Two days after my arrival in Oz, I became an labourer on the Volkswagen assembly line at Martinamp;King, the foreman in charge was Les Stowe with his assistant Hugh McComiskie. It was also the place where the first blue Harris trains were put together. I had to transform myself from a pen-pusher into a VW door assembler with two left hands, and at the same time trying to understand my Aussie workmates. I thought they spoke English 'down-under', but what lingo was that, every second word started with a B... or an F...
Oh, don't get me wrong, those Aussies were a friendly lot and they took an interest in your welfare, no doubt about that.
Still hear Dave Rainbird asking me: ' Have you got a sheila, Bernie' or 'That's a nice bag of fruit you've got', Who you're barracking for'.
And after I stopped the habit of dropping my spanners and screwdrivers and was able to put my head down, absorbed in creating a good looking 'beetle' and show those Aussies that I was a hard worker, the leading hand Bill Jenkins would come my way, to tell me, 'take it easy Bernie, tomorrow is another day mate.'