PROMOTING THE HISTORY AND ARCHIVES OF MT COMPASS
Arthur, Ivor
Ivor Kellow “Kelly” Arthur (Corporal)
Ivor was born on 26th August 1914 to parents Samuel Arthur & Maude Arthur (nee Galbraith).
He attended the Mt Compass public school for most of his education, leaving at 14 years of age as did many children inthose days.
His father Sam was to pass away in that same year (1929) leaving Ivor & his brother George to carry on with the farm, growing vegetables and keeping a few cows.
Ivor, or Kelly as he was known locally, enrolled in the Reserve RAAF on 6th December 1940 following a previous unsuccessful attempt to fill one of the few vacancies then on offer. Following his successful enrolment, he was then called up for full time service on 14th January 1941, at the age of 26.
Perhaps a good indicator of this man’s strength of character is that on his enlistment form, where many other people had written ‘yes’ in the section that asked if you were a British Subject, Kelly Arthur had written Australian.
(Of interest nowadays is that the RAAF also had the phrase “or aNaturalised British Subject of pure European Descent” included as part of this question.)
His service trade (known as mustering in the RAAF) was as a welder, having initially joined as a trainee mechanic. Like many Mt Compass residents at that time, his religion was recorded as Church of Christ, while his listed occupation was “garage proprietor”. This garage, which he had operated for three years, was situated where the Mt Compass Hotel now stands and was adjacent to his parent’s family home (Weeroona).
Two glowing references had been supplied to help his RAAF application, one from Mel Jacobs JP and the other from Mr B G Dunstan, the District Clerk of the Willunga Council, who verified that Mr I K Arthur personally repaired motor cars, motor cycles, motor trucks, tractors and stationary engines at his garage.
The RAAF apparently required detailed personal record keeping, with Kelly’s character being graded from ‘good’ to ‘very good’. His General Conduct sheet on which all offences are recorded (including a specific column for drunkenness) was formally certified as having ‘no entry’.
He did have a ‘yes’ recorded on his enlistment form for the blunt question - can rough it? While the personal description of him included: “Quiet manner, answers well, a capable sort of chap.”
He was initially sent to Laverton in Victoria for his training followed by periods at bases such as Mallala, Wagga Wagga and Werribee before heading overseas to Milne Bay, Goodenough Island and Noemfoor Island, all in New Guinea.
He was awarded the 1939-45 Star, the Pacific Star, War Medal 1939-45, Australia Service Medal 1939-45 and the ‘Returned from Active Service’ badge.
Kelly passed a number of training courses while in the RAAF which no doubt served him well upon his return to civilian life. Courses undertaken included fitter, mechanic and welding courses.
He was ‘demobilised’ on 10th October 1945, “to resume civil employment as an Engineer,” having served four years and seven months with the Royal Australian Air Force. Once he arrived back in Mt Compass Kelly expanded the garage and started to employ workers.
He married Ronda Peters in 1950 and they soon moved to one of the houses originally built by Ronda’s grandfather Richard Peters, along Nangkita Road. He closed the garage and moved his business to this home property in about 1954.
Kelly invented and patented the Arthur Rotary Slasher in 1952 after seeing how difficult it was for his father-in-law Arch Peters, to cut down bracken and reeds by hand. At this time there were no rotary lawn mowers or slashers anywhere in Australia.
As a community minded achiever, Kelly contributed to numerous local organisations. He spent 40 years on the Mt Compass Community Centre, was in the local RSL from its inception (also made a Life Member) and was a member of the Mt Compass CFS for whom he built many of their early vehicles. Other community involvement included membership of the Mt Compass School Council, a Charter member of the Lions Club, member of the Literary Society and of the Football Club - with the list going on.
In 1986, in the first such award bestowed upon a Mount Compass resident, he was named ‘Citizen of the Year’.
I K (Kelly) Arthur passed away in July 1989 and is buried in the Mt Compass Cemetery.
References: Mt Compass RSL records, Entre Nous newsletters,RAAF Service Records, Ronda Arthur.
