Alongside the dry block at Mount Shank we became very good friends with a Scottish family. The dad was the drum major of the Mount Gambier Pipe Band and he lost his life a number of years after, caught in a bushfire.

I started school at Allendale East Area School catching the bus at 7am in the morning and returning home late each evening. I used to take off my only shoes at the bus stop to help save them, carrying them home over my shoulders.

My sister was born in Mount Gambier in 1951. Times became harder and the property was sold. We then moved to Forktree Beef Stud just out of Normanville and I went to the Yankalilla Area School.

The first year at the new school I was held back and repeated the same subject as at Allendale East Area, I topped the class. Mum and Dad were so proud of me, I didn't tell them the lessons were the same as the old school.

From that year on I was only an average student.

Like all boys I received extra seasoning on the hands from the deputy principal and extra homework as well. I walked to school each day from Forktree, about four miles each way, and then did my chores at home as well.

We moved to Normanville township and acquired our little home that Mum still owns.

I left school and started my apprenticeship as a butcher at Yankalilla with a wonderful man, Gordon Fretwell.

I attended the local youth club and boxed on a Friday night against the other butcher's son - a number of Saturday mornings I came to work with a black eye or a fat lip. After 12 months I gave up as I was becoming the boxing bag.

My boss always said the more bosses you have with your apprenticeship the more skills and knowledge you will have for life. I went to Adelaide to work and then to Country Style Meats at O'Halloran Hill, working seven days a week.

I attended the gym in Adelaide to become fit before starting my National Service, a two-year stint in 1968 after I finished my apprenticeship.

I returned to Adelaide and to Hampstead Barracks for a 12-week catering course and then was posted to School of Signals at Balcome just out of Frankston in Victoria. I started there the week after Harold Holt disappeared when swimming.

I worked six months there and the rest of my time in the Warrant Officer's Sargent Mess, which gave me a long weekend three days every other week, because of a contract cook as well. This allowed me to come home about every 12 weeks.

I enjoyed my time in the army and it did not hurt me as a person. When I was discharged in February 1970, I returned to work with my old employer until a fall caused me to look at a business with less hours.

I married Cheryll in 1972, and our first son Damian was born in 1973. We then moved to Port Willunga and I bought a butcher's shop in the main street of Willunga.

My health got worse with the joints in my feet growing together. We were forced to sell the shop and I had an opportunity to become the house Dad. Family supported us through these very tough times. I worked when I could until my feet improved.

I could no longer work on a cold concrete floor as they would have caused rheumatism.

I drove for Southern Transport Company until 1976 when Brendan was born and I changed jobs and became sales rep for Fire Fighting Enterprise. I covered the whole State and visited every brigade, council and national park on my regular call every year.

I became a volunteer fire fighter at Aldinga Beach in 1973 and restarted my time in the fire services.

FFE was good to us and allowed us to get back on our feet at last and have a holiday to the Flinders Ranges as a family before Ryan was born in 1978.

I changed jobs again to allow more time with the family. I became staff with the Country Fire Service in August 1983, in Region 6. It was my first posting and as we could not find a house at Wudinna we were able to move to Port Lincoln to live. I lived out of the vehicle most weeks as it was my office in those days.

I had a half day admin officer until 1986 when an extra person was employed as an operational person and the admin officer became full-time.

My boys belonged to the Naval Cadets for a number of years and made some wonderful friends. CFS Cadets were started as well and run by Cheryll.

The service asked me to shift to training at Brookway Park at Campbelltown in October 1988.

I worked four weekends out of five because in those days there were no volunteer instructors and so changing jobs did not get me more weekends off. We had all loved the time on the West Coast.

After two years in training and missing the operational part of the job, I applied for and was lucky enough to be going to Murray Bridge, Region 8, Mallee and Upper South East in those days, as a regional officer.

The service made a decision to go to six regions and I was able to win Region 3, Riverland; Mallee and Upper South East in the mid 1990s.

I was part of the deployment to NSW in 1994 with brigades who had only ever seen sand hills and scrub, not mountains like the Blue Mountains. Our brigades saved properties where owners had been left on their own because of the size of the fires, I went with them and came home with them.

I was at Murray Bridge until 2001 when a change took place to allow a staff member to return home to his family. I started life again and believed Region 4 was a good place to do that.

Living on the west side of Port Augusta we were 30 minutes from the Flinders Ranges, three hours from the city, three and a half from the West Coast and the door step of the outback.

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