MEMBERS of the Chamberlain 9G Tractor Club will provide a special highlight at this year’s Dowerin GWN7 Machinery Field Days.
Headed by a replica of the original ‘Tail End Charlie’ Chamberlain 9G tractor, club members will drive restored Chamberlain 9Gs into the Dowerin event on Wednesday, August 30, as part of a journey which left Wundowie in early July and finishes at Northam on September 2.
The Dowerin visit has been arranged by the local Elders branch as part of Elders sponsorship and support for the club’s efforts in raising funds and awareness for Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA) and Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA).
Elders general manager (West), James Cornish said he and his team were excited to be involved in an initiative that touched so many communities and for a cause that affected so many.
“At Elders we pride ourselves on going above and beyond for our clients,” he said. “They’re the lifeline of our business so it’s always our focus to support them and their communities in any way we can,” he said.
“We hope to be able to provide the club with more exposure to further their charitable efforts.”
Mr Cornish said the scale of the field days made it a perfect location for the club to promote worthy causes while providing visitors with an opportunity to see vintage tractors in action.
The ‘Tail End Charlie’ story originated from the Mobilgas Round Australia Rally in 1957 where Ron Bywaters, a fresh faced 22-two-year-old sales cadet was set the challenge of building a crew to enter a 1955 Chamberlain 9G tractor as a sweep vehicle.
Although not qualifying for the race as a competitor, the tractor was allowed to participate as support to the race vehicles and managed to finish in 19 days.
In 2007 a new ‘Tail End Charlie’, restored by club member Dick Garnett, took to the streets in a 50 year anniversary re-enactment of the 1957 Rally involving Mr Bywaters as a crew member.
The event took 38 days and raised $22,000 for the Breast Cancer Association of WA and Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia.
Mr Bywaters said the most important aspect of the event was raising awareness for prostate and breast cancer.
“Early detection is the key to winning the battle against these forms of cancer so we need to spread the word within rural communities about just how important it is for both men and women to have regular screening,” he said.
“We are grateful to Elders for partnering with us to achieve this goal.”