Contents Page

                                        
Tasmanian Hydro Electric Commission HEC   pronounced - th' eyedro - Charles G Ed
 
                     BUTLERS GORGE  A History by Sarah Rackman
                              "Hydro ConstructionVillages "     
                                                   Volume Two

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Many people have described Butlers Gorge as the Grandfather of the Commission villages and the first of the true construction villages. A grandfather is the wise figurehead of the family tree who nevertheless is sometimes heard to say almost disapprovingly - in my day it was never like that. Over the years the Commission villages have certainly improved in standards of accom­modation and amenities from the pattern set at Butlers Gorge; but at that time the village was as good as similar establishments in other parts of Australia.
  Building a construction village with married quarters was pioneering work for the Commission. It had never before given much conscious thought to the social side of its responsibilities for con­struction workers.  It was nothing new to offer accommodation to employees, but the decision to offer housing to the married workmen, rather than just to staff, was new.  It was taken as much to avoid the shack and shanty situation that had developed as from a real desire to encourage families.
  The staff in Head Office planned to enlarge the old No.7 camp area from the original Tarra­leah scheme into a village for the construction of the Clark Dam, and included in this planning was the necessity of building cottages for the workmen as well as for the staff.
  On 30 December 1938 the first office was moved from Tarraleah to the new site.  Work began on building a house for the Resident Engi­neer, and preparing the works and camp area. It was not really until March 1940 that things started to move. Mr K. Tapper who was in charge of these early stages, wrote his first separate monthly report, instead of providing a sub-section in the Tarraleah report.   By this stage the Resident Engineer's house was complete and there were 10 other houses occupied.  It was not a very auspicious time to be embarking on any under­taking with the war a few months old and its effects beginning to bite.
  In addition, the Commission itself was undergoing some trauma with an inquiry headed by His Honour Mr Justice Morris investigating the running of the Commission. There were problems between Mr W. E. McLean, the Commissioner, and his subordinates; in particular Mr E. Rowntree the chief of the construction section. The inquiry took some months to complete. It found evidence of dissension and friction within the Commission but there was no evidence that any other form of control would be better than the present    It looked into alternative patterns of control but could see no reason to recommend any substantial alteration to the present method of control. The system had proved itself capable of satisfactory working, there is no reason why it would not be retained.  Within the relevant departments of the Commission, there were a number of staff changes. These did not necessarily affect the village at Butlers Gorge but the upheaval must have had a noticeable effect on the field staff.
  Progress in the village was smooth enough if slow during 1940, with a second camp being com­pleted in June, providing accommodation for an additional 150 men.  The main works office was moved from Tarraleah to Butlers Gorge at this time, and the area became the headquarters of the construction force, leaving Tarraleah to the Power Branch.  The retail store opened for business in September and by Christmas the Post Office, recreation hall and medical centre were complete. In fact the Post Office had been ready by October, and a postmaster promised, but no appointment was made until the middle of January, by which time the postal arrangements were said to be deeply unsatisfactory.
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The population was building up, with ten staff cottages completed and 30 workers cottages. There were several more under construction. Virtually all the buildings in the area were built with vertical boards, and were by no means luxuriously appointed.  The cottages generally consisted of two or three small rooms, with a kitchen and bathroom out at the back.  There were laundry facilities which were shared between four residents. There was power laid on, which was free at the time, together with water and sewerage systems, but no provision for stormwater drainage or concessions for pedestrians by way of made up footpaths.  Almost the only protective clothing handed out to new employees was a pair of gum-boots, and in winter or summer they must have been essential footwear, even in the town.
  The recreation hall served many purposes. In February 1941 the cinema equipment was installed and the first picture show was held on 1 March. The school was also held in the hall for this first year. As many as 21 children attended the school then and by November with increased numbers the hall was overflowing.  The Health Department complained about this overcrowding and refused admjssion to four children, which resulted in the Commission agreeing to provide the proper school building in time for the 1942 school year. A community garage to house 20 cars had been built, with a rental of 1/- a week, but it seemed to indicate a lack of real concern for the welfare of the children of the village that this name before a school building.  Petrol rationing had been introduced in late 1940 so perhaps the staff who owned the cars were not able to use them so frequently, and no doubt the snow and wet con­ditions generally were not good for vehicles left in the open.
  A house was provided for the Police Trooper Constable F. M. Gordon who moved in during July. Butlers Gorge was not under the same threat as Tarraleah or Waddamana from an air attack so the Army never established a garrison in the area as it had in these other Commission areas. The Returned Services League (formerly the Returned Soldiers', Sailors' and Airman's Imperial League of Australia) of Australia did however form a sub-branch in Butlers Gorge which took on the responsibility of training men in the Volunteer Defence Corps.
  It is hard now to assess the effect the war had on places such as Butlers Gorge, especially in the early war years. By the end of 1941 when Japan attacked  Pearl Harbour, Australia was beginning to realise that the war was very active in the Pacific, with Australia itself under threat. Civilians were issued with identity cards and all over the State air raid shelters were constructed. The news itself was rather restricted and there were many misconceptions in these out of the way places.
