*MY FATHER CRYING? WHAT COULD THIS MEAN?

Sixty Six years ago to-day, my paternal Grandma died - at age Sixty - six years.
Here is a Post from 2011 which covers what for Eight Years old me , was a sadly memorable event.

MY FATHER CRYING ? WHAT COULD THIS MEAN ?

                                                      My Dad John Joseph Dixon at about the age I was that morning.........

His Mother Eleanor Margaret Dixon  taken the same day as Dad above.

Friday , 20th August, 1948:  I was asleep in my bed, just clear of the inward opening door of my bedroom at the front right hand side (facing), of our two bedroom timber cottage in Second Avenue Berala NSW. I was woken when the door opened hastily.

There stood my 41 years old Dad .A tumble of thoughts into my gathering consciousness : Dad doesn't wake me in the morning ( Shift work meant he was either at work, or not long in from work and sleeping at this hour),  why was his hat crammed on his head in the house? and....... what! My Dad was crying..... what could this mean?  "You'd better get up quick Anth, Ma has died ",and he sobbed even more. 

Turmoil, Mum was already up at Grandma's which was in Third avenue just behind us and a tad higher on the gentle hill. Up I got, dressed quickly, no breakfast and round we went. The 1900 vintage cream painted timber house, had originally been much smaller, but had been added onto. Up the front steps into the hall and I was taken down to Mum who was busy holding the family together, consoling this one calming that one and meanwhile getting them fed. My maiden Aunt Nell who was a very good hearted soul, but at that stage of her life very tense, afflicted with a bad stutter, suggested while Dad was there that I should be taken into Grandma's room to see her body. You can perhaps imagine my horror - at eight years of age - at the suggestion. I had no experience of death and I had no desire to see the Grandma I loved so devotedly , and who loved me , in death. I would NOT go in.

 Dad was too absorbed in grief to intervene, but mercifully Mum across, asked what the fuss was, saw my reaction and put an end to that idea. I can't remember the rest of the day.

The funeral was some days later from our Church-School St. Peter Chanel's on the hill at Berala.My mind boggled at all the relatives and friends and fellow Parishoners - the Dixons were not the greatest Church goers( masterly understatement - I'm getting better at it!) , but in earlier times the wooden Church as well as the Convent, had been in Fourth Avenue behind Grandma's place  and there weren't many houses in those earlier days ,so " Mag. Dixon" was well known to the Nuns and to many Parishoners. That old wooden Church had been hauled up the hill to the new Parish location sometime in the 20's or 30's,and was now the Parish Hall.

Grandma was 66 years old.

Dad's Father, Thomas James Dixon died on the 2nd August, 1950. I had rarely seen him. He had left the family home many years before, had a major problem with drink, and was not a very endearing person (actually, I'm getting better at it!) He was 66 years old also - I had never realised the coincidence of their ages at death until a minute ago ,when I came to write this !

Deaths in August were to become more common in the family for some reason as you will see if you bear with me.And, as it happened, when my dear Mum died in August, 1971 she was also 66 years old.

This is the Anniversary of one of the more devastating nights in World War II for the Allies in the Pacific, and so we re-post an updated version of a post from 2011:

 This is the Anniversary of one of the more devastating nights in World War II for the Allies in the Pacific, and so we re-post an updated version of a post from 2011:

 

AN UNUSUAL VIEW - DISASTER AND PROGRESS

H.M.A.S. CANBERRA passing under the incomplete Sydney Harbour Bridge - 1930.

In happy times - H.M.A.S. CANBERRA "Dressed Overall"to mark some State occasion apparently firing a Saluting Gun. 

U.S.S. CANBERRA

A picture is said to be "worth a thousand words". The top picture showing H.M.A.S. CANBERRA passing under the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the course of its construction, could easily provoke a thousand words to deal with the various streams of thought it calls forth. Thoughts of Progress and Disaster.

