My Adopted Country: Australia By Erwin Feeken
Synopsis
The year was 1951. At 21 years of age, I had just come out of a personal near-depression with a feeling of non-fulfilment. I was determined to leave Germany for another country for a number of reasons: The lifestyle in Germany did not suit me; my thoughts on life differed from those of most people of my age and I was looking for adventure. So I began applying for migration to various countries, including Canada, Argentina, South Africa, and Australia. Some countries offered particular job opportunities, e.g. Canada for timber cutting. It did not matter what was offered- I just wanted to leave Germany on an assisted passage.
In 1952 the Argentinean Government Consulate in Hannover, Germany, called me to have an interview and a medical examination. I passed, only to be advised a short time later that assisted passage to Argentina had been halted. Later that year I met my future wife, Gerda. We were like-minded. She had already registered for migration to the United States.
During the next 18 months Gerda and I travelled on bicycles or trains, and hitch-hiked through Italy. We became engaged on the Isle of Capri in July 1953. Soon after our return home the Australian Consulate in Bremen informed me that my application for assisted passage to Australia had been approved, subject to satisfactory medical examination and police certificate of conduct. As an afterthought the Consul advised us to get married before leaving to avoid separation in Australia.
We had to conquer two difficult situations with our parents: We had to tell them that we wanted to get married as soon as possible, which raised eyebrows. When this piece of news was digested, we dared telling them our next plan. Gerda’s parents were shocked- she was their only child, only 21 years old. My parents had four children. While they were disappointed that we both were leaving good permanent employment in Germany, they accepted.
The consulate had indicated to us that we would hear from them within a few weeks. Several months later Gerda and I became impatient at waiting. When I contacted the consulate per telephone, an officer told me, approximately in these words:
There are two seats available on the first migrant plane, due to cancellation. It flies to Sydney in nine days’ time, and you have to tell me right now, over the phone, whether you are prepared to take these two seats and then confirm your decision in writing.”
Without asking Gerda, I agreed to the offer. When I rang her at her workplace and told her the news, she was beside herself. The rush was on.
Hectic activities included resignations from work, visits to taxation and police departments, having wooden boxes constructed for our belongings which included bicycles, books and clothing. The boxes were going to be transported by boat. Personal good byes were limited, there was not enough time. On 23. July 1954 we walked onto the tarmac towards the silvery gleaming aeroplane, a DC6 aircraft from the Scandinavian Airline System (SAS). We both felt elated beyond belief.
There were about 60 migrants on board. An Australian immigration official, a lady who could speak German, made us feel comfortable. The airline’s program was to fly migrants to Sydney and then proceed to Saigon to pick up wounded soldiers from the Indo-China war front, and return to Europe.
The flight itself was generally pleasant, although there were some arguments and complains by over-excited passengers. We landed in seven destinations: Rome (overnight), Beirut, Karachi (overnight), Bangkok (two overnights), Jakarta, Darwin, and finally Sydney, early in the morning of 27. July 1954. A train transported us to the migrant camp of Bonegilla, on the border of New South Wales and Victoria. This place accommodated us for a month; others left earlier or later, depending on their personal requirements. The accommodation was adequate and we were given a small amount of weekly pocket money. We also had the freedom of leaving the camp on excursions in the neighbouring hills. When work and accommodation was found for us we were given train tickets to return to Sydney where my future job was waiting. From now on there was no more personal surveillance: We made our way back to Sydney.
Camp Villawood was not to our liking. It provided full board, but under fairly primitive conditions. At first I became labourer with Sydney Metropolitan Water Board, but soon after the friendly staff who asked me about my working background, offered me a job with one of their surveyors as chainman. After six weeks in the hostel Gerda found accommodation in a house in Ryde. We were nine months in Sydney. In that time Gerda found jobs in a biscuit factory, in mirror designs, and in a imitation jewellery workshop. I switched from job to job, being builders labourer, painter and carpenter’s assistant. However, I never left without having another job lined up.
After swapping several times during the remaining months of 1954, I began to feel guilty of having done so without informing the Immigration Department. One day I visited their office and explained my activities. I was given the assurance that my actions were legal, as long as I let the department know our whereabouts for the two years after our arrival in Australia.
I spent many hours writing applications for jobs in my expertise: Surveying and cartography. In April 1955 I was lucky to be offered a position as survey draftsman with the Hydro-Electric Commission in Hobart, Tasmania. This was the beginning of my professional career. Three months later, our first of five daughters was born.
For seven years we, as a family, moved from p[lace to place, each time improving my professional situation. In 1962 we made our final move: I joined the Bureau of Mineral Resources (now Geoscience Australia). It was to become my major career lasting 25 years, until my voluntary retirement in 1987.
Throughout my working career, we, as a family, used every opportunity to follow Australian explorer’s routes. In 1970, for Captain Cook’s bi-centenary, we published the book entitled The Discovery and Exploration of Australia. Our travels did not end there. We continued, often in the heat of summer, to check out land explorer’s routes and features, and navigator’s landfalls.
Australia in the 21st Century has changed. Over 60 odd years, the population has trebled. It has become a multicultural society. But compared with most countries, the continent is still thinly populated, due in part to its inhospitable desert regions. For people of similar interests to ours, there are still many opportunities to explore. The Australian inhabitant is very approachable, helpful, and friendly, although a little rough on the edges. Australia had become my home forever.
KJ