I was resting in an express train seat with my heart jumping up and down, my mind red hot for the enormousness of what I was doing. I though all this was against my character of being calm and easy going, but there no other choice for me. I could not go back with no hope of a job in my little town. I had to take this chance even if they send me back. I wanted to settle down, do my day’s work and rest in my little home with my family. My mother came in a vision in front of me which made me think maybe I was not going to embrace her any more. I felt a strong pain in my heart that brought tears to my eyes.

After three hours of travelling, I arrived at the station and from here a taxi took me to Joe’s address. He was at home and after I explained to him all that had happened, a smile came over his face. “I thought that I had lost you”, he said. “And I am happy for you. But in few days the immigration police will come and you better think of some good reasons why you have deserted your ship. A good reason that I’ve heard works is to tell them that the communists will kill you if you are sent back, and that you do like Australia very much.”

The next day he took me where he was working and after seeing the boss I started working next day. I was paid ten pounds sterling per week, easy as that, stacking dressed building timber onto racks.

One evening three days later, two young men came to Joe’s home from the immigration office. After talking to Joe they came to me, asking all sorts of questions and writing down things on a pad. They asked for documents, identification and reason for staying, my home address in Italy and the Navy head office address in Rome. I knew they were going to check up on all the information, but I had nothing to fear from this. Then they said, “Stay at this address and we will come back. Do not cause any trouble, and stay sober. See you later.” and they were gone. Two weeks passed then an immigration officer came and I had to sign some papers. He gave me an identity card and said “You’ll be all right mate!”

I stayed at Joe’s for two months and then one of his relatives came from Yugoslavia and I had to leave. I found temporary accommodation at a Salvation Army hostel nearby for free. They accommodated me in a dormitory which made me feel like I was back in the Navy again with all the old guys lost to the human race. At 8. 00 hours it was breakfast, then I shaved and had a wash, then perform some cleaning duties and go to work. I didn’t mind because I knew that all this was temporary anyway.

One evening I went into town to see a film and when I came back at around ten o’clock I found the place locked. What is this!? I thought. What am I going to do now? I started to knock on the door but nothing happened. Then I had a bright idea to go through the back, but the gates were locked. I managed with difficulty to climb over the top of the gates and after throwing a little stone to our window one of the guys came to open the door for me. I found out the hard way that at 21.00 hours they locked up the place.

I wrote a letter to Sam Sesto in Melbourne, my old mate since the navy days in Taranto, telling him that I was in Newcastle I would go to Melbourne if I could find a job there. I got a letter from my mother saying that she was sick and my brother was living with in her house with his family. She said she had received the money owing to me from the shipping Company. Then after a while Sam wrote back, saying that there was no problem finding work in Melbourne, so after a short stay in the hostel I decided to go to Melbourne.

As soon as I was ready and said goodbye to Joe I was on my way to the station and on a train bound for Melbourne. Now I find myself going back the way I had come just a few months ago. This time I felt at ease and relaxed, knowing I was following a future. I arrived at Sydney Railway Station where I went out to buy some food and a drink. About half hour later the train started moving again toward Victoria.

On this trip I had the opportunity to see the greatness of the country. It was not like Italy where there are so many towns close to one another on your travels. It took all day before I could see Melbourne’s skyscrapers, and I knew then that it would not be long to the terminus. Half an hour later we stopped at Spencer Street station and from there a tram took me to Richmond, ten minutes away. I found the address easily enough and being a Saturday Sam and Frank were at home. It was a very heart-warming meeting. We hadn’t seen each other for a very long time and here we were meeting again in a very far away country. Sam and Frank arranged with the landlord to rent me a room in the house, which was convenient.

We talked for a while about the past and the time at Marina depot in Taranto during the war. After tea we went out for a walk along Bridge Road full of shops and pubs and we had a beer then walked home again. Then I went in my room to organize my things and soon after I was fast asleep.

In the morning Sam told me he would take me to where he was working and organise a job for me. We took a tram to Flinders Street station and then we boarded a train to Port Melbourne. I must say that I would have been lost on my own. Trams, trains, and cars were full of people going to work at that time of the morning like I’d never seen before.

