Don Tweedie Fighting Bandsman's Last Stand

By Terry Tweedie

Don Tweedie, Fighting Bandsman's Last Stand is a story of courage, determination, heroism, faith, love, and mateship throughout World War II. Don Tweedie’s last stand against the Japanese was in 1942 at Holland Hill, Singapore where he was severely wounded. Most stories that have been written have been more of a historical sense, whereas this is a more personal story. This book is written in three parts, and outlines his childhood/teenage years and leads into World War II, and then how he dealt with the images of war when he returned home in 1945.

Part 2 is written from the heart, as it was told to his son about his war experience. Don Tweedie grew up throughout the Depression years, leading into WWII. He worked in a clothing warehouse in Sydney, and always wanted to play in a brass band. He joined the militia in 1937, and then enlisted in the infantry in 1940 to fight for his country. Don Tweedie was posted with the 2/20th Battalion in the Australian 8th Division to Malaya. It was while he was in the infantry that he became a bass drummer for the 2/20th Battalion band. However, he was severely wounded and captured in the fall of Singapore and was placed in captivity in Changi, Burma Railway, Saigon, Singapore, and Japan for the rest of the war.

Don Tweedie was a quiet honest and respectful person. He was a very proud man who loved the fact that he fought for his country. More importantly, he was not going to give in to his captors. He had a strong bond between himself and those POWs who suffered or died and witnessed all those atrocities with him. While the physical problems were an issue, it was the emotional and psychological scars that a lot of these men suffered that would haunt them for a lifetime. However, life goes on, and Don Tweedie fulfilled his dreams to own his own cattle studs and play in a brass band. He played in the Forbes Town band for forty-six years right up until he passed away. This book is to pay tribute to Don Tweedie and all his fellow POWs, and also the families and friends of those POWs including the mothers, wives, and girlfriends who suffered along with their husbands, sons, uncles, brothers, grandfathers, or friends.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Nov 10, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524518523

Terry Tweedie

Terry Tweedie was born in Grafton, New South Wales, in Australia. He lived in Orchard Hills near Penrith, in the Western Sydney area, before moving to Forbes in the Central West, New South Wales. He was married in 1976 to Heather Read, and then they moved to Coffs Harbour. Terry initially became a research officer with the Forestry Commission of New South Wales. Later, he was an ecologist for many years with the Forestry Commission. Eventually, later in life, he decided to study further and became a forester. He graduated in three different courses, associate diploma in land management, diploma in forestry, and bachelor of applied science in natural resource management. After graduating, he was transferred to Batemans Bay as a planning forester and later to Tumbarumba as an operations forester. Terry has written or coauthored five scientific papers about the flora and fauna of the North Coast, New South Wales. Terry and Heather have a family of three children and eight grandchildren. They have now retired to Coffs Harbour. Terry Tweedie comes from a long line of journalists in his family. His great-grandfather established the Bombala Times, and his grandfather had the Delegate Argus and Hornsby Star Newspapers in the 1800s and early 1900s. This is the first book he has written, and it is about his father’s life story but, more importantly, about when his father went off to war in 1941 to Malaya and was captured and served as a prisoner of war on the Burma/Siam Railway. In addition, he is currently writing up the Tweedie family history and will be publishing this in the near future.

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Copyright © 2016 by Terry Tweedie.

Copyright / Publisher

Copyright © 16 June 2011, Terence Donald Tweedie

1st edition 1996

2nd edition 2003

3rd edition 2011

4th edition 2016

All photos in this document belong to Terence Donald Tweedie, 1 Bicknell Drive, Coffs Harbour NSW, unless otherwise indicated. Photos in Part 2 are from the Don Tweedie Collection, now in the possession of Terry Tweedie.

