Tony Birch

But then fortunately my mother made enough noise and really demanded that I be brought back home and after two weeks I was returned to the family with a suitcase full of clothes that belonged to the boy in the house, which I then divided up between my brother and sister.

Well, I think so.

My mother doesn't like to talk about it because she feels very guilty and I don't believe there's any need for that and I've told her that for many years because when I was offered to go for a holiday, I really believed that my mother knew that she could never afford for any of her children to have a holiday...

And the holiday my older brother and sister had taken to Coriong, they really loved.

And yeah, they stayed with a Catholic family that were really great.

And yeah, so it's not, I don't want to condemn everyone because they stayed with apparently a pretty wild bunch of Catholic kids on a farm and they had a ball.

And I remember when they came back, I think my sister, her and one of the kids used to write pen pal letters to each other.

So for them, it was a great holiday.

And I think on the basis of that,

My mum thought, well, you know, Tony's entitled to the same enjoyment.

So she had no sense of what was happening.

And she's a very strong woman, my mum, and once she was aware that something was happening, she made sure that I'd be brought home.

So I don't know what eventual plans the family had, but they certainly, I think, involved the possibility of me not going back home.

Oh, look, it's interesting because a lot of my research work as a historian is looking at so-called possible welfare.

And I think what they would see, one, that I was a child they needed to save.

That was clear.

And that by giving me something of material value to them, that would be saving me.

They were quite religious.

I know that we went to church.

while I was there on the Sunday, we said grace at every meal.