My grandmother eventually married my grandfather who was in the Dutch merchant navy. My mother and her brothers and sister were all born in Indonesia. Their family sometimes visited Holland for holidays but then returned to Indonesia, where they lived until the end of WWII.

My grand father was captured by the Japanese and spent the end of the war in Changi prison in Singapore. At this time the situation in Indonesia became difficult for those Dutch families still living there, so my mothers family decided to return to Holland. Strangely enough the ship that they travelled back to Holland on first went to Sydney (Aust.) While there, my Aunty and Uncle who were only 18 & 16 decided that they wanted to stay in Australia. There were some family friends already in Sydney and my grandmother decided that they could stay. I don’t know how my grandmother could have let them, neither of them spoke any english. My uncle found work with a Maltese market gardener and my aunty eventually found office work.

My grandmother, my mother and her younger brother (who was quite sick with osteomyalitis) travelled back to Holland. My mother was determined to go back to school and finish her education. She said it was very hard as at 14 she had to go into a class with 11 and 12 yr olds, but she persevered for as long as she could. At 18 she decided to join her cousin in London to study nursing. She managed to bluff her way through entry interviews etc and commenced her nursing at Charing Cross Hospital in London. It was during this time that she met my father who was a young medical student.