Eva Anna Reich
| Town/City | Mount Gambier |
|---|---|
| First name | Eva Anna |
| Last name | Reich |
| Country of Origin | Germany |
| Date of Birth | 14th January, 1938 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1950 |
| Submitted by | Eva Anna Tagliati |
Story
My name is Eva Anna Tagliati. I was born Eva Anna Reich on the 14th January, 1938 in Klein Krebs, West Prussia. My mother was Elli Johanna Reich, and my father was Eduard Lorenz.
We were evacuated into Germany at the end of the war in January, 1945, and lived in Gross Fredenbeck until 1950, where my mother remarried, and then we all decided to come to Australia, for work and also to start a new life. I was 12 years old.
We came on the ship HMS Nellie, which was an old army ship made mainly of tin. We had no fresh fruit, no cold water, and no air-conditioning, so coming through the equator was rough and unpleasant – it took 31 days.
We arrived in Port Melbourne on the 17th June, 1950 where we were then taken to Camp Bonegilla near Albury, and we spent about 3 months in army barracks, which was just a bad as the ship.
After that time my stepfather got work in Mount Schank, (near Mount Gambier), so we moved there next door to the stone quarry. I went to a small nearby school, but I had a language problem, and my one and only year was not a good one. So I left school, and found a job in Mount Gambier, as a waitress in Jens Hotel.
I met my husband Lando Tagliati, some years later, and we married, we have a daughter. We are also naturalised Australians. We have two grand-children, and two great grand-children. I have been back to Germany only once, but Australia is my home and has been for 58 years.