The completion of the Sydney Harbour Bridge some two years later , was to transform the life of the City of Sydney which lies behind H.M.A.S. CANBERRA in the picture which is looking South from Dawes Point on the North Shore of the Harbour. No more would train,trams,buses and cars transfer their passengers to ferries into the City and return to collect them in the evening, no more would the car ferry ( later to cruise the Harbour as the Showboat "Kalang"), ply its trade taking cars and trucks to and fro.The old Sydney would receive a second jolt, which, together with the first, the Underground Railway, would transform its life entirely.There was a strong sense that the Bridge had demonstrated the great achievements Australia was capable of once we shook off the gloom of the Great Depression.

H.M.A.S. CANBERRA was one of two Kent Class Heavy Cruisers in the Royal Australian Navy, the other being H.M.A.S. AUSTRALIA.The two 10,000 ton vessels were built by John Brown & Sons on Clydebank and CANBERRA was only two years old when the photo was taken .The ships had been built under the restrictions of the Washington Naval Treaty which limited their armament and armour.
H.M.A.S. AUSTRALIA was refitted as the coming of war threatened and her armour at the waterline was increased. She survived the war. H.M.A.S. CANBERRA was not refitted due to budgetary restraints in the wake of the Great Depression.She did not survive even the early years of the war. On the night of 8/9 August, 1942 CANBERRA formed part of the Cruiser Screen protecting the Allied Amphibious Force supporting the landing on Guadalcanal. Ships of the Cruiser Screen had been continuously at Action Stations for nearly two days and fatigue resulting from this factor is thought to have played a part in what happened.
A superior Japanese Heavy Cruiser force with Destroyer Screen attacked during the night and, using the very advanced and fast steam powered heavy "Long Tom"torpedoes and maximum heavy armament fire, they quickly knocked CANBERRA out of action, and sank U.S.S.s  Quincy, Astoria and Vincennes . CANBERRA remained afloat but could not be saved.She became a hazard to navigation and had to be sunk. Ironically this took two hours to achieve. The Allied forces were forced to withdraw leaving the seaway to the Japanese, and abandoning the United States Marines on Guadalcanal. The Marines heroic fighting on the Island has become legendary. Some months later the Allies returned for good and the Marines were relieved.
In an extraordinary gesture which seems to have no parallel in world naval annals, the United States Navy apparently at the decision of President Franklin D.Roosevelt, named one of its Baltimore Class Heavy Cruisers, U.S.S. CANBERRA. This must have been a decision encountering very strong opposition among traditionalists ( and most Navy folk ARE traditionalists around the world) - imagine the furore if it was decided to name a major ( or any) Australian warship H.M.A.S. WASHINGTON!  It was a grand tribute to the heroism and support of the men of the R.A.N. and the people of Australia. U.S.S. CANBERRA was one of the first ships converted to a Guided Missile Cruiser in the post war period. She gave long service and was frequently used on representative visits around the world. When she came to the end of her life , a second U.S.S. CANBERRA, a frigate, was commissioned.
The loss of the CANBERRA left a gap in the Australian Fleet and this was filled by the gift of H.M.S. SHROPSHIRE a London Class Heavy Cruiser, which like the Kent Class, belonged to the County Class  design family.  King George VI had announced the gift saying that SHROPSHIRE would become the new H.M.A.S. CANBERRA. But then the exceptional tribute by the UNITED STATES was announced and it was thought best to retain the name she had.As H.M.A.S. SHROPSHIRE she served with distinction through the remainder of the Pacific War and proved to be a "lucky"ship - only five of her crew died during the war - one drowning and four accidents - none to enemy action. SHROPSHIRE was scrapped in 1949. I have clear personal memories of seeing her on Sydney Harbour on several occasions as a young boy.
I wonder how many other tranquil pictures can so readily conjure up so many memories?

 

And now the wheel has turned again, and the largest ship ever to join the Royal Australian Navy is now afloat and fitting out prior to commissioning, she will be the new H.M.A.S. CANBERRA and after a year or so will have a sister ship, H.M.A.S. AUSTRALIA. 

 

 

                   The new CANBERRA enters Sydney Harbour for the first time.

Posted by vexilla regis at 5:11 PM