My link with Port Melbourne began in 1942, when my mother and I came to live in the Housing Commission Estate where there were 376 Housing Commission houses. Our address was 32 Gellibrand Road Garden City 3207. My mother lived there until six weeks before she died in 1971.
It was war time and I was 10 years old. We were very close to the Commonwealth Oil Refinery and the Port Melbourne shipping terminal, a dangerous area to live near during World War II.
At night the sky was alight with search lights and some nights we could hear guns ‘going off’ and Mum would say, “Something is happening out there tonight Rosalie”.
Our neighbours were wonderful. Most of the men were away fighting with the Defence Services, and a lot of the house wives were recruited by Man Power to work in the munitions’ factories. This was great for these women as, for the first time they had some money of their own in their pockets.
But, the funny thing was, most commodities were rationed so there were no goods to buy. So they could not buy much, unless it was on the black market.
Lots of happy memories of my life living at 32 Gellibrand Road. I still think of it as ‘my home’.
Rosalie Bray (nee Rosalie Thrupp)
It was war time and I was 10 years old. We were very close to the Commonwealth Oil Refinery and the Port Melbourne shipping terminal, a dangerous area to live near during World War II.
At night the sky was alight with search lights and some nights we could hear guns ‘going off’ and Mum would say, “Something is happening out there tonight Rosalie”.
Our neighbours were wonderful. Most of the men were away fighting with the Defence Services, and a lot of the house wives were recruited by Man Power to work in the munitions’ factories. This was great for these women as, for the first time they had some money of their own in their pockets.
But, the funny thing was, most commodities were rationed so there were no goods to buy. So they could not buy much, unless it was on the black market.
Lots of happy memories of my life living at 32 Gellibrand Road. I still think of it as ‘my home’.
Rosalie Bray (nee Rosalie Thrupp)
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