Part of this book was originally compiled and published for the Tweedie Family History by Terence Donald Tweedie/Donald Kenneth Tweedie (Part 2 only). The current 4th edition is now available for the general public for research and educational purposes on the condition that reference to this document is acknowledged. No unauthorised copying of this document is permitted under the copyright for non-commercial or commercial purposes, without written permission from the author, Terence Donald Tweedie, 1 Bicknell Drive, Coffs Harbour NSW, Australia. ([e-mail])

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 11/09/2016

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CONTENTS

Foreword

Acknowledgements

PART 1

PRE-WAR HISTORY

Terry Tweedie

Chapter 1 Hornsby

Chapter 2 Chatswood

Chapter 3 Cricket

Chapter 4 Enlistment World War II

PART 2

WORLD WAR II

Chapter 5 Outbreak Of World War II

Chapter 6 Sydney to Malaya

Chapter 7 Battle of Mersing to Johore Strait

Chapter 8 Battles Kranji to Holland Hill Singapore

Chapter 9 Prisoner Of War - Changi And Burma

Chapter 10 Burma Railway Period

Chapter 11 Tamarkan – Saigon Camps

Chapter 12 River Valley Singapore to Japan, 1944

Chapter 13 Omuta Camp 17, Fukuoka Japan

Chapter 14 Men Ordered to Stop Work

Chapter 15 Tribute to Some Special Friends

Chapter 16 War Letters

PART 3

Post-War Period

Terry Tweedie

Chapter 17 Freedom

Chapter 18 Grafton

Chapter 19 Orchard Hills

Chapter 20 Forbes (Orange Road)

Chapter 21 Forbes Town Band

Chapter 22 Trip to the Outback

Chapter 23 Gooloogong

Chapter 24 Time to Leave Warrumba Valley

Chapter 25 Burma Pilgrimage, 2013

Epilogue

Notes

Bibliography

I would like to dedicate this book to my father, Don Tweedie, his special mates Geoff Morrow and Jack Meek, and all his other mates in war and captivity. This story is also dedicated to all the diggers and allies who lost their lives in fighting and as prisoners of war in Malaya, Singapore, Burma, Thailand, Japan, and all other islands and seas in the Pacific Region. In addition, this book is also dedicated to those mothers and wives of soldiers who also suffered from war by not knowing when or if their sons, husbands, fathers, grandfathers, or uncles would return from war. The emptiness and despair would have been immense.

FOREWORD

Over the years, I have met many incredible men who survived the rigours of captivity during WWII with my past association with the government’s memorial museum at Hellfire Pass in Thailand and the Ex-POW and Relatives Association (Vic). Regrettably, I never had the opportunity to meet Donald Tweedie. Instead, I was fortunate to look after his two dedicated sons, Terry and Geoff Tweedie, during my last ANZAC pilgrimage into Thailand and Burma in 2013. On this trip, Terry mentioned that he had been compiling an account of his father’s written experiences during his army service and as a prisoner of war. Having published the first edition in 1996 for the family, he has added to it as he gained greater insight about his father’s wartime experiences, publishing his third edition in 2011.

Terry and I became pseudo ‘railway brothers’ due to our respective connections to the 55K Hospital Camp of Sir Albert Coates in Burma. We were often corresponding to clarify issues, due to my experience as a passionate researcher into POW history and the Burma Railway. I therefore feel deeply honoured to be asked to contribute an introduction to what can be regarded as a truly personal, and at times, a moving account of a man brutally held in captivity. Sometimes written in such an understated manner, and with a certain expectation of understanding, that it has required some later notes of explanation in order to fully grasp the true meaning of Don’s few words. Apparently, his original account was written in the early 1950s with some wandering of thoughts as pertinent recollections came to mind.

This latest edition of Don Tweedie’s time as a captive of Nippon is a unique insight into his traits of endurance, mateship, and hope in relatively unusual circumstances. Of the 15,384 Australians captured with the fall of Singapore, Don, along with some 5,033 Aussies, were sent to the Burma end of the line. A total of 14,799 POWs, mainly Dutch, worked the 115 km in Burma, whilst another 7,969 Australians were part of the 46,343 allied POWs that slaved on the 300 km in Thailand. Of the 13,002 Aussies, it is estimated that 2,815 died during its construction, or its subsequent operation for twenty-two months by the Japanese. Disease, starvation, brutality, and exhaustion from working excessive hours were the main causes of death. Some were also killed when the railway and adjacent camps were bombed by allied aircraft. Of those who survived the railway’s ordeals in its unforgiving tropical and disease ridden environment, Don tells how several thousand POWs were then fattened, tested for disease, and shipped on a perilous voyage across submarine infested seas. Those who made it then coped with frigid conditions and greater brutality in coal mines or factories in Japan.