Sam already had told me what sort of a job we were going to do, “Putting together Morris Minor cars imported from England” he said. The Morris was very popular on the market in Australia at that time. When we arrived he went into the office and ten minutes later he came out with a pair of overalls and a box of tools. I followed Sam all day, learning on the job. He fitted the car backlights and told me to do the same. “Tomorrow,” he said, “we will work on the front lights, and then on mud guards, doors, and so on.” A few weeks later I found out that Sam had been given bonus money for bringing in another worker.

Australia was altogether different to Italy and it seems that I have so far been writing all along in this memoir what I’d been through to get a job in my native country.

Every Tuesday we got paid and I found in my envelope ten pounds sterling. One sterling was twenty shillings; with two shillings you could buy a loaf of bread. And my room would cost me one pound sterling a week; one could save up by being careful.

Saturday mornings we would go to the North Melbourne Market, the biggest in the city, where they sold fruit, veggies, clothes, and all sorts of cheese, salami and the rest. Paseani and I would meet to talk about home in Italy and other news. It was here that I met Antonio Murone, the Aloe brothers and others while having a glass of beer. We talked of so many things and of our destiny in this very far way land.

Sam and I kept each other company going to the cinema, to a soccer game and other places. When we came home from work we had it all worked out. If there was mail for me, Sam would start cooking spaghetti and beans from a can, while I read my mail. Then I would prepare the table and afterwards it was my turn to help by washing the dishes.

If we went to a cinema we would pay in turn, or to a pub for a beer, we’d do the same. This way the relationship went along so smoothly his brother would hardly ever stick with us.

At work now I was able to do jobs on cars on my own and I was given more difficult jobs every day. I gained new skills that in future would come in handy to fix my own car. I was trying to save as much money as I could while still sending some money to my Mother. In the bottom of my heart I knew that I would not embrace her again.

We worked at the Morris Minor plant for about a year, but because was a long way from home we started looking for a job nearby. We found new jobs at a big plant factory only walking distance from our home. There they were putting together big land moving machines. The days were long gone that with a pick and shovel we had to dig every hole in the ground by hand. With us was working another paesan, a bit of a joker who would keep us laughing all day long. Working on these big machines was a bit dangerous and we had to be on the alert all the time.

Sam, in this period was courting our landlord’s daughter and was head over hills in love with her and now was living in a dream world. In the meantime Frank’s wife and daughter arrived from Italy and left us so the trio broke up. But we kept working at the factory for a while longer.

At the Melbourne market one Saturday I met Michele de Luca, a friend since we were kids, living round the corner from each other at Sambiase. Imagine the surprise to meet after so many years. Michele was sharing a home with other Paseani and while having a beer we talked about the old times.

My brother wanted to come in Australia so I had to sign some papers for him at the Emigration Office and then save the money to pay for his ticket to come here, nearly two hundred pounds. At the factory we have been asked to work overtime which was good timing as I needed to save for my brother’s trip. In this period I was also attending a night school for migrants to learn the English language which was organized by the Australian Government.

On those trips to the Market on Saturday I would see Michlele and other paseani. This way we would stay in contact for news from our hometown in Italy. Michael told me that soon he would call his wife and three daughters to Australia to live with him. He showed me their photos together with his sister-in-law Tina who was living with them. Tina was engaged to a Navy Sergeant from Sardinia who during the war had been on board the Montecuccoli while I was there. But I didn’t know him as I was a ‘motorist’ lodged near the engines rooms below.

One day I got a letter from my mother which was not very pleasant telling me that she was not well. This made me very sad. It was now winter and it rained often, but was never too cold. To go to work in the morning was only ten minutes by tram along Bridge Road and in the factory we had gas heaters so it was warm.

