Gunnel Maria Mann

Story

Gunnel Gršnroos grew up with her extended family on a small farm on the outskirts of a village in southern Finland. The house was surrounded by forest and as a young child she spent a lot of time there, enjoying the sounds of nature, gathering berries and mushrooms and making up songs and stories about friendly trolls.

She was just ten when the Second World War broke out, and a shortage of teachers and materials put her schooling on hold. Gunnel joined Lotta, the women\’s group created to support the war effort. At night she took her turn on watch in the belltower and reported on aeroplanes spotted overhead. By day she ran errands, or kept watch over coffins that were brought in from the Russian front.

The end of the war saw the beginning of a different kind of hardship. Under the armistice, Russia had the right to occupy the area where Gunnel\’s family had their land. They were given eight days to harvest their crops, pack their animals and possessions, and flee to neighbouring regions. The move split the family. Gunnel found work in a village far from the rest of her family. She was just 15 years old.

Things started to improve the following year when Gunnel was accepted into Teachers College. There she had regular meals, enjoyed a sense of belonging and joined the choir. Gunnel was at Teachers College when she met her future husband, Carl-Eric Mann. After they married she worked as a teacher until their first daughter Maria was born.

It was around this time that Carl-Eric first talked of migrating to Australia. He had been there as a seaman and was keen to go back. Gunnel didn\’t particularly want to move. She had rebuilt her life and was happy and settled. Still, she was afraid of another Russian invasion. Her family was dispersed and the family home was still occupied. Carl-Eric\’s vision was fresh, and she was inspired to follow him.

Gunnel had never been to sea before she, Carl-Eric and Maria boarded the ‘Castel Felice’ in December 1956, bound for Australia. The Suez Canal was closed so the ship took them via Capetown. Gunnel enjoyed the voyage.

Carl-Eric and Gunnel had bought tickets to Fremantle and had already disembarked when an Immigration official told them that only British migrants could be admitted into Western Australia. Disappointed, they got back on the ship, bound for Melbourne. From there they endured a long, uncomfortable train journey to the Bonegilla migrant camp.

Gunnel was wearing high-heeled shoes and her feet swelled in the January heat, a heat she had only ever experienced in the sauna. Carl-Eric and Maria were both ill.

Bonegilla was a shock. Gunnel, Carl-Eric and Maria were allocated one small room with three beds in a Nissan hut. Their room was hot, and the corrugated iron shower block had holes in the wall separating the male and female sections.

Gunnel recalls the first dreadful weeks. She had to walk a mile to the hospital to visit Carl-Eric every day, in the heat and wearing high-heeled shoes until the luggage was delivered. She was then separated from Maria, who had contracted measles and also had to be admitted to hospital, but was not allowed visitors , not even her mother.

Then there was the food. It was almost inedible; rotten fruit and maggots in the potato salad are enduring memories. If she\’d had enough money and wasn\’t so proud, Gunnel would have gone back to Finland.

Soon afterwards, Gunnel and Carl-Eric moved to a hostel in South Australia, which was ‘like heaven\’ compared with Bonegilla. They rented a little house in an orchard in the Adelaide foothills where they had their second daughter, Carol. Gunnel started to feel more at home. She made friends with the Danish families, joined the Lutheran congregation and her English started to improve.

When they had been in Australia for five years, Gunnel and Carl-Eric applied for citizenship. Gunnel had yet another surprise when she learned that becoming an Australian citizen made her a British subject. Finland and England had been at war less than 20 years earlier, and she baulked at swearing allegiance to the Queen.

Gunnel always had a deep love of nature and delighted in learning about the Australian bush, but still she had dreams of going back to Finland. Nevertheless, driven by Carl-Eric\’s abiding dream, she packed their belongings and they headed west across the Nullarbor Plain.

In Geraldton, Gunnel gave birth to Eric. Then the family moved to Carnarvon, where they established a banana plantation. Gunnel was proud of her achievements on the land, but the hard physical labour took its toll on her health. In time she got a teaching job and a few years later the family moved to Perth.

Eventually, Gunnel stopped thinking of returning to Finland. But still she misses the forests and the music.

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