Although many readers may be aware of the tragic loss of life on the infamous ‘Death Railway’, especially for over 90,000 forced Asian labourers, few may be aware of the thousands of lives lost at sea when their ships were sunk by allied submarines attacking enemy convoys. Don was one of those forced to endure this Russian roulette, and with much luck and an unsuccessful attack on his ship, he arrived safely. Whereas some 1,780 Australian POWs and civilian internees drowned with the sinking of the Montevideo Maru (1942), the Tomohoko Maru (1944), and Rakuyo Maru (1944).

Don Tweedie’s recollections of working at the coal mine at Omuta on Kyushu Island is insightful and supported by details published in the official history in 1957 by the Australian War Memorial. Typically, the reader is not made aware of Don’s acute hearing problems throughout most of his ordeal as a prisoner until you read a letter written to his mother after his release. Like Don, I, too, wish to acknowledge the incredible work carried out by the men and women of the Australian Reception Group of RAPWI. Under most difficult and challenging circumstances, they successfully recovered over 14,690 Australian POWs and civilian internees from widely dispersed camps throughout many Asian countries, and in various states of health, back home to their families.

Due to popular media, many know the name of Changi. One of the best camps encountered and considered home by Don, especially when compared to the rigours, disease, and exhaustive workloads endured by a majority of the working parties that left Singapore. Some of Don’s mates were sent to North Borneo where the survivors were eventually exterminated by vindictive captors. As such, the experiences recalled here are unique account that covers the vast differences of captive life in Selarang Barracks (Changi District), Burma, Thailand, French Indo-China, and Japan, as well as during recovery through Manila. It depicts the grim humour, self-sacrifice, resourcefulness, and the mateship of the 5,000 odd Aussies that worked in Burma, many of which later perished at sea. To endure all of this, survive working in Japan, despite the intense US fire bombing raids that in total killed more than the later atomic bombs, is a true indication of the ‘luck’ and willpower needed to survive these ordeals. This record is therefore of immense value and provides an insight into a remarkable man and his personal recollections of a horrific time requiring immense endurance and self-belief.

T. R. Beaton

Colonel (Ret)

1 August 2016

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

There were a number of people who have played a significant part in encouraging me to put my father’s life story together. Firstly, I am grateful to a very special man, Col Terry Beaton (Rtd), who has been an inspiration to me in producing this book. His knowledge about the history of the Burma/Thailand railway is unbelievable. I had the pleasure of first meeting Terry on our pilgrimage to Thailand and Burma in 2013 as part of a tour, which he guided there. For me, this was a research tour of the Burma end of the line. Terry Beaton was able to provide some of the missing information I needed to complete this book about my father’s years as a prisoner of war on the railway in Burma.

I would also like to thank Bill Cottam, an ex-Vietnam veteran, who I met last year. If it wasn’t for Bill, this book may not have ever been produced and would have been sitting in my cupboard forever. Bill encouraged me to write this book after hearing about my father’s story, which I shared with him. Bill suffered under the Viet Cong in Vietnam, and had empathy toward the story of my father. I would like to say Bill guided me in my initial steps in producing this book. There was a reason only Bill and I will ever know how this all came about.

Others who have encouraged me, and who I would like to thank, are Geoffrey, John, and Graham Tweedie, my brothers who assisted me when I was wanting added family information and photos. In addition, I thank Les Shipp who made constructive comments on my manuscript and Roy Heslop for his guidance in writing styles.

A special thank you to all the family members and POWs, Frank Smith and Bart Richardson of 2/20th Battalion for their friendship and guidance, in understanding the images of war when we went on a tour of where our families had been fighting and captured as POWs in Malaya, Singapore, and Thailand. Also, thanks to James Keady and Richard Wall of the 2/20th Battalion for their assistance.

In addition, I would like to thank Kath Guyer from Canberra for her information on the Queen Mary, and Jacqui Coady for her comments on my father’s time with the Forbes Town band. I also acknowledge the comments given to me from Ron Ferguson, secretary of the 8th Division, about how and when he met my father and was able to help Ron find information about his own father who was also a bandsman. Similarly, I would like to thank John Willoughby and Jeffery Wood for notes and photos of Sid King, a friend of my father.

BACKGROUND

This is the story of Donald Kenneth Tweedie about his life as a child, and how he grew up through the Depression, then going off to war, and how he dealt with life after the war. The following account of his life is recorded here, as a personal story of a young man who grew up without a father figure in his life. He was very close to his mother and loved her very much. My father had a dream of owning a cattle stud, playing cricket, and playing drums as a bandsman. These dreams came true to a certain degree. However, with the event of World War II, he would suffer tremendously as a prisoner of war, and his health would never be the same.

