Tom and Edna Etchells on their wedding day in 1943.
The YMCLC Oral History Group invites you to take a step back in time as they reach into their files to present a story from days gone by. These stories are as spoken by the interviewee, and transcribed as such. Edna Etchells was one of the first people we interviewed back in 2008. Edna lived to the ripe old age of 103. Here is her story of her wedding in 1943 and settling in Yarrawonga after the war.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
When I was 19, I was on the Spencer Street Railway Station, and a lady was with this man, and my sister said, “Come over and meet this lady, she’s very upset because her son’s going off to the war”.
So, I went over to meet this lady and she said to me, “This is my son, would you like to write to him?”
I said, “Oh yeah, I will when he goes away”.
So, I said to Tom, “You better give me your name and your number and all that and I’ll write to you”.
“All right” he said. “When I come back do you think you could marry me?”
I said, “I suppose I can, but give me time”.
“OK,” he said.
So, I didn’t think any more about it; went to work and went all over the place with all the Yanks that were out at the time, had a great time.
One day this fellow came in, and I looked at him, and I thought, “Oh gee, who’s that, I know that face”, and it was Tom.
And, he came over and he said to me, “You know me?” and I said, “I thought I did, I know your face, man”, just like that. I said, “Who are you?”
He said, “I’m the fellow you’ve been writing to”.
I said, “Ah, you’re Tom Etchells”. He said “Yes”.
So, he said we’d go out tonight. So, we went out together that night, went out the next night, and the next night and on the third night, he said to me “Can you marry me next Saturday?”
“Ah, yeah”, I said, just like that. “But I will have to ask me Mum first”.
He said, “All right, come on we’re going to ask ya Mum”.
So, he come home and said to Mum, “Can I marry her next Saturday?”
She said, “Yeah, if you want to”. It was the funniest thing out.
So, she said to me, “What can you wear?” I said, “I don’t know but I’ve got that new blue dress hanging up in there that I bought the other day”.
“All right”, she said.
A friend of mine was there and she said, “I’ll make your hat, a pretty hat”.
I had some blue shoes, so we were all dressed up in blue.
Next Saturday, he landed at me door, picked me up, took me to the church. We got married. Just like that.
And then we went for a honeymoon up to Daylesford, just for the weekend.
Tom Etchells outside the first house he built in Yarrawonga.
We lived in a little house in Kensington. Tom had a mate up here (Yarrawonga) who was in the army with him, and he said “You want to come up to Yarrawonga and have a look at it. You might like it up there”. He said “There’s a beaut lake up there.
So, we came up and had a look and Tom said, “This place will do me”. He said, “We’ll find a bit of land, and we will build a house”.
Tom was a builder. The first job he ever did was Horrie Prescott, he built him a pit for them sheep to go down, called it sheep dipping.
Then he ended up building houses. The one we lived in, and, quite a few, and they’re all standing, they won’t fall down.
When we first came up here, we lived in a tent, and then, we built a tin shed, and we lived in a tin shed.
Made our own bricks to build a house, and then we built the house, and moved into the house.
Tom and Edna’s home in Yarrawonga.
We were quite happy in our tin sheds and our tents.
Now I’m here (Woods Point Aged Care) and I like it.
They are all good, you wouldn’t get better people, could ya.
Ah, that’s my life.
The Yarrawonga Mulwala Community and Learning Centre Oral History Group is currently seeking new members to join our group. If you have skills in basic IT, typing and/or audio editing it would be an advantage. Training and support are provided. Please contact the Community Centre on (03) 57443911 for more information.