I had come to a point in my life now that was not enough to go to work in the morning and back home, cook and wash dishes. I had become like a bird, flying round the world looking for a place to settle down and form a nest for its own family. Most paseani that I knew were waiting for their wives or girlfriends to come. In my case, ever since I could remember I had been just fighting to survive, to better myself, to get out from Sambiase, a town of no hope. Now to marry a woman in a foreign country, was too scary to consider. In those days you had to marry ‘blind-folded’ with somebody that you knew nothing about and might regret it for the rest of your life. In our little paese everyone knew each other’s life story so you could never escape the observations of the entire community.  I had to go very slowly in this next step I was going to take, which is why I was courting the idea of Michael’s sister-in-law Tina. We were similar in many aspects and she was from a good family. She had lost her father while very young and her mother, with four daughters, had to remarry to survive. Every time I met Michael I got more and more involved with this idea. Eventually I asked him to mention my intentions toward Tina in one of his letters to his wife, and slowly events took shape.

During this time Sam Sesto with his fiancé now pregnant had gone to live in Robynvale not far from Mildura and I was left on my own, still working at the same factory.

One Saturday I decided to go to the market to buy fruit and veggies and to meet Michael for some news. When I got there, he was waiting near Chiodo’s store and while sipping a cappuccino he gave me the good news that Tina had said yes to my proposition and now was up to me to write her a letter.

Now that I think about it when I was on leave from the Navy days I had seen her at the Church and at the Cinema many times where it was possible to see some of the town’s eligible young women. She was in the company of her younger stepsister Yolanda and I had been impressed by her beauty and sweet smile. When I had a relaxed moment I wrote her a romantic letter, which she answered in the same way and so my romance with the mother of my seven children started.

I wrote to my brother in Italy and asked him to get the process started for the wedding documents. These had to be done by proxy and he had to go to the church in my place. Because my brother had to work during the day to support his family I wrote to my cousin Gennaro who had plenty of time on his hands, and asked him to look after the necessary documents. The whole case was now in full swing and I started looking for a new place to live. I found a big house in Hawthorn not very far from where I was living, with a nice big main room and a kitchenette where a few other people were renting too. There was Tom from Holland waiting for his wife, and some of the owner’s relatives.

Michael’s brother Dominic arrived and they left our house to rent a house near the market, big enough to accommodate his family when they also arrived.

The owner of the factory where I worked told us they were building a new factory half an hour away by car in a new part of town. In six month’s they would move to the new premises but we would all be welcome to work there. Sam chose to look for a new and different job and I wanted to try something else too, so the closeness that we’d had since I arrived would soon end.

With Tom “the Dutchman” was born a friendly relationship trying to help one another with some painting work he had to do before the arrival of his wife. Tom was working in the City in a small workshop, making all sorts of orthopaedic aids for disabled patients at the front wing of the Queen Victoria Hospital. When I told him my present job would soon finish, he asked his lady boss to give me a job and he would show me what to do. I have to say here now, after so many years of not being in touch with Tom, I’d lost all traces of him. He was such a dear friend. It was Tom who gave me a start in the orthopaedic profession, and it was this introduction which became the turning point of my life in Australia. Later on I was able to get an important position in the Repatriation Department of Australia.

Tom’s wife Anne arrived from Holland a month later. She was a nice blonde with an easy smile and we had a small party for the occasion. Soon after, Tom bought a ‘combie van’ for his domestic use that came handy for me too on some occasions.

Now I was getting more skilled in my profession and liked it very much, giving me the opportunity of making aids for disabled persons.

Michael’s Family was on their way to Australia now and Tina sent a little present for me. Now we were exchanging romantic letters regularly and my cousin Gennaro was doing his best to organize things for the wedding. Already he had seen Don Bruno the church priest. My mother wrote that she was happy and liked Tina very much, but she had hoped for a different wedding for me – a proper walk to the altar. But this was not possible any more unless I took an airplane, with thousands of dollars to throw away.

A few weeks later I received an important letter notifying me that Tina Roberto was now my wife, so with Michael and his family we celebrated in Melbourne with a small party. In Sambiase they did the same and Tina went to live in my house until she the time would come for her to come to Australia.

The landlady of our house in Hawthorn was not happy that so many wives were arriving to live in her house. Eventually babies would be born and it would be difficult for her to send us away.

