Hello Members, On our recent journey to Queensland, we passed through some very interesting towns. We stopped at Cowra in NSW and were amazed at the history of the Prison breakout in 1944. Some 400 Japanese POW’s escaped resulting in 235 deaths.
It reminded me of when I was young, 2 Italian boys arrived on our farm. Mario and Bill had come to Australia in 1941 in search of adventure!! War broke out and all the Italians were rounded up and interned in camps and in their case it was Tatura in Victoria. After the war they were released to work on farms and other industries. So, Mario and Bill had been sent to us. They were set up in a cottage which was on the property and they helped with the farm work in return for meals and washing.
One boy was a bit lazy but the other was very good with his hands and made items of metal work into kitchen utensils for my mother. She in return was very kind to them and made them extra cakes and biscuits and gave them other little luxuries. They stayed for about 18 months and I am not sure what happened after that. We were led to believe that they returned to Italy. I am also not sure of what they thought of their adventure.
Thought for the month: The Master’s eye is the best fertiliser
Geraldine McGann President 2 September 2022
