Editing Hubert Opperman (section)

==Early life==
Opperman was born on 29 May 1904 in [[Rochester, Victoria]]. He was the eldest of five children born to Bertha (née Reddie) and Adolphus Samuel Ferdinand Oppermann. His parents were both born in Victoria, with his father of German descent.<ref name=adb>{{cite news|url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/opperman-sir-hubert-ferdinand-oppy-28107|title=Opperman, Sir Hubert Ferdinand (Oppy) (1904–1996)|first=Daniel|last=Oakman|year=2020|work=Australian Dictionary of Biography}}</ref>

Opperman's father had worked as a butcher, miner, timber-cutter and coach driver. Hubert, the eldest of five children, learned as a child to plough with six horses and to ride bareback. He attended several schools and delivered Post Office [[telegram]]s by bicycle.<ref name="ReferenceA">Obituary, Daily Telegraph, UK, 20 April 1996</ref>
Some time following Hubert's birth, his parents moved to Western Australia, along with his uncle Albert Oppermann and his father's cousins August, Emil and Hugo Oppermann. (Hubert's grandfather, Otto Friedrich Oppermann, was one of three brothers who migrated to South Australia as miners in the 1850s; two brothers remained in South Australia, while Otto came to Victoria).<ref>WA birth,marriage & death records, Bock/Oppermann family records</ref>
Hubert's sister Winifred was born in Western Australia in 1907; after that the family moved back to Victoria where Hubert's twin siblings Bertha Ellen and Otto Alexander were born in 1910, followed by younger brother Bruce some years later.  Bruce also became a competitive cyclist, and won several regional races in Victoria. It is not known when, or why, Hubert anglicised his surname and dropped one 'n' from its end.<ref>Victorian birth/death records</ref>

Opperman attended schools in [[Baillieston, Victoria|Baillieston]], [[Ten Mile, Victoria|Ten Mile]] and [[Benalla]]. His father enlisted in the Australian Army in World War I and he was sent to live with his paternal grandmother in Melbourne, where he completed his education in [[Glen Iris, Victoria|Glen Iris]]. He left school at the age of 14.<ref name=adb/>