W. F. Waters
William Francis "Bill" Waters was Scouts Victoria's Headquarters Commissioner for Rover Scouts between 1930 and 1965.
Through both the Rover Scouts and Melbourne Walking Club, of which he was Chief Leader between 1934 and his ascension to the club's presidency in 1967, Waters introduced thousands of young people to the then-new sports of bushwalking and cross-country skiing. Waters contributed articles detailing many of his treks to the magazine of the Melbourne Walking Club, the Melbourne Walker, both on the treks themselves through the previously unexplored wilderness of Victoria, and on the history of the areas he visited.
Waters led the Australian Contingent to the 5th World Rover Moot and organised the 1961 7th World Rover Moot in Melbourne. He was a member of the party which was a part of the first winter ascent of Mount Bogong, the highest mountain in Victoria in 1928. He began to take groups of Rover Scouts on week-long treks to explore the Bogong High Plains in 1932. The success of these treks led to the construction of the Bogong Rover Chalet before winter 1940.
Waters was presented with the Silver Acorn by Lord Baden-Powell himself in 1934, and received a Bar to the Silver Acorn 20 years later. Waters was presented with the highest award of The UK Scout Association, the Silver Wolf, at Surfmoot 1961, following the Seventh World Rover Moot.
In recognition of his unequalled contribution to Rover Scouting, Scouts Australia's Adult Recognition Award for service to the Rover Section is known in Victoria as the WF Waters Rover Service Award.
Personal life
Waters was an only child, born on 22 August 1897 in Traralgon, Victoria to Eva and Francis Waters. The family later relocated to Melbourne, where Waters attended Melbourne High School.Waters joined the Australian Public Service in 1914 as a Naval Clerk in the Department of Defence. He transferred to the Department of Trade and Customs in 1926, where he worked in several roles, including supervisor, investigation officer and senior investigation officer; before retiring from the APS in 1962.
He represented Victoria in Lacrosse and was an amateur heavyweight boxer. Waters was one of the Freemasons that founded Melbourne's Baden-Powell Lodge, the first Lodge to be named after Lord Baden-Powell.
In 1933, Waters was appointed as an Honorary Ranger and an Honorary Forester by the Forestry Commission of Victoria. These appointments gave Waters the authority to act on behalf of the Forestry Commission. Also in 1933, Waters was gazetted as a member of the Committee of Management of the Kinglake National Park, another organisation that he would have a long association with.
At the time of his death in 1968, Waters was Chairman of the Kinglake National Park Committee of Management, and a member of Scouts Victoria, the Melbourne Walking Club, the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, and the Skiing Club of Victoria.
Melbourne Walking Club
He was a prominent bush walker in Victoria and held several offices in the Melbourne Walking Club, beginning in 1925 as a general committee member, before spending five years as secretary during the period 1927 to 1933 – when he assumed the position of Chief Leader. Waters would remain Chief Leader, responsible for overseeing the Party Leaders of all the club's walks, until he became the club's president in 1967.Waters had particular knowledge of Mount Bogong, and was asked to join the rescue party that Howard Michell raised to try and save the other two members of his party, Mick Hull and Cleve Cole in August 1936 as they attempted the first crossing of the Bogong High Plains during winter. Hull was saved, but Cleve Cole died of hypothermia.
During the period of 1927–1930, a series of articles by him appeared in the magazine Victorian Scout.
Rover Scout Commissioner
Waters was appointed as Headquarters Commissioner for Rovers in 1930 and continued in the role until 1965, when he was reassigned to the newly created role of Commissioner for Rover Training. On appointing Waters, Chief Commissioner Charles Hoadley gave a simple brief: Get the Rovers out of their Dens and back into the outdoors. This goal Waters would dedicate the remainder of his life to achieving.With Waters' guidance, Victorian Rovers built three Chalets, ran the 7th World Moot – the first World Scout event ever held in the southern hemisphere, mapped much of the land between Frankston and Warburton, pioneered skiing, began training their own leaders, maintained their organisation through the Second World War, and became the leaders of Rovering in Australia.
