Cr Alexander William Bond
The Shire of Altona elections in August 1959 saw local Altona North resident Alexander William Bond Jnr. contest his first council election. He bested the incumbent sitting councillor, Harry Kim, who had been first elected to the initial Altona Shire council in 1957. This was to be the start of a nine-year term for Alexander, which ultimately included one term as the Shire President.
Cr Bond congratulating Cr den Dulk on his election as Mayor (1963)
Alexander William Bond Jnr. was born on 13 January 1911, in Newport, to parents Alexander William Bond Snr. and Agnes Laura Bond (nee Deagan). Alexander William Snr. was born in Williamstown and spent most of his life there. It was here too that Alexander Jnr. also grew up and attended both primary and secondary school. In 1935, Alexander married Dorothy Edna Rose Page and the couple settled down to family life in the Williamstown North area.
Soon after their marriage, World War 2 drastically changed Alexander’s life. On 17 June 1940, he was called up to report for active service with the Royal Australian Navy. During the conflict, he served as a leading stoker in the navy and saw service in areas such as the Mediterranean and North and South Atlantic. While he was serving aboard the HMS Bulolo[1] in 1942/43, he received the award of ‘Mentioned in Dispatches’ for his bravery and skill under hazardous conditions at a landing the navy made in North Africa. Unfortunately, during his time overseas, he and Dorothy parted ways.
In 1942, Alexander’s younger brother, Eric Bond, also joined the navy and served aboard the HMAS Perth near Surabaya in East Java. The HMAS Perth was hit by torpedoes and sunk by the Japanese Navy, which forced the crew to abandon ship. Eric was captured by the Japanese and was taken to a prisoner of war camp in Fukuoka, Japan where he tragically died on 22 January 1945.
At the end of World War 2, Alexander was discharged from his naval service and returned to Williamstown where he met and married Iris Minerva Hare in 1945. For a short period, the couple moved to Richmond, but the call of the west was too strong for Alexander. They returned to the western suburbs and settled in Clematis Avenue, Altona North, in around 1954.
WW2 Honours
He immediately took a keen interest in youth organisations within the Altona North area, particularly organisations to do with assisting handicapped children. Alexander was also an active member of the Australian Labour Party (ALP) branch at Brooklyn and a member of the Altona RSL. In August 1959, Alexander Bond stood on the Labor ticket for the Shire of Altona council and was elected.
He quickly immersed himself in local issues, holding the portfolio for Local Organisations, as well as being a member of the Staff and Planning Committee. Alexander became a driving force within the local Elderly Citizens organisation and additionally served on the Altona District Hospital Board too, where he was awarded a life governorship. He was also appointed as a trustee of the Altona Historical Society and a member of the Altona Spastic Aid Group. Alexander was successfully re-elected to council in 1962 and again in 1965. Moreover, in 1962 he was elected as the seventh Shire President of Altona as well.
In 1968, Alexander advised his nomination to run for re-election for council. However, just prior to the election, whilst in Western Australia attending his son’s wedding, he took ill and rethought his decision, subsequently advising them that he would not seek re-election. A year later, he decided to run once again for local council but was beaten by Les Crofts. He tried again in 1973 but was similarly unsuccessful.
It was shortly after these attempts that Alexander retired from his employment as a fireman, having spent some 27 years within the Metropolitan Fire Brigade. He and Iris then moved to Western Australia to be closer to their son, Lance, and his family. On 11 March 1979, in Canning, Western Australia, Alexander William Bond passed away at the age of 68. He was interred at the Karrakatta cemetery in Perth. His wife, Iris, continued living in the Belmont area of Perth until she passed away on 11 August 1995. She was interred within the Karrakatta cemetery next to her husband.
[1] On 22 September 1939, the HMS Bulolo was requisitioned by the British Ministry of War Transport on behalf of the Royal Navy from Burns, Philp & Company Limited, based in Sydney, NSW. The HMS Bulolo then headed to North Africa as the flagship of Admiral Sire Harold Burrough, Commander of the Eastern Naval Task Force, to take part in Operation Torch (the invasion of French Morocco and French Algeria in North Africa). It arrived at Algiers Harbour on 9 November 1942, the day after its surrender. In September 1945, the HMS Bulolo was used to accept the Japanese surrender in Singapore.