Harris, Claude

DESCRIPTION

NameHarris, ClaudeOccupationMechanic, Bus DriverBiographyIn 1942, Claude commenced work at the PMG Department at Moss Vale for 13 months as telegraph messenger; delivering telegrams by pushbike, sorting mail and performing night telephone duties. In 1943 Claude was sent to Gunning as a night telephonist for 6 days and did not receive one phone call during that time.

Claude took up a position as Postal Clerk at Albion Park, which included night telephone duties. This was a sleeping telephone exchange, which was mainly for emergency calls which the postmaster and Claude rotated nightly. It was ten hours per night for seven nights a week. For this 70-hour week the PNG Dept paid exactly 1 pound.

During the period 1943-1945 Claude also served 2 years in the RAAF ‘Air Training Corps’ training to enlist in the Air Force as Air Crew. The War ended in 1945 so he did not have to enlist in RAAF.

After resigning from the Post Office in 1945 he and his brother Jack worked for their father WG Harris serving 5 years apprenticeships as Automotive Mechanics. For the next 45 years he worked at WG Harris Garage, Albion Park as a motor mechanic, bus driver, taxi driver and hire car driver. Here he repaired buses, trucks, tractors, cars, motor cycles, motor boats, farm machinery and pumps, PMG pushbikes, lawn mowers, whippersnippers, chain saws, wheel barrows, prams, and anything else customers brought in.

The local doctor sent an elderly lady to him one day to have her wedding ring cut off as she had an infected finger. After cutting the ring off, an elastic band was found under the ring embedded in her finger.

A Tongarra farmer brought his wild bull in his international truck into the workshop for Claude to brand. After heating the branding iron with the oxy torch there was a cloud of smoke and roar from the bull and he was branded for life.

Another farmer would bring his truck in for repairs at 5.30 pm and say ‘I could have come up earlier but I knew you would be busy’.

During WW2 and after, few people had cars or no petrol, so Claude took them in the hire car or buses to Dances and balls allover the coast, and picnics, football, cricket, surf, after coming home so late after a ball that the Tongarra coal miners would be waiting at their bus stops for him to take them to the mine. He transported 52 Tongarra coal miners to Tongarra mine 1945-1960 in the 1945 international KS5 or the 1947 White WB.20 buses. He would leave the bus at mine and ride a Norton Motor Bike back to the garage and return to the mine at 3 pm on the Norton to pick up the bus, riding the bike into one of the mine tunnels.

Claude remembers driving Evelyn Owen to Wollongong in the Taxi TC-516 when he lived at Tongarra and Evo coming to the service station for petrol in his panel van.

About 1960 Claude and his brother Jack bought the business from their father and it was known as WG Harris and Sons as it still is today, without the transport side.

Claude also worked for St Joseph’s Catholic High School two days per week as Industrial Arts assistant and has done for the past seventeen years after finishing work at WG Harris & Sons in 1989.

Contributed by Claude Harris 2006.

Claude Harris behind the counter at WG Harris and Son's Garage, Tongarra Road, Albion Park.

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Harris, Claude