Beryl Mitchell

I started my school life in Malaya at the RAAF School Penang at age 5 - what a great place!

My memories are all jumbled together - finger painting, nasi goreng with our amah Lan, walking in red mud up to my knees after the rains, watching fresh prawns being cooked by the sea and looking at all the colourful toy stalls on the sidewalks! We lived for 2 years in Malaya, I was only 3 when Mum and my sister flew up to meet Dad who was stationed at Butterworth. We lived at 4 different addresses - only 2 of which I'm sure - Green Lane and at 8 Tanjong Tokong.I have memories of going to Kindergarten there too but not sure if that's part of the RAAF school or not. Mum said I would never have my afternoon nap - I had boundless energy, always wanting to play. And she let me drink coca-cola instead of milk, which was scarce - so I ended up having a lot of teeth out under general anaesthetic before coming back to Australia - and having my tonsils out as soon as we got back to Melbourne. I was a bit of a tomboy - and running wild up there was the best thing.

We moved 3 more times in Australia while Dad was still in the RAAF, Melbourne, Brisbane & then Sydney - and even though I now live in Sydney I feel I can move anywhere - I think starting travelling so young encourages a gypsy spirit!

I'm an Executive Assistant in the defence industry - but would prefer to devote time to my photography and artwork/poetry! My partner is also a keen photographer and our daughter is an editor/photographer too.

I'd love to hear from anyone who was in Kindergarten or Year 1 around 1959/1960. I've never been back, but the 2010 reunion sounds interesting.