Alpine Rovering
With Waters' encouragement, Victorian Rovers were amongst the pioneers of skiing in the state. These achievements grew from Waters teaching the Rovers the basics of cross-country skiing on a grassy hill. Water had much experience in the new sport, having been a part of the first party to reach the summit of Victoria's highest peak, Mt Bogong during winter, back in 1928.Mount Donna Buang
The Rovers skied at Mount Donna Buang for many years until access to the better snowfields further from Melbourne improved. In 1945, following the end of the Second World War, the Rover Section wanted to construct a memorial to the Rovers who had been killed during the hostilities. By November 1945, £110 had already been raised. Waters purchased the land on the slopes of Mt Donna Buang and began the planning for the construction. By May 1946, funds had doubled, and the framework had been assembled by Rovers. However the postwar building restrictions prevented the completion of Rover Memorial Chalet, Warburton until 1949. This facility is still in use today, now known as the Warburton Trails Adventure Centre.Bogong High Plains
The first "Winter Party", as they would come to be known, was held in 1932 and based at Cope Hut. Nine people attended the two-week-long adventure on the Bogong High Plains. Over the coming years, the numbers attending the Winter Parties would increase, with participants from interstate also joining the Victorians in the early exploration of the area.By 1938, the size and number of the Rover Winter Parties were beginning to monopolise Cope Hut, as well as the nearby Wallace's Hut. Waters wrote to all Victorian Rover Crews and appealed for funds to construct a "Rover Hut" between the two huts. After raising £700, the Bogong Rover Chalet was constructed over five weeks in early 1940, in time for the ski season.
The Rover Chalet is sometimes referred to as "the odd chalet out", because it is the only Ski Chalet outside the major Victorian Ski Resorts. This is for the simple reason that it predates the resorts, and the safest way to access the Bogong High Plain during winter was from Gippsland instead of Mt Beauty, as it has been since the construction of the Kiewa Hydroelectric Scheme in the 1950s.
Baw Baw Plateau
Waters also encouraged the efforts of the Yallourn and Moe Rover Crews, who were some of the first to ski the Baw-Baw Plateau, originally at Mt Erica. Beginning in 1934, the Rovers cut a number of ski runs and developed the area as a community service. In 1938, the Yallourn Rover Crew rescued two boys who had been lost in the snow overnight. Their parents arranged for financing for the Rover Crew to build a hut near Mushroom Rocks and it was officially opened by Bill Waters in 1940 on the King's Birthday public holiday.More and more Rovers began skiing in the area, until in 1946 the Rovers began to ski at Mount Baw Baw itself, and the future site of the Alpine Resort. Waters negotiated with the owners of Neulyne's Mill for the use of some of their huts during the winter to accommodate the Rovers, although they still had to hike up to the snowfields from what is now the entry to the resort. From 1952, the Rovers were allowed the use of a cottage and the remaining huts. Public use of Mount Baw Baw increased over the next decade, leading to the establishment of the Mount Baw Baw Alpine Village.
As soon as the Alpine Village was announced, Waters was back at work, negotiating for the Rover Scouts to build their own purpose-built Ski Lodge. The site was granted in 1964, and the W.F. Waters Rover Ski Lodge was officially opened by the Chief Commissioner of Victoria in 1967.
Resting place
Because of Waters' passion and commitment to skiing and bushwalking in Victoria's Alpine areas, his remains were scattered at a place he named Investiture Point, the closest place to the Bogong Rover Chalet at which it is possible to see Mount Bogong. Over 250 people attended the memorial service on 26 April 1969. They were accommodated at the Rover Chalet, Wilkinson's Hut, Wallace's Hut, Cope Hut and in hundreds of tents along the Aqueduct between the three buildings. The service was led by Rover Scout Leader Ivan Stevens, and included the unveiling of a simple memorial to the "pioneer of bushwalking and ski-ing in this area", as well as an inspiring eulogy from Jim Blake of the Melbourne Walking Club.A Fellowship of the Open Air
When Chief Commissioner Charles Hoadley appointed Waters as Headquarters Commissioner for Rovers, he charged Waters to focus on building up the outdoor side of Rover Scouting, using his experiences with the Melbourne Walking Club and Ski Club of Victoria to develop the young men as leaders in the Victorian bush. In 1930, the Victorian Rover Scouts' outdoor activities were largely limited to the competition for the Matthew Evans Shield, which was awarded for "best hiking". That would soon change.Waters set about developing outdoor adventures by organising them himself. In the November 1930 edition of Victorian Scout, the journal of Scouts Victoria, Waters published a list of activities open to Rovers from across the state which were to be led by experienced activity leaders. This list of activities would become known as the Fixture Card, and it included activities like bushwalking, skiing, surfing and rock climbing; as well as working bees at Gilwell Park in Gembrook. Eventually the fixture card would include social activities and lectures to meet the demands of the Rovers.
As the fixture card activities headed further afield, they became more popular, and would often attract Rovers and Rover Leaders from South Australia and New South Wales. Eventually, these trips became such a part of Rovering life that the minimum expectation was that each member would attend a minimum of six activities a year – including at least two hikes, one skiing trip and one working bee. Meanwhile, Rovers were also expected to attend their own local District and Crew events as well!