This is a true account of a dedicated Australian soldier who went off to war, thinking it was a great adventure and a great way to see the world. However, this attitude changed over three and a half years of witnessing various atrocities, death, destruction, starvation, disease, and inhumane acts, as you will see after reading this document as told to me by my father, Pte Donald Kenneth Tweedie (NX 51579) 8th Division, 2/20th Battalion, Australian Infantry Forces (AIF).

My father was born on 21 February 1920 at Hornsby New South Wales to Reginald Chabaud Tweedie and Mildred Tweedie. At the age of 2, his father passed away suddenly, and his mother had to bring up two young children on her own. Times were tough coming into the Great Depression, and bringing up a family without a partner was even harder.

My grandmother Millie, as she was called, moved from Hornsby after Reg died along with her mother and father. They moved to Chatswood, which was closer to the Northern Suburbs Cemetery where Reg was buried. My father was educated at Chatswood Public School, as was his sister, Beryl. He went onto Crow’s Nest Commercial High School before leaving to start work at Robert Reid & Company, a clothing store in York St. Sydney as a warehouseman.

My father has had many struggles in his life, and when he was 6 years old, he contracted peritonitis and nearly died. He spent one month in Chatswood Community Hospital, and then six months off school while he was recuperating.

I understand my grandmother Millie always made sure her family respected the values of their morals and integrity in conducting their everyday lives. These values and principles, I believe, helped my father survive this horrific period of his life.

Christianity was important for survival for prisoners of war, and my father believed that the real meaning of Christianity was brought to the fore as each and every one relied on each other for comfort, compassion, support, and help throughout the whole ordeal. This appears to have created a strong bond between all diggers, which still exists today.

The torture, torment, heartache for loved ones at home, and living from hour to hour was what they had to look forward to in their lives as prisoners of war under Japanese rule. For the diggers that returned home, there was a lot of repatriating to be done to get them physically well again. However, it was the psychological problems that affected a lot of these young Australians.

It was fifty years before my father talked about this period of his life. When he sat down and talked to me about the war, and particularly the prison camps prior to writing this document, I could see in his face the pain and suffering that was inflicted upon him and all other POWs in Burma and Japan. Here was one of thousands of men spilling his thoughts out from deep inside after all these years of holding it within because people could not understand, or would not understand, how another race could inflict such harsh treatment on our diggers.

I grew up with some understanding of what war was like. However, after listening to my father over many long nights, I was not prepared for what he was to tell me. I felt depressed, empty inside, and very emotional. Anyone that says they can understand what these poor wretches went through is having themselves on. No Australian had any idea what these soldiers went through, as they were physically and mentally exhausted by the end of the war. It would be something that you have to experience to appreciate the real meaning of what had happened to these brave individuals.

My father is proud of the fact that he fought for his country, and therefore has a better understanding and appreciation of what freedom is all about. I am proud of my father, and for a man to endure such hardships and still have a will to survive after all he had been through, was a true reflection of what this tenacious Australian Digger was like. I believe he survived because of his tremendous faith, courage, and determination that these people were not going to beat him. He was one of thousands of unknown heroes of war.

This record of my father’s life as a soldier has been told to my children as a special request by my father. He wants it to be told to others because he feels the young people of today should be aware of the real meaning of war, and what it can do to people’s lives. Particularly, after the war when it was over, when they have to rehabilitate their lives and come to terms with what they have been through, and how they will adapt to their new lives in the future. There needs to be compassion and understanding.

I recommend this to every Australian to read, as it is written from the heart. It is best described as an emotional, depressing, but sometimes jovial account of the prisoner of war camps.

I will always hold my father in the highest regard and appreciate his support and help in understanding life as a result of discussions we had when I was 16. It was at this point in my life that my feelings about war would change my whole attitude in trying to understand the harshness and gravity of a situation that not only affected Dad, but also emotionally affected those who cared and loved him.

Donald Kenneth Tweedie was a proud compassionate caring man, and was a small man in stature but a big man in heart. We respected Dad for his tenacity during the war to survive and not let the horror of war stop him from coming home. We are all proud to have been his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and family.

