TOWNSVILLE engineer and author Colin Hooper has a deep and abiding interest in mining history and has written the best-selling Angor to Zillmanton and more recently North Queensland’s Deserted Towns Chillagoe-Hodgkinson.
No surprise then that when the producers of Beneath Hill 60 wanted someone to help design their World War I trenches they sought Col’s advice. His job was to ensure the trenches met Workplace Health and Safety requirements and at the same time looked like World War I trenches.
He said the ground was ”as dry as chips” and that huge amounts of water had to be brought in to turn the ground into mud so the trenches looked like the real deal. The danger was that the walls could collapse in on the actors. Col’s job was to ensure that such a catastrophe didn’t happen.
