Stories We've Told

Katy - She never could believe in God after what she saw during the war

Beginning her life in Eastern Poland (now Ukraine) Katy remembers first the Russian then the German invading armies. Her mother, who was brought up in Austria, told her not to worry about the Germans: "They are very cultured people." Her father thought she would be safer out of the country and took her to Budapest. She was never to see her parents again.

The Germans followed her to Budapest were she learned to live on her wits. Working as an interpreter she rented a small apartment where she sheltered a family of Jews. "It was a big risk," she says. "But I didn't think too much about it." Shortly after the war she married Martin, also from Poland. In 1947 they migrated to Australia with their young son to join Martin's brother, who had fought with the RAAF. Katy recorded her story so her grandchildren could get to know her a little better and perhaps understand why she worries about them so much.

Horak - A Russian who gave James Bond some great story lines

Life is often stranger than fiction, even if you are the creator of a comic strip. Horak, as he was known around the world, came to Australia as a teenager, calling himself a white Russian. Fascinated by comic strips, he began to draw his own. In his early 30s he sailed to England and within a few months everything had fallen into place.

He had landed one of the best jobs in the country working on a national newspaper, The Daily Express, drawing the James Bond cartoon strip. "Ironic that a white Russian came to draw one of Britain's national heroes," he reflects. More than 10 years later, Horak returned to Australia to work on his new creation, Andea, for Sydney's Daily Mirror, and later Cop Shop for the Sun-Herald. Now nearly 80 years old, Horak still maintains a studio, working for pleasure whenever it suits him. And why did this gentle man ask True Story to record his memoirs? "So my grandchildren don't think I was like the characters in my cartoons," he chuckles.

Rick Riddle - The day he retired

Some people have no regrets, and Rick Riddle is one of them. At the age of 16 he enrolled as a trainee teacher at Bathurst College, and by 18 he was a qualified teacher. His first teaching job was in Sydney, but Rick, with his young wife Jan, seized a couple of overseas opportunities and worked in Malaya and London.

After returning to Australia, Rick took a post as Principal of a school in rural NSW. "It was a wonderful experience, particularly as my own children were attending the school," he says. Rick and family returned to Sydney where Rick, after a number of other postings, became Principal of Toongabbie Public School. "Many of my own school friends might be able to say that their jobs were better paid, but few would be able to say that their jobs were as rewarding," he says. A much loved and respected Principal, Rick recently retired. True Story was there to record the day.

Elizabeth - Life was a series of open doors

One thing leads to another. With all the men off fighting in the war, Elizabeth took on a "man's job" in the bank. This led to a position in Fiji, which in turn led to a job with Pan American airways. After many an adventure overseas, she settled in Lindfield on the North Shore of Sydney, raised a family, and went back to work at a travel agency in Gordon.

It was while living in Lindfield she awoke to her true passion: horticulture. She retrained as a Landscape Architect and since then has designed over 2,000 gardens in the area. Although she has retired from landscaping, she has kept her fingers green and is one of Australia's leading authorities on Bonsai trees. Elizabeth is the family archivist and True Story is helping her pass on her family's story to future Simeonoffs.

The Elphinstons - Early settlers in Sydney

Where do babies come from? The answer, of course, is ancestors. The Elphinstons travelled from Leith in Scotland to Australia aboard the sailing barque Auruell in 1832.

There was William and Janet and their children William 5, Alexander 4, and James 2. And at latitude 37 degrees 30' South and longitude 114 degrees 35' East^*, Charles was born. In Sydney, William worked as a building surveyor and went on to have 8 more children with Janet. With the help of True Story, descendents of the Elphinstons have restored original photographs and properly archived their family history.

(* Not far from Cape Leeuwin, Western Australia.)

Malcolm - Voices from the past

Malcolm was one of those people who had a real zest for life: a geography teacher at the local high school by day, thespian at night, sailor and climber at the weekend. Always on the go, his infectious enthusiasm kept everyone around him busy too.

"We had some great arguments together, he was a bit of a lefty and I was a bit right wing," says Campbell, a long-time friend. "After a few pints we'd forget what we were arguing about, but we still kept arguing. It was a lot of fun". Malcolm died at the age of 36 in 1968. True Story has recorded reminiscences of Malcolm's friends so that his grandchildren can know, in spirit, the man they never had a chance to know in the flesh.