My father passed away on Christmas Day, 25 December 2007, at the age of 88 years.

Terry Tweedie

ImageNo1TerryTweedieAuthor.jpg

Terry Tweedie

Terry Tweedie (Ex-17 Bn. RNSWR 1970-72) NX2185150. (Photo: T. Tweedie)

PART 1

PRE-WAR HISTORY

TERRY TWEEDIE

CHAPTER 1

HORNSBY

World News – 21 February 1920

‘On this day in 1920, the battlecruiser, HMS Renown, was carrying His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, and it departed from Portsmouth, England. The Renown, after calling at Barbados, Colon, Panama, and San Diego, sailed onto Honolulu, Fiji, and Auckland. The Prince of Wales visited Australia to thank the nation officially for its contribution to the war effort in World War I. He made a point of meeting ex-servicemen and women and was extremely popular on his trip to Australia.’(¹) (Sydney Morning Herald, 21 February 1920).

On this same day, Donald Kenneth Tweedie’s story begins where he was born on the twenty-first of February 1920 at Hornsby NSW to Reginald Chabaud Tweedie and Mildred Tweedie (Norrie). He was born at Sainsbury, Burdett Street, Hornsby at home. The home was not far from the Hornsby Hospital on Burdett St. and Derby Road. Back in those days, a midwife was called to the home. The area was mainly bushland back in those days, and roads were dirt trails.

His father, Reg (my grandfather), was brought up in the era of horses; and even when the cars started to take over, he stayed with his horses, as it was too expensive to buy and maintain a car in 1920. Cars were never a part of his life.

My grandfather applied to enlist on two occasions to join the Australian Light Horse(²) for service in Palestine in World War I. He was rejected on both attempts to join up. Perhaps they picked up that he was medically unfit and is hence the reason for his early death. His brother, Ted, was accepted to go to war in the Middle East. Ted worked with Reg and assisted with the newspaper businesses at Liverpool and Hornsby. My grandfather purchased the Hornsby Star Newspaper in 1914, and owned and operated it till his death in 1922.

Reg, as he was known to everyone, had a property at Hornsby, which was called ‘Wildfells’ in his last two years of his life. At Wildfells, he would ride a horse three miles to work each day. He worked from 9 a.m. till midnight most days and nights to try and maintain a viable newspaper business. He was a person who, I understand, liked to make a success of whatever he would attempt to do in life. His grandfather, Alexander Jesse Norrie, lived halfway between Wildfells and the Hornsby Star Newspaper office. Alexander knew when Reg was on his way home each night, as he could hear his horse galloping flat out up the road at 1 a.m. heading home.

ImageNo2HornsbyWildfelsFamilyHome1922.jpg

Wildfels Hornsby, NSW

When my father was 2 years old, he was always given a ride on Mac, his father’s horse, every morning before he would ride off to work to the newspaper office. The ride consisted of being sat up on Mac, and he walked him from the front gate to an old red gum tree near the horse yard. He was told later by his mother this was the highlight of the day for him, as it was for his father.

The property Wildfells was located opposite the rear gates of the Hornsby Hospital where it stands today. However, it was all bush where they lived in those days. They also had a small poultry farm at William Street Hornsby before moving out to Wildfells. He used to breed show birds, and he had quite a few varieties such as Plymouth Rocks, English Game, and others. The poultry farm was one of his interests, as well as having a toyshop, along with the newspaper business.

Apparently, his father gave up the poultry farm and concentrated on his newspaper business, as it was becoming too much trying to cope with all these various interests. However, toward the end of 1922, he wanted to sell the newspaper and start up a large poultry farm full time at Wyong. His mother did not want to go. She said years later to father, ‘Maybe if we had gone to Wyong to the poultry farm, your father may have lived longer.’

Sunday morning of 15 October 1922, the day started out to be just an ordinary day with the hosing down of the horse and whatever else were the usual Sunday chores. There was a possum that had run up a very tall pine tree. Apparently, his father climbed this tree in the house yard to catch the possum for my father, Don, and his sister, Beryl, to look at and admire. Whilst up this tree, the unexpected happened. He felt very ill and managed to climb down and lay on the lawn, but the dogs would not leave him alone. He managed to get into the house where he collapsed on the kitchen floor. He had suffered a stroke for the third time, but this time, it took his life. He had passed away before the doctor had arrived.

