Article
BAMOS October 2021
27
An email was sent to the Meteorological Service of New Caledonia ( part of Meteo-France ) to see if any information about the image could be obtained and this led to contact with Ms . Anne Reynaud , Head of the Digital , Communication and Commerce Division who performed some rather remarkable detective work .
She discovered that in 1956 there was only one High School in New Caledonia — the Lycée Lapérouse à Nouméa and from this source she was able to identify several of the students in the photograph . And even more remarkably she was able to contact some of the surviving students — and we were able to establish a dialogue .
It turned out that the visit to Australia was a reward given to outstanding students . They flew to Sydney from Noumea by seaplane — quite an epic journey in January 1956 . They visited the Harbour Bridge , Town Hall , Taronga Zoo , Bondi Beach — and the Bureau of Meteorology Divisional Office at Observatory Hill . Here they were shown about by Harold Bond , who was then Second in Charge of the office .
A high-resolution version of the image was obtained from National Archives and this clearly shows the old instrument enclosure at Observatory Hill with a pluviograph in the foreground and a Stevenson Screen on the right ( rear ). This was the previous ( until relocation in 2020 ) site of the Sydney Automatic Weather Station ( AWS ).
It was of interest to establish whether any of the students ended up with a career in meteorology , but it appears not . From the photograph Anne managed to identify some of the class of 1956 ( in the image caption on opposite page ).
Personal email contact was established with Elaine who supplied photographs of herself and a lot of background detail about the trip and some of the students .
They all went on to conduct varied and distinguished careers in a wide variety of endeavours , including in the arts , government and the public service . One of the students ( Evelyne Pisier ) became a famous name and was a Professor at the University of Sorbonne in Paris .
As soon as further information about the restoration arises , updates will be offered . The building will be 100 years old around March next year ( 2022 )— an ideal day for an opening with World Meteorology Day on Wednesday 23 March , but this will depend entirely on the building schedule .
On Wednesday 11 August 2021 , Anne Reynaud organised a teleconference from the Meteorological Centre at New Caledonia ( Meteo-France ) inviting all those with connections to the 1956 photograph . A 2021 photograph was then taken ( left ) that shows all the attendees gathered in the instrument enclosure at the New Caledonian Meteorological Centre . Left to right front row : Anne Reynaud ( Méto-France Nouvelle-Calédonie ), Marianne Page ( Raymond Page ’ s daughter ), Gisèle Orlowski ( Raymond Page ’ s daughter ), Jean-Loui Pujol ( Toté Pujol ’ s brother ). Left to right rear row : Laure Bernut ( Yves Bernut ’ s daughter ), Jacqueline Galinie ( Yvette Phan ’ s daughter ), Josseline Cendre , Eliane Jacquet .