In 1955 I left St. Martin-in-the-fields secondary school to start work as a trainee in our family friends radio store. Karol Derbin was an ex Polish RAF radio operator from Warsaw and very keen to have an assistant to help him in his Crawford Street Marylebone W1, shop (just off Baker Street not far from Connan Doyles character, Sherlock Holmes). Majority of our customers were Polish or Jewish or entertainers. The basis of my theoretical training was obtained by attending night school classes at Regent Street Polytechnic. After two years working with old radio's and repairing Vacuum Cleaners, Pressing Irons, Heaters, Hairdryers, blown fuses or Public Address Amplifiers, I decided to change to fixing Televisions and HiFi systems.

I started working for a retail chain store called Civic in Kensington High St. I had to move from store to store as a sort of locum when the need arose, this lasted for about six years. By then I had managed to earn the deposit for my first house in Kingsbury and soon found employment locally working for a TV rental company called Ketts doing house calls. I dislike doing house calls and driving around in vans so I found another job locally in Harrow working on the bench. By then I had lots of experience. In my spare time I started buying faulty ex rental TV's to recondition and advertised in the local paper for Mary to sell from home. This worked very well and I soon found a retail outlet to sell from by sharing a shop with an old friend in Edgware who sold secondhand goods. The year was 1967 and the British economy was going through a very bad phase so we started to dream about migrating to Australia. Mary and I made good money at selling second-hand TV's that allowed me to take time out to go to Southall Technical College for further studies in Electronics and Colour TV Principles in preparation to applying for assisted passage to Sunny Sydney.

I achieved my City and Guilds certificates and Australia house was duly impressed by my family of three sons and one daughter and my qualifications and the fact we had enough money to buy a house when we finally arrived. The Australian government paid for passage by sea. We were "TEN POUND POMMES" or "NEW CHUMS".

We had the most unforgettable six week cruise of our lives. We stopped over in Rotterdam, Lisbon, Panama, Curacao, Barbados, Tahiti, Fiji and Wellington finally arriving in Sydney in April 1969 at six in the morning With perfect weather greeted by the dawn in the most spectacular harbor in the world.Sydney Harbour.

We stayed in the Coogee Hotel for a few nights. We tok our four children to Botany Bay to take a Picture to send back to our Parents to show we had made it safely.

Phase Two Sydney 1969 to 1971 In Sydney I found employment immediately subcontracting my services to Unit TV doing field service (going to people's homes) the remuneration was excellent.

Phase Three Sydney 1971 to 1974

We had not accounted for becoming Homesick! We were very homesick. We missed London and all things English.

We faced defeat and retreated. We decided to return to London. Once again we packed up all our belongings and sent everything back by sea as cargo ship on the Fairsky.Anther six week cruiose very similar to our Migrant Ship the Arnda. It was cheaper to travel by Ship than Aircraft.

For more info go to the.. FAIRSKY

We settled for a house in Mill Hill and I found a very good job in Enfield working for the Co-operative Society as service manager for their TV rental department.

The economy was in tatters and Mary was forced to find work doing Night Nursing to help elderly and disabled people. She was very brave and it helped to keep us afloat finacially.

This lasted for three years during which time we evaluated our Australian experience carefully and came to the conclusion that although homesickness had made us return, we were now sick of home, the economy was even worse and power strikes made us cold and depressed so again in 1974 we packed our home into shipping crates yet again, and then flew back to Sydney.

When we arrived at Mascot Airport I did like the Pope and kissed the ground. No matter what, we only returned to London as visitors and to see our Relatives.

Thankful to be Back in Sydney I persuaded Unit TV to take me back and lived through a huge change in the Domestic Electronics industry.

Colour TV had started! Colour TV was the big employer! I had arrived! In the right place at the right time! My London diplomas set me up for very good employment opportunities.

The years at Unit TV were very interesting; most of the subcontracting workforce could not cope with the new technology involved in Colour TV including a change from valves to semiconductors. For once in my life I was well prepared, having studied the latest technology in London I had no trouble fitting in with the companies needs. The whole industry realized new training was required and young and old needed detailed training in semiconductors and Colour TV Principles.

Unit TV found an industry partner in none other than Japans top electronics giant Sony Company to set up a training facility in conjunction with Strathfield TAFE College. Within twelve months of helping to establish a brand new syllabus I found myself having to teach 33 apprentices. The most stressful thing I have ever done.

After seven years at Unit TV,I was very pleased to get into my own TV repair business in Manly in 1981 and get away from being mother and father confessor to those young men.

The rewards came later when I gradually found out that the majority had found good employment in Electronics. Most of them took the trouble to seek me out and thank me for my part in their careers.