My Memoriesof Balwyn High School 1958 to 1963
by Gerd Kratzer
I arrived in Australia after a six week voyage by ship on the 23rd December 1957, at the age of thirteen and with very little knowledge of the English language. As I lived in Canterbury, my local High School should have been Camberwell High. However, Camberwell High was fully subscribed for 1958 and thus I started in Form 2 on the 2nd of February 1958 at the then fairly new Balwyn High School in Buchanan Avenue, North Balwyn.
North Balwyn was then known as the “Mortgage Hill” and the place of “Two Bob Millionaires”.
The construction of the school had been completed in 1954 and was of a new and cheaper type of school buildings, low slung with ‘Canite’ ceilings and open-web purlins. The school rooms were very hot in summer and freezing in winter. There was no Assembly Hall or Sports complex. Assembly took place every Monday morning on the quadrangle in front of the school commencing with “God Save the Queen” and an address to the students by the then Headmaster Mr. Brittain and later Mr. Rogers.
Wearing of the proper school uniform, including the hated cap, was mandatory at these assemblies.
Balwyn High had been constructed adjacent to an open garbage dump, the deep creek bed being filled in with garbage through which a creek then still ran next to the bowling club greens. The garbage dump was an inexhaustible source of items that I found useful. Naturally, when the wind blew towards the school, the stench from the rotting garbage was most unpleasant. One day, I found a complete motor cycle engine dumped which I duly strapped on the back of my bicycle and took home. The engine had a magneto which I took off and brought to school and connected up to the block of metal lockers. My friends and I took great delight in spinning the magneto whenever somebody went near the lockers to see them jump from the electric shock. Unfortunately, Mr Norman saw me do this and there was hell to pay. He accused me of attempting to burn the school down and I was in the bad books for the rest of my scholastic career with him.
North Balwyn was then known as the “Mortgage Hill” and the place of “Two Bob Millionaires”.
The construction of the school had been completed in 1954 and was of a new and cheaper type of school buildings, low slung with ‘Canite’ ceilings and open-web purlins. The school rooms were very hot in summer and freezing in winter. There was no Assembly Hall or Sports complex. Assembly took place every Monday morning on the quadrangle in front of the school commencing with “God Save the Queen” and an address to the students by the then Headmaster Mr. Brittain and later Mr. Rogers.
Wearing of the proper school uniform, including the hated cap, was mandatory at these assemblies.
Balwyn High had been constructed adjacent to an open garbage dump, the deep creek bed being filled in with garbage through which a creek then still ran next to the bowling club greens. The garbage dump was an inexhaustible source of items that I found useful. Naturally, when the wind blew towards the school, the stench from the rotting garbage was most unpleasant. One day, I found a complete motor cycle engine dumped which I duly strapped on the back of my bicycle and took home. The engine had a magneto which I took off and brought to school and connected up to the block of metal lockers. My friends and I took great delight in spinning the magneto whenever somebody went near the lockers to see them jump from the electric shock. Unfortunately, Mr Norman saw me do this and there was hell to pay. He accused me of attempting to burn the school down and I was in the bad books for the rest of my scholastic career with him.
Mr. Norman as caricatured in the Dec.’61
School Magazine
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Mr Norman, in fact, was the kind of teacher who instilled fear and terror in most students at Balwyn High. He did have his favourites, but I definitely wasn’t one of them. Mr Norman was an extreme anglophile and anything not of English descent was to be treated with contempt. He was our English teacher for at least two years and as my command of English was quite poor at first, he often sought me out to read in front of the class in my broken English with a strong German accent, much to the mirth of the class. His pet subject was English derivations, mainly from Latin and he went to great length to make sure we understood that. I must say, although I didn’t like Mr Norman at all, I did learn a lot from him by default.
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Another interesting teacher was our science teacher Mr (‘Snoop’) McCance. He was a most unusual person and although he clearly wasn’t in good health, he made our chemistry lessons something we never forgot. One day he wanted to demonstrate that CO2 does not support life. For that purpose he asked one of the girls to bring along her pet mouse. He put the mouse in a bell jar and filled it with CO2. The mouse immediately keeled over and died. Snoop didn’t intend this to happen, as his plan was to swiftly lift the bell jar as soon as the mouse felt unwell. However, when the mouse clearly wasn’t with us anymore, he tried everything to revive it. He immediately got the oxygen bottle from the lab, only to find it was empty. While this was happening the owner of the mouse was bawling her eyes out. It was very dramatic. Poor girl, poor mouse and poor Mr McCance!
Another time Snoop wanted to demonstrate that potassium metal burns upon contact with water. As he put a lump of potassium metal into a bowl of water, the potassium immediately burst into flames and fizzed around so violently that it jumped out of the bowl into the lab’s sink, down the plug hole and then exploded with such force that the contents of the U trap sprayed onto the ceiling of the classroom.
