THIS IS MY FATHER
My father was a soldier in World War l. He and his younger brother joined up as Light Horsemen and went to Egypt in 1915 to finish their training. They did not wear emu feathers on their hats like most of the regiments. They were the 6th Light Horse Regiment and the only ones to wear a band of wallaby fur round their hats. A book was written about them and their exploits called “Under Furred Hats”.
We won’t talk about my earlier life. We’ll start when I was deposited on the farm like a parcel being delivered. I was not happy about this because I was a “lost” cat, an abandoned cat, an injured cat!
In my ‘lost’ and injured state I struggled to a stranger’s door. They fed me and took me to the vet as my tail was badly injured. By the way, that’s how I got my new name. “Bobbie” because I now had a bobtail. During my convalescence I overheard my saviours planning to ‘move me on’. I was distraught at the idea of again being ‘taken on sufferance’.
Delivery day arrived and I was transported many miles and introduced to my new owner who was asked to take me ‘on approval’. If I hadn’t been so upset I’d have had a lot to say about that.