Eddie Baker’s migration memories (© NSW Migration Heritage Centre, Australia NSW Migration Heritage Centre, Australia):

I was born on Coronation Day 1937 in Southampton, England. My grandmother wrote to the Duke of Windsor because, being a Coronation baby, they wanted to christen me ‘Edward Windsor’. We got a letter back saying the wish had been granted and so I became ‘Edward Windsor’. But my father registered me and, unknown to Mother, he tagged ‘George’ on the front! I never use ‘George’, but that is my full [name], George Edward Windsor Baker.

When my father died it left my mother destitute with four children. We were evacuated during the [Second World] war to Bournemouth. It wasn’t a terribly happy experience [and] Mother took us back home to Winchester. It was a disaster there. I was constantly bullied. Eventually she had a nervous breakdown, so the doctor recommended my sister and myself go into this Fairbridge home at Benington in Hertfordshire. We were the two youngest. I think I was nine. The eldest sister was just old enough to go to work and the next eldest, my brother, went into a military cadetship.

Benington was in a beautiful, rural setting so it was really great. It was a holding area for children going overseas – Canada or Australia – so a lot of the children were only there for about two or three months. My mother didn’t visit very often. It was a fair way and I guess transport was a problem.

I think [my mother] approved reluctantly with going [to Australia], eventually she must have relented. There was coloured blood in the family so the ‘White Australia’ policy wouldn’t allow my sister to come. My father was quite dark – we’ve only just discovered my grandmother had an affair with a dark coloured man – and it showed up on my sister where I followed after my mother being fair skinned. They were reluctant to let me go on my own but I was quite upset [at] missing out, so eventually they gave me the okay. My sister went into a national children’s home in the UK.

I was 10 when I left, it was all excitement. Most children like an adventure don’t they? I knew at least 30 children at the other end that I had made friends with, so it wasn’t a big deal waving goodbye.

We went by bus to the station [and] boarded a train up to Glasgow [and] sailed. Empire Brent was a single funnel boat but quite enormous to us at the time. It was packed with migrants from different nationalities that were coming to Australia.
r n[Departing] was quite solemn. Most of the children were fairly quiet, so there must have been a bit of anxiety. In the morning, all we saw was water and then we had a pretty good time. You were meant to have schooling but they couldn’t find anybody [to teach us], so there wasn’t any! It was just having fun, running around and being spoiled. If any of the boys were bullied, they would take them down into the galley and feed you with nice things which was quite a treat in those days; we didn’t get many luxuries. We were spoiled and treated to outings and good food in Perth, Adelaide and Sydney.

We got the train up from Sydney and I am not sure whether it was to Orange or Molong. Coming up the drive [to Fairbridge Farm in] a truck, all these children I knew came running down and greeted you, so I settled in very easily.
r n[Fairbridge] had a policy of putting most [new] children into the one cottage, as you had known each other. We had two girls with us and they went into a girls’ cottage. But the rest of us, we all went into Canary Cottage, so it wasn’t terribly hard settling in.

Didn’t particularly like the heat. [That] came as a bit of a shock, I liked the cooler weather better. I used to suffer from heat rash in England!

In the winter you only had one fireplace in the main common room, but apart from that, you didn’t stand around in the mornings. You got dressed pretty quickly otherwise you froze to death.

You had shoes but we