Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

MALCOLM's 90th BIRTHDAY Born in 1923.

Malc was the fourth of six children living at Wanbi in the Murray mallee in South Australia where our parents (Tom and Ida) owned the general store, Post office and telephone exchange (with party lines in vogue at that time) – a business that proved to be very successful and survived extremely difficult times including the Debt Adjustment Act of 1929
when SA farmers in strife were able to eradicate debts simply by paying a dividend in full settlement – one was as low as threepence in the pound.

All six children were indeed fortunate as they spent their secondary years at boarding schools in Adelaide

Those here not interested in cricket might consider nodding off for a few minutes as the game was a very popular sport in the family and is about to be covered in considerable detail.

Malc proved to be a very successful cricketer. He was a fast bowler and bowled at frightening speed at times . I can recall about 1937 or 38 batting against him in the back yard He swung the ball all over the place, and I learnt a valuable batting lesson for life – don't ever retreat towards square leg by even half an inch or I would be in serious trouble.

In 1937 to 1940 Malc was, over the years, the third of 5 boys in the family to board at St. Peters College . All of us carried the nickname of “Wanbi”. The college played intercollegiate cricket annually against Prince Alfred College on Adelaide Oval dating back to 1878 . That was two years before the demise of Ned Kelly. In 1932 (5 years before Malc arrived at school) the Headmasters of both colleges put their heads together and decided that their first elevens would play only against men (that arrangement prevailed for many years) and they established the Adelaide Turf Cricket Association that initially comprised both elevens, both old scholars teams and four suburban teams. The association continues to flourish today with many divisions and over 200 teams.

St. Peters (and Malcolm too for that matter) were very fortunate in having the benefit of Tim Wall's expertise as cricket coach . In one game he was probably the most successful fast bowler in the history of Australian Shield or Test Cricket. Bowling for SA against NSW in 1933 on the Sydney Cricket ground (the wicket was normal) he took all 10 wickets for 36 runs. The last 9 wickets for 5 runs and 6 were clean bowled. The first four batsmen for NSW in that game were the same order as the Australian Test team – Fingleton , Brown , Bradman and McCabe and the team was all out for 113..`

PAC provided very stiff competition and was the breeding ground for many Australian test cricketers over the years including Joe Darling, Clem Hill, and the three Chappell boys – Ian, Greg and Trevor.

Malc was in the first eleven in 1939 and 1940 and his best performance against PAC in an Intercol was in 1940 when he took 9 for 54 in the match that St. Peters won by an innings and 340 runs..

Malc also played football in the first 18 (Aussie Rules) and was a strong competitor for the school in athletics.

Unfortunately I do not have a record of Malc's scholastic achievements
but after leaving school he was briefly employed with Executor Trustees
in Adelaide before joining the RAAF in aircrew and training as a pilot -
firstly the Tiger Moth, then Avro Anson , various Douglas aircraft (DC 3 and 5) and Lockheed Lodestar. He joined in Oct. 1942 and was awarded his Flying Badge in August 1943.This led to considerable experience in the risky job of dropping supplies (biscuit bombing- often behind enemy lines ) to our troops in New Guinea and elsewhere in the Pacific islands. I understand that at one stage he held the record for the number of drops in a single day. .There was the occasion when he was in Borneo and caught up with brother Harry at Balikpapan after the AIF landing on the south coast . About that time another brother Glen dropped mines from a Catalina on Labuan bay on the North coast of Borneo.

After the war ended (having reached the rank of Flight Lieutenant) he volunteered and was accepted for service in the Interim Force for two years from Jan 1946. During that period he was engaged in numerous flights bringing personnel back from Japan and the Pacific Islands. I well remember the occasion when he had a full complement aboard over the Murray Mallee on the way to Melbourne he decided to alter course and shoot up his home town of Wanbi at a level just above the low mallee trees . Swooping overhead, and bearing in mind that no passenger aircraft ever ventured into that area, this was a sensational interruption to a game of tennis that I was playing at the time with sister Irma and a new and exciting experience for all the patrons in the local pub.


Malc had the good fortune to be in the right place at the right time particularly after leaving the RAAF and joining Ansett Airways in 1948. In my opinion this had to be the most important turning point in his life as he was soon smitten by a gorgeous member of the staff. Margaret Bloom (Meg) was an air hostess with the company and their progress towards marriage in October 1949 was inevitable. Meg was a wonderful wife and they were blessed with four children, Jill, Kim who sadly passed on three years ago , Karan, and Geraldine - nine grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

Malc was involved in the introduction of Ansett's first jet aircraft , the Boeing 727-100 and the DC-9 in 1964 and '67. He held various senior management positions leading to Manager Flight Development in 1981. For most of his long career he was involved in key aircraft developments within the Company that operated the best aircraft in the world. This was made possible by the foresight of a few heavyweights including Sir Reginald Ansett, Sir Peter Abeles and Rupert Murdoch .

Malc spent a lot of time in the United States and was involved in delivery flights on many different aircraft . He was the first non-American to be certified to fly the Boeing 767-200 and flew these extensively in the U.S before and after their introduction to Australia. His involvement in the simulator with computer controlled visual attachment at Tullamarine at the end of his career was also vitally important and capable of introducing a program for any airport in the world

And so Malcolm has had a wonderful career and it is a privilege for me to participate on this occasion . The numbers here confirm that Malc is held in high regard and you are now invited to charge your glasses and be
upstanding to join me in a toast to Malc with very best wishes for his return to good health and contentment in the years ahead..