We performed some really good scientific experiments and learnt a lot what not to do. One of Snoop’s pet hates were children eating lollies during class. He would track down the offender and make them share their lollies with the rest of the class. That was OK and we took it in turns to bring along a bag of sweets.
Sadly, Mr McCance died around 1960 and his successor was Mr. Hobba.
Another time Snoop wanted to demonstrate that potassium metal burns upon contact with water. As he put a lump of potassium metal into a bowl of water, the potassium immediately burst into flames and fizzed around so violently that it jumped out of the bowl into the lab’s sink, down the plug hole and then exploded with such force that the contents of the U trap sprayed onto the ceiling of the classroom.
We performed some really good scientific experiments and learnt a lot what not to do. One of Snoop’s pet hates were children eating lollies during class. He would track down the offender and make them share their lollies with the rest of the class. That was OK and we took it in turns to bring along a bag of sweets.
Sadly, Mr McCance died around 1960 and his successor was Mr. Hobba.
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Mr Hobba was a lovely and gentle chap and a great teacher. He was a fair and reasonable man and got good results from the students. Under him my friends Roger Schnagl, Robert McMullen, Lynton Rosenthal (sadly deceased) and myself were lab assistants and we had a fair amount of latitude and independence in the lab. I think all four of us received first class honours for chemistry in Form 6 matriculation under his tutelage.
“Settle it down lads” was his frequent exclamation, indicating just a hint of frustration. |
In the 1950’s , it was common practice by Australians to treat anything foreign with great suspicion. Anyone, not obviously Australian, was branded a ‘dago, wog or even a nazi’. Unfortunately for me, as television had just commenced the year before my arrival in Australia, there were many shows and films (mainly American) centred around the Second World War, where naturally enough, the Germans were the bad and stupid guys. The next day, after such films seen the previous night by my fellow students, I was a target for ridicule.
On one occasion, after a fair ribbing by some boys over my German accent and my Austrian heritage and my self esteem probably at a low ebb, Mr. Hobba sensing this, said to me very quietly: “You know, I think the Austrians are the ‘Salt of the Earth’!” I didn’t know immediately what he meant by this, but I knew it was a compliment and I have never forgotten it.
Our Physics teacher was Mr. Miller, another fine teacher, who later left Balwyn High to take up a position at Melbourne University.
Mrs Hamilton was our Math & Geography teacher. She was extremely pedantic about the presentation of our written work and under her I probably produced my neatest and most legible work ever.
Swimming sports usually took place at the Kew swimming pool with the inter-school swimming competitions at the then new Olympic Pool.
My first encounter with cricket took place during my very first term at Balwyn High. The game was played at the pitch in Myrtle Park. I was (and still am) completely baffled by the lack of action throughout the game, especially as I was usually relegated to the position of fielder.
I never was very interested in sport and took these sports periods as ‘free’ time. Tennis invoked some tiny spark of enthusiasm for sport in me, but mainly due to the fact that we were sent (usually unsupervised) to a very nice, privately run tennis court complex off Balwyn Rd. almost up near Whitehorse Rd. The courts were terraced up the incline of the land, with each court around ten feet higher then the previous one. That meant that there were some substantial retaining walls on which one could lie undisturbed. The canteen was also stocked with very nice items to reward oneself with.
I was more interested in things mechanical and I liked to get machines running. At one stage, workmen were carrying out some concreting in the school yard. For this purpose they had an old concrete mixer powered by an even older petrol motor. During lunch time, I inspected this contraption and as the workmen were not nearby, I wanted to see if I could get the motor running. I cranked the motor and must have had all the settings right, because the motor started instantly, much to the delight of the bystanders and myself.
The next day a call came out for me to report to the construction site and start that ‘confounded’ concrete mixer. The workmen had given up trying to start it and were at their wits end, when someone mentioned to them that that ‘spectacled kid’ could start it straight away only yesterday. Lucky for me, that motor responded immediately and I was a hero for a few days.
My most enjoyable lessons at Balwyn High were woodwork and metal work,
taught by Mr. Easterbrook. He was a very patient and friendly teacher who had the advantage of overseeing the new workshops packed with brand new machines and tools and other equipment.
One of the highlights of my scholastic career at Balwyn High School were the two most memorable excursions by DC4 aircraft to Canberra in 1961 and the following year to Broken Hill.
Balwyn High School was one of Melbourne’s best High Schools right from the beginning. We didn’t have that ‘rough’ element present that other schools suffered under. Our neighbouring schools, Greythorn High and East Kew High were frowned upon and we didn’t fraternise with their students.
