In 1852 the family settled in Elgar Road. One of the children, William, Beattie's Grandfather, married Margaret Harbour in 1859. She had been the first white child to be born in Doncaster, near the corner of the future Doncaster and Williamsons Roads.
In 1904, Thomas, the father of Beattie, purchased 18 acres at the end of Carbine Street, East Doncaster and planted an orchard. The old house is still standing.
There are a number of other buildings on the property. Two are timber buildings one a small building that could be the original cottage, but with altered windows, and the other a 1930s house. There is also a recent brick house, and a range of outbuildings including a shed and poultry sheds. VHD22475
Apart from the orchard, Thomas used to contract to the Shire of Doncaster for the supply of horses and drays along with their drivers. Both Beattie and his brother Alf used to drive these until their father became a foreman on the council thus making him ineligible as a contractor.
Beattie, whose real name is George, was given the nickname by Mrs Jack Colman when he was a baby and it has stuck with him ever since.
All the family went to the East Doncaster School. Beattie started School in 1918 and left just before his 14th birthday. While at the school one of his teachers was Nell Norman.
After he left school, Beattie worked for Bob White and Wallie Zerbe on their orchards. He drove for the council for a few years till 1933 then went back to orcharding - working for R.E. Petty until 1941 when he enlisted with the C.M.F.
Australia would not permit conscription at that time so members of the Commonwealth Military Forces were restricted to serving on Australian Territory. After repeated attempts to transfer to the A.I.F., who were volunteers and could therefore serve anywhere, Beattie deserted from the C.M.F. and reported to the Kew Drill Hall. He explained what he had done to Captain Miller who took him to the Royal Park Camp and arranged his transfer to the A.I.F. Beattie was posted to Jahore Bahru in Malaya.
Of the nine children in Beattie's family, six boys and three girls, six of them served in the Armed Services, which is thought to be a record in the municipality. Five of the boys served in the Army and Margaret in the Air force. The family was fortunate, in that, despite the odds, they all survived the war.
When the Japanese overran the Malay Peninsula, the surrender of Singapore was inevitable as the Japanese controlled the water supply which came from the mainland. Beattie's unit was taken prisoner by the Japanese at Singapore on 15 February 1942. It was the beginning of three and a half years of unbelievable suffering and hardship.
Here Australian prisoners are shown 'camped' in the thoroughfare area of the main gaol. Each cell off this thoroughfare housed four prisoners, though built originally to accommodate one. [AWM 043131]
The Australians who made up "A" force spent five weeks in Changi Jail before going to Burma as part of the 3000 strong contingent that was to construct the infamous Burma-Thailand railway of death. Beattie's group went to Tavoy in Burma where they worked on the wharfs, then to Ye where they worked on the road to Tavoy. The Japs took everything from the men, the only thing that Beattie saved was his bible, the Japs took it, but after an Australian Officer made representation to the Japanese they returned it, but only after pulling out the maps of the Holy Land. Beattie also managed to hide a small embossed metal dish he had found in the grass at Ye and managed to keep it hidden for the duration of his captivity. Beattie was to spend 25 months in jungle camps working on the railway until it was finished. His last camp was at Tamkan on the River Kwi.
The railway was built without mechanical aids whatsoever, although at one time they had an elephant which the Japs let die through lack of care. All the work was carried out by hand. Cuttings were dug through rock without the use of explosives. The men building embankments and bridges using the strength of their hands, wielding picks and shovels and other hand tools. To drive the piles for the bridges, a solid block of iron weighing two and a half tones was erected on a scaffold and attached to it were four ropes with twelve men on each rope. When all was ready the guard would start chanting. This was the signal for the men on the ropes to start walking, pulling the ropes, thus raising the weight. When the guard stopped chanting, the men let go, the weight dropped, driving the pile into the ground. This continued till the piles were all driven into place. The men worked to a quota of one cubic metre of dirt per man per day, and the quota had to be filled whether the men were fit to work or not. If men dropped out through illness, their mates had to make up their share as well as their own. Work did not stop until the quotas were met, it went on relentlessly regardless of the men's health, weather, disease or any other condition or factor. After all the quotas were filled the men walked back to camp to a meagre meal, and what rest they could get sleeping on bamboo slats.
