Alfredo Tognini

Story

My name is Alfredo Tognini born 1927 in Colorina (Provincia Sondrio, Italy). Left Italy for Australia in 1950 for work reasons.

It is a long story, I will leave out those sad and long years during the war; it would take volumes to tell that storyÉI was a ‘Partigiano’ (resistance fighter)

In May 1947 I had all my documents Ð the landing permit to come to Australia on the boat: Medina. This boat never left. I was by now 21 years of age and because the boat did not depart I had to complete the compulsory year of national military service that one completes in Italy at the age of 21. I was an Alpino in my compulsory military service based at Merano and completed this service in August 1949. Upon completion I left for Australia the 16th January 1950 from Genoa on the boat: Sorrento. It was a good voyage and around the 8th February 1950 we arrived at our first Australian port Ð Fremantle in Western Australia. Unfortunately we experienced our first disappointment when the Australian Authorities came on board the boat to check the conditions on the boat as well as our documents. We had to sign our papers again in front of the authorities and our finger prints were taken. When this was requested we became quite upset that we were being treated as if we were criminals- we told the authorities that we had all of our papers and we had been approved to come to Australia. Once they explained that they were looking for war criminals we calmed down and all went well from then on. I disembarked in Brisbane at Brett\’s Wharf and left for Ingham in North Queensland where I stayed with two of my uncles. They were Alfredo and Cesare Quadrio who were my mother\’s (Camilla (Quadrio) Tognini) brothers and had come to Australia in 1926 and 1927. My brother, Erminio Tognini was also in Ingham; he arrived in Australia in 1949.

I had promised my mother that I would return to Italy within five years however this was never to be the case. I have been in Australia for nearly 60 years. I arrived in Ingham in February 1950 with my trade, that of a builder (bricklayer) and found work very quickly. I initially worked on a building and then my 2 year cane-cutting contract commenced. We earned Five Pound Sterling per day. After the cane-cutting I worked for a builder for 15 Pound Sterling per week.

In 1952 my brother and I started to build private dwellings and commercial buildings. We came from a line of builders in our family, in fact, the 7th generation of builders.

I met my beautiful wife (Nancy Barbagallo) the daughter of Italians, from Sicily, – Carmelo and Maria (Garozzo) Barbagallo. Nancy and I married in 1954 and had three children- Yolanda; Bernardo and Mark.

In 1960 we decided to expand our Building Company to include another two partners. All continued well and we built in Ingham, Townsville and Charters Towers. We built many private and commercial buildings, schools, chapels, churches and a retirement village. I was very involved in the APEX Club and then in the Rotary Club in Ingham. After 25 years of living and working in Ingham we moved to Brisbane. Here I became involved in the Italian Association Nazionale Alpini of Brisbane and held the position of the Vice President and President.

In Brisbane I continued in the Building Industry and have built many apartments. My son Mark joined me in the Building Industry forming A. Tognini and Son Construction Company. After many years of work in the industry I retired. While I was a builder my wife Nancy followed in her mother\’s footsteps and dedicated herself to the making of exclusive clothes and wedding dresses.

I am proud that my family has been successful in this my new country. My daughter has a number of tertiary qualifications and is a Principal of a school; my son Bennie is a successful hairdresser and educator who travels the world giving lectures and workshops; he has won national and international awards for his work; my son Mark (although once a builder) is now a very successful delicatessen and cafŽ owner and has also been recognised in his field and has won local and national food awards. Bennie and his wife Tracey have two sons Kristian and Julian; Mark and his wife Narelle have two daughters Madeliene and Nastassia. Each of my grandchildren is studying and I am very proud of their achievements to date.

Our family is a very close knit family and my wife and I are very proud of what we have achieved in Australia.

Alfredo Tognini

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