Alan Watson can still deliver every word of Labor Conquers All, the Shepparton High School song he learned in the late 1940s, in a strong singing voice.

“Memory is a funny thing,” Alan said.

“Some things stay with you from 80 years ago, because they mattered.”

Alan and his twin brother, Bill, have vivid memories of Shepparton High School, attending the schoolhouse that still stands in Hawdon St and the trades campus that used to be in Fryers St.

The school laid the foundations for Alan’s career and Bill’s eventual calling.

Though not identical twins, what they share is rare and special.

Alan has been married for 58 years, Bill 57.

Each has four children and they enjoy their many grandchildren.

In November, they will celebrate their 90th birthday together, with Bill visiting from Queensland with his wife, Wilma, to be with his brother, Alan, and his wife, Jan.

Recalling their school days, Alan and Bill recounted themes of a town where everyone knew everyone, and every young person went everywhere by pushbike.

The family had an orchard near where the Overlander Hotel now sits, but eventually settled in a home near the corner of Archer and Vaughan Sts.

“It was only a two-bedroom house and with our older brother, Eric, we were a family of five,” Bill said.

“So Dad bought a retired electric tram from Melbourne when the war ended and fitted it to be a sleep-out.

“So we slept in Tram Number 99; that was a special memory.”

Both Bill and Alan recalled enjoying free fruit when cycling by the Shepparton Preserving Company on their way to school.

“There were these trucks being filled to the top with pears,” Alan said.

“We’d go past there, riding with no hands, and the blokes would invariably toss us some.

“On a 100-degree day, have you ever tasted a Williams pear fresh out of the cool room? Really fresh and icy cold. I tell you what, that’s a dream.”

Bill recalls sliced peaches as the treat of choice on the bicycle ride to Shepp High.

“We’d ride along next to SPC and stop where the peaches were going through the peach slicing machine,” he said.

“You just put your cupped hands under the machine slicer, and they’d fill up with nice, fresh, beautiful peaches before they got into the tins.”

In terms of high-school performance, both brothers readily agree that Bill was the superior student.

“I couldn’t settle down to schooling,” Alan said.

“Bill, he settled down and he got good results.”

Bill remembers the day he had an algebra test and was singled out by a senior teacher.

“He called out ‘Bill Watson’ and said, ‘This is the first time in my career I have found somebody to get full marks for an algebra test,’” Bill said.

“Wow. That was pretty special, and it’s stayed with me.”

Bill also recalls a not-so-good memory when he was mistaken for his brother.

He says students were allowed a swim at Victoria Park Lake as a privilege for doing well in class.

“So one day this teacher absolutely lambasted me for being there, until we could convince him I wasn’t Alan,” Bill said.

Yet it was Alan who became a diligent student and teacher in later years.

Persevering with his education via trades training, he became an instructor with the Postmaster General’s Department in the technical aspects of maintaining Victoria’s telephone network.

“I taught telephony – I know that’s a pretty old-fashioned word now,” Alan said.

Alan said it was in this role he gained a wider appreciation for education, but that learning bug was first instilled at high school, despite poor grades resulting in him repeating a year.

“I had this Shepp High teacher, I can’t remember his name, but he was a nice guy,” Alan said.

“He used to try and teach these so-called ‘tech people’ the finer points of English and to appreciate poems and ballads.

“I followed up my English studies in Melbourne and ended up passing with flying colours.”

Bill also initially followed a trades path, becoming an electrician after an apprenticeship starting from his final year at Shepparton High School in 1951.

After eight years in the trade, Bill followed a calling that took him to Adelaide Bible Institute, where he trained in linguistics, and eventually spent 15 years working as a missionary in Ethiopia.

Bill and Wilma, a trained nurse, delivered learning, medical and pastoral care and thousands of hours of hard work collaborating with the Sudan Special Mission.

Today, they remain full-time pastoral carers and do not ever expect to retire.

“So many people are hurting emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually, and that’s what we help with in pastoral care within the church,” they said.

Older brother Eric, who has passed on, was never as close to the twins.

One reason was discovered by Alan much later in life and led to a reconciliation.

“We were in our 80s when he told me how I took our mother away from him,” Alan said.

“I had a heart murmur and was born yellow and jaundiced and spent my first four months in hospital with Mum, so I guess I did.”

The twins mark their 90th birthday in November, with Bill and Wilma travelling to Melbourne to be with Alan and Jan.

The brothers ended up in big cities to be closer to their children, but still regard themselves as boys from Shepparton.

You can bet peaches and pears will play a part in celebrations.

Listen to Alan singing the school song in the video below:

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Wednesday, 12th January 2028

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