Allen “Windy” Allwright

Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at ReUnion 2002.

Allan Osborne Allwright, better known to his mates as Windy, was a true Territorian in every sense of the word.  He was born in the tiny Northern Territory gold mining community of Pine Creek on 22nd January 1910, one of nine children to well known pioneers Allan and Maud Allwright.  Windy attended the small school in Pine Creek before taking on an apprenticeship as a plumber.  He worked in that field in Darwin.

Allan lived and worked in Darwin up until the onset of WW11 around 1939 when he moved to Brisbane for a 'spell' during the war years.  Like many before him, and since, the call of the Territory became too strong and he returned to Darwin at war's end.  He decided he needed a change of direction and soon had three hotels on lease; Pine Creek, the Commercial Hotel in Katherine (now Crossways), and the Mataranka Pub.  During this time he became a well known character along the track, as the Stuart Highway was then called, for his hospitality and assistance to early road transport and roadtrain operators.

As time went on, Windy also earned a reputation for himself as a "can do anything" transport driver on the thin single lane bitumen track from the railhead in Alice Springs through all points north to Darwin.  He had early connections with Co-ord Transport (initially Territory Transport Association) in Alice Springs which was a co-operative organisation set up by several local operators to haul for the rail enabling them to compete with bigger southern-based transport companies who were continually chasing the lucrative rail contracts.  Windy was also instrumental in helping the legendary Noel Buntine get his business off the ground in the Alice.

As the years passed, Windy married twice and had a daughter.  In later years he became a tally clerk, working in road construction before retiring.  Typical of his active disposition Windy spent his retirement building rainwater tanks.