  One day a small boy was sent to the retail store at Butlers Gorge to buy a loaf of bread. On the way he met many people hurrying from their homes carrying miscellaneous bundles.  He was rather intrigued, so he asked one woman what she was doing, only to be told that the Japs are coming. In rather a quandary as to whether to go on to the shop for his bread or return home with the news, he stood on a tree stump and shouted out this news to his mother back at the house, and asked what to do.  She replied that he had better come home, so he duly returned and the family collected a few precious bits and pieces together, along with the father's shotgun and set off into the bush. After some considerable time, when it became apparent that nothing was actually happening, the families started emerging from their hideouts in the bush and somewhat sheepishly returned to their houses.
Practical attempts were made within the village to counter the effects of the war. Consider­ation was given to the use of horses on con­struction sites, but the transport officer did not consider the area suitable. In addition there was the problem of providing feed which would itself have to be transported. By early 1942 nearly all the cars and trucks had been fitted with charcoal gas-producers to reduce the consumption of petrol. A short rail track using steam engines to draw the wagons was later laid from the quarry to the rock crusher.  This reduced the number of trucks required on the job at a time when they were needed for the war.
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Men volunteered for Air Raid Protection as well as for the Volunteer Defence Corps, with classes being held in First Aid and fire fighting. Home nursing and First Aid classes were held for the women too.  There was certainly plenty of activity in the village at this time. The monthly reports stated that good use is being made of tennis and cricket facilities, having stated earlier that adequate provision of recreational facilities is necessary to retain the men.
At this stage obtaining labour was not a great problem, but the men offering were not very suitable for the work, being either too young and inexperienced, or elderly and not very fit.  To overcome this problem the Electrical Engineer Mr J. Morrison instituted classes to encourage the young men to improve their skills. The Education Department was enthusiastic about this development and technical classes were organised on a number of topics ranging from fitting and turning to mathematics, shorthand and electrical theory. These classes ran from the middle of 1941 until October 1943 with attendances of up to 50.
  The school itself was established. A two-­classroom structure was erected in what had been the playground. It was not until the end of March 1942 that an agreement was made between the Commission and the Education Department in relation to the school. The Commission had built the school and handed it over to the Education Department, but wanted to be able to use the building at all times when it was not required as a school. This was agreed on and the school building was used for meetings of organisations such as the Football Club in the years to come. The school was opened in early March, with an official open­ing on the 23 June. This was to be a big day for the Gorge.
  The Premier the Hon Robert Cosgrove M.H.A. and the Hydro Electric Commissioner Mr E.W. McLean arrived at Butlers Gorge in the early evening of 22 June to open the first wet canteen for the sale of alcohol in any of the Commission areas.  It required an amendment to the Hydro Electric Commission Act to enable this to become possible, and having overcome this obstacle, now it was legal to buy a drink over the bar. This provision was extended to other areas during the war.  Over 200 men attended this opening night. The next day, after a night spent at the Tarraleah Chalet, the Premier officially opened the school and a Ball was held in the evening organised by the students at the Technical classes. This was not the first or the last dance to be held in the village but it marked a certain coming of age.
In 1941 a piggery was established in the village to help with the problem of refuse from the cookhouses, and to provide pork for the men. In July 1942 a plan to build a dairy in the village was accepted.  Unlike previous Cow Companies in Power Branch villages, the running of this one was to be a commercial enterprise under the care of Mr C. Farrow. Mr Farrow had close knowledge of the area from his packhorse days in the early 1930s when he had supplied the Tarraleah camps. It took some years for the plan to become a reality as the dairy was not opened until 1945, though fresh milk did become available from other sources to counteract the effects which rationing had on various supplies. Although everyone had a small garden, the soil was not very productive and most of the residents of the village were not country people used to squeezing as much advantage from the land as possible.  Nevertheless a spirit of sharing and co-operation existed within the com­munity to minimise the rationing problems.
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The care and concern within the community manifested itself in times of stress. When the bus which ran a daily service to Hobart overturned into the canal in July 1942 the village people all rallied round to help those who were distressed. The bus, which was on its way out of the village, turned over onto its side in the quickly flowing canal. The driver smashed his way out and then broke the windows to help the other passengers to escape.  Having ascertained that they had all left the body of the bus, he managed to reach the side of the canal and ran all the way back to the village for help. Sadly one woman died in the incident, but 10 others were rescued from the bus. The residents did all they could for the bereaved family.
Life in the village had settled down to a pattern by the end of 1942.  The school was running smoothly, a bookmaker was operating his business satisfactorily, and there was the odd raid on the two-up schools which flourished from time to time. A doctor was visiting the village once a week from Hamilton, with extra medical care being provided by a resident nurse.  The wet canteen was proving very popular but created no particular problems. A library was opened early in 1943, and there seemed no reason why the scheme and village life should not proceed smooth­ly.  This was not to be the case. The war was taking its toll of the labour force, and with an eye on the costs the Commission decided that it might be possible to keep the job and the village ticking over with a reduced workforce. By retaining the married people, they could do away with the costs of the cookhouses and camps for the single men. Other sections of the Head Office staff were not keen on the idea of slowing down the job, as the water storage for Tarraleah and the small power station were needed to supply the anticipated demand for electricity after the war. This group were consequently pushing for an increase in man­power at Butlers Gorge in order to press on with the work. It was this side of the argument which won the day.
  In April 1943 the Federal Government set up the Allied Works Council. This body was given the authority to assess the importance of various organisations and factories around the States, allocating labour according to their priorities. If men who were considered aliens were not prepared to sign up in the Army, they were drafted into the Allied Works Council, with some finding their way into the Civil Construction Corps, where they were detailed to various engineering projects.
