Obituary--Hans Joachim Zwillenberg (1915-2000).

The following eulogy was delivered at the funeral of Hans Zwillenberg in the ACT Branch of the MHSA was represented by a number of members:

   Hans was born in December 1915 in Deutch Eylau Germany. He was one of two
   children, his parents Lottchen Ad Max being the owners of a flour mill. Due
   to the circumstances regarding his departure from Europe, not much is known
   about Hans's early life, as he steadfastly refused to talk about it.

   He was fortunate to migrate to Australia, arriving here by ship in November
   1938. In his early years in Australia he worked as a wheat lumper, timber
   getter, commercial traveller, and as a flour miller in various places.
   Ironically, he was, sacked as working as a flour miller when the second
   world war was declared.

   Han's became a citizen in 1945, his loyalty to his new country is evident
   by the flag that is flown from the verandah of his home. Some thirty one
   years after obtaining citizenship Hans wrote to the Department of Foreign
   Affairs requesting the return of his German passport. The passport was
   located and returned.

   The pursuit of qualifications and love of academia appears to have been a
   passion. He has been credited with: Librarian Qualifications in 1954;
   Primary Metallurgy in 1958; Bachelor of Arts (History, Politics and German
   Literature) University of Adelaide in 1962; Master of Arts (Research Thesis
   in History) University of Adelaide in 1971; and Masters of Arts, Honours,
   (Research Thesis in History) University of NSW in 1993.

   His further interest was in matters military, where he served in the CMF
   from 1948 to 1963 and held the substantive rank of Major. His last
   appointment was as company commander for 4 years.

   Other activities and memberships were: Royal Australian Chemical Institute;
   Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy; Institute of Information
   Scientists; Royal Institute of Public Administration; Australian Computer
   Society; Library Association of Australia; Australian Institute of
   Management; United Services Institutions of ACT; Missions to Seaman;
   Military Historical Society of Australia; and Church of England Girls'
   Grammar School Professional Officers Association Goethe Society. In many of
   these he held office.

   In 1945, Hans was employed by the Adelaide Chemical & Fertilizer Company as
   their Librarian and technical Officer, a position he held for five years.
   He and his family moved to Port Pirie in 1950, Hans taking up the post of
   Librarian and information officer, with the Broken Hill Associated
   Smelters, a position he held for twelve years. Following on from Port
   Pirie, Hans spent six years with the Defence Research Centre in Salisbury
   as the Senior Librarian.

   He and his family relocated to Canberra in 1968. Hans moved from the
   Department of Supply to the National Library of Australia in 1975. He has
   had a distinguished career in his chosen field of Librarianship, having
   been the Director Technology and later the Director of Science and
   Technology until his retirement in 1980.

   In 1985 he was awarded the Robert D Williamson Award for achievements in
   information science. Over the years he has had some twenty-three papers
   published, the titles perhaps giving insight to his imagination and
   knowledge. One title of interest, `professors without a profession' one
   would wonder what pithy insightful revelations would be contained in this
   particular publication. There has also been a wealth of unpublished papers
   and addresses to a diverse group of Professional and community based
   organisations.

   Following his retirement, Hans refused to be idle and became engaged in
   consulting activities. He specialised in the coverage of conference
   proceedings in the field of information services management, both in
   Australia and Europe. He was the Australian representative of the
   information retrieval services offered by the European Space Agency in
   Frascati, Italy. He made several visits to Frascati, a renowned wine area

   Hans has been a dedicated Rotaflan since 1970, following the ideals of
   Rotary. Through his efforts, the Canberra Woden Club has benefited from
   several new members, some of you here today having been introduced to
   Rotary through Hans.

   Over and above all of this, Hans was a devoted husband and family man,
   father of Verity and grandfather of Allen. He was well loved by Mirrie's
   family and closely followed their matters with interest. He, together with
   Mirrie, enjoyed travelling to and from Adelaide on numerous occasions when
   family get togethers were held.

   Having had such an active an interesting life, it is no surprise that Hans
   disliked gardening, painting and doing odd jobs around the house. His
   leisure pursuits, by his own admission, consisted of doing nothing, and as
   we know he was fond of good food and wine. Hans was a man who was admired,
   and will be missed by many. 1 think he would like us to miss him, but not
   mourn him.

   Lt Col I G Wheaton supplied the following information on Hans Army Service.

   Enlisted in the CMF either during or after 1948 at Port Pirie, SA, in what
   was then D Coy 27 Bn South Australian Scottish Regiment. By 1952 he was a
   sergeant; he appears in a group photo of 27 Bn Sergeants taken at the
   Annual Camp held at Caloote in March of that year. He was promoted
   Lieutenant on 13 April 1953 and Captain 20 December 1956.

   Hans served with D Coy 27 Bn until 1953 when 43/48Bn, The Hindmarsh
   Regiment was raised, D Coy was transferred to that battalion. He remained
   with D Coy until the Pentropic reorganization of 1960. As a captain he took
   command of D Coy, taking over from Major J O Geddes, MBE, ED, when it was
   transferred to 1 Bn Royal South Australia Regiment; it was about this time
   he was promoted to Major. He appears in a photo of the officers of 1 RSAR
   dated 1962, thought to be his last year with the Army. Possibly he retired
   in 1963 as he would have then turned 47 the retirement age for majors.

   When Hans joined the CAW as a private soldier he was a good deal older than
   his contemporaries, if this worried him, he never showed it, being at all
   times a dedicated soldier. Owen Geddes, himself a fish out of water in a
   rifle company (he had been an administrative officer in WW2) early on
   recognized Hans' potential with his eye for detail and organising ability.
   Later their mutual respect for each other developed, maintaining their
   friendship up until Geddes died some two or three years ago.

   Hans was a popular company commander, while keeping his distance he
   maintained respect and was zealous in looking after his soldiers' welfare.
   A country rifle company was both a restrictive and challenging area for the
   likes of Geddes and Zwillenberg to shine, their talents were more likely to
   flourish in a staff appointment in a higher headquarters. A day or two ago
   I was speaking to an ex sergeant who served in D Coy, when I told him of
   Hans' death, he replied, he was a gentleman.