Gerry Hallam

My family (Mum, Dad, sisters Julie & Lisa and yours truly) emigrated from Sheffield, Yorkshire, England in October 1966. We spent a month at sea which was a memorable trip to all of us and arrived in Hobart,Tasmania where we had 2 great years before Dad joined the RAAF.

Posted to Point Cook in 1969, I met a number of friends (Allison & John McConnell, Wayne Reynolds, Eddie Humble) who all attended Werribee High School.

In late 1970,we went to Malaysia where I met up with John McConnell & David & Neville Mitchell (who all now live in Melbourne and unfortunately time & distance resulted in us losing contact).

I finished Form 4 (or Year 10) in 1971 at RAAF School Penang and as my family still had 18 months to serve in Malaysia, went to boarding school for Years 11 & 12 at Oakhill College, Castle Hill (about 25 kms in the North west of Sydney).

Went home to Penang at the end of Year 11(1972)and guess what??met a girl called...Rosemary Doherty. Anyway, I went back to boarding school and we kept in contact for the next year or so.

My family were posted to Sydney in June,1973 and we lived a Warriewood, near Manly on the northern beaches of Sydney. Anyway, Rose's family came back to Australia later that year and her Dad took up a position at Richmond. The distance to Penang couldn't keep us apart, so the many car trips to Richmond (about 100kms in total) didn't stand a chance! Rose & I were married on 11 December, 1976 and last year celebrated our 25th aniversary accompanied by our two sons, Paul & Stephen (21 & 20) and daughter, Ellise(13). We now live at Glenmore Park near Penrith with our family. Rose is the Personal Assistant to Headmaster at Penrith Anglican College and I have been with the National Australia Bank for nearly 25 years & work as a Private Banking Manager in the Sydney CBD.

Both Rose & I look back on our time at RAAF School Penang with fond memories for obvious reasons and we are sure there are many longstanding relationships & friendships that were formed as a result of attending the school.

I can't believe that it is now close to 2003 and nearly 32 years have gone by but the experiences had in Penang remain close to our hearts.

Any students in 1971 to 1973 who remember us or would like to keep in contact please send us your story... this is the Rosemary Doherty & Gerry Hallam story which started in a hot, humid,foreign country and was just meant to be!