That's what John Burke, my boss at the ANZ Bank, used to jokingly tell me! However, I have never lost my interest in the ANZ Bank for whom I worked for a relatively short time only, from December 1965 to December 1967 which were my first two years in Australia, and again from April 1969, after I had returned from South-West Africa (now Namibia), until December 1969, when I decided to go to Papua New Guinea.Despite this short employment record, it was a hugely important milestone in my life. I will always be grateful to Mr Robert Reid, the then manager of the ANZ Bank in Canberra who passed away in 1996, aged 86, who hired me as a youngster, fresh off the boat from Europe, and gave me the chance of a new start in a new country.
And, of course, the Bank's social life and the team spirit, together with living in a boarding-house full of other "Bank Johnnies", left me with many memories. I indulged in some of those memories in my Barton House webpage.
I've recently discovered the webpage of the ANZ Retired Officers Club and emailed them in the hope of making contact again with some of the old colleagues and friends. John Burke, Reg Elliott, Jeff Bennett, John Sheppard, Bob Willard, Dennis Everitt, John McKeon, Kevin Sloan, John Julian, Peter Simpson, Merv Quine, Greg Forster and Doreen and Sue Loudon, Colleen Murray, Kay Atkinson, Pam Dewhurst, and the Assistant Manager, Mr Bradford, come to mind.
Sadly, Mr Reid, the Canberra manager, passed away in 1996 - click here, and quite recently, in September, Bob Southwell did, too.
