Walter Albert (Bert) Thompson, MBE   (1900-1990)     (M. Fullard.)

Mr. Michael Sullivan spoke first. He told us that Mr. Thompson became the Editor and Proprietor of the Traralgon Journal in 1936. He was a quiet modest man but a strict disciplinarian who expected a member of staff to be ready immediately with any article he required. He was loved  and respected by all of his staff; some that Michael remembered were Ted Timmins, Greg Simpson (foreman), Pat Hegarty, Jack Ward and Alf Hall. There were three journalists and and a cub-reporter, and Bert was an inspiration to them all. He rode a bicycle to work and often rode long distances with his friends on fishing excursions.

Later, he owned a soft-top Vauxhall and it was a rather interesting experience to be a passenger riding around Traralgon with Bert driving, his head just visible above the steering wheel. It was the custom to consign all papers of no further use to a trailer.On one occasion Michael and a fellow staff member left the office to take a trailer-load to the Traralgon rubbish tip. There were no automatic signals on the Vauxhall and hand signals had to be made by the passenger or the driver according to the direction the vehicle was about to turn. When  Michael gave the signal to turn left, he realized that they should turn right.

(Photo right, from the Society's archives, Michael Sullivan (right) at work on the Journal press.)

On being told this, the driver immediately did a U-turn, driving on to the soft nature strip in front of Mr. Roger's newly built home. They were bogged and as all efforts to get them moving failed, they decided to call a tow truck which soon extricated them at a cost of £l0. They were due back at the office at 5 pm; when they arrived at 5.15 (with the £10 bill) they found that "The Boss" had sent a number of the staff to look for them as he was sure that they must have driven into the swamp at the corner of the Gormandale Road (now Hyland Way) and the road leading to the tip (now Stuart St.) when they didn't arrive back exactly at 5 pm. Fifteen minutes late was a severe breach of discipline!

Michael told many humorous stories of his days on the staff but he always retained a father-son relationship with The Boss who worked extremely long hours to get the paper out on time. In his office was a bust of Henry Bolte for whom he had great admiration and it was here that he carried out many a campaign for lost causes. He reported fearlessly on issues affecting our district.

There was a continuous flow of interesting people visiting The Journal - Ernie Soutar, Blue Hanning, Sir Herbert Hyland MLA, Peter Nixon MHR who gave cigarettes to the men and chocolates to the ladies, Bill Cuthill, Bert Coates and Alfie Schlipalius.

When The Boss offered to sell the business to Michael and Trevor Howe they were able to pay a large deposit and Mr. Thompson offered then a loan for the balance of the price to be repaid over a period of 10 years. And so they were installed, as L.V. Printers, in Caxton House (aptly named by The   Boss) where he always retained an office and where he continued to write his
many books.

Mr. Bill Cuthill outlined the life of his friend, Bert Thompson, who grew up at Cowell, on the Eyre Peninsula, S.A. He was one of a family of 7 children. When he was 13 years old, he was apprenticed for 7 years as a Printer's Devil to the Cowell "Tribune". He came to Traralgon in 1924, having obtained a position on the Traralgon "Journal", at that time situated in Franklin Street.

  Bill was appointed Clerk of Courts for this district in 1934, with an office in Traralgon. He and Bert Thompson were both members of The Fish and Game Protection Society which had a joining fee of 5/- for its members, who numbered approximately 1000. Bert was Secretary for 25 years and, in 1941, he was made a Life Member of the Society.

The Sunday Shooting and Fishing Prohibition Act prohibited shooting or fishing for sport, pleasure or profit. There was a penalty of £5.0.0 and a constable could arrest offenders, taking them before a J.P. for sentencing. However, members of the Fish & Game Protection Society pitched their tents at Lake Wellington and elsewhere and intrepidly hunted on Sundays. Bert Coates, Alf Rimington, Ron Anderson and Mossy Curtin all tossed flies in the local rivers and often caught great numbers of blackfish and 3 and 4 lb. trout. Bill said that in his position of Clerk of Courts he was obliged to carry out this unpopular law; he explained how he had traced the law to its source by searching through many of his law books and found that it dated back to 1841. He finally had it repealed in1976.

Bert didn't write "hard history". He wrote about his feelings and and his memories, with lots of humour. He also wrote articles and poetry under the nom-de-plume of "Hypol" - this name was bestowed on him when he landed a "big one" below the wall at Glenmaggie. He had hung it on the gaff balanced across his shoulder and looked just like the fellow pictured on the codliver oil bottle (trade name Hypol).

In 1935 he won the Alcock Cup for the heaviest trout caught that year - the trout weighed in at 9 lb. 4 oz, cleaned. When he was 83, Bert went fishing with Alfie Schlipalius, at Sea Spray. They pitched their tent near the sand dunes and retired for the night at 9 pm. Bert was always an early riser, and he was up at 2 am to light the stove and prepare for a 5 am start.

Once, when they were fishing in the Traralgon Creek, he hooked Alfie in the nose while casting his fly line. The hook had to be removed with pliers. Even in his 70s and 80s, Bert was still walking up and down the reaches of Traralgon Creek, still fishing.

He was a tireless journalist, author and editor. He created a prize-winning garden at his home in Church Street. The house is gone now and offices of the LaTrobe Shire Council are sited there. He played the cornet in the Traralgon City Band of which he was a Life Member.

In 1970 Bill Cuthill wrote "The River of Little Fish" for the boys and girls of our district. His friend Bert Thompson printed it free of charge to enable the Traralgon Historical Society, who published it, to sell it at a low price so that all people could afford to buy it.

In 1983 Bert Thompson was awarded an M.B.E, by Her Majesty the Queen in the New Year Honour List, for Services to Journalism, the Welfare of the Community and the Civic Life of the City.

Bert was the author of -

From Coonerie Creek to Utera Plain (1971)
Where Tide and Mangrove Meet (1971)
The Devil and His Inkpot (1971)
80 With Bert at the Milepeg (1980)
From Squatter's Hut to City (co-authored with Jean Court)
The Track Way Back (1981)
When Pants were Patched (1982)
Rambling Through the Middle Years (1983)

In 1990 Bert Thompson died, at the age of 89. Bill Cuthill delivered the eulogy at the Wesley Uniting Church, which was packed. The congregation spontaneously clapped at its conclusion which Bill considered to be a tribute to a great citizen who had "left his footprints on the sands of time" . The funeral procession was led by the City of Traralgon Band, winding down Franklin Street and Seymour Street.

Outside L.V. Printers, the staff formed a Guard of Honour, to pay homage to their employer and friend.

The Bert Thompson Reserve is named in his honour. It lies beside his beloved Traralgon Creek, and is next to the Long Bridge. Deep red roses from his Church Street garden have been planted in the Reserve in memory of this greatly respected citizen who was a part of Traralgon's history.