Franz Pirchmoser (Part 1)

Story

Born in Innsbruck -Tirol, the second son of Michael & Emma. We lived at the Grill Hof, an isolated property owned by gentry that my father managed. It was located near Igls above Innsbruck. After my third birthday we moved to Mils bei Hall Tirol to my grandfather\’s property.

I was an inexhaustible reader, devouring every book that I found. At high school I dreamed of dry river beds with water running under the sandy surface & of exotic animals & places. I always planned to see it all in real life. After completing my apprenticeship as Scientific Instrument Maker & finishing technical college at Innsbruck I entered voluntary military service. At the age of about 18 years I enquired at the embassies of South & North American Countries & Australia about migrating. Though my mother objected strongly as she had already lost my brother at the end of WWII in Russia, I was put on a waiting list by all. The first invitation came from the Australian Embassy in Colon which arranged an interview date with me at Innsbruck. Several weeks later, I got another letter from them dated 3 May 1955 in the middle of annual maneuvers with the army at a high alpine camp. I was informed that I had been successful & given the date of 18 May 1955 to meet in a camp at Salzburg & the date & time of the ship\’s departure as 26 May 1955.

In the WWII ex military camp at Salzburg which was now designated the refugee camp Hellbrunn, several hundred migrants gathered from far away areas to be inoculated with varied concoctions as required by health authorities & our papers brought in order. The Austrian Government was part of an intercontinental agreement to contribute with reimbursement & reduction of fares for migrants, so the fare to Australia for me was £10 sterling. The government also issued us with 3 forms to be sent back at 6 monthly intervals for us to inform them of our living conditions, income, job prospects etc.

After nearly 3 weeks in camp, on the 25 May 1955 we were taken on buses to the local railway station & from there overnight by train to Bremerhaven. The railway siding was close to the water & the ship to take us, the MS Skaubryn was lying at anchor.

The freshly white painted ship still smelled from its coating & the paint was still wet in places. After climbing up the ramp to the deck we were greeted by the captain & some of his crew. One of the crew was ordered to show me to my cabin which was number 999, right at the rear on ‘C’ deck. It held four bunks & was serviced by a spiral staircase. Coming from the mountains I had never been on a ship of any shape or size before so the whole experience was overwhelming. The steward walked in front & I with two suitcases followed. The first fire door we came to I fell over the bottom ledge which was raised about 20cm above the deck. At any of the following fire doors the steward waited & looked back at me, expecting me to fall again.

The ship left harbour the next morning with some of the paint still wet. I was allocated my dining place in ‘C’ deck dining room which was somewhere in the middle of the ship, about 10 minutes walk from my cabin. Many of the stewards were Italian & red wine was served with every meal except breakfast. We called in at Naples & Port Said where we could go ashore then sailed through the Suez Canal. At Colombo (Ceylon) we picked up more passengers & also could go ashore again. There I bought a bundle of about 6 bananas at a cost of 2 shillings sterling, they were the first bananas I had ever held & eaten in my life.

In the middle of the Indian Ocean, repairs had to be carried out on the ships engines; some said the ships owners were in too much of a hurry to fix the problem in Bremerhaven. We were sitting there in the middle of the ocean but we could only tell that we were not moving by the lack of engine noise. Then a storm hit, but shortly after the ship\’s engines started up & we were on our way again. Whenever a wave lifted the aft part of the ship & the propeller was in the air, the whole ship shook & particularly so at the rear where my cabin was. I only saw my two cabin buddies once at the start of the voyage & then never again. The fourth bunk was never occupied.

Continued in Part 2

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