My father recalled that on the day he died, the horse lashed out and kicked over the dog kennel. This was the only recollection of his father, as he was only 2 years old when he passed away. He told his mother this a few years later, and she confirmed that this did really happen on that fateful day.

Apparently, his father’s dog followed the horse all the way to Hornsby that day. After a short funeral, he was buried at the Northern Suburbs Cemetery. It appears he was the one of the first few persons to have been buried at the new Northern Suburbs Cemetery in 1922. A short time after his death, his horse, Mac, had to be sold. Mac decided he did not like his new place of abode and broke away and galloped all the way back to Wildfells where he stuck his head through the bedroom window looking for his old master.

My grandparents, Reg and Mildred Tweedie, had four children. They were Beryl (Toot), Allyn, Donald, and Valerie. Beryl and Donald were the only two that survived. Allyn, who was the second child, died at 3 months in the infants’ hospital at Ashfield in 1917, and Valerie was the fourth child and died at birth in 1922 at Hornsby.

After my grandfather’s death at the age of 40 years in 1922, my grandmother Mildred, Beryl, and my father, Don, along with Alexander and Matilda Norrie, all moved to live at Chatswood. The Norries lived with them all the time they lived in Chatswood until their deaths in the early 1930s. They lived in several different places in Chatswood during the lead up to the Great Depression, and even during the Depression in the early 1930s.

ImageNo3ReginaldTweedieandMildredNorrieWedding1911.jpg

Wedding 7 June 1911, Reginald Chabaud Tweedie and Mildred Norrie

Grandfather had a great interest in horses and poultry, but also had an interest in coursing dogs (greyhound racing) when he was younger. He was involved in the Southern Monaro Coursing Dog Association at Bombala as the secretary. He had some really good dogs, and one of those dogs, which he bred, was a dog by the name of Sir Noble. My grandparents were very successful tennis players in their time. They would play every Sunday as their social occasion for the week.

All the Tweedie boys started their careers in journalism with the Bombala Times, which was the family business in Bombala on the Southern Monaro. Papers my grandfather owned and operated were the Delegate Argus, Liverpool Times, and The Hornsby Star. He had planned to establish a district paper at Gordon, but this plan never eventuated due to his other interests and his untimely death.

The Hornsby Star was in the process of being sold three months prior to my grandfather’s death in October 1922 when a dramatic event occurred in Hornsby. Hornsby was a small community back in the 1920s and a country town in the bushland north of Sydney. Due to its growth, banks were established, and one of these banks was very close to my grandfather’s Hornsby Star Newspaper office.

In July 1922, a bank manager by the name of Mr Kemmis had been murdered, and his keys were found located within twenty-five paces of the Hornsby Star office in a vacant allotment(³). It appears the murderers must have hurled the keys into the allotment when they heard the police coming on the night of the murder.

Grandfather Reg was a very special man. He was always very willing to help those less fortunate than himself. Similarly, he would always be on hand to help and comfort those people in times of adversity. He was a very trusting and hard-working person. Quite often, he would be let down by people he trusted, especially in business. He would take people at face value. Reg Tweedie was described by a friend of his as a misunderstood person.

My grandfather served the community of Hornsby as a member of the Hornsby School of Arts, Chamber of Commerce, and The Independent Order of Oddfellows.

His passing away left a gap within the family, which took many years to heal. The memory of this interesting, sincere, but humble little man will always live on within future generations of his family. All in all, he had a very interesting but short life.

CHAPTER 2

CHATSWOOD

Note: ‘Chatswood was opened up for orchard growing in the mid-1800s. However, when the railway came to Chatswood, change came rapidly. The railway cut the orchard growing area in half in the 1890s. All the orchards were subdivided into building lots. Chatswood was centrally located along the lower north shoreline, and grew far more rapidly than a lot of other sites along the line. By the mid-1920s, it had become a thriving business and residential area.

‘In the 1920s and 1930s, there were a number of businesses opened, such as cafés and other refreshment rooms, frock shops and dressmakers, fruit vendors, and general stores, which was during the Depression years. For social events, there were billiard rooms and a number of small libraries.

‘There were four or five blacksmith shops, as horses were still common until the outbreak of World War II. Horses were used for carting produce and goods, and there were some horse-drawn cabs and carriages. However, this was slowly being taken over by the automobile. There were also bicycle repair