OBITUARY
Farewell to CFA legend Bill Jones By Mike Hast A STALWART of Mornington Peninsula fire brigades and a link to the early European settlers, William John “Bill” Jones died at age 94 on Thursday 7 July. Also known as “Mr Moorooduc”, Bill was communications officer of the Westernport Fire Brigade Group for 27 years and a firey at Mornington and Moorooduc brigades for a remarkable 68 years. He was awarded the British Empire Medal in 1968 and the Australian Fire Service Medal on Australia Day in 1994 for services to firefighting. He also received service awards from the CFA, including a 65-year medal in 2008, as well as the Queen’s Fire Brigade Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in 1974, the T H Grigg Achievement Award for outstanding achievement within the fire service in 1985, the CFA Outstanding Service Badge in 1990 and National Medal in 1995. Bill joined Mornington Rural Fire Brigade in 1943 and Moorooduc in 1960. He was an honorary member at Mornington, and life member of Moorooduc, Westernport Group and Victorian Rural Fire Brigade Association’s No. 8 Regional Council Over the years he held the positions of firefighter, communications officer for the Moorooduc brigade and Westernport group of brigades, and Region 8 base radio operator. His wife Bette, also a CFA stalwart, was also a recipient of the BEM. Bill was a member of the pioneering Jones family who arrived on the peninsula in the 1800s, at the dawn of European settlement. Memorial notices in daily newspapers this week came from CFA District 8 and Westernport Fire Brigade Group as well as brigades at Mornington, Mt Martha, Dromana, Hastings, Somerville, Bittern, Langwarrin and Pearcedale.
He was variously described as a “true CFA icon”, “a good friend and mentor” of various brigades, “an esteemed colleague”, and “always a friendly voice on the end of the radio”. In 1868 Edward Jones, a carpenter of Sandridge (now Port Melbourne), leased land near the corner of Mornington-Tyabb Rd and Stumpy Gully Rd. It was called Spring Farm and had cattle, sheep, pigs, orchards and a dairy. Edward and Sarah Jones had seven children and later bought land at what is now the intersection of Mornington-Tyabb Rd and Derril Rd, which became the centre of Moorooduc. In the 1920s, the family operated a general store at the intersection, which is still known as Jones Corner. The Jones family gave land for the erection of a Nissen hut, a tin shed for the fire brigade, in the 1940s. The brigade converted the first tanker from an ex-Army vehicle. Bill and Bette, along with brothers Len and Ken Gibson, pioneered the installation of exArmy VHF radios in fire trucks and installed a radio base station. A peninsula fire brigade history records that the first radio call was made at 12.15pm on 29 October 1953. “Today, communications on the fire ground back to a central base is almost taken for granted but this was an enormous achievement in the early 1950s,” wrote Allan Monti in his history. Bill is survived by his wife of 63 years, Bette, daughter Roz, sons Daryl Nev, nine grandchildren and four great grandchildren. His funeral was last Friday at New Peninsula Church in Craigie Rd, Mt Martha, and more than 800 mourners attended. He was buried at Mornington Cemetery. The Moorooduc Fire Brigade will establish a fund in memory of Bill.
Quarry a store for fill-in at McCrae Woods said grasses were now growing over the stored material and contractors would soon spray the weeds. “Once the materials are removed, the spoiled site will be reinstated by the contractor,” Ms Woods said. In February Ms Woods defended giving Maw’s free use of the quarry when asked why community groups had to pay to use other council-owned properties. Ms Woods said Maw’s use of the quarry was “a functional solution to the issue of storage of construction materials for residents, the contractor and council as principal”. The News first reported on the use of the quarry in October, when it had already been used for several months.
ROCKS and soil stockpiled at Mt Martha Quarry will be used as part of works to stabilise Eyrie Gully at McCrae. The work has already been delayed and is now scheduled to start in November, but could be put back to February if wet weather continues. Road contractors Maw Civil were originally given 22 weeks free use of the quarry to use as a depot while constructing nearby Wonderland Terrace. The deadline to reinstate the quarry ran out months ago but the company now appears to have been given a reprieve by the need to use the stored materials at McCrae. Mornington Peninsula Shire’s property and valuations manager Yasmin
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Western Port News 19 July 2011
CFA radio pioneer: Legendary fire brigade communications officer Bill Jones of Moorooduc served as a volunteer firefighter for 68 years, first with Mornington and then with Moorooduc and the wider Westernport Fire Brigade Group. Picture courtesy CFA