Petar Calic
| Town/City | Frankston. Vic. |
|---|---|
| First name | Petar |
| Last name | Calic |
| Country of Origin | Bosnia |
| Date of Birth | 10/10/2025 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1950 |
| Submitted by | Norma Calic |
Story
Petar Calic arrived in Australia on the 25th April, 1950, aged 24; on board the Hellenic Prince.
Originally from the village of Susnjari on the outskirts of Derventa in Bosnia, he was the second youngest child in a family of six children. His two older brothers were killed in World War Two.
In 1943, at aged 18, Petar left home to fight with the Croatian Army. In April 1945 he was shot and badly wounded in the arm. His younger brother Mico, aged 15, who was fighting alongside Petar, took him to a hospital in Sisak in Croatia. He was then taken to another hospital in Zagreb. At the end of the war, all of Zagreb was on the move. Anyone at the hospital who could walk, then walked to Austria. Petar trekked with the army and civilians to Dravograd on the border of Austria and Slovenia where they were met by English troops. The English Army and Red Cross ambulances picked up the wounded and sick and took them to a military hospital in Klagenfurt, Austria, where Petar underwent surgery and rehabilitation.
He never saw his parents again and didn’t see his rwo surviving brothers or his sister again until 1977 when he visited Bosnia.
He spent about a year in hospital and then for the next four years was in a displaced persons camp or working on a farm or cutting timber in the Alps in Austria.
Petar, along with thousands of other displaced persons, was waiting in Austria to be sent home. However, due to the political situation in Jugoslavia, that proved to be impossible. The United Nations arranged for displaced persons to be taken in by a number of countries and in 1950 Petar chose to come to Melbourne, Australia. After leaving a migrant hostel in Maribyrnong, he moved in with friends in Footscray.
Inj 1953 he married Norma Lugg, a sixth generation Australian. He became an Australian citizen on the 14th September, 1962, at the Melbourne Town Hall. After living in South Australia, Traralgon and inner suburban Melbourne for a few years, they settled in Frankston, Victoria. They have four children and ten grandchildren.
Petar loves Australia and has never regretted coming here.