(1923 – )

Perth born Basil Eric Balme had entered St George’s College and commenced study at the University but joined the navy in 1940 and spent most of the war on dangerous convoy duty around the Mediterranean and Britain.

I was largely involved in convoy duties, escorting other ships throughout the Mediterranean and England. I originally trained as a radar operator and spent all the war years at sea either on English cruisers or corvettes. For several months I was on board with Philip Mountbatten, who would later become Prince Philip, and I remember having several conversations with him.

One of the most vivid memories I have is of sinking a Japanese submarine after we dropped bombs on it. We just had to accept what we had to do.

After the war, Balme returned to the University to complete his degree BSc Honours (1948) in oil geology, and from there he won a Fulbright scholarship to Harvard University in the US, after which he worked at the University of New York. He completed his Doctorate in Science in 1969 at UWA and was a member of staff for many years.

Photograph provided by Jane and Mary Balme
Post, 21 April 2018.