Lawrence John Wilson's memory board

OBITUARY Lawrence John WILSON affectionately know as Larry by his workmates and Busty by close family members was the second of five children. He was born on the 23rd of December 1939 at Jubblepore a city in the then British India. This was three months after the start of the Second World War. Dad was an Officer and a linguist in the British 6th Indian Cavalry , he servede in India for seventeen years. Mam was a Nanny for the famous writer JB Priestley who was also on the sub-continent at the time. She always talked about the first time she saw Dad on his white charger. As a child I recall seeing photos of Larry and his older brother Rob playing under the garden tap in the hot Indian sun with the servant in the background. It was a happy part of his childhood despite the war raging in Europe. Dad fought on the North West Frontier that borders Afghanistan and was with the Chindits that defeated the Japanese army in Burma as they advanced on India. The Japanese all committed suicide rather than surrender. In late 1944 it was clear that the defeat of the Germans and Japanese would require a massive effort and troops were re-positioned around the world. The family sailed back to the UK with a new member of the family Val, the only girl. The convoy was attacked by German dive bombers and torpedoed by U-Boats, but the ship arrived safely at Liverpool in the midst of a firebombing raid by hitlers Luftwaffe; the whole place was on fire so the kids were evacuated by nuns to a distant monastery for safety. The family settled in transit camps in York, a city in the north east of England and I was born in January 1945, 4 months before the end of war in Europe. Dad soon left for Germany to help the British Army advance on Berlin. It was 4 years before we saw him again. The UK experienced severe food rationing right up until 1952 , 7 years after they had won the war and 4 years longer than most other allied countries. Mum had to struggle and look after 4 kids on her own in a transit camp in her own country with minimum facilities. Then Pete came along and the six of us grew up travelling from one transit camp to another swapping schools on the way. Larry was educated at York, Hull, Colchester and Newcastle -Under Lyme. When he left school he was offered the usual coal mining or pottery jobs both of which were extremely hazardous to health and wealth but he managed to beat the cycle and get work in a filthy foundry making steel castings. He applied to join the army and was accepted into the Royal Artillery . He became 23530015 Gunner LJ Wilson in the Royal Artillery for 3 years from Sepetember 57 to 60. He served in the UK, and in Cyprus during the EOKA emergency on active service and received the General Service Medal with Clasp - CYPRUS.. He then joined the Blue Steel guided missile training team as a driver on Dartmore and was a long time member of the RSL. When he left the army he took up night school and studied boiler making. I don’t recall him having a girlfriend at the time. Once qualified he applied for assisted passage to Australia. His application was questioned by the Australian Immigration Department because at the time Australia had a White Australia Policy and Larry was born in India. Very few Australians were aware that the British had ruled India for almost 300 years until its independence in 1948. My Dad sent a letter explaining this and at the end wrote `As you can see from the photograph, my son is white and he doesn’t wear a turban.’ Larry was accepted and had a job waiting for him on his arrival. In 1964, at the age of 22, alone, and after a 6 week voyage he stepped onto Australian soil to start a new life; he was the first of three brothers to emigrate to Australia, the others doing so 14 years later. Larry was basically a loner and really very shy which made it hard for him to make friends easily although all of those who worked with him over the years had kind words to say about him. From the day he arrived in Australia he was flat out working mostly in remote areas building infrastructure for massive mining projects that were then new to the country. He lived for years in construction camps and absorbed the habits and traditions of his mates, some good, some bad and some ugly. His first major project was the Snowy Mountain Hydro Scheme in NSW. It employed an army of technicians from all over the world from all ethnic backgrounds but everything seemed to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. He then worked at the Shell Refinery in Sydney, then to South Australia and Victoria, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. He helped build the Bougainville Copper Mine and most of the early coal mines in the Bowen Basin like Peak Downs, Harrow Creek,Saraji, Norwich Park, Goonyella, Riverside, Curragh, Collinsville, Glenden Ensham, Blair Athol, Oakey Creek and German Creek . He also worked at many of the remote gold mining camps that came and went - he was one of the many forgotten true pioneers and quiet achievers of Australia. He had a fascination for light aircraft and anything to do with aviation. He quickly gained his Private Pilots Licence at Bankstown Sydney and became a paid up member of the Aero Club specialising in aerobatics. He joined other clubs as he moved around the country and his enthusiasm grew until suddenly, without warning during a routine medical for a Pilots Licence renewal the Doctor noticed an abnormal heart beat. Larry felt and appeared perfectly fit and normal but was rushed to the ICU unit and kept in for two days - he was very surprised at all the fuss. Needless to say Larry was put on medication and was not allowed to fly again - that was 10 years ago at the age of 63. Larry was devastated at losing the one thing he really lovedl in his life but still kept up to date with all aviation subjects right to the end. Although Larry knew a lot about high tech aircraft and anything that flew, he shunned mobile phones and computers. He met a girl once in South Australia who had an opal cutting business. He had a heart with an arrow tattooed on his chest to show his affection for her, I don’t know the details but the affair didn’t last. He then became very cautious of females, withdrawn and reclusive - he never had another girlfriend, it must have broken his heart. Larry remained a batchelor for the rest of his life and had no children of his own. He continued to work away from cities in remote areas on shutdown work until well into his sixties when, after many years of loyal service he was blacklegged by the thugs of a mining union for refusing to strike for no apparent reason. The company of which he was a founding employee gave no support and to appease the unions quickly forced Larry off their books and onto the scrap heap of society. Larry then worked with me in our air conditioning business for seven years and quickly learned the ropes. He looked forward to going to work and meeting different people for a change. Larry and his `shutdown’ work mates had for years had to negotiate the minefield of permanent staff vegies on mine sites and found it refreshing to learn that he could actually talk and hold a serious conversation with ordinary people instead of being treated like shit by permanent mine staff most of whom he found to be short of a full quid. Larry retired with me in October 2010, when he was 71. He looked forward to a well earned happy retirement but was cheated again at the last hurdle. REST IN PEACE BUSTY - YOU’LL ALWAYS BE IN OUR HEARTS Written by Bruce David Wilson - Larry’s Younger Brother, February 2013