Ken Whitworth - a founding member
The Club joined forces with M.F.B. and channel 7 for the Royal Children’s Hospital and Yooralla appeals on the St Kilda Road Junction collecting money in our brass helmets. One year we escorted M.F.B. Firemen running to Sorrento and back raising money. My Leyland was on the channel 7 stage this night and when the curtain went up I was asked to sound the siren. When I did this the late Sir Eric Pearce nearly had a heart attack, with the producer running over yelling at me to turn it off as Sir Eric frantically removed his headphones. In March 1983 at a display at the Wantirna grounds of the Melbourne Steam Traction Engine Club, a storm hit and flooded the area. Tents were blown away and the ice-cream vendor’s truck caught fire. The most exciting event was in June 1985 when once again we met at Eastern Hill Fire Station. Our Association, the M.F.B. and Museum lined up 26 appliances and we were escorted by Police cars and bikes under lights and sirens to the Royal Melbourne Show Grounds where we mounted a display in the arena. The drive out there was a great thrill. The Club’s badge changed four times in a decade. The first design was a horse drawn chemical fire appliance equipped with a tank and hose reel. This emblem was sown on the pocket of our overalls. The N.S.W. Branch and our canvas signs used my 1935 Leyland appliance; Don Warden’s 1914 DENNIS with a wheeled escape quickly followed this up. This design was used on our newsletter logo, lapel badges and key rings, replacing the fire monitor logo, which was a reproduction from the Melbourne Harbour Trust trailer mounted monitor. Hence the name of our newsletter. In 1978 we were once again at the Doncaster Shopping Town for Fire Prevention Week. With my Leyland and a 1914 Hotchkiss owned by a member of the Veteran Car Club of Australia, we displayed our vehicles and memorabilia for a fortnight behind a rope barrier. We did not loose anything but I must admit I did not sleep easy the first couple of nights. During the mid seventies one arm of the Club had number plates manufactured in N.S.W. These plates were red with a gold border and gold lettering. They were to become Club fleet numbers and ran from 1 - 40. Prefixed by the letter V with a star then the number. An embossed plate in the same colours worded "Historic Fire Engine" came with each plate. We drew a ballot for the various numbers. It was then that we realised the similarity between our plates and the "club permit plates" for the vintage and veteran vehicles. Some members did not attach these plates to their vehicles; others attached them beside their full registration plate, while a few drove their vehicles on these plates. When the bulk of the members complained of this practice, some members attached their car number plates to their trucks for parades etc. This practice plus the attitudes of some of the full time Firemen to non-Firemen members lead to the unfortunate division and finally the split within the Club. Other non-involved members resigned also, as they no longer wished to be associated with these practices. This action caused the committee meetings to be tape recorded so that either side could not dispute the minutes. The Association was in a sorry state at this time! One of our longest day trips was to Warragul, where eleven member’s fire appliances joined the C.F.A. for a fire prevention week display. We also had a weekend trip to Shepparton for the same purpose. Our best indoor display was held at the Dandenong drill hall where eight appliances and many tables and walls full of Fred Penny’s memorabilia were displayed. To attract the public’s attention, we parked the large DENNIS F3 under the front roller door. This door was lowered to the vehicle’s floor between the two rows of seats (open cabin) giving the appearance of half a truck parked in the driveway. Member’s vehicles were mainly sourced from N.S.W. as they operated a large fleet of open appliances into the early seventies. Others were purchased from the C.F.A, M.F.B.S.A, W.A, Melbourne Harbour Trust, motor wreckers, farms and private owners. Most vehicles were purchased without pumps, the heart of a fire appliance. These were transferred from vehicle to vehicle and are difficult to locate. A more unusual vehicle in the Club was the N.S.W- Fire Brigades Board 1938 Leyland Beaver heavy salvage tender fitted with an English Harvey Frost 8 ton slewing hand crane mounted on a turn table, enabling the crane to rotate 360 degrees. This was a 4x2 with a very thirsty petrol engine. When purchased it had a collapsed piston and a cracked cylinder wall. These vehicles were used in England to lift the large road covers from the underground rail system for emergency access. About 1979 the Club combined with the M.F.B. and the Fire Museum to display the old and the new at the new M.F.B. training college in Abbotsford. My highlight of this weekend was to go up the 1939 Leyland METZ turntable ladder (100ft) and being rotated at the top. In a safety harness of course! This event provided a large boost to our meagre Club funds enabling us to purchase our first Club trailer. Members expected this to be an 8x5 foot tandem trailer to carry club equipment. But it turned out to be a huge "dog" trailer, that no one wanted to tow and nobody could store. As the H.E.F.A.A. (Vic) became known we were donated two vehicles. The first was from the now defunct Boronia Museum - a 4x4 Chev ex WW2 water tanker that was stationed at Boronia for many years. The other was a 1914 Merryweather Hatfield trailer pump. A real beauty covered with shinny brass. I think it was donated from an oil storage company. These items remained with ex members after the split. To raise money we would purchase fireman’s brass helmets from the manufacturer (who at this time still had the dies) and raffle or sell them. In the mid seventies we could obtain $50-00 each for a brass helmet. Today I have seen them for $1000-00 each at auction. I purchased two for family use on the DENNIS "BIG 4"
Iain Drummond.
