I am Cor Jaspers. Born in Venlo, Limburg, The Netherlands, on the 13th of May 1929. My Father was Cor Jaspers, born in Den Ouden Bosch, Brabant, on the 10 th of January 1905. My Mother was Bertha Jaspers (Nelissen), born in Horst, Limburg, on the 26 th of August 1907. We moved from Venlo to Maastricht, where we lived for some years to come, in a suburb called Wijk. From there we moved to Heerlen, Sittarderweg, next to a bakery "Kessels-Roos". Many times I had a ride on one of the delivery vans and was allowed to take the reins of the horse, during the round. Later on we lived in the Geleenstraat. From there I attended trade school to become a carpenter. In 1944 I got my Technical day school certificate (2-year course) and found a job in a furniture factory.

Most of my holidays, I spent over my Auntie's place in Blerick and always had a lot of fun. There I had plenty of nephews, nieces and friends, while in Heerlen, because we lived in the middle of the city, there were not too many kids around in the neighborhood. So at the end of 1944 I went to Blerick, to live with my Auntie's & Uncle's family. But with the war just finished, I was out for something more adventurous. On my seventeenth birthday, I went with a nephew and 2 friends to sign up for the Royal Dutch Marines. In the end, I was the only one who ended up, to sign a contract for six years service. I was called up on the 3rd of July 1946, to report for training at the Marines camp Doorn (Harskamp). (Province Utrecht)

One year later........
Get ready for Indonesia. I served there, from July 1947 to Dec.1950, mainly in East-Java. This was a period in my life I'll never forget. I have lots of good memories about this beautiful country, but also some sad ones. Many of our friends didn't make it back home and stayed behind in this faraway country.

Back home in the Netherlands, I still had to serve 1.5 years, to finish my six years, I signed up for. After that I went back into civil life and got a job in a repair-shop for mopeds. (Motorized bikes) They were very popular in the fifties & sixties. They were nearly as fast as a light motorbike, but you didn't need a license for it. After a couple of years, my boss set me up in my own repair-shop, but that didn't last very long.
By now, my parents had moved house to The Kissel.

I went back to what I learned for at trade school. Carpentry... I got employment with a big building mob. Reumkens Building Companies LTD. I worked there for almost twelve years and specialized myself in the making of staircases. In the meantime I met Annie Mies from Kaalheide. Born on the 11 th of March 1933 in Nieuwenhagen. She lived with her parents and had a son called Peter from a previous marriage.
Her husband died in an accident in the coal mine at Schaesberg.

I married Annie on the 15 th of February 1957. We settled down on a block, belonging to my boss, next to the factory where I worked. I couldn't get any closer than that. It was only a wooden building. The place was called Nieuwenhagen. The same place where Annie was born. We started off with a kitchen & one big room. Later I added 3 bedrooms, because the family was getting bigger. After living there for almost 4 1/2 years, finally we got a new house from the council. By the time we moved into the new house we had 4 kids & in 1963 number 5 arrived. In 1964 we started to think about immigration. We had two choices.
America or Australia. Final choice was Australia.
All arrangements were made, passports, injections etc. etc.
Then it happened...........

In February 1965 my Father died from lung cancer. That was a hard blow for all of us. Our departure date was set for 25 th of March. Everything was organized. For my poor Mother, it were 2 blows at once. Her husband died and her oldest son was ready to leave for Australia. My decision was a very hard one. But I wanted a better life for my kids too. So we went through with it and sailed with "The Seven Seas". One trip I never will forget either. Most of the time I was seasick and Annie had to look after all the kids, do the washing, and look after me as well. For her (and me) it wasn't a pleasure trip at all. Very tired and worn out we arrived in Fremantle on the 25 th of April 1965. Our end destination was Adelaide. The ship took us to Melbourne and from there we traveled all through the night to Adelaide where we arrived on the 1st of May.

First stop...... " Finsbury Hostel " on Grand Junction Road. After we settled in, I started looking for a job. It didn't take very long and I found employment at Port Adelaide Joinery Works, Rosewater. Almost next door again. I worked there for 12 years and was due for Long Service Leave. In August 1977 we made arrangements to go for a holiday to Holland. Departure 18 th of August. It seems, I made a mistake in my calculations and my LSL wasn't due until October 1977. Everything was arranged and the main reason for going now, was my mother's birthday on the 26 th. Her 70th We missed already so many of her birthdays, we couldn't miss out on this one. I was told by my boss, the only way I could go now, was to resign and after the 8 weeks holiday, he would take me back again. So, off we went. We had a wonderful vacation and very happy to see them all again, after 12 years. Back in Adelaide , I got in touch with my boss to see when I could start working and then I was in for a nasty surprise. Not enough work at the moment, maybe in a couple of weeks. Well I couldn't sit around and wait. I started looking for another job and found one.
I became a manager in the trophy manufacturing business.
"Adelaide Trophy Manufacturers".

In 1991 another Long Service Leave and off to Holland again, this time in a hurry. A letter from my brother brought us very bad news. Mother was in hospital and kept asking for us. If we still wanted to see her, we had to be quick. Mother was dying, but she held on, now knowing we would come over. Thank God, we made it in time. Two days after our arrival she passed away, very happy and peaceful. She was eighty-four.
All her children stood by her bedside, to say farewell.

Back home again in Wing field, life went on as usual, until 28-7-93. On that day, I injured my back, while lifting a heavy sheet off a truck. After a lot of physiotherapy, heat treatment and tablets, I ended up in the hospital and had a back operation. After that I couldn't do my normal work any more. Because I was so close to my 65 th birthday, I got an early retirement. And that's what I am now, a retired Pensioner.

In June 2000 we went for another holiday to Holland. We lived in the house from Herman , (who is the son of Annie's eldest sister Fiena) and his wife Willy. They are caretakers of a caravan park in Germany and because they had to be there, their house was vacant and we could move in there, straight from the airport. Annie's sister Toni, took us on a 10 day trip to Austria, where we had a wonderful time .The only thing, Annie & I still hope for, is to move into another house and make a trip around Australia.....................and later maybe once more to Holland.

It is now September 2004. Our dream for another house came true.  In April 2001 we moved in a brand new home at Paralowie.