Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Up until I was 33 I thought John Alexander was my father. My mother told me my natural father was Lyiel Goodwin Richter. My mother had polio and lived in a back room of a house where Lyiel lived with his wife and their son Robert. Lyiel seduced or raped my mother depending on which side of the family you listened to. I was born on 19-12-1944 at the Victoria hospital. Adelaide. For 10 days my mother could not find someone to look after me so I was sent to the Kate Cox Babies Home. My mother met John through soldier letters. They married in July 1946 and another baby (Robert John) appeared on 4-12-1946. I was trialed out to them both in 1949 and adopted by them in 1951 at Port Adelaide Court. ( Judge Graham Pryke). John Alexander was born in Brompton and lost both parents by the time he was 13 years old. He helped with firewood collecting and worked at a dairy. He was brought up by two older sisters, Vera and Ada. Another brother Thomas was the favoured brother and my father very rarely spoke of his relatives. He cried on Anzac day usually and rarely spoke of it. Hated the Japanese, praised the Fuzzy-Wuzzys in New Guinea. Had one special war mate. Cecil Oakes from Payneham. War medals x4 now with his daughter Jennifer Anne Kessner. (Gladstone, Queensland) Author Terence Wayne Daviess
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