Lambert (Bert) Doensen

Story

31 Long days at sea. That\’s how I mostly recall the journey on the ‘Suiderkruis\’ (Southern Cross) that changed our family\’s life forever. My father Cornelius, mother Katherina, my 12 siblings and me Ð a 15 year old Dutch boy, with limited understanding of the English language and even less of a knowledge of my soonÐto-be homeland, Australia.

I was born in March 1939 in a small town called Ospel. It was (and still is today) a beautiful village located in the South of Holland. But by the early 1950\’s, life in post-war Holland was hard; My mother and father had witnessed so much despair and hopelessness during WWII. Although they were not highly educated, they were prepared to do whatever it took to provide a better life for me and my brothers and sisters.

On the 18th of November, 1954 my family finally set foot on Australian soil. A lifetime ago, but I still remember it like it was yesterday. We disembarked at the Port of Melbourne and were taken by bus to Daylesford. I remember how the bus weaved down valleys and up into hills that seemed like mountains in comparison to the flat scenery I was used to back in Holland.

There were no jobs in Daylesford, so Dad and the older boys travelled back to Melbourne looking for work and accommodation. We ended up in Peel St, Kew and even though it was not a busy metropolis, it was worlds away from the sleepy rural hamlet I had grown up in until then. I remember walking the streets hoping – praying – that I would not get lost. Dad got very homesick at times and wanted to go back to Holland, but Mum had endured endless seasickness on the voyage and wouldn\’t have a bar of it!

When Dad found work, his first priority was to buy a house. He found a lovely 10 acre property in Ringwood North which used to be a flower farm or nursery. We settled there just before Christmas in 1954. The agent who sold Dad the property had told him that if he would cut a couple of dozen bunches of gladiolis, he might get some money for them at the market or florist. This would have given us a healthy income, but unfortunately, Dad mistook the English ‘dozen\’ for the Dutch ‘duizend\’ Ð meaning thousand Ð and thought the task too arduous to take on. The gladiolis were bulldozed into the ground.

It was very difficult for me to find work as I had no English and we were at least 5 km from the nearest train station. Eventually I got a job at a timber mill, earning 3 pounds and 5 shillings in my first week. I stayed there for 4 years, before getting work with the local council.

In 1963 I bought a block of land in Wantirna for 500 pounds. At about the same time, I met Kaye (Roberts). Kaye was a lovely Australian girl, the daughter of one of the men I worked with at the council. In 1965 we were engaged and began to build our own house to live in. We were married in 1966 and together we have 3 wonderful children and 3 beautiful grandchildren.

My Dad passed away in June 1975 and Mum in March 1991. I am very thankful that my parents had the courage to make the difficult decision to leave Holland and start over. I feel that because of them, Kaye and I have been fortunate enough to add our own chapter to my family\’s story.

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