Nigel Dibbs

Ship name / Flight number: Fairsea

Nigel, aged 16 at the dairy farm h was placed at in Maldon
in 1961. 

Arrival date: 09/01/1961

Nigel came out to Australia to pursue his interest in Horticultural, but he was placed on a dairy farm pending placement at the Royal Botanic Gardens for a position that wasn’t immediately available. He was enjoying life on the farm at the time and turned down the RBG position some months later when it became available, but eventually returned to his love of plants and stayed associated with Horticultural for the majority of his working life.

Little Brothers in Arms       
© Nigel Dibbs 2013   (Fairsea – Jan.1961]

Down at the docks, little brothers in arms

Bound for Australia to work on the farms

Over twenty young men, some barely sixteen

Sang Waltzing Matilda and God Save the Queen

Six weeks on water, in Freemantle they land

To big skies and sunshine, highways and sand

They sailed round to Sydney, a new life to begin

Seeking adventure, far away from their kin

On Calmsley Hill Farm, sleeping under a net

Mosquito’s and spiders they tried to forget

Then one by one the boys were placed round

All over the country as positions were found

Some went to stations way in the outback

A long way from cities on the wallaby track

Some went to farms out Deniliquin way

Others to dairies with cow bales and hay

Living with families that they’d never met

Farther from home than they’d ever get

Some treated kindly, some with neglect

There all alone, just themselves to protect

With pioneer spirits the lads worked the land

When Australian farmers needed a hand

They carved out a life, put sweat on their brow

Sowing new pastures with tractor and plough

This is the story of those brothers in arms

Who came to Australia to work on the farms

Leaving their families, forever it seemed

For a land full of hope, a land full of dreams