H0346 DOUGALL ALFRED (DOUG) MCKEE

Interviewer: Richard Savory

Abstracter: Judith Christie

Interview: 9 May 2018

TRACK ONE

00.00 Interview identification. Born in 1949.

02.00 Self’s home purchased off parents in the 1980s. Father was a registered builder, building houses all over Invercargill. Father born in Christchurch, met mother who was a nurse in Dunedin. Moved to Invercargill when working for the Railways. Worked in Dunedin in the railway workshops. Father was divorced – two daughters from that marriage. Describes

04.20 Self’s sister born in Invercargill. Grew up in Invercargill. Father purchased family home from a man he had built a house for at Makarewa in the early 1950s. Built the row of houses along the main highway at Makarewa. Describes

05.40 Father worked until 1970. Gave up building when almost went bankrupt, and worked on the hospital site.

06.45 Describes the family home that self still lives in.

07.30 Mother was a nurse at Balclutha Hospital and was also a seamstress. Married father and had four children. Father died in 1977 at the age of 66 and mother died in 1985 at the age of 77. Mother remained in the house until she died.

08.40 Self helped father to build houses, biking out to Makarewa after school. Father pulled self out of Tweedsmuir School to build houses - close to Tweed Street. Self built foundations and put walls up. Worked for three weeks, as father couldn’t get labour. Describes Also helped father after school and during the holidays.

12.00 Attended Southland Boys High School, but didn’t help father during that time, as he had hired workers. Started school at South School. Self received the strap for having his socks around his ankles. Father complained to the Principal, and teacher received a reprimand.

End of Track One

TRACK TWO

00.00 Southland Girls High School has now taken over the Tweedsmuir site. Enjoyed metalwork at Tweedsmuir – teacher Mr Bemrose, who owned self’s family home at one stage before moving to the house at Makarewa. (Self shows a metal sugar scoop he made).

03.30 Self did woodwork at High School. Describes exploits at school. Self knew he was going to work with metal, and when left school went to work as an apprentice at A Russell and Company as a motor mechanic. Interviewed by Service Manager and signed up for five years, but finished apprenticeship in three years and eleven months – lot of overtime. Describes tasks and models of cars.

08.30 Six other apprentices worked there. Staff of around twenty in the workshop. A Russell situated on Dee Street, and then moved to Gala Street to a new building. Heating manufacturer Rayniers now on the site.

10.20 Self went to work for Gormack Wilkes Davidson when A Russell closed describes cars. Self owned a variety of cars. First car was a 1947 Cheverlet which was given to him by his father. Broke down at Pahia when self was there to dive. Bill Fahey, crane driver at Russells, came to get the car.

14.15 Self left school at 15.

End of Track Two

TRACK THREE

00.00 Two boatwrecks at Bluff – went diving there. Dived in various locations around the south, including Milford Sound. Describes. Saw a shark there. Caught a ling, three metres long.

05.30 Had to undertake exams at the Dive Club. Dived with Merv McKinner(?), another mechanic.

06.15 Had a Morris Minor which self modified – worked on it at A Russell. Drove around the South Island in it. Describes

08.00 Describes other makes of cars self owned and worked on.

10.00 Wages not high in the 1960s, spent money on parts which were reasonably cheap. New motor cost $800.

12.25 A Russells amalgamated with GWD. Self went over to GWDs but left after a year. Went to Parkside Motors and worked there for a year. Then worked for Vernon Russell building motorbikes after Vern saw him on a modified bike. Describes

14.00 Built bikes with modified motors, including lawnmower motors.

End of Track Three

TRACK FOUR

00.00 Vernon Russell was on Clyde Street – self worked in the workshop. Learnt how to modify bikes by reading Popular Mechanics magazines in the 1960s.

03.30 Describes what was at South City shopping Centre in the 1960s.

05.40 Different working on motorbikes. Straightened frames etc. Self taught on the job.

07.20 Self did some racing on modified motorbikes. Member of the Southland Motorcycle Club. Raced on the raceway near the beach, and also raced on the beach. Describes

10.45 Acted as a scrutineer at the Motorcycle Club, checking that the bikes were safe to ride. Describes

13.00 Also worked on bikes in his own garage for cash payment.

13.30 Assisted Burt Munro at times, before he went over to the U.S. Describes

End of Track Four

TRACK FIVE

00.00 Burt Munro attended drag days. Raced on the beach – faster than anyone else. Describes

01.20 Helped Burt Munro when his eyesight was failing. Helped Burt scope out a track on self’s bike. Describes

03.00 Worked in garage at home – lived with mother after father died. Older sister married an older man from Auckland. Younger brother married an Australian. Younger sister Cheryl had Downs Syndrome and died aged seven. Describes.

08.45 Apprenticeship at Russels – worked at night to assemble cars for sale. Employees also took their own cars in after hours to work on.

10.45 Mechanics got along together. Bill Fahy was one mechanic there – wore hobnailed boots to work and cursed when he fell in a puddle. He drove the crane.

11.55 Given menial jobs when first started as an apprentice. Describes

13.00 Had to take turns to go to smoko, collected money for food and travelled by push bike to the food shops.

End of Track Five