Frank Clemenkowff
| Town/City | Townsville |
|---|---|
| First name | Frank |
| Last name | Clemenkowff |
| Country of Origin | Netherlands |
| Date of Birth | 30/08/39 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1961 |
| Submitted by | Frank John Clemenkowff |
Story
I left home get away from the horror of the last war. In Europe and Holland in particular we were distressed at the way we were treated by the government after we lost our parents in the defence forces.
The journey was hell because the ship ran short of fresh water and food. We travelled through the Panama Canal and we had 1200 emigrants on board with lots off children and no medical service to speak of. Babies were born with no medical attention There was no entertainment to speak of and the ship was rolling like hell. Everyboddy was seasick and the Captain was always drunk. There were no organised
groups to give out information about the country we going to. We had people on board who have been in concentration and work camps and needed help. I tried to teach them English.
On arrival we were transported in a wooden train from Melbourne to Adelaide and than by bus to Woodside camp in tempertures of 40 degrees centigrade. We had to live in Inglo’s Corrugated iron huts like a war camp for prisoners. People come from war treatment into this hellhole with no work anywhere and far from a city like Adelaide – about 250 km. Husbands left the camp and family to look for work and got lost. They didn’t return to their wives and children, who where left with no money or hope to get out of the place. One family with 6 children whose father never came back wanted to go back to Holland, but were told that it was not possible unless they paid themselves. So the mother hung herself in the camp. The food was just swill and not fit for human consumption. I can go on we never had any contact with our Dutch Embassy – nobody cared about us who were in the camp.