Ralf Dearnley was of unusual chubby build. Such and build that he looked rather loose-limbed and ungainly. In any case one would have classified him as quite unfit for nay sporting activities but as time would prove, he had a wonderful brain.
He came to fame when he was working in Wellington as "NZ King of Quiz". he might even have been able to lay claim to the World's King of Quiz.
In those days quiz competitions were very common and popular on the radio.Those who were good at general knowledge became well known radio personalities and such was Ralf Dearnley. I was once told that his favourite pastime was devouring encyclopedias.
I shall pose a question to readers that even Ralf was unable to solve.What was the name of Edward Lear's cat? We all know that, it was Floss. But what is the name of Captain Kidd's cat?
Editor's Note - Ralf Dearneley died in 1987 aged 72 in Poland after attending a session there of the World Esperanto Congress
Bruce Faris - real name Irwin Bruce Faris was from Inglewood where his father was a doctor and Bruce was a clever boy at school.
He went on to become a d doctor and had a successful career in Auckland as an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist.
During the war he served in the Pacific as a medical officer in the RNZAF.
While travelling in a Ventura up to Henderson Field one of the engines failed. With great skill the pilot, Squadron Leader Clarey Parker (also an Old Boy) put the plane onto the water whereupon it sank to the bottom of what came to be known as Iron Bottom Sound.
They all tumbled out and into rubber dinghies and made for land and subsequent rescue. They survived for 4 days before being rescued by a Catalina Flying Boat
One was injured, Bruce Faris, and he suffered a very painful complaint; a dislocated shoulder.
It is a tricky manoeuvre to reduce a dislocated shoulder or hip which still would be quite beyond me. And here was Bruce with the situation of which he himself was the patient.
Sop surrounded by a group of medically ignorant men he had to set about with a course of instructions of putting a foot into and armpit, grasping the forearm with both hands and doing a certain wriggle and waggle without pulling too hard.