  The  priority  of  the  Commission  was assessed.  At the time the labour force stood at around 300.  An allocation of workers from the Allied Works Council, and in particular the Civil Construction Corps, was given to them. A new camp, the No.9 camp, was built with huts and a cookhouse some way away from the main village, and 120 aliens moved in to this camp early in June 1943.  This in fact did nothing to alleviate the labour problem, as the Australians refused to work with these men who were considered by many to be the enemy.
  The Unions, under the leadership of the Secretary of the Trades Hall Council Mr J. H. O'Neill (later an Associate Commissioner of the Hydro Electric Commission), were opposed to this influx of labour and proceeded to do all in their power to remove the men.  There were union meetings on the issue, both in Hobart and at Butlers Gorge, with feelings running high. Some of the men on site felt that the unions were just stirring up trouble and they wanted no part of it, while others felt lust as strongly that they would not work alongside these internees. Eventually a secret ballot was held and the men in the Gorge voted by a small margin to request the removal of the aliens or they would strike. The leader of the mainly Italian group of internees issued a state­ment asking for friendship and promising loyalty to Australia.  In addition the Prime Minister the Hon J. Curtin ordered the men to remain on the job.  Even the threat that the job would have to close did little to sway the union members.
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By the end of July a settlement of the strike issue had been reached. The Tasmanian Govern­ment had given way. The aliens were completely isolated and were to be transferred as soon as possible. No further aliens were to be brought on to the job.  The aliens themselves were greatly shocked at this decision.  At a social held to farewell them, 120 residents who were in obvious opposition to their unions, joined the aliens for a supper and dancing.  This exercise in improving the labour situation cost the Commission £11,000 which included the cost of erecting the camp and paying the wages in return for the small amount of useful work that was achieved.
  As well as great public outcry that the Government had given in to the Union's demands at Butlers Gorge, this affair changed the pattern of life in the village for some time. The men working in the area all received call-up notices and were sent to Hobart for medical examinations. Of these 91 men were retained on the site but the rest were transferred to other jobs or were called up into the army.
  This sudden exodus brought the Technical classes to an end just before some of the students were to sit for final examinations.  The Police station was closed, as were the cookhouses which had been providing the meals for the single men. The canteen was still reported to be operating well.  The retail store changed its method of operation at this time.  Prior to this, the men could buy goods and charge them against their pay:  Now, however, the store reverted to the practice of handling cash sales only, as in normal retail outlets. Twenty4wo families were allowed to stay on in the village even when the bread­winners were called up.  The remaining men retained their houses but the rest of the houses had their windows boarded up and were left to await better times.  Of the 91 men who were retained, there were only 14 labourers. The rest were tradesmen and staff, retained with an eye to the future need within the Commission for skilled manpower. The village by this time consisted of the Staff House, six senior engineer's cottages, 19 junior staff cottages, one cottage for the nursing sister, and  108 married workmen's cottages, together with 90 huts in the main village and an additional 80 at No.9 camp.
  In common with most parts of the world a division existed between the staff and non-staff at Butlers Gorge. Such divisions have continued to a degree to the present day, but it was more aggra­vated and noticeable at Butlers Gorge where there was a considerable difference between the stan­dards of housing and the siting of the various houses. Harmony improved later in the life of the village, when the Commission adopted a demount­able (pre-fab) house as an alternative to the high cost of building permanent timber homes.
In the early stages, however, the division was very pronounced, and was rather intensified by the call-up in 1943.  Although all but two of the award workers received call-up notices, the Com­mission managed to persuade the Manpower Board of the Allied Works Council that it was necessary to retain the staff, foremen and skilled tradesmen as well as a small number of key labourers. This was duly done. The result was to strengthen the belief of the labourers that they were under­privileged and badly done by.
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All the villages had their share of notable characters. With Tarraleah and Butlers Gorge being so closely associated it is not surprising that the same ones cropped up in both places. Rudi Major was one of these. The Commission owes him a lasting debt as he was the official photographer of the time, although sadly many of his photographs are not part of the present Com­mission collection.  He was also a fine musician and formed the nucleus of many of the groups which played at the regular dances.  His main instrument was the trumpet. Being a great bush-walker in addition to having musical talent, he decided to climb all, or as many as possible, of the notable'  Tasmanian  mountains and  play his trumpet from each summit. This was an ambition which he never achieved. One of the hills close to Butlers Gorge bears his name as a memorial, although perhaps not officially. Each weekend he would climb the hill and chop down some of the trees close to the top. When he had succeeded in clearing the area-except for one last tree, he told his friends (which meant informing the whole village) that on the following Saturday morning at 8.0 a.m. he was going to fell the last tree and then stand on the spot and blow his trumpet. Saturday was a working day so there was plenty of activity at the time, but the residents all turned out to watch him do precisely as he said, fell the tree and then play them a tune from the stump.       The hill became known as Rudi's lookout. (Majors Lookout)
The village remained in its depleted form for about nine months. In July 1944 the Allied Works Council again agreed to take over the running of the lob on condition that they were free to engage any labour they could. The Unions agreed and in October things started to get moving again.  A Personnel Officer Mr K. Tarleton, was sent to Butlers Gorge to ensure the smooth running of the arrangements with regard to the conditions of work laid down by the Council. These were rather better than the rates of pay and standards which the Commission was obliged to follow elsewhere under the Arbitration System.  Some prisoners convicted of civil crimes were given the choice of going to prison or to Butlers Gorge to work, in an attempt to increase the labour force.  It suited them quite nicely to have the bonus of working for the Allied Works Council.