I moved to Box Hill later in 1958, but was allowed to stay at Balwyn High where I remained to finish my Matriculation in 1963. Generally, I would ride my bike to and from school, occasionally catching the orange bus from Box Hill to the corner of Belmore and Buchanan Ave.
Until recently, I have lived my whole life not far from the school. After leaving Box Hill when I was in form 5, I lived in board with a German family in Surrey Hills. Then I lived in North Balwyn for a while, got married and moved to Surrey Hills and then Mitcham. Later I restored a large period home in Balwyn in 1984, from the upstairs of which, I could see Balwyn High. I had obtained some photographs of the house and grounds taken around 1895. Behind the house in Whitehorse Rd. were vineyards clearly visible right down to Gordon St.
So Balwyn does definitely live up to its name!
All in all, I was privileged to have been able to attend Balwyn High School and I do not feel that I somehow missed out on anything by not attending a private school.
Gerd Kratzer, 2012 (Click on this link to see what Gerd did after he left Balwyn High School)
On one occasion, after a fair ribbing by some boys over my German accent and my Austrian heritage and my self esteem probably at a low ebb, Mr. Hobba sensing this, said to me very quietly: “You know, I think the Austrians are the ‘Salt of the Earth’!” I didn’t know immediately what he meant by this, but I knew it was a compliment and I have never forgotten it.
Our Physics teacher was Mr. Miller, another fine teacher, who later left Balwyn High to take up a position at Melbourne University.
Mrs Hamilton was our Math & Geography teacher. She was extremely pedantic about the presentation of our written work and under her I probably produced my neatest and most legible work ever.
Swimming sports usually took place at the Kew swimming pool with the inter-school swimming competitions at the then new Olympic Pool.
My first encounter with cricket took place during my very first term at Balwyn High. The game was played at the pitch in Myrtle Park. I was (and still am) completely baffled by the lack of action throughout the game, especially as I was usually relegated to the position of fielder.
I never was very interested in sport and took these sports periods as ‘free’ time. Tennis invoked some tiny spark of enthusiasm for sport in me, but mainly due to the fact that we were sent (usually unsupervised) to a very nice, privately run tennis court complex off Balwyn Rd. almost up near Whitehorse Rd. The courts were terraced up the incline of the land, with each court around ten feet higher then the previous one. That meant that there were some substantial retaining walls on which one could lie undisturbed. The canteen was also stocked with very nice items to reward oneself with.
I was more interested in things mechanical and I liked to get machines running. At one stage, workmen were carrying out some concreting in the school yard. For this purpose they had an old concrete mixer powered by an even older petrol motor. During lunch time, I inspected this contraption and as the workmen were not nearby, I wanted to see if I could get the motor running. I cranked the motor and must have had all the settings right, because the motor started instantly, much to the delight of the bystanders and myself.
The next day a call came out for me to report to the construction site and start that ‘confounded’ concrete mixer. The workmen had given up trying to start it and were at their wits end, when someone mentioned to them that that ‘spectacled kid’ could start it straight away only yesterday. Lucky for me, that motor responded immediately and I was a hero for a few days.
My most enjoyable lessons at Balwyn High were woodwork and metal work,
taught by Mr. Easterbrook. He was a very patient and friendly teacher who had the advantage of overseeing the new workshops packed with brand new machines and tools and other equipment.
One of the highlights of my scholastic career at Balwyn High School were the two most memorable excursions by DC4 aircraft to Canberra in 1961 and the following year to Broken Hill.
Balwyn High School was one of Melbourne’s best High Schools right from the beginning. We didn’t have that ‘rough’ element present that other schools suffered under. Our neighbouring schools, Greythorn High and East Kew High were frowned upon and we didn’t fraternise with their students.
I moved to Box Hill later in 1958, but was allowed to stay at Balwyn High where I remained to finish my Matriculation in 1963. Generally, I would ride my bike to and from school, occasionally catching the orange bus from Box Hill to the corner of Belmore and Buchanan Ave.
Until recently, I have lived my whole life not far from the school. After leaving Box Hill when I was in form 5, I lived in board with a German family in Surrey Hills. Then I lived in North Balwyn for a while, got married and moved to Surrey Hills and then Mitcham. Later I restored a large period home in Balwyn in 1984, from the upstairs of which, I could see Balwyn High. I had obtained some photographs of the house and grounds taken around 1895. Behind the house in Whitehorse Rd. were vineyards clearly visible right down to Gordon St.
So Balwyn does definitely live up to its name!
All in all, I was privileged to have been able to attend Balwyn High School and I do not feel that I somehow missed out on anything by not attending a private school.
Gerd Kratzer, 2012 (Click on this link to see what Gerd did after he left Balwyn High School)
