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and just lazed about between meals and bedtime, browsing through the books and periodicals from the well-stocked ship's library, playing card games, or merely chatting and quipping in the smoke room, or in deck chairs outside. For some, the war was definitely over; for others were was the hope of a speedy recovery and return, ultimately, to their units at the front. A very good Chess player from Melbourne initiated me into the game: he couldn't find anyone else who could play or was willing to learn; this tuition filled in a couple of hours on most mornings.
When the "Themistocles" berthed at Circular Quay, Dad, dressed up in his black, claw-hammer-tail, coat and striped trousers was one of the few civilians allowed on the wharf: he was always very successful in bluffing his way through, where others feared, or failed, to tread. We exchanged affectionate greetings, but he was not allowed to join me. We were still under Army control and had to be taken out to the Military Hospital at Randwick for medical examination and decision as to our future.
We were the first party of wounded soldiers to return, nearly a hundred of us, and we were driven in a long procession of loaned private cars, through dense cheering crowds, showering gifts of flowers, fruit, chocolate and cigarettes on our laps as we sat in the open vehicles. At the Hospital a multitude of people seethed around us, and a couple of my old friends broke through the police cordon to greet me. All the formalities of our reception took a long time. Finally I was classed as an out-patient, and told that I could live out at no expense to the Government, and should report back in a month's time. I had discarded my crutches before leaving the ship, but was unable to put any weight on the injured leg, and limped about with the aid of a thick walking stick.
On leaving the hospital, my friends took possession of me, and it was evening before I could get back to Dad, impatiently waiting for me at Aarons Hotel with some of his friends. That night we just managed to catch the night train to Parkes,