  The Staff House was re-opened with a Mess Committee to organise the running of both the kitchen staff and accommodation. A new Resident Engineer Mr Joe Slatter was appointed, and by the end of November 1944 the number of men on site had risen to 244, 145 from Civil Construction Corps ranks, 87 from another band called the Civil Alien Corps, and 12 staff. A considerable number of men from the Corps proved unsuitable for the work, so progress was very slow on the prepar­ations for concreting Clark Dam.  However the railway line leading from the quarry to the rock crusher was completed, and all was poised for work to proceed.
  The Police re-opened their station.  Now that there was an influx of single men, including a further batch of aliens, the Commission felt it necessary to have a policeman on call.  In fact, soon after his arrival he was put to work as a brawl developed outside one of the two-up schools, which though illegal were quite common.
  The retail store reverted to the practice of providing credit for goods bought. This effectively reduced the cash flow within the village as large sums were no longer needed for the food bills. It made the lob of cashing the remainder of the pay cheques easier, a lob which was taken over by the Post Office.
On the 3 January 1945 the recreation hall was destroyed by fire. After some investigation the caretaker was charged with arson to which he pleaded guilty. The Allied Works Council immediately set about obtaining some replacement cinema equipment, but the village was left without its main amenities building for several months.
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Through all the upheavals of the war years, the one thing which remained more or less constant was the. school enrolment. Mr R. Faulkner remained as headmaster in the village from his appointment in 1942 until the end of 1947.  It would seem that he was the only member of staff, with a class averaging 40 for most of the time until 1945 when a female teacher was sent to the  area to help. This in itself created a problem for the Commission as no suitable housing was available. The problem was solved by building a hut next to the nursing sister's residence so that they shared facilities.  The following year when a further teacher was sent to Butlers Gorge, he shared the facilities of the Staff House. Certain areas of the staff quarters were out of bounds to the female single staff, including the recreation room. This not only discouraged social mixing between them and the single male staff, but severely limited their entertainment facilities.
  The Hospital, which had been maintained by the resident sister with weekly visits from a number of local doctors, was now in the hands of an equally regular flow of general practitioners from the Allied Works Council. The first two of these only remained for two months each, and obviously  found  the  situation  unacceptable, though precisely why is not clear.  The third doctor, Mr D. Knox arrived in June 1945 and he remained until his death in 1948 when he col­lapsed unconscious onto a heater and died from the burns he sustained.
  With the end of the war in 1945, unsettled conditions returned to Butlers Gorge. There were rumours circulating that the Civil Construction Corps was to be disbanded, and that when the job returned to the overall control of the Commission the rates of pay would drop. In October 1945 the Allied Works Council and the Construction Corps were wound up officially.  There was an instant exodus of men from the area seeking better jobs with more money elsewhere. The Commission had hoped to be able to pay a camp allowance to bring the pay nearer to the war-time level. However the Arbitration Court ruled against this and the Com­mission was again faced with tremendous diffi­culties in obtaining sufficient labour.
  The married residents of the village were not so hasty to leave, and the 4th Annual Sports Day was held in November 1945 between Butlers Gorge and Tarraleah with the usual fun and games and friendly rivalry between the two areas. The following year the children had an additional sports day in early May, which was organised by a combined group of the Returned Services League of Australia, the Parents and Friends Association, and the Welfare Association. This appears to have been the first such function in which the League became involved, and it was later to become a tradition in successive villages that they hold a sports day for the children around the Anzac Day period.   The Returned Services League became involved in the labour situation at that time too.  Many exservicemen were unhappy about the possibility of employment at Butlers Gorge so the League was asked to make an in­spection and report on the situation. This they did, and declared in their report that there is nothing wrong with Butlers Gorge.
  Many employees, however, while finding that there was nothing actually wrong with the place, could find little that was right either.  It was certainly a rough and ready sort of village, although by this time  it had been established for the best part of five years. The roads were still rough and almost always muddy.  The houses, while seeming adequate when built at the beginn­ing of the war, looked sadly neglected.  Apart from a coating of sump oil at the beginning of the war, there was nothing about them to inspire new families into the area. The huts were reported as being grossly inadequate - both draughty and uncomfortable. Beer was rationed at the canteen, with only 28 coupons being provided each pay fortnight. To obtain more you needed to be good friends with a non-drinker, who obtained the same number.
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Notwithstanding all this, many of the men who had left seeking better jobs returned having found the job market had little to offer them. In November 1945, at long last, concreting began on the Clark Dam. Things began to settle down again after the upheavals of the war, and apart from a continuing shortage of labour - there were only 296 men on the payroll in February 1946 - and the problem of shortage of materials, a new feeling of optimism was stirring.
  Head Office staff became aware that many people applying for jobs were also requesting housing. With the cost of building normal houses rising all the time, coupled with the shortage of materials, consideration was given to building de­mountable houses, so that when the job at Butlers Gorge ended they could be transported to a new site. This was the beginning of a whole new policy for the Commission.  Before this, workers who wished to bring their wives were able to have a house, provided there was a vacancy. During the war such vacancies were common. A spate of new applications for housing was now changing this.
