Who Are They?
These photographs were taken on board the Asturias in November 1948, by Pat Piggott. His wife Irene (Rene) and son Michael are pictured with other passengers. If you can identify them, please let us know.
My dad, Cliff Schwerin, travelled on the SS Asturias - not as a migrant on his way to Australia, but as a member of the RAAF in 78 Wing, which was deployed to Malta for garrison duty in 1952.
Dad, at that time an LAC, took part in a farewell march through the streets of Newcastle on 27 June 1952 and departed with 78 Wing by train for Sydney, where they embarked on the SS Asturias.
It was a tearful farewell at the quayside, but Dad felt a bit out of it because there was no one there to bid him goodbye.
Dad, at that time an LAC, took part in a farewell march through the streets of Newcastle on 27 June 1952 and departed with 78 Wing by train for Sydney, where they embarked on the SS Asturias.
It was a tearful farