Arthur Gardiner 1907

Arthur Gardiner who won a scholarship in Mechanical Drawing in 1907 was a man of great precision.  He was able to apply his steady hand, keen eyesight and absolute commitment to accuracy to solving a range of very unusual problems throughout his life - some with far-reaching consequences.

During his career with the WAGR he was acknowledged as being one of the most highly skilled locomotive fitters and mechanical engineers in the State.  He was appointed in charge of the marking out table where he worked to a tolerance of one four thousandth part of an inch.  In this role he was responsible for marking out all the River Class mainline locomotives built in the Workshops including the Murchison, the Fitzroy, the Frankland and the De Grey.

During World War I his skills of precision – this time not as an engineer but as a marksman were called upon when he was selected to end the activities of a French informer from 200 metres away.  It was as a young boy growing up in Denmark that he became an expert with a rifle.  He used to blow out the base of bottles by shooting through the bottle’s neck.  The local Aborigines were the first to utilise his skills by getting him to shoot wallabies, and he was once able to save the life of another boy by shooting an approaching tiger snake through the head.

When the Second World War broke out he was immediately commissioned as a munitions inspector at the Workshops.  His ability to fix things saved the Australian Government hundreds of thousands of dollars when he was able to work out how to make components for German lathes.  It also earned him great appreciation from the American navy when reconstructed the propellers of one of their submarines which had been completely smashed.  His son remembers him being secretly summoned from their home in the early hours of the morning and not returning for several days.  After the War he was visited by an American Rear Admiral who congratulated him on saving the American submarine at the crucial time when Singapore had fallen to the Japanese.

Having had to participate in two wars and having seen many of his friends killed, Arthur vowed to put his gun aside forever.  It wasn't until he was almost 70 that his daughter goaded him into showing his prowess as a marksman.  At first he resisted but finally he picked up the rifle and instantly, from 70 metres away shot through the bull's-eye.  When is daughter claimed it was a fluke he quietly did it again - through exactly the same hole.

Thanks to Arthur Gardiner (Junior) for assistance with this profile

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