  Mr A.W. (later Sir Allan) Knight took over as Commissioner in 1946.  Undoubtedly one of his first jobs was to assess the progress situations both at Butlers Gorge and with regard to future developments.  Inquiries were made around the State, with Luck Bros of Devonport winning the contract to build 100 houses of a type that could be transported from site to site.  These houses were known as Portable Residential Units -P.R.U.s - and the first of them arrived at Butlers Gorge in 1947.
  Luck Bros introduced an assembly line process for building the houses in several sections. Each section was completed at the factory, includ­ing plumbing and electrical work, at a maximum rate of three houses a week.  The sections were then loaded onto special trucks for transport to the site.
Meanwhile the work force had been building up steadily during 1946. Rev H. M. Maddock who visited the area from Hamilton successfully applied for a chapel in which to hold his services. A chapel building was obtained, along with numerous other buildings, from an army camp at Campbell Town, where the Commission was able to buy them at a reasonable price. So now there was a church to add to the list of amenities.
  It was also being recognised as ideal country for politicians.  Having all the men concentrated in one area made vote-winning organisation easy, and the potential support for the Labor party in particular was almost guaranteed. Mr Gil Duthie who was by then Federal Minister for Wilmot, was the first and most frequent visitor, and his support for the Commission and the wonderful work it was doing in the highlands was welcomed.  it was a two-way situation, as he was a consistent visitor who always made himself available to the voters, not just at election time. He usually spoke in the men's Mess or canteen, where he received strong support from Jack Medbury who was in charge of the cookhouse.  Later Mr Duthie took numerous cine films of the various projects, and he would show these in the halls of the various villages. These films remain as a tribute to some of the men who worked on the schemes.
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With 1947 came the realisation that, al­though the war was over, some very large problems remained  including  shortages of  labour and materials. The initial surge of the post-war work-force was spent, with no additional labour likely to be forthcoming.  The Commonwealth was in the throes of organising a migration scheme, but agreed to the Commission going ahead with its own bid to persuade migrants to come to Tas­mania. As well as seeking men to complete the Clark Dam, the Commission was preparing for Parliament proposals to develop the water power potential of the Nive River and the South Esk River at Trevallyn. With these prolects in mind, the Commission sent Mr H. McCulloch, of the Electrical Branch, to Britain to recruit men.
  The first group of men to arrive in Tasmania were all british and although they agreed to stay in Australia for two years, there was no con-tract to bind them to the Commission. Half of them left the Commission within the first month. In October, however, a group of 300 Polish ex-army men arrived.  They had all served in General Anders' Army in North Africa and were all Rats of Tobruk, a nickname of great distinc­tion.  Of this group about 70 came to Butlers Gorge, and they were under a contract to stay for two years. A few were found to be quite unsuit­able for the work or otherwise unfit.
  The presence of these migrants had a marked effect on the job, but relatively little effect on the residents of the married section of the village at this stage.  Some of the Polish men had been qualified in various professions before the war and were keen to return to their vocation, but most of the men were hard manual workers, suffering chiefly from the problem of learning English. The Education Department promised them a teacher, but nothing materialised until the following April when the Headmaster Mr W. Braedon, took up the task together with four assistants.
  The situation did not readily lend itself to making the language problem easier. Many of the Poles preferred to work the overtime that was offered, and this made them too tired to return t school after work. There was not a great deal a incentive either, as the men were virtually cut of from the rest of Tasmania. Their trips out of the village were limited by the bus timetables at week ends, or by the generosity of car owners. It was some time before many of them could afford the own cars.  In the evenings there was nowhere to go except the cinema or the canteen, and neither of these offered any opportunity to meet suitable eligible young women on whom they might have wished to practice their English.
  These  constrictions  of travel  obviously applied to the Australian single men in the camp too, but most had family elsewhere in the State to visit and with whom to maintain contact. The ex-army men were used to army cooking, but for later groups of migrants from different European countries the food from the mess was a real problem.  It was obviously not possible for the cooks to serve German, Italian and Polish meals separate from the Australian ones. In any case it was said that part of becoming an Australian was to eat Australian food.
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Page 10
There were proud claims that the cookhouse could feed 250 men in 14 minutes, which no doubt helped to ensure that the food was hot, but it could hardly have been inspiringly presented. The cookhouse, or mess, was run for a long period from the end of 1944 until his death in 1953 by a man named Jack Medbury. He was one of the characters of the area, having worked in the cookhouse at Tarraleah in the early days of that scheme.  He had a high pitched rather squeaky voice which was very distinctive as it rang round the mess rooms. When the Allied Works Council had considered raising the priority of the job at Butlers Gorge in early 1944, the plan was to com­plete the job within two years.  A lease was offered for the running of the cookhouse on those terms. There were two tenderers at that stage, Mr J. Medbury and Mr S. Bryan who had also been a cook at Tarraleah until 1941. Mr Bryan's tender was the lower of the two, but considerations were given to the fact that he now lived in Melbourne and was unaware of how much the situation had changed in the area with regard to the supplies of meat and vegetables. After discussion he withdrew his tender.
