QUEENSLAND'S GERMAN CONNECTIONS - PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

Fred Zaack’s family business

It should by now be no surprise where Germans turn up in Queensland, but spending 12 years employed by a former U-boat engineer and his knockabout Aussie partner is an unusual tale, as told by Glenn Rouessart in this interview with Phyllis McGill. “I was an employee with Western Fuel Pumps and Injector Service, which was formed by Frederick Zaack and Jack Rundle,” began Glenn. “Fred was an engineer on U-boats during the during the Sec ond World War and Jack made it to Darwin during the war but hadn’t seen any other action. After the war, Fred emigrated to Australia and found work in the Snowy Mountain Scheme.” “Jack was obviously there as well and they got on exceptionally well and … they decided to form a partnership repairing fuel injector equipment, and for some reason they decided this business should be set up in Brisbane – Jack was obviously a Queenslander – so anyway they set up their workshop at Rocklea [on Brisbane’s southside]. “I was fortunate enough to be asked to join the organisation in 1972. I was working for Repco at the time repairing fuel pumps and the foreman there applied for a job with Fred and got it. Then another position became available and he asked me if I was interested.” Although excited by the offer, Glenn recalls a bad case of nerves at the prospect, it being a common industry belief that Fred and Jack “were, and possibly still are considered the gurus in the field. I had met Fred several times before, because there were times when it was difficult to get spare parts so we used to buy them through one another’s company; Fred used to come to our workshop, so I knew of him and he obviously knew of me. Anyhow I was given the opportunity …” The contrast in personalities and working styles of the two partners, and of the other employees, left a lasting impression on Glenn. “It was an unusual relationship between Fred and Jack, Fred being very German with all the German qualities of sharpness and whatever, and everything must run efficiently, whereas Jack was typically Australian – far more casual – however, both of them were very professional in their workmanship. Fred was the entrepreneur, spending all his time operating in the office, where Jack was a regular worker starting at 7 and knocking off at 4.30 just like the rest of us. “It was an interesting place with the dynamics – there were two other German employees, highly skilled people, so there was this great aura of Germanic influence in the workshop, to the point when we had morning tea or lunch there was very little conversation; you either read the paper or just sat quietly.

“But, as the years went by, more people came to join the business, so the culture of the workshop actually changed; it became a lot more open and friendly. “One of the Germans, Herman, was always after a job as engineer on one of the Pioneer [gravel] barges on the Brisbane River. Finally his chance came and he left us … [before that] we all had our specific fields that we maintained; every person there had certain brands that they serviced and set tasks. Herman did a lot of the German Bosch equipment and he also did the Mercedes-Benz fuel injection for motor cars, so when he was leaving someone had to take over his job. Glenn half-jokingly asked Herman to teach him, “but he went to Fred and put the proposition and Fred agreed: I actually had two weeks’ tuition before Herman left. I’d have to say that was an incredibly short time and there was an awful lot to learn, and once he was gone there was no one else I could ask – it was difficult but fortunately Fred was extremely understanding and never harassed me and he gave me heaps of encouragement. He was a very, very good boss.” Rocklea, as happens when the Brisbane River rises in flood, was inundated again in the great deluge of 1974, so Fred sourced a new location on the south side of Archerfield Aerodrome. “He built the new workshop with a bit of input from the workers – what we would like as far as facilities go, etc – and about a year later we moved in and we really had a thriving business and Fred was extremely generous. When we reached a certain percentage of the profit he would share it with us as bonuses (‘profit-sharing’ as it came to be called later), and there was a period there when our bonuses were more than our wages. “I thoroughly enjoyed working with Fred,” recalls Glenn, who conceded that others may have had issues with the zealous standards. “If you did a job … and then once it’s fitted to the vehicle and it still had problems (we call that a ‘comeback’), Fred hated that – mind you, we all hated it.” Success, of course, breeds challenges as well as other successes. “Another German [employee] – he was a fitter and turner by trade – established his own business and was running that as well as working for Fred … [once it] was established he left and then Fred was working full hours in the workshop almost every day, both as manager of the place but also as a regular worker which we were all pleased about.” Glenn stayed with Fred Zaack’s firm for 12 years, and remembers that Fred’s generosity of spirit extended to organisations and people other than his own.

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