350 attend Heifer Creek memorial dedication

On Saturday May 27, about 350 people gathered at a roadside rest stop and camping area 8km on the Warwick side of the Heifer Creek cutting on the Gatton to Warwick road, for the dedication of a memorial to the Thiess Bros and their contribution to Australian earthmoving.

The road appears to carry quite a large volume of traffic, which will mean that this is a well-visited site.

For those that don't know the Heifer Creek connection to the Thiess family, it is reputed that this was the turning point where the brothers changed from a small group of contractors doing mainly rural work such as farm dams and rural roads for local councils, to a group dedicated to infrastructure projects of all sizes.

The Heifer Creek cut is 35m deep and was claimed to be the deepest cutting in Australia in 1939. Originally designed to be a tunnel through sand stone, the brothers argued that a cut would be much more economical and convinced the powers that be by submitting price of 4000 less than the tunnel price. This won the day.

At this time, Bert and Leslie Thiess joined in the formation of Thiess Bros which had just bought its first and biggest bulldozer, a brand new Cat D8 known as Gertie. It was fully equipped with what the Americans called a heavy “dooty” LeTourneau dozer blade, operated by a rear-mounted LeTourneau PCU.

The dedication organisers had gone to the trouble of floating Gertie's twin sister to the site for the day. Taken from retirement in Bert's very large back yard in Brisbane, it is fitted with the original blade that did the actual work.

Thiess Pty Ltd

The chairman of Thiess Martin Albrecht, gave the main address and recapped on the development of the company as it is today, telling us what a huge international company it now is. That reminded us of its beginnings and the huge role it played in the post-war development of Australia.

Martin also made mention that if fate had served a different hand, Ken Thiess, Bert and Vera's son, tragically killed while the Snowy was under construction, may well have been standing up on the old D8 instead of him, giving the address of the day.

Their surviving son Neil tells me, Bert: we all blew you and Vera away on May 27. But we would not have missed it for quids.

Looking at the big Mack waiting in the shadows ready to take Gertie's sister home at days end, reminded me of how much progress has been made with the transport of plant in 67 years.

While this big rig would probably take two hours to complete the return trip to Brisbane, Bert originally drove Gertie to Heifer Creek over some days, as there were no floats in Queensland capable of moving her.

The beautiful setting in a timbered area seemed to really fit the mood of the day. Bert, 94, and his wife Vera, sitting with their backs to the tractor, were the focus of attention for the day.

Vera told me that memories of their basic rabbit netting and hessian-walled residence at Heifer Creek, came flooding back. But she added it was the upheaval of moving from job to job that really tried her sense of humour at the time.

Vera: the day would not have been complete without your presence, even though Neil told me you felt you weren't really needed. This event was not secret men's business. The efforts of both you and your sister in law Tib, Sir Leslie's wife, in providing the men with meals and home comforts, as well as fetching vital spare parts at short order, had a massive impact on the ultimate success of the project.

It is also believed that Vera, apparently not having enough to do, was known to grab a grease gun in the wee hours to get Bert on his way on Gertie at first light.

Bert also made mention that as Vera's father Stumpy Horn was the source of finance for Bert's first tractor, Vera was absolutely essential for the formation of Horn and Thiess!

Lastly thank you to those who voted with their cheque books and made the memorial happen. This is a very important tribute to both the history of the family and Australia's development. It can only be hoped this will give inspiration and direction to those who come after us.

At the event I met Tony Vecchio an old Thiess fitter who put the dozer blade on the first Thiess-owned D9. He was a bit disappointed with its performance until he climbed off and saw the mountain of earth he'd pushed.

The brother he knew best was Cecil who was his boss. Tony claimed that Cecil was his nemesis and they had many arguments. One day Tony was instructed to send out an old D6 with a worn out engine. Tony claimed she was unfit but Cecil demanded he send her out.

Tony reasoned that the only way was to give her more fuel. So he advanced the rack setting. At the worksite, Cecil saw the D6 producing huge volumes of black smoke, whereupon he headed straight for the workshop ready to kill Tony.

“What in the bloody hell did you do to that tractor?” he bellowed. Tony explained which only launched Cecil into a barrage of recriminations. Waiting until Cecil drew breath, he asked him what he would have done. Cecil looked carefully at Tony, then turned and left without another word. Tony still had a job.