  This left the way clear for Mr Medbury and a suitable contract was drawn up.  For those who had all their meals at the Mess each week the charge was 25/- a week, reducing to a casual rate of 20/- for 15 meals and 1/9 a meal for those not eating at the mess regularly. This contract was signed in 1944 and a similar one for the additional cookhouse at No.9 camp, the camp originally built in 1943 to house the internees, was signed in September 1946.  The No. 9 cookhouse was operated by the Allied Works Council during the intervening period.
  Not unnaturally there were problems of one sort or another that arose from feeding such large numbers of men. There were problems in relation to the crockery and cutlery, whether to use china plates or enamel ones, and how to overcome the borrowing of cutlery and plates by the men. Every so often an amnesty would be offered by Jack and he would tell the men to put things they had borrowed outside their huts when they went to work.  Jack would then delegate one of the juniors to take a wheelbarrow around and collect up all these borrowings and return them to the cookhouse with no questions asked. This habit of borrowing was overcome later by the men being asked to supply their own eating utensils.
  In August 1947 a new contract was drawn up increasing the cost of meals at the camp as things were no longer so profitable.  The diffi­culties of running two different cookhouses were financial as well as practical, with Jack seeming to require outside assistance with the financial side of the business. The standard of meals varied, but in 1949 the quality reached a low point. After com­plaints from both the men and the Commission, the standard improved.  There are always com­plaints with any institutionalised cooking1 but on the whole the men ate well, and the food supplied to the Staff Mess was always highly regarded by visiting staff. When there were complaints, con­sideration was given to the fact that conditions were more difficult for a contractor at Butlers Gorge than at other Commission sites. Not only were there three messes to run, two within the village and a third at No.9 camp, but all the men returned to the camp for lunch which was not the case at other construction areas. Mr Medbury was also still cooking on wood-fired stoves, which even though supplied with free firewood, still made extra work for his staff.  His contract extended until 1953, when a year after taking over the running of the Staff House kitchen, but after the closure of the No.9 camp, he collapsed and died. His passing left a noticeable gap.
  Meanwhile the village was growing steadily. A committee was formed in March 1947 to organise a Kindergarten as there were 50 children of suitable age. The Education Department also requested that the school should be enlarged, but the Commission was unable to spare the necessary carpenters at the time so the school was offered the supper room at the hall as a temporary measure.  This unsatisfactory arrangement continued until late in the year, when an extension was added to the school building, although a second hut had been built for the Kindergarten teacher in the meantime.
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Page 11
Mr W. Braedon took over the running of the school at the beginning of the school year in 1948. One of his jobs was to integrate the first of the European children  into the school situation. Mr Braedon was soon successful in teaching one Italian lad (Giudici Ed.) English and must have had some success with the Polish people too as one of the qualifi­cations for Naturalization was the ability to speak English.  Most of the initial group of migrants became naturalized as soon as possible. Owing to the fact that all of the Poles had spent time in Britain before travelling to Australia, the normal requirement of five years' residence was adjusted and plans went ahead for a large naturalization ceremony to be performed at Butlers Gorge in November 1949.
It was reported as being one of the biggest mass ceremonies ever conducted in Australia and was an impressive occasion, 194 men receiving their naturalization certificates. The Minister for Immigration the Hon Arthur CaIwell M.H.R. came from Canberra on behalf of the Commonwealth Government, and along with the Premier Sir Robert Cosgrove and the Chief Justice Sir John Morris, sat on the platform. Mr W. Frelek read the names of each of the men, who then approached the platform to shake hands and receive his certificate. Mr Gil Duthie was present, his record of the event stating that it all went like clockwork and was as impressive a sight as you'd ever wish to see. They will make splendid citizens. Afterwards we joined 600 people at a fabulous buffet after­noon tea.
  There were to be other ceremonies in other places in later years, but nothing matched the size of this one in construction villages. The only small hitch during the day was that petrol was still scarce, so some of the Hobart visitors had diffi­culty in leaving Butlers Gorge, having expected to be able to buy supplies in the village.
  The newcomers were bringing their own culture to the area.  A visiting Czech violinist arranged to play at a concert at the Gorge to give the settlers in a strange land the thrill of fine music seldom heard in such a remote setting. The Poles themselves, many with fine voices, gave a concert in the Hobart Town Hall which was very well received.
  Without being very involved in the com­munity life, the new inhabitants did little to change the pattern of life which was- becoming very established among the residents. A branch of the Country Women's Association was formed in 1948 and held monthly meetings. Arrangements were made to send food parcels to Britain where rationing was still in force.  The groups in the Derwent Area, in particular, did well on this task and their contribution included 6 cwt of dripping. The group also visited a large number of other branches in the area. Branch visiting was encour­aged but strangely enough was not a common practice except at Butlers Gorge.  Perhaps the women felt the need to escape from the area more than those from the old established rural com­munities.  The Association ran successfully until 1 954, when the declining population reduced the numbers and the club was unable to continue.
  In addition to the Country Women's Assoc­iation, there was a tennis club, a cricket club, a badminton club and a football club. There was the Parents and Friends Association at the school and a Welfare Committee, as well as the Returned Services League.  All of these clubs were active during the period from 1947 to 1954/55 when the village population began to decline.