Back in 1982 the Bus & Coach Society of Victoria was invited by the Fire Engine Association to take part in a preserved commercial vehicle display at Caravan City at Croydon. The display also featured a swap meet. During the display there was a meeting of the exhibitors and other interested parties with a lot of discussion about setting up a Commercial Vehicle Club. Ken West of the Fire Engine Association chaired the meeting and collected a list of names and addresses of interested people. There was to be another display at the same venue the following year. However, on the Saturday prior to the display I went to the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce (V.A.C.C.) truck show at Sandown Park and picked up a leaflet to find the venue had been changed to Lilydale. Many hurried phone calls followed to the rest of the Bus & Coach group to inform them of the change. Ken West and I frequently met at the fledgling meetings of the Association of Motoring Clubs (A.O.M.C). Fred Coulson and I were invited to help organise the next display. Meetings were held at Ken West’s house in Warrandyte and started at 6-00pm. The committee meeting of the H.F.E.A. was held first, followed by the display day meeting. Consequently these meetings rarely finished before 2-00am. Nothing seemed to be happening about the formation of the Commercial Vehicle Club so Fred Coulson and I began requesting a copy of the list of interested people so we could organise a meeting with the view to organising a Club. We went as far as advertising the formation of a Club in the newspaper. The 1984 display of commercial vehicles at Lilydale was a disappointment to the H.F.E.A. people. There was a good display of buses and trucks with model displays and badge exhibitions in one of the pavilions; however, there were not many paying members of the public in attendance. The next display was planned for the M.S.T.E.C grounds in Wantirna. After the Lilydale display, Brian McCarthy, the H.F.E.A. secretary set about forming a Commercial Vehicle Branch. A meeting was held in November 1984 to organise the formation of the new Branch. There was to be a meeting to review this in June 1985, but a meeting took place in March 1985 at which 17 people gathered at the Boronia Fire Station for a Special General Meeting. Planning was well under way for the 1985 Display and Delsa Bury organised a group of member’s wives to handle the catering. Other people organised displays of model trucks, machinery, buses and the signs, toilets and the hundred and one other details that go into organising a display. Unfortunately the two things out of the control of the committee worked against us. The leaseholders of the land, Melbourne Steam Traction Engine Club and their neighbours had a row and the neighbour chained off their side of the entrance gate to the grounds. This made entry extremely difficult for the larger vehicles with poor steering lock to enter the display. The other problem was worse! It had rained heavily the week prior to the display and Glen Roothtooth was to deliver a bus from Mansfield to the display site on Saturday morning. Glen rang me to advise that the bus had not got halfway into the ground before it sank to the axles. This was the foretaste of what was to come. Fortunately Mac and Eddie Bedwell arrived at the display with a small crawler tractor. The tractor was soon put to work dragging the bogged vehicles, mainly buses, out of the mud. The public car park was across a flood plain and the public couldn’t get to the display without getting wet so ex N.S.W. double decker buses were used to ferry them half a mile down Mountain and Burwood Highways. The display was a success in spite of this. It was agreed that we look for a display site with hard standing. Barry Cooke who worked in the Dandenong area offered to approach International Harvester Trucks, as it was known then with a view to using their Carpark. Barry, Ken West and I went to International and introduced ourselves to Peter Murray, the Human Resources Manager. Peter gave the Club a great deal of support over the years we used International’s Carpark. The only constraint placed on the Club by International was that no other manufacturer could exhibit their new model vehicles. The first display at Dandenong was the start of a learning curve for the Club. Every year we tried new things, new layouts for displays and new attractions. Some things worked and some didn’t. International was in difficulties the following year and could not financially assist the Club. This was the same year that the Club decided that we should paint out the Magirus Deutz symbol on the roof of our new tent so as not to upset International. The Club developed good relationships with the management at International and one year we were invited to put on a display of historic International vehicles for their workforce to view. In return we were allowed to view their assembly facility. In 1986 the club "discovered" the South Australian "Bay to Birdwood" run and I arranged a coach tour for members and friends. With some 1200 entrants, it was a sight to see. Many members have made the effort to travel to Adelaide, some in their Historic Commercial Vehicles, for the event in subsequent years. The "Picnic at Hanging Rock" event started in the mid 1980’s and this gave us another event to attend, as have the Thorpedale Potato Festival, Hoddles Creek Draught Horse Festival and the Lake Goldsmith Steam and Machinery Rallies. The Melbourne Steam Traction Engine Club Annual Rally is another event that in some years we have been invited to attend. Each year since the first Annual Display of the Queensland Historic Commercial Vehicle Association, one or more Historic Semi-trailers have taken a full load of restored trucks to Brisbane to attend their show.
