Migrantweb.com Hostels Forum

[Bluebird]

I remember us having one of those jugs with the replaceable element. The school lunches were dried up jam or vegemite sandwiches....that looked as if they'd been frozen and thawed out...we survived!! :)

[Robert (Bob) Taylor]

I remember those crib bags...pretty gross, we made our own sammies from the salads they offered from dining room. Looked forward to Mondays sometimes would get money from my parents and would run to the fish chip and cake shop at Matraville shops and wrestle the other kids to get served.

[middleton]

My wife & I arrived in Sydney in February 1951 via MV Mooltan, we were immediately shipped to an army camp in Bathhurst. In this camp we were treated very badly by ex Australian Army personnel staffing the camp. Most of the British migrants were young ex servicemen as was myself & we stuck up for ourselves, so they very quickly shipped us to Melbourne. My wife & I stuck it out & are still here in Perth. Most migrants I knew in the camps were used to a more comfortable life style, Australia in those days was quite primitive, no night life,etc. There was also a small minority of Australians who were anti- British migrants & not frightened of telling you very vocally-As a consequence the women particularly got very homesick & yearned for home & a more pleasant daily home life among relatives & lifelong friends & just could'nt hack it any more so just went home! Britain wasn't a very pleasant place in the early 1950's with rationing & shortages so maybe a case of jumping out of the frying pan into the fire?
Jack Randles
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Jack Randles

[David Neale]

I returned to the Uk after 4+ years in 1972 when I was 20. It was due to family circumstances. I had every intention of returning to Australia but the situation in the UK turned out to be extended and then life took over.. I joined the British Army as I needed a steady job... By the time I had finished in the Army I was too old to be let back in.
I loved every minute when I was in Australia. I love the people and the country and would still be there today had I had the chance.
I have been back once or twice and it has only re-enforced how much I love the place... I always feel like I'm returning 'home'.....C'est la vie. I'm not going to be let back in now...
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David

[Patrick Kennedy]

My family and I arrived to Cabramatta hostel in May 1964. I recall my mother was very upset re conditions at the hostel (compared to what we had left in London). This passed after time but I think that apart from homesickness and family separation, most families returning in mid to late 1960's did so to evade the possibility of conscription and sevice in Vietnam.

[Bruce]

I remember mum saying there were a lot of people that got talked out of doing the hard yards by others that had been here a while and had made their mind up to return home, full of negativity and made no effort to even explore anything outside the hostel other than work. One guy my dad made friends with on the boat had made his mind up to return more or less as soon as he got here. I think you had to stay for 2 years otherwise you had to repay full fare over and full fare back. It worked out, for some families, that with the money they saved to return, they could have nearly half paid a house off in some area's, something they would never get the chance to do on their return. The 1970's were pretty glum in the UK going by the letters we were getting from relatives. There must have been quite a few that had homesickness overpower any thought of giving it a go, maybe regretting it later
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Maribyrnong hostel 66-67, Maribyrnong state school 66-71

[chris whalley]