As well as the clubs there were film nights, frequent dances and by 1950 a group of enthu­siasts had formed a Mt Rufus Ski Club. The name was taken from the mountain where the skiing took place but it was no easy task to organise the venture.  Although the mountain itself was not many miles from the village in a direct line, the ski slopes were actually some distance from the main road and the route was difficult. Naturally there were no facilities, so this band of willing members carried in the necessary materials to build a hut, which is now known as the Joe Slatter hut. They equipped it with bunks and cooking utensils. This required a good deal of hard work and many trips into the area in the summer with heavy loads. Membership of this club was not restricted to residents of the Gorge. There were some members from Tarraleah and some from Bronte Park which was a thriving community by this time. In most other activities though, there was little interchange of members between the villages.
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Page 12 
There was a certain rivalry between the Commission villages in the highlands, which now included the enlarged Tarraleah and Bronte Park. This rivalry was encouraged by inter-village sports matches, both at the school level and among theadult members. The children also competed in the Hamilton municipality sports day, but otherwise had little contact with other non-Commission communities.
   The Welfare  Committee was a popular organization at this time and was repeated in some of the later villages.  The purpose of the com­mittee, comprising about 10 members drawn from all sections of the village, was to discuss and resolve all types of community problems and to suggest improvements on all aspects of village life. Much of the Committee's time was spent in dealing with complaints regarding the retail store, mainlv in relation to the range and quality of stock and the high prices.
  The aftermath of the war left shortages of certain items including tobacco and sugar, but selected goods, among which were some biscuits, sweets and blocks of chocolate, were only on sale to married employees. This restriction, not surprisingly, was ex­tremely irksome to other residents in the village, the single men and those living in the Staff House. Although keen to do whatever possible in this area, and in relation to other subjects brought up at the meetings, the committee was headed by the Resident Engineer, through whom all requests for change had to be made to Head Office. The result of this was that there was not much faith in the committee's ability to achieve its aims, although the Resident Engineer may have often supported the committee.
  Construction villages consisted of two major groups of people, the single men and the married residents.  In addition there was a small group often just as separate, in the Staff House.  This group included the single teachers, postmaster and single staff members. As with the general housing, the facilities provided in the Staff House were a far cry from those provided in present day villages. The rooms were not markedly better than the single mens huts, but there was at least a recreation room with card table, table-tennis table, fireplace and some easy chairs.  Initially the Staft House was run by the residents who hired and paid the cooks and domestic staff from the funds available from boarding charges, and if necessary from a subsidy from the Commission. It was not easy in that situation to find or retain the necessary staff, and in 1951 the catering arrangements were taken over by the Mess Contractor, Jack Medbury. This proved a much more satisfactory arrangement.
  The Staff House residents were discriminated against by the previously mentioned restric­tions at the retail store.  In addition, they were unable to obtain the weekly ration of beer to take home that was available to the married men. This was a policy that did not endear itself to the single men in the camp either, but even if they could ease around that, there was a problem in that alcohol was not permitted in the Staff House at all.
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Page 13 
Women of course were not permitted in the bar either, but it was a not infrequent sight to see women sitting outside with a drink, and when that was finished they would hammer on the door until their husbands brought them another. Later when cars became more prevalent they would sit in the cars, hooting the horns for further supplies.
  One of the main tasks of the policeman was to keep an eye on the alcohol situation. Here he received assistance from the Commission as it regulated the hours that the bar was open. It was open for a while after work and then closed again at 6.00 p.m. which obliged the men to go home for tea. It re-opened at 7.30 for a couple of hours, but there were no extended drinking hours.
  Beer was the main drink available, although with the inflow of migrants who did not drink beer, limited supplies of spirits became available. All alcohol in the village was required to have been bought in the canteen, so the policeman's job was made easier when he uncovered sly grog operations in the camp. His other main area of concern was with the firearms owned by most of the migrants. They were very trigger happy and the old adage of if it moves - shoot it was very prevalent. Most of the cows from the dairy seem to have met their end in this way.  The policeman wrote to his superiors about his concern and once again the Commission stepped in to make his job easier, requiring that all guns be licensed. Since it was not possible for the migrants to obtain a licence until they had been naturalized it improved the situation. In any case it acted as a deterrent, and things quietened down not, however, before one of the Polish migrants had been killed in a shooting accident.
  There were a number of accidents, not all on construction work, and a regrettable number of suicides in the single camp. On these occasions the policeman would be responsible for taking the body to the city, but as his only transport in the early days was a motor-bike, this necessitated borrowing a utility from the Commission. Later he was supplied with his own Landrover which was a big improvement, especially under the wet and snowy conditions which often prevailed.
  The one feature of life in the Gorge which has been retained as a memory most strongly by those who resided there is the snow. Figures are not available to show whether it snowed more there than elsewhere in the State, or whether it was simply the fact that most residents were new to the experience. Most of the married residents were not country people, and those who were often did not come from the high country where snow was common.
  The road from the village was often blocked by snow for several days at a time, in addition to which the working conditions were, severely restricted. In January 1948 the 40 hour week had been introduced, but regardless of these reduced hours and the difficult weather conditions the dam continued to make progress. The last pour of concrete on the Clark Dam took place on 25 March 1949. There were big celebrations, lots of visitors from Head Office and a big party with free beer for the men. The fact that this free beer had been paid for by the profit made in the canteen  itself was an irony which probably escaped them.