Due to the need to fill quotas, men who were ill were often asked by their own medics to work. On one occasion, Beattie reported sick but was asked to work. They carried him back with Dengue fever and a temperature of 104 degrees.
Not only were prisoners of war used on the railway, but large numbers of indigenous people were forced to work on the line as well. The number of these who died during the construction will never be known, but it is believed that between 120,000 and 150,000 died, in addition to the deaths of 12,500 Allied Prisoners many of whom died due to the treatment by those responsible for the administration and construction of the railway.
In September 1943, Beattie was sent to a hospital camp suffering from Berri Berri fever and a bad attack of dysentery. At this time his weight was down to 6 stone 13 pounds and he was considered one of the fit ones in the camp. He developed a tropical ulcer on the leg and still bears the scar to this day. The only treatment was to scrape out the ulcer with a spoon, before treatment the patient was given a stick to clamp between his teeth. The patient suffered appalling agony each morning as the ulcers were treated. Beattie also treated his ulcers by standing in the creek which ran past his camp and letting the little fish that lived in it eat away the rotten flesh.
After working on the docks at Singapore, Beattie and his fellow P.O.W.s were taken to Japan. They were then issued with clothing. For two years they had been without boots or clothing, the only thing they had worn was a G string. After living and working in tropical heat, the cold and snow of Japan was another trial to the physically weakened men. At Nagasaki, they worked as coal miners. One day while wheeling dirt out of a tunnel, Beanie saw the plane that dropped the atom bomb fly over. Seven miles away, he saw the flash and the mushroom cloud climb into the sky, but he had no idea what it was.
Beattie's family went through a terrible time while he was a prisoner of war. At first he was reported missing and it was ten months before anyone knew he was alive. In all the time he was away they only received one card from him and he only received two letters. Beattie returned home and went back to the orchard in partnership with Mr. R.E. Petty in Church Road.
Twenty years later problems with surrounding subdivision forced them to give up their orchard so Beattie joined the council Parks and Gardens staff.
In 1948, Beattie and Joan Petty were married and lived in Doncaster Road till 1970 when they moved to their present home in Park Orchards.
Beattie and Joan Beavis joined the Doncaster Templestowe Historical Society during its first year and have been valued members ever since.
1990 12 DTHS Newsletter from a Monograph by Bruce Bence
Mr. George Beavis, known to his friends as "Beattie", died during April.
Beattie joined the Doncaster-Templestowe Historical Society during its first year and a few years later both he and his wife Jean became life members. They both took an active and valuable part in the life of the group, becoming respected and well-loved members. Beattie restored and donated several items of orchard equipment including spray pumps and the most valued item, the "A" Model Ford Truck.
George Beavis with his plough
Beattie was born in 1913 and five years later went to East Doncaster School. At the age of 14, he left school and went to work on an orchard for a few years, then joined the council staff driving cars and other vehicles.
In 1933, Edwin Petty employed him on his orchard where he met Mr. Petty's attractive daughter Jean.
During the Second World War, Beanie served in Malaya and, when the Japanese invaded, was taken prisoner, suffering great hardship and misery while working on the notorious Burma Railway.
The Japanese sent him to Nagasaki to work on a coal mine where, from only seven miles away, he saw the atom bomb explosion.
After the war, Edwin Petty took Beattie as a partner and in 1948 Beattie and Jean Petty were married.
When the orchard was sold eight years later, Beattie went to work for the Council Parks and Gardens Department for three years.
On leaving the council, he ran his orchard of lemons at Park Orchards and enjoyed looking after and breeding his horses.
In the historical society, Beattie was always a willing worker helping construct the vehicle shed and worked on other projects. He was a member of the committee and vice-president for many years and was a wonderful source of knowledge of the history of the district. Beattie was always generous with his knowledge and, in this, he and Jean worked as a team.
George Beavis and his wife Jean (nee Petty) in Park Orchards
Irvine Green writing in 1993 06 DTHS Newsletter
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