A long-forgotten, handwritten travel diary belonging to the pioneering mayor known as “Mr Gold Coast’ has revealed a historic link to the second ever Commonwealth Games held in London in 1934.

Written for his family when Sir Bruce was 38 years old, the 300-plus page diary reveals the man affectionately known as ‘the father of the city’ attended the opening ceremony and a host of events at the headline-making London Games.

FLASHBACK: SIR BRUCE SMALL’S BLIND DATE

First held in Canada in 1930, the Commonwealth Games were known as the British Empire Games at the time.

Sir Bruce’s link to the London event was discovered in February — 38 years since his death in 1980 — when the well-preserved diary was read and transcribed for the first time by Gold Coast journalist Rachel Syers.

Ms Syers has spent the past four years painstakingly researching Sir Bruce’s life for his official biography.

“The timing of unlocking this diary’s secrets just a few weeks before the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games is uncanny, because everybody who knew Sir Bruce and his passion for sport would know just how proud he would be to see the Games happening here on his beloved Gold Coast under a world spotlight,” Ms Syers said.

“He tirelessly promoted the Gold Coast around Australia and across the globe and left a lasting legacy for the city, so it seems very fitting to now share this long-lost connection to the Games from 84 years ago.

“The diary is an absolute treasure trove into another era all through Sir Bruce’s own eyes and to unearth it just before the Gold Coast Games begin is really exciting.”

Sir Bruce’s granddaughter Dr Anne Small, who lives in Melbourne, commissioned Ms Syers to write Sir Bruce’s official biography.

Due for release later this year, the biography’s foreword is being penned by former Queensland Premier and MP for Surfers Paradise Rob Borbidge AO — the current Chairman of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Legacy Committee.

REMEMBER WHEN: SIR BRUCE SMALL

The diary was found among mementos and news clippings from Sir Bruce’s private collection passed on to the Gold Coast and Hinterland Historical Society Museum for its 2016 Sir Bruce Small Exhibition but had not been read until Ms Syers opened it in February as part of her research.

Renowned for his Gold Coast canal developments and the ‘bikini girl’ promo tours that helped save the city’s tourism industry after severe beach erosion in 1967, Sir Bruce was a three-time Gold Coast mayor and two-time State member for Surfers Paradise.

The millionaire businessman was the owner of Malvern Star and Australian cyclist Sir Hubert ‘Oppy’ Opperman’s manager when he documented his world trip by passenger ship in the diary.

The document reveals Sir Bruce’s stopovers on his way to meet Oppy in Paris included Arabia, Africa, Europe, the Pacific Islands and London, where he attended the 2nd British Empire Games at the White City Stadium and Wembley Pool.

The diary offers descriptive insights into the 1934 Games — from staying at the same hotel as the Australian team to the thrill of seeing an Australian triple jumper win gold.

Sir Bruce writes about Australian gold medallists Jack Metcalfe (triple jump), Clare Dennis (breaststroke), Noel Ryan (the 440 yard freestyle and 1500 yard freestyle) and Dick Garrard (lightweight wrestling) and silver medallist Lesley Thompson (3m springboard, 10m platform diving).

“Reading this travel diary is almost like sitting next to Sir Bruce at the 1934 opening ceremony, where he is in awe of seeing the athletes from different nations march in with their flags and colourful uniforms,” Ms Syers said.

“It’s also quite entertaining. Sir Bruce details everything — from how the restaurant was so bad at the Australian team’s hotel he had to eat up the road every morning to the clever layout of the Wembley Pool, where he witnessed a cruel blow which became an international controversy when judges’ scores were mixed up, causing an Australian diver to miss an expected gold medal.

“It was such an honour being able to read his personal words from a lifetime ago, when airconditioning on trains was a novelty, Japanese destroyers were anchored next to British warships in the safe harbour of Malta pre-World War II and tourists were still allowed to climb the Great Pyramid in Cairo — all of which Sir Bruce wrote about.”

Ms Syers finally opened the diary in February after conducting more than 70 interviews with old friends and colleagues and sorting through thousands of articles, documents and photos.

ICONS GATHER TO REMEMBER SIR BRUCE SMALL

“I wrongly suspected it was his wife Lillian’s, so I wasn’t sure how relevant it would be to the book, and I knew it would be a task to decipher the flowing, old-fashioned handwriting,” she said.

“When I finally began working my way through it and discovered his tales from the Games, I forwarded that section to Rob Borbidge straight away, who told me he found it fascinating reading.

“I agreed, and realised I’d have to include highlights of Sir Bruce’s 1934 trip as an entirely new chapter of the book, so as to give his diary the airing it deserves.”

DIARY EXCERPTS

Entries from Sir Bruce Small’s travel diary about his trip to the 1934 British Empire Games in London include:

The march past of the teams from the 16 represented colonies ‘twas a sight for the gods. Headed by the massed bands of the guards in their brilliant uniforms of scarlet and gold and the headgear of huge beauty, they were a godly sight and the music was likewise a treat.

650 athletes marched around the arena each headed by their colours and it was truly a sight — to inspire pride of Empire in the hearts of that mother English crowds. The White City provided both cover and comfortable seating accommodation for 60,000 people and a good view can be had from any part. The program was interesting and became the more so when Jack Metcalfe won the hop step jump breaking the English and British records. From a finish there at 6.45pm and to the Wembley Pool at 7.30 left nothing for eating but we made it — in nice time to view the march past of the swimmers and divers and the very fine program which followed and all of course part of the Empire Games.

Clare Dennis demonstrated that she is still the champion and a British record crashed when she swam the fastest 100 yds breaststroke. Noel Ryan’s colours were downed by Canadian Pirie but he yet has the final in which to retrieve. Likewise Miss Lesley Thompson could only register a second in the diving — although public opinion definitely placed her first and in addition, if actually checked, the points allotted by the judges to her then totalled up in her favour. Inquiry afterwards is brought — from the officials an admission that they were muddled as to the actual points scored but the damage was done.

This Wembley pool is a gorgeous affair housed as it is in a building which covers 2 acres and seats comfortably and with a perfect view some 6000 people. The pool is 200 feet long by 60 feet wide and there is not a post or obstruction of any sense in the whole building. Surely the very sight of such modern construction is educational in itself. A game of water polo brought the opening to a close and Aussie having been sent a full story of the days sport.

Bill and I were glad to return to the Hotel today — at Lancaster Gate — near the Marble Arch and crawl into our bunks. We had elected to stay at the hotel named because tis here the Aussie team is housed — but what a dump of a place it is. The room’s reasonably good but the dining and room service disgusting. That a team of athletes in preparation for Empire championship competitions should be treated in such fashion is to my mind a real shame. Yesterday breakfast found us in the dining room and the dirty table linen and silver (if any) created the first sensation in our minds but when the various table implements brought to us showed signs of the previous user — then I expressed my disapproval in terms terse and emphatic.