  Completion of the dam was by no means the end of the scheme, or of the village. Mr Joe Slatter, who had been the Resident Engineer since 1944, left in July 1949, and his place was taken by Mr N. Dorofeeff who was an ex-Army officer who found it hard to shake off the Army traditions.  One prevalent problem in the single camp was petty theft, and when confronted by this Mr Dorofeeff's immediate suggestion was to arrange a kit inspection. It was some time before anyone was able to persuade him that a warrant was necessary to search people's belongings once they had left the Army.
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Page 14
On another occasion when it was reported to him that one of the pigs from the piggery had escaped and fallen into the canal, and when last seen was swimming strongly, he had leapt into his car and departed in a cloud of dust down the road to save the unfortunate creature.  The flow of water in the canal was too strong and when he reached the inverted syphon he found the pig had caught in the grating and died.
  Mr Dorofeeff remained in charge of the works until the beginning of September 1952, leaving just before the opening ceremony at the Power Station. These official opening functions bear little relation to the actual completion of a particular scheme and in this case the Engineers in Charge had both moved on elsewhere. A letter was sent to the Governor Sir Ronald Cross asking him to perform the ceremony which he agreed to do. However, when the day came on 22 November Sir Ronald was unwell and his place was taken by the Chief Justice Sir John Morris. Several hundred guests were invited, and the day passed without a hitch.
  Once the partying was over, the village settled down to the last stage of its long and varied existence. With the dam and power station com­pleted, work turned to the building of the No.2 canal from an intake at the dam through to the Tarraleah Power Station. Although the workforce continued to live in the Gorge the job was directed from Tarraleah itself and the main office was moved from the village and on to the next scheme at Wayatinah. The work on the canal involved the building of two tunnels. A short one close to the Butlers Gorge village was built by the Commission. A second longer one, at a spot known as Mossy Marsh, was let on a contract to Hochtief (Australia) Pty Ltd., a subsidiary of the big German firm of contractors of the same name, with many of their workforce, especially staff, migrating to Butlers Gorge from Germany.
  Migration is a difficult and often unsettling process, sometimes made more trying on arrival to find that you are at the end of the world - a feeling which many new residents at Butlers Gorge shared.  However, many people later said I was crying when I arrived and I cried when it was time to leave again, which to a great extent reflects the tremendous  community  spirit  and  welcome extended to new arrivals.  Together with this influx of new residents there was also a move out of the area for many of the other inhabitants. There was a definite feeling of change in the air. By June 1953 only 105 out of 135 houses were occupied and clubs and organisations were finding it harder to continue.  The Welfare Association was disbanded in 1953, but most of the other groups continued until the end of 1954.
  In April 1954-the Commission holed4hrough their tunnel, and in September 1954 Hochtief holed-through at the Mossy Marsh tunnel.  This occasion was recorded in the Press, as had been many of the notable occasions in the past. This time all did not flow as smoothly as expected. The official party were waiting near the entrance to the tunnel while the last shot of dynamite was fired.  Then they all climbed aboard the bogey which ran to the face of the tunnel on rails. Owing to a miscalculation, or a change of wind direction, the fumes from the explosion flowed out of the tunnel along the route that the party were to travel, and some of the officials were overcome by the fumes. They were hastily rushed to the fresh air where they soon recovered, enabling them to partake of an excellent Continental style reception served with wine rather than the traditional beer.
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Page 15 
All activity in the area wound down in 1955 with the village being officially closed on 16 Sep­tember.  Most construction areas have a gradual reduction in numbers spread over a lengthy period. This was not the case in the Gorge. In April there were still 112 men on the payroll for the Com­mission and 95 for the contractor. By September all but a very few had moved on. The Commission approached the Tourist Department to see if it was interested in taking over the Staff House as holiday accommodation. The offer was declined.
  The Staff House at the time was run by Mrs Devine under a contract, and she felt she could continue to manage the house by offering cheap accommodation to fishermen and tourists. The Staff House continued to run along these lines until the beginning of 1959, although the tenant changed in 1956, with Mrs Berry taking over its management. When this lease was terminated the building was removed and the contents sold, leaving only two houses for maintenance staff at the power station. In the meantime all the other buildings were removed, sold, or destroyed if they were beyond the state where salvage was possible.
  The village site has now reverted to a natural form, which shows barely any signs of such a large and thriving community as existed during the years from 1940 to 1955.  The analogy of being the Grandfather village is more meaningful at this stage. The first children to leave went to Bronte Park to work on the Nive River scheme, and the second main group moved to Wayatinah, all still part of the same family.  Then their children split further, some moving to Poatina and Gowrie Park, while others went from Waya­tinah to Strathgordon.  The children and grand­children of Butlers Gorge residents are often still found in the ranks of the Commission workforce. A number of residents from the post-war days at Butlers Gorge certainly developed a liking for the way of life and have moved from place to place with the Commission ever since. There are very few of this original group still working today, most having reached retirement age.  For them Butlers Gorge was nearly always the best village, even though later villages were better planned, had better facilities and were more accessible. Some­how to them, in some intangible way, the spirit was never the same again.

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From Hydro Construction Villages
volume 2
Written and compiled by: Sarah Rackham
Last Known address: 10 Venice St, Howrah,
Tas 7018. Ph  62 477 709
Edited by Joan Woodberry
Published by the Public Relations Department,
the Hydro-Electric Commission,
Tasmania,1982

Copying has been disabled to protect the author. However, because the booklet is no longer freely avaiulable, the script may be forwarded for educational purposes by emailing Charles G - Editor.

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