Joseph Horak - The train robber

Born in Czechoslovakia, Joseph travelled all over Russia working as an engineer for the Russian railway. In Siberia he fell in love and married a young Russian girl. Stalin was in power, this being the time of the revolution, and the future was very unsure.

Joseph loaded a train with tools and took off south, eventually stopping in Manchuria, China.

It was there he set up shop as an engineer, building up a business and employing over 20 workers. "These were hard times" explains Joseph's son, now in his 80s. "If it wasn't for the resourcefulness and strength of this man, our family wouldn't have survived."

While Joseph was in Manchuria, the Japanese invaded. His world changed again and, as he had done before, he adapted. Shortly before WW2 broke out, Joseph was advised to get out of the country by a Japanese friend. He and his family boarded a ship, first to Japan and then on to Australia. It was one of the last Japanese ships to come to Australia before the start of hostilities. True Story is helping his family record Joseph's life story, and to restore precious photographs, preserving his memories for future generations.

Kanga Birtles - Round the World Sailor talks about the wildlife at sea

He built his own boat and sailed it single-handed around the world, but upon meeting Kanga you'd be struck by how very normal he seems. Scratch the surface, however, and underneath you'd find an extraordinary will and resolve that would match any great adventurer.

He and his yacht Jarkan, an open 60, sailed in the 1990-91 BOC Challenge. The race started and finished in Newport, Virginia, taking in the Southern Ocean and a rounding of the infamous Cape Horn. "I slept a lot of the time," says Kanga. "I had all sorts of alarms to tell me if I went off course, but I was always awake before they started buzzing. You know the motion of your boat and you know if it has changed, whether you are awake or asleep." Kanga preferred to keep on sailing and building boats rather than writing an account of his voyage. True Story has helped him record his memories for his family.

Reg Lee - An Australian who found himself in Africa

Most of the time, when grandchildren look at their grandparents, they see a kind face, a few funny stories and a bag of lollies. Reg has always been happy to oblige.

But his family felt there was more and they were right. Reg is a true adventurer, entrepreneur and some might say, larrikin. In this extract from his life story, he tells our interviewer, Rob McAuley, about how he happened upon a group hanging whilst working as a salesman in South Africa.

True Story wrote Reg’s life story and printed 30 copies for his family to enjoy in years to come.

Maddie - The secret to great roast potatoes

If you don’t know her as Maddie, you’ll know her as Nana. And to a very discerning group of epicures, she makes the best roast dinners around. In this video clip she shares her secrets and hopes that more families can enjoy the magnetic "bringing together" powers of a good old fashioned roast.

• Peel and par boil the potatoes for 7-10 Minutes
• Give the saucepan a good shake to ruffle the edges of the potatoes
• Warm a couple of tablespoons of fat (goose if possible) in a roasting tin and add the potatoes
• Place in a hot oven, at least 200°C for about 45 minutes
• Add family and friends

David - Grandfather, joiner and master chisel sharpener

In this workshop David toiled away for most of his working life. He made all kinds of things out of wood for his loyal customers in the surrounding towns. Asked if he felt a sense of satisfaction on finishing a job, “Well kind of” he said “but the problem is that I’ve got to start on another new job in the morning”.

Now retired, David still has some of the tools his parents bought for him when he was an apprentice. In this video he shows his grandchildren how to put a good edge on a chisel should they follow their grandfather. Please note – David never throws anything away – the oil in the oilcan spent the first part of its life in David’s car.

Roy and Kali - What it’s like to grow up in a Japanese POW camp

Their tale is an extraordinary saga of two people who, despite incredible odds, were destined to meet, fall in love, and marry.

Their stories span the globe, encompassing Austria in the mid 1930s, when a Jewish family fled the encroaching horrors of Nazism; Shanghai, China, on the eve of World War 2, when the son of an English ex-pat family was transferred to Manila; and Sydney in the mid 1940s, where an unmarried mother gave birth to a baby daughter.

How these totally unrelated stories intertwine is a remarkable tale of the role fate played in the lives of Roy and Kali.