I sat with Lester and Gloria in their home in Goonellabah to hear his story. It was a hard one to edit as I really didn’t want to leave anything out. Their home was vibrant and colourful. Flowers and art everywhere and so much love for each other. Gloria wouldn’t let me photograph her but she looked at least 10 years younger with a quick wit and so much style. I loved my time with these two gems.
Lester (Part one of two) –
“I was born in 1925 in Dalby QLD. That was a while back. I went to school there and started living with my Grandmother in Brisbane because my parents lived 30 mile from the school. My cousin was teaching me to play piano but I was much more interested in watching the boys playing football outside. I remember going to church with my Grandmother and one morning we had an argument as I didn’t want to go. We got to church and at the steps I put my hand up to take my little hat off and I felt this sharp umbrella up the back of my neck pushing my hat off. The donation plate came around and the Grandmother gave me a coin to put in. I said, that’s between the 2 of us so I got another lecture outside. My Grandfather died and then 18 months later my Grandmother passed away so home I went. I was about 10.
It was really hard because we were 10 mile from a railway station and no mail run. Dad had cattle and worked cutting scrub and ringbarking. My folks knew I had to go to school and I had to work through all my schooling. Because we were 30 mile from the school they sent me to live with this couple, Thelma and Doug on a dairy farm. They didn’t have any children of their own. I had to ride a horse to school. My day would start at 4am milking the cows then I’d ride to school and have homework at night. I only had a kerosene lamp to do my homework by and at 9pm she would come and blow it out. Because I had so many chores after school I would only start my homework at 8pm. I used to gallop along and learn some of my work on the way to school.
They were pretty restricted with blankets so they would go to a neighbours 5 miles away to play cards but before they left they would take my blanket off my bed so they could cover their legs in the buggy. I had to wait till they got home, even in winter to get my blanket back. When I milked the cows at 4am, I’d go out into the scrub which was dry and the grass was so long. I’d have to go find the cows to bring them in. There’d be ice on the ground from heavy frost so I would stand in cow dung to keep my feet warm.
At the end of my school day if the horse was hard to catch and I was 10 minutes late I’d get blown up for being late. In the afternoon after milking I would be sent across to the reserve to chop trees down. They used to boil pumpkins in 44 gallon drums so I had to chop the pumpkins, cart the water in buckets from the creek, drag the wood over to put under the drums. My parents didn’t know how hard it was. I wouldn’t squeal on them..what could they do? I thought about it and I had to get an education.
My mate Milton Wright had a birthday so I went home after school and asked Thelma if I could go to his party at 12 o’clock. It was only 3 miles away. She said- You won’t get back for 3 o’clock milking. I said I would. She said to go and ask Doug. He said – Whatever Thelma says goes. I was wild and upset so I said…I’m going home. She said – You can’t go home, you have no way of getting there. I said, I have 2 legs and away I went. I worried that he’d catch me on the pony so I went on the other side of the fence. I got to old Jim Brown’s fence and went another ways down to Jack’s house and asked to loan a horse. He said – Throw the saddle on whichever one you like. Away I went, across the creek and got home. I told Mum that Mrs McKee said if ever I needed somewhere to live that I could go live with her and her son Keithy who was the same age as me Keithy’s Dad, old Fred was always on the Rum so he did nothing. On the Sunday morning I got up and went to see Mrs McKee. She welcomed me so I took Jack’s horse back and by the Monday I went to stay with them. Mrs McKee was a lovely lady. Keithy and I did all the milking. Old Fred would catch wild horses and bring them back then get on the rum.
Keithy and I started smoking. We got a tin of Log Cabin and a tin of Pine-cut and some Tally-Ho’s. We hid it in a hollow log. The bush fire came and burnt the log so I never smoked since. One arvo we were galloping home, swam across the creek to pick up the cows. There was a great big black Poll Steer with the cows. We took the cows home and milked them and Keithy said – Let’s go and put that steer in the crusher and put the saddle on him. We put the Bullock in the Crusher and Keithy saddled him up. He wanted the first ride. I swung the gate open and it galloped straight over the fence, Keithy went flying and the steer ran back out amongst the cows. We had to catch a horse to get the saddle back. By this time the saddle is underneath the beast and all the stuffing and packing was hanging out of the saddle. We had to put the saddle back on the fence. We made an excuse that a young horse did it. Fred came home full of rum and we told him the story. He didn’t care less because he was on the rum and we’d been worried sick.
I left school at 14 and my first job was cutting scrub down from early Monday morning till late Saturday arvo for 10 shillings a week. A had an older brother, a younger sister and younger brother. There was a massive bushfire that burnt well over 36,000 acres so my brother and I had to go on the road with the cattle. There was a lot of cows with calves so Dad had to go on the road to get hay to feed them. The cows were starving and he had to cart hay from miles and miles away. We took the stock way up through QLD where there were storms so there was good feed. That’s how we lived then.
When I was 17 they called us up. This was during the war. They put us all on a big American boat that came to Brisbane. They got 3,000 of us young boys and sent us north on an island off New Guinea. There were barges loaded with black barbed wire that came from America. We had to get in the water and lay that barbed wire to stop the Japanese from coming onto the island. It’s a wonder we weren’t eaten by sharks. There were 200 boys put onto a small island further on and all they had was one machine gun which they had to fire all night long to make noise. By the morning all the palm leaves on the trees were gone. There were 200 on that island and then the air troopers dropped in. None of those boys got out. There were 200 and they’re still there. They were all shot.”