One day Michael’s family arrived from Italy so I took a day off work to help off the ship Achilles Lauro. In those days this was a usual event. Ships arriving full of migrants after the war in Europe to seek a new life here was common. On this occasion I knew I would meet many paseani all waiting for their relatives to disembark, with emotional scenes, hanky’s flying, and names called out with happiness.

My brother-in-law could not control himself with excitement as he watched for his wife and daughters at the Port Melbourne pier. Slowly the passengers started to come out and by 3. 00 hours his family emerged. It was an emotional meeting and two taxis took us to his home.

Tina sent a little parcel and a letter for me that I opened later at home. Among the romantic phrases she also told me she needed some money for a new dress for the trip here. My brother was on his way to Australia already and in about a month he would be here too and would come to live with me for a while. He had been in contact with his compare Dominic Zaffina in Robinvale, five hundred kilometres from Melbourne and would find work there in the grape farms for a start when he arrives.

The lady owner at work gave me some crutches to finish making at home on the weekend. The extra money came in handy but I did not like to carry them in a bundle back and forth on the train with people staring at me, making me uncomfortable.

Australians were taking life very easy. They did not like working overtime and before going home they had to go to the pub to drink beer and have a good time with their mates, so they thought we were ruining la dolce vita for them.

My brother would arrive in two week’s time on the Lloyd Triestino ship and would bring a little parcel from our mother. I tried to have mum emigrate here but the immigration doctors would not let her pass the test for health reasons.

One Sunday I was invited to lunch at Michael’s home. Concetta and I talked about her sister, when she would be arriving and that I was already fixing the rented room where we would live together. I was already working overtime to save for Tina and my brother’s trip to come here, but still I had to get a loan and pay it off monthly. Tina’s sister Concetta told me of the sufferings that they had endured after the death of their young father who died from a fatal horse kick.

For two years I lived in the beautiful city of Melbourne and I had hardly spent any time looking around the wonderful gardens, bridges and the very tall Skyscrapers built by the Europeans. We still had some of the British stuffiness around here from our colonial past. The pubs still closed at 6pm. On the weekends the city looked deserted as there was no weekend shopping, so on Fridays after everyone finished work we would rush to the pubs, drink as much beer as possible, buy as many bottles as we could can carry and go home.

The day my brother arrived in Australia, I took a couple of friends and we went to the Port Melbourne to pick him up. When we arrived there the place was packed with people and the ship was being towed by two tugs to the pier. In those days, such events created euphoria as families reunited with mothers, fathers, wives, sons and daughters. We too got caught up in this euphoric atmosphere. As the ship got closer we could recognise some faces and touch hands. Then I saw my brother. He was signalling to get closer and as soon as I touched his hand he let something fall into my hand. I realised that was the watch that he promised to bring for me. He had to do it this way because the customs officials would not allow him to bring anything with him. An hour later I finally saw and embraced my brother Domenic. We talked about so many things, including the state of our mother’s health.

It was difficult to find any work in Melbourne for Domenic as he had no trade and could not speak any English. So we contacted his compare in Robinvale, where a small Italian community had gathered with the intention of gaining some work on the vineyards that covered the countryside.

Meanwhile my wife Theresa was preparing for her journey on the ship Achille Lauro due to leave Naples soon. Theresa would have our pasanos Di Nuccio and Lo Schiavo on board to keep her company for the trip. Time passed slowly as I anticipated the arrival of my new wife. We just kept on with our usual daily existence. We cooked, we washed, we cleaned and we went to work every day. But deep down, I knew that this would all soon change for the better.

At the hospital I was given the responsibility of looking after my own patients. I took measurements, built plaster casts taken from amputees, made prosthetics, callipers, wrist supports, and surgical corsets and so on. It was very interesting work and I enjoyed it very much.

At last I received a letter that my wife and the others had gone to Naples to board the ship and in a month’s time she would arrive. Another chapter of my life would soon begin with a wife and family being the main focus of my life; I would have a reciprocal loving partner and the flowers of the children to enjoy, a great dream for so many of us. I painted the bedroom and the kitchenette then bought a double bed, a wardrobe, some kitchen pots, dishes and the rest. Tom and his wife Anne had been a great help to me in so many ways and I was very grateful to them.