1 - Royal Australian Air Force Base, Darwin, Australia, 8 August 1965
“Stuart!!” Jennifer yelled her son’s name as she jumped out of her seat to pull him away from danger. The soldier was holding his semi-automatic rifle between the boy and the security door. “I told you to sit down,” she said firmly.
They had been sitting in the gate waiting area at the Darwin Royal Australian Airforce Base for nearly an hour waiting for the plane to be refuelled, and the boys were extremely bored and tired. Stuart had decided to go exploring until the RAAF Guardsman put a sudden end to his curiosity. This was the sixth stop on the family’s journey from England which had begun about 26 hours before. It was now close to midnight at Darwin’s combined International Airport and Air Force Base.
Keith and Jennifer Roberts and their four children Stuart (9), Colyn (7), Andrew (2), and Julie (1) still had over 17 hours to go before they could reach their destination and their new life in New Zealand
2 – The Seed is Sown
To understand the full journey the Roberts family had taken, we need to go right back to the beginning. In this case to Keith’s demob day on 6 February 1959. Keith had completed his 2 years of national service within the Royal Air Force and he was sitting in the RAF Doctor’s office where he was about to receive his signed release papers.
“What job will you go to next?” the Doctor asked.
“Back to Linotype Machinery.” Keith was a bit surprised at the question as he hadn’t really thought of not going back. He had completed his apprenticeship before entering the RAF so his old job as a Print Machine Mechanic was held open for him.
“Have you thought of joining the Canadian Air Force? You know they pay well. Probably about 3 times what you’re earning now.”
“I don’t think it’s for me,” replied Keith. “I’ve got a wife and two young boys at home.”
“You know they’ll pay for the whole family to emigrate and they’ll put you up until you get settled.”
“I’ll be fine. My father in law is not well. No, I’ll be fine.” Keith was saying the words but deep down the seed was now sown that would see him leave England within six years.
3 – Friday Night Fish and Chips
Keith returned to Linotype Machinery but only for about a year until the middle of 1960. Between 1960 and 1962 he worked for the aircraft manufacturer Avro in Woodford, and later Chadderton as an Aviation Mechanic. From 1962 he worked for Ferranti International, an electrical engineering and instrumentation company.
Jennifer’s mum Emily died in April 1960 and then 3 years later, in March 1963, Keith’s father Bob also died.
In mid-1964 Jennifer’s father Joe became ill again and needed more care. Joe and the family all lived in the small semi-detached 3-bedroom council house in Wythenshawe Road, Sale, Cheshire.
In September 1964, after a month in hospital, Joe also passed away. With Keith’s mum Margaret still very active and living in her own home, Keith and Jennifer now had no ties to force them to stay in England.
Every Friday evening throughout the 1960s Keith would walk down the road to the Sale village Fish and Chip shop on his night to cook. Each time he’d place the order and sit down to wait. The walls were generally bare apart from a calendar with a single scenic picture of a distant exotic place. On a few occasions Keith had looked at the calendar more closely and noticed that each month the location of the photograph was of somewhere in New Zealand.
England was becoming more and more industrial and urban and the images of an untouched paradise at the other end of the earth grew on him immensely. He imagined himself visiting such places but put it to the back of his mind when the chips arrived.
Each year a new calendar was put on the wall and
Impressum
Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG
Texte: Andrew Roberts
Bildmaterialien: Andrew Roberts
Lektorat: Professor Martin East (first edition only)
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 12.07.2020
ISBN: 978-3-7487-4950-9
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Dedicated to Jennifer Roberts (1936-1998)