Lester (Part one of two) –
“I was born in 1925 in Dalby QLD. That was a while back. I went to school there and started living with my Grandmother in Brisbane because my parents lived 30 mile from the school. My cousin was teaching me to play piano but I was much more interested in watching the boys playing football outside. I remember going to church with my Grandmother and one morning we had an argument as I didn’t want to go. We got to church and at the steps I put my hand up to take my little hat off and I felt this sharp umbrella up the back of my neck pushing my hat off. The donation plate came around and the Grandmother gave me a coin to put in. I said, that’s between the 2 of us so I got another lecture outside. My Grandfather died and then 18 months later my Grandmother passed away so home I went. I was about 10.
It was really hard because we were 10 mile from a railway station and no mail run. Dad had cattle and worked cutting scrub and ringbarking. My folks knew I had to go to school and I had to work through all my schooling. Because we were 30 mile from the school they sent me to live with this couple, Thelma and Doug on a dairy farm. They didn’t have any children of their own. I had to ride a horse to school. My day would start at 4am milking the cows then I’d ride to school and have homework at night. I only had a kerosene lamp to do my homework by and at 9pm she would come and blow it out. Because I had so many chores after school I would only start my homework at 8pm. I used to gallop along and learn some of my work on the way to school.
They were pretty restricted with blankets so they would go to a neighbours 5 miles away to play cards but before they left they would take my blanket off my bed so they could cover their legs in the buggy. I had to wait till they got home, even in winter to get my blanket back. When I milked the cows at 4am, I’d go out into the scrub which was dry and the grass was so long. I’d have to go find the cows to bring them in. There’d be ice on the ground from heavy frost so I would stand in cow dung to keep my feet warm.
At the end of my school day if the horse was hard to catch and I was 10 minutes late I’d get blown up for being late. In the afternoon after milking I would be sent across to the reserve to chop trees down. They used to boil pumpkins in 44 gallon drums so I had to chop the pumpkins, cart the water in buckets from the creek, drag the wood over to put under the drums. My parents didn’t know how hard it was. I wouldn’t squeal on them..what could they do? I thought about it and I had to get an education.
My mate Milton Wright had a birthday so I went home after school and asked Thelma if I could go to his party at 12 o’clock. It was only 3 miles away. She said- You won’t get back for 3 o’clock milking. I said I would. She said to go and ask Doug. He said – Whatever Thelma says goes. I was wild and upset so I said…I’m going home. She said – You can’t go home, you have no way of getting there. I said, I have 2 legs and away I went. I worried that he’d catch me on the pony so I went on the other side of the fence. I got to old Jim Brown’s fence and went another ways down to Jack’s house and asked to loan a horse. He said – Throw the saddle on whichever one you like. Away I went, across the creek and got home. I told Mum that Mrs McKee said if ever I needed somewhere to live that I could go live with her and her son Keithy who was the same age as me Keithy’s Dad, old Fred was always on the Rum so he did nothing. On the Sunday morning I got up and went to see Mrs McKee. She welcomed me so I took Jack’s horse back and by the Monday I went to stay with them. Mrs McKee was a lovely lady. Keithy and I did all the milking. Old Fred would catch wild horses and bring them back then get on the rum.
Keithy and I started smoking. We got a tin of Log Cabin and a tin of Pine-cut and some Tally-Ho’s. We hid it in a hollow log. The bush fire came and burnt the log so I never smoked since. One arvo we were galloping home, swam across the creek to pick up the cows. There was a great big black Poll Steer with the cows. We took the cows home and milked them and Keithy said – Let’s go and put that steer in the crusher and put the saddle on him. We put the Bullock in the Crusher and Keithy saddled him up. He wanted the first ride. I swung the gate open and it galloped straight over the fence, Keithy went flying and the steer ran back out amongst the cows. We had to catch a horse to get the saddle back. By this time the saddle is underneath the beast and all the stuffing and packing was hanging out of the saddle. We had to put the saddle back on the fence. We made an excuse that a young horse did it. Fred came home full of rum and we told him the story. He didn’t care less because he was on the rum and we’d been worried sick.
I left school at 14 and my first job was cutting scrub down from early Monday morning till late Saturday arvo for 10 shillings a week. A had an older brother, a younger sister and younger brother. There was a massive bushfire that burnt well over 36,000 acres so my brother and I had to go on the road with the cattle. There was a lot of cows with calves so Dad had to go on the road to get hay to feed them. The cows were starving and he had to cart hay from miles and miles away. We took the stock way up through QLD where there were storms so there was good feed. That’s how we lived then.
When I was 17 they called us up. This was during the war. They put us all on a big American boat that came to Brisbane. They got 3,000 of us young boys and sent us north on an island off New Guinea. There were barges loaded with black barbed wire that came from America. We had to get in the water and lay that barbed wire to stop the Japanese from coming onto the island. It’s a wonder we weren’t eaten by sharks. There were 200 boys put onto a small island further on and all they had was one machine gun which they had to fire all night long to make noise. By the morning all the palm leaves on the trees were gone. There were 200 on that island and then the air troopers dropped in. None of those boys got out. There were 200 and they’re still there. They were all shot.”