Peter Norman OAM (OW1949) was a boarder in the Junior School at Wesley during World War II when, in 1942, the St Kilda Road school was acquired by the Australian Army as Headquarters for Military Ordinance for the entire army, and the Senior School relocated to Scotch College. The Junior School relocated to St Margaret’s School in Mayfield Avenue, Malvern. Here Peter recollects his childhood experiences in these dramatic years:
‘I began boarding at Punt Road Junior Boarding School in 1942 when my father enlisted for war service. In 1943, we relocated to Bromley on Irving Road in Toorak, a large mansion in spacious grounds with many large rooms.
The older boys slept inside in dormitory style rooms and the younger (and hardier!) boys slept dormitory-style on the upstairs verandah, with heavy canvas blinds to shield us from the weather. It was quite comfortable in the warmer weather, but for much of the year we needed warm blankets and moved speedily going to bed and getting up in the morning.
Our clothes were in cupboards in a room inside the house, so after showering we dressed in comfortable conditions. Overall, the ambience was that it was a pleasant place to live.
The Junior School at Mayfield Avenue meant a walk of several kilometres each way, up and down hills and valleys. It took 30-45 minutes which tested our resolve on many days, particularly during the winter months – unless you were lucky enough to have a penny and could catch the tram.'
The Back Turf at Wesley College (above), looking towards Punt Road and the Chapel. As headquarters for Military Ordinance for the entire Australian Army, it became a testing and storage site for sophisticated military equipment and was trenched with air-raid shelters in 1942-1943. Photo courtesy of the Australian War Memorial.
'In 1944, the Junior Boarding House relocated to Kooringa on Hamilton Road, in Malvern, another large mansion, which backed onto St Margaret’s School, so the walk to school was now only a two-minute stroll.
Both Bromley and Kooringa had large gardens, but Kooringa was larger, less formal and more rambling, and had a vacant paddock attached. During the year, we would collect burnable rubbish and build a bonfire on the vacant paddock; on 5 November, Guy Fawkes Night, we would have a great night of fireworks, supervised by the Housemaster.
We were well fed by both boarding house and wartime rationing standards, and often at weekends, the baker would deliver bread in his horse and cart and would give us a loaf or two of fresh bread to fill the void.
In 1946, the Junior school returned to Punt Road, and I moved to the Senior College boarding house. While many did not enjoy boarding, I still regard the years I spent as a boarder at Wesley, both at Junior and Senior School, as some of the happiest years of my early life.’
Peter Norman OAM (OW1949)
