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because it had made naval frogmen’s fins
during the war.
It did reply, but said that it “could see
no commercial market for swim fins in
peacetime”. The response, as Ivor noted,
reflected the virtual non-existence of
sport-diving in the UK at that time.
The Amphibians’ exploits soon
brought the club to wider attention, and
members were invited out to see a naval
team charged with identifying the wreck
of a 16th-century Spanish galleon, the
Florencia, which had been sunk off
Tobermory on the island of Mull.
In the course of this visit Ivor
commented on the luxury of diving in
a nice warm suit. This was noted by a
junior officer, and not long afterwards the
Amphibians Club became the proud
owner of two old rubber frogsuits.
These, along with a couple of standard
copper diving helmets condemned by the
local harbour board as unsafe for further
use, were paired with swim-fins (from a
demobbed naval frogman). War-surplus
kits designed for submarine escape were
put to use as economisers, with air
supplied from their home-built pumps.
It was with this set-up that the club-
members began diving in a local
swimming pool, and were able to begin
experimenting with underwater
photography and homemade housings.
A giant leap forward came in 1949,
when Ivor purchased the British version
of the Cousteau-Gagnan aqualung. This
was the Siebe-Gorman compressed-air
breathing apparatus (CABA) with
cylinders mounted on a back frame, with
reducing and demand valves and a
pressure gauge. Corrugated air hoses
connected to a simple mouthpiece.
Getting the cylinders filled was not
straightforward, Home Office regulations
wouldn’t allow them to be filled with air
for civilian use, so instead the British
Oxygen Company supplied pure oxygen,
which meant that dives were limited to
less than 10m.Australia 1950
By late 1950 Ivor had completed his
engineering studies and training, and
decided to emigrate to Australia. It was
time to realise his dream and try out his
Siebe-Gorman in warmer waters.
While in Australia, he began helping
police in search and recovery operations
for drowning incidents – because at the
time the police had no diving equipment.
By May 1952, Ivor took his first colour
photographs while diving off Lindeman
Island, in the Whitsundays, his precious
camera and film encased within his
homemade “cooking-pot” housing.
In November 1953, together with Bill
Young, Ivor took some of the firstTop left: Amphibians Club
members Les McCoss,
Hamish Gavin, Alf Goodwin,
Hamish McIntyre, John
Gavin, Laurie Donald and
Ivor Howitt at the Lui Burn,
Upper Deeside, in 1950.Left: 1952 Bill Young, Ivor
Howitt (centre) and Ted
Eldred at Apollo Bay, Victoria
in Australia. Howitt has his
Siebe-Gorman Air-Scuba
set-up, possibly the first of
its kind to be brought to
Australia.Above: Howitt with his
cooking-pot housing at East
Point on Lindeman Island on
the Great Barrier Reef, also in- The camera contained
his first colour film.
Left: One of the first colour
photographs taken of the
Great Barrier Reef, shot in
1953 by Ivor Howitt.divErNEt.com