In our Centenary year, we want to celebrate who our people of the NRMA are. Today, we profile Phil Wilson, one of our Patrol Team Leaders who recently celebrated 40 years of service. Here’s what came out of our interview.
Phil started at the NRMA in October 1979, when Malcolm Fraser was the Prime Minister and Mad Max made its debut (with a fresh newcomer, Mel Gibson in the lead role) at the cinema. He started in NRMA’s Smash Repairs area as a fourth-year apprentice motor mechanic. While he was in smash repairs, Phil completed another apprenticeship as an auto electrician at Lidcombe before he was transferred to Road Service on 13 February 1984 . When he started with Road Service, he had dual trades tickets.
During his time as a Patrol, Phil has been involved with the Social Club and organised many social activities. Along with his work on the road as a Patrol, Phil also carried out vehicle inspections as part of road service throughout his career. Then about five years ago, Phil became a Patrol Team Leader.
Phil Wilson and his sister sitting on top of his father's patrol van (Image source: supplied)
Phil recalls the strenuous recruitment process of becoming a Patrol, even though he was an internal applicant. In fact, he said, “Not only was I interviewed, but my then-wife was as well. My supervisor came out to the house and asked her how she’d cope with the fixed roster, the lifestyle of a Patrol and what it would mean for the family. I had to be really sure this was what I wanted to do and whether I was going to stay. You couldn’t ask those types of questions today!”
On the early days of his training, Phil recalled, “I was in the training department with five other Patrols when I started. We trained on and off over three months, both in a classroom and on the road. We really got to know each other very well – we trained together, worked together, ate together, socialised together. We bonded so well that there have been friendships that have lasted a lifetime.”
Jack Wilson with his NRMA patrol van (Image source: supplied)
After Phil’s initial training, he spent nine months in the Sydney CBD. “In those days, work was despatched via a two-way radio so you knew where everyone was. It wasn’t uncommon for a group of us to catch up after work in the evenings.” He also said that the best part of the job was that he was helping people – he would much rather get a Member back on the road than have them towed. Case in point – Phil had just completed a job changing the wheel hub on a caravan for a Member who thought they’d need a tow back to Queensland just prior to this interview.
There is also the story of one of the most memorable jobs he attended. Early in his career, Phil was called out to Liverpool to get a Member’s vehicle going during the start of an afternoon shift. The Member told him that the vehicle had already been booked in for a service before it broke down. He said, “The story is funny because this Member was my first job and he was also my last job of the day. At 10:30pm, I attended a Member break down in Kings Cross – lo and behold, it was the very same Member, who decided to drive from Liverpool to Kings Cross, go out to dinner and then organise a jump start for his car so he could drive home. He told me I must get around a lot, since I only saw him that morning, 40kms away.”
Jack Wilson with his NRMA patrol van (Image source: supplied)
When asked why he became a Patrol, Phil talked about it being in his blood. Phil talked fondly about his father, Jack (John) Wilson who was a Patrol for 33 years before him. Jack started as a Patrol in December 1949 (Patrol Numbers were 356 and 498). Phil remembers many an evening growing up with other Patrols and their families visiting his family. Like his son, Jack also ran the social club and organised dances, parties and events for his colleagues and their families. It was also the time when Patrols drove J vans, Morris Minors and Holdens. Phil remembers a really great childhood around many Patrols and their families, so he decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a Patrol.
Phil was also asked what the best part of the job is - he said that had remained unchanged since his father first became a patrol - "it's helping people".
On a more personal note, Phil’s first car was a 1965 white Toyota Corona. His favourite driving music is anything by AC/DC or Chuck Berry.
