Basil Catterns

Basil Wilfred Thomas Catterns, MC (11 August 1917 – 30 March 2007) was an Australian businessman, citizen soldier and amateur yachtsman.

Early years

Catterns was born in Balmain, Sydney,^[1] on 11 August 1917, the son of an English merchant seaman, Wilfred Catterns, and Emily (née Greenwell). An uncle, Basil G. Catterns, for whom he was named, later became the Chief Cashier of the Bank of England.

Educated at Fort Street Boys' High School, Catterns joined the staff of the (now defunct) Sydney afternoon daily newspaper, The Sun.

Second World War

On the outbreak of the

After the war Catterns pursued a career in advertising. He produced a film of the Melbourne Olympic Games; sailed the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race on six occasions; founded Offshore Yachting, the magazine of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia; and was one of the longest-serving members of the Sydney Maritime Museum.^[4]

Catterns and his wife lived in suburban Sydney where they raised three children: David, a barrister; Diana, an artist; and Angela, a well-known radio broadcaster and co-presenter of 'Film First' Sunday movie premieres on The World Movies Channel.

Basil Catterns died at age 89 of undisclosed causes.

Media

The Catterns's story was a major thread in the documentary series Kokoda

References

External links

• Oral History, Catterns describes action on the Kokoda Track
• Australian War Memorial entry
• Obituary Sydney Morning Herald
• Kokoda – ABC interactive program site