Don Roulston Buzzard

10.0
After WAAAF Service

After the war, hundreds of thousands of Australians in the military were demobilized and were trying to get back home. Don, Brian and David were amongst these but whereas the RAAF would arrange transport for service personnel like Brian, civilians Don and David were “at the end of the queue”.

In Brian’s own words, “The crisis of travel was compounded by the fact that in 1945 there had been a severe drought in NSW and Victoria and all forms of transport were being used to cart either feed, wheat supplies, or men. Even the ship, the ‘John Deere’, on which we travelled back from America, was carrying a full load of wheat from Portland , USA to Williamstown, Victoria. It only stopped briefly in Sydney to get rid of twenty five Australian and the twenty Dutch army chaps which they had on board”.

“Fortunately, I ran into a friend named Nugget Hagley who had been employed by Wesfarmers before the war. He had been seconded to the Australia Wheat Board and was in charge of their shipping schedules. When I explained my dilemma to him he thought that he could help us, because the Wheat Board had ships which moved between Fremantle and Williamstown, the grain port of Victoria. He asked the captain of one of the ships, going back to Fremantle to get a load of wheat, if he could give us a berth. West Australia had a good season and had a surplus of wheat. A couple of days later, the Norwegian captain had arranged a berth for the three of us on the ship ‘Anatina’, which was to leave Fremantle in one week’s time. That was wonderful news. I sped back to Yarrawonga to collect Don and David and we caught the train to Melbourne. On the 20th October, 1945 we sailed to Fremantle.” [61]

Brian reported to the No.5 Personnel Depot in Salvado Road, Subiaco and on 24th December 1945 his service with the RAAF was terminated.

Brian’s Discharge from RAAF 24th December 1945 [62]

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[61] “A Gentleman and a Rascal” – Brian Buzzard
[62] National Archives of Australia – Buzzard, Brian Sheridan, Service Record No. 16807