Dennis Brooks. My contact started with the Australia Day Rally in the Treasury Gardens area in 1986. The Historic Fire Engine Association had a display in one of the courts in Treasury Place and Ken West said plans were afoot to form a commercial vehicle group as part of H.F.E.A. My Latil was well into restoration by this time so information of an "old truck club" was of major interest. As history shows the commercial vehicle child grew bigger than the parent. I was elected President in 1987 and was also introduced to the A.O.M.C. as a delegate. As I had to travel a lot during my term as President the assistance of the committee was appreciated in keeping me up to date with the Clubs operation. Amongst the memories of my time with the Club are: - Constitution rewrite - circumstances led to Graham Stokes and I preparing an extensive revision of the Club’s constitution and a lot of my research and draft notes were done in Brisbane during my work visits. (After hours) Vehicle safety checks – With the introduction of the club permit scheme, safety checks have been a major Club initiative. With Ian Johnson and Trevor Burgess a total of 37 vehicles have been checked in 9 years. This doesn’t include two vehicles that were so poorly presented that we didn’t even get the register out! In the main a high standard of vehicle has been offered which reflects well on the club’s members. The next step is periodical inspections to confirm that the standards are being maintained. The Club has supported the A.O.M.C. and the Federation in many ways. My association with the A.O.M.C. has extended past the quarterly meetings to representing the Club in reviews of a range of items that effect the hobby vehicle movement and attendance, with other Club members, at A.O.M.C. motor shows. The Puffing Billy Olde Time Festival has been established for several years now and has been a major project for the Club, assisting the annual display in maintaining our bank balance. In particular the work of Iain Drummond for the Club and the bus operation deserve a mention. If asked to nominate one major aspect of this Club it would be it’s widespread membership. We come from many walks of life, are passionately proud of our vehicles (and many have multiple choices there too) and are members for a whole range of reasons. We may not always agree but we seem to enjoy each other’s company. There is no reason why we should not go another 25 years and beyond, and who knows what we can achieve.
Graham Pollard The Club is different things to different people, although it must provide something that we all share at some time. To most members the Club provides the opportunity to meet with friends over a cup of tea or coffee after a Club meeting. While to others it is a place to obtain information or parts to complete a current project. For me the Club initially provided an alternative to work and an interest in something that was aligned to the industry in which I worked. Of course it doesn’t take long before you are involved and the Club becomes a greater consumer of personal time. The Club over the last 5 years has strengthened, not only in member numbers but also in the involvement of members in the Club’s direction and organised outings. The Club is now recognised as an authority on commercial vehicles of all types. This is due to the wealth of knowledge and experience of its members. Other clubs now know "who" we are and do not hesitate to participate in our annual display days, as is evident since we changed our venue to A.F.L. Park Waverley. The Club display has grown from the 120 vehicles on display at International Harvester Truck’s Carpark at Dandenong in 1994 to 300+ vehicles at A.F.L Park in 1996/97. The rolling 25 years gives the opportunity for more vehicles to be eligible for the Club Permit scheme every year, it also gives our members the opportunity to add more modern vehicles to their collections. Often a vehicle is not considered old unless it relates to our childhood years or earlier. Our younger members are looking at vehicles in the 1960`s and preserving them as they represent something from their past. To our older members these still represent modern vehicles. The restoration and preservation movement must encourage and welcome these younger members as it is these people who will preserve the new vehicles of today for their children or grandchildren to admire. I often wonder how many examples of today’s vehicles will survive as long as the number of vehicles that exist today of our past. | 
