbourne.[00:28:00] 

Peter A: And unfortunately, they found at one point a sight defect, which wasn't affecting him at the time, but they thought would affect him during his enlistment. So, um, they, uh, they chucked him out. Um, and he wound up getting into air traffic control and was very successful there. I've, uh, never had a license or anything, but I've, I've been, you know, aviation reporter.

Peter A: At, uh, at several places, just, oh, Peter, you know about that stuff, don't you? Can, can you do a story on that? Yes. Uh, you know, that level, nothing, nothing, uh, in full on professional terms, but I've, I've always maintained an interest. 

Gary: What about when he went to, when he left 3GL, he went to Melbourne, the Ackie and Jackie thing.

Gary: But, um, tell us about that. 

Peter A: I think that was a bit of an accident too. Um, he went, um, the famous Melbourne radio manager Lewis Bennett hired him at, uh, at 3Z. And, uh, I don't know when he came up with the idea. Dad was there for a while before the Ackie and Jackie morning show [00:29:00] thing happened. But, uh, they teamed him up with, um, a crazy, in the nicest way, um, Englishman.

Peter A: Uh, former music hall style. entertainer over there and They they were very successful. They were the most successful radio Partnership and it was the most successful radio shift in melbourne for several years in the in the 60s But jackie too had a really interesting wartime history. He was captured by the germans at dunkirk And spent at least a couple of years in a prisoner of war camp Before he actually escaped and made it back to England.

Peter A: So funny little Jackie had a gigantic chest full of medals. So, you know, a gentle sort of person, not the sort of person you'd expect to have been shown an adventure like that. But the two of them had a, had a love of 

Unsure: Mm. 

Peter A: Of all things humorous. 

Unsure: Yeah, 

Peter A: fun. And, uh, and indulgence too. They, they liked a good meal and a nice bottle of wine to go [00:30:00] with it.

Peter A: Very good. So, so they got on very well for a very long time. Yeah. And I, I knew Jackie very well when I was a child. He used to invite us over to his place to swim in his gigantic swimming pool. And so, you know, that's, that's enough to make a kid very fond of you. How long were, how long were they together as a team on air?

Peter A: I think it was about seven or eight years, um, from the early sixties to the late sixties, somewhere, somewhere around there. And, uh, they got an offer to go to 3XY, which they stupidly did. Nobody knew they were there. People used to say to me, Oh, it's a shame your father's not on the radio anymore. And 3XY did not do the Advertising and promotion of their recruitment that they had promised to do.

Peter A: So I just went there and the whole act died. So I remember during my career thinking, well, you know, once I become a big star, I'm not going to, I'm not going to take these silly offers and move somewhere else. But unfortunately, I never became a [00:31:00] big star. So that was a problem I didn't have to deal with.

Peter A: Well, neither did I. Neither did I. We were 

Gary: the worker bees, weren't we, in our, in our various jobs and, 

Peter A: uh, and, Well, your career was, was a standout. I think you've got plenty to be proud of there. 

Gary: Well, thank you. Um, I've certainly enjoyed the time that, uh, that I had on, on the radio as it were. And it's good to be able to actually go back and remember some of these things about, uh, 3GL, a station that obviously we both have, uh, fond memories of.

Gary: The earlier days 

Peter A: were. Were good, weren't they? Oh yeah, working with people like June Barton, there was a lot to be learned from someone like her. 

Unsure: Um, 

Peter A: my history at that time had been production at the ABC and at Crawford's. And, um, so all of a sudden finding myself, um, in front of the microphone instead of behind the scenes was, uh, was quite daunting.

Peter A: Um, I didn't even go to an announcing school. I spent one [00:32:00] evening with dad, a tape recorder. And a bottle of port. That was my pre training. Well, they never did that at Lee Murray, I can tell you. It would be more interesting if they had. But like almost everybody I've ever met in the industry, they say, you know, had its ups and downs, but it was a great ride.

Peter A: And, you know, I wouldn't trade it in for anything. 

Rod: Thanks to, uh, Gary and Peter for that background, not only about the breaking of the sound barrier, but also the Actfield connection, father and son, to 3GL. 

Gary: Amazing, definitely one of those special moments that don't come along very often. And on a lighter note, before we wrap things up for this episode, when 3GL decided to release a recording of the occasion, they invited students from the Gordon Institute of Technology, yep, the Gordon, to submit entries over Oh, for the, for the cover design.

Rod: Yeah, and I believe you even have the name of the winner. 

Gary: Uh, I do. Drumroll, please. Thank you very much. The winner was, second year commercial art student, James McIntosh. Well, [00:33:00] belated congratulations to James. I think, uh, that just about wraps up another episode of The Station, Remembering 3GL. I wonder if, uh, James McIntosh is listening still.

Gary: I was 

Rod: going to say, you know, get in touch, James, if you're listening. Drop us a note. All right. Thank you. And, um, when we do return next time, we'll be taking a look at a unique group of, uh, on air personalities who were welcoming to the homes of listeners all over Geelong and much further afield. And we've decided to call our next episode, The Wonder Women of the Wireless.

Gary: Ooh, 

Rod: I'm 

Gary: looking forward to that. Until then, goodbye. Uh, be sure and enjoy a sip or three of Nature's Cuppa. Nature's Cuppa is our sponsor. Nature's Cuppa Organic Salon Tea. It's lovely. Will you put the kettle on? I'm just going to put the kettle on now.