2001 School Magazine

e . : original works

Decades of Memories Snapshots ^Qin the astonishing memory of a centenoribn whose litspons three centuries - a celebration of AUStrol^an events through then!b ofEricAbrohom As you look into Mr Eric Kingsley Abraham's sparkling blue eyes, ms hard to imagine that they have committed to memory the events of 37202 days over one hundred years and across three centuries. His attentive mind has chronicled a myriad of occasions which, provided you have a couple of hours to spare, he is only too willing to share Each decade has produced snapshots in his album of life - a life that has paralleled the growth of Australia as a nation One of Mr Abraham's earliest memories dates back to almost one hundred years ago. He was standing with his father on the front verandah of their home, looking through the trees towards the Brisbane River. His father questioned, "See those three sticks sticking up there?.. That's a troop ship taking troops to the South African War (Boer Wad. " This was Australia's first foray as a nation into a theatre of war. War was soon to touch Mr Abraham's life again in a most lasting and in dellble way Mr Abraham lived in the era when children were seen and not heard. While watching Wirth's Circus, "the circus of the time:he remembered how parched his throat was and how he suffered in silence, unable to ask his father for a drink Sadly his talented and loving father"a damn nice bloke:died when Mr Abraham was only nine-years-old Unlike the fortunate youth of today, Mr Abraham did not have the chance to attend high school. At the age of fourteen, he left primary school to become assistant postmaster at Boonah. Boonah was a sleepy town and"not a damn thing to doI in November 1915, the Dungarees, marching from Warwick to Brisbane, stopped in ipswich to recruit new soldiers for the Great War. When Mr Abraham learnt that a recruiting meeting was to be held in Boonah, he, like everyone else, went along for the entertainment value with no intention of enlisting. Speeches were delivered, the band played 'Le Marseillaise'and Mr Abraham "was away with the fairies"- he enlisted and marched onto Brisbane During the Great Wa, Mr Abraham served in numerous places, but mainly in France as a Morse Code signal Ier. He recalls in great detail tragic and shocking events, acts of great courage and the companionship of war. in 1916, his division, under the charge of British Generals, was ordered to take Fromelles "5550 odd people. .. (were) casualties in one night - not a day, not a fortnight, a week or a year - one blasted night. " The fledgling Australian nation lost almost an entire generation of its young men to the horrors of the First World War The return of normal life after the war was a "bit uneasyl Mr Abeham studied for a year to complete his senior with high marks, earning him a promotion to the taxation office in Brisbane. in 1923, he was asked to take up a position in New Guinea. He replied In the affirmative, but added, "Where the hell's New Guinea?" Within a week he had married his sweetheart and was on his way to"up there somewherel The Great Depression hit Australians hard, but Mr Abraham was unaffected, as he remained employed in New Guinea. By the time of his return with two daughters in 1934, the Depression was largely over. Mr Abeham remained in Australia because of his wife's poor health and continued his employment as a certified accountant in Sydney. in 1938 he was appointed inspector in Charge of the Central Queensland Area for the Commonwealth insurance Commission where he remained until the outbreak of World Waril Mr Abeham worked as the Senior Government Officer for the Prices Commission in Brisbane for the duration of the war. He believes wars are"hopeless, useless They haven't achieved anything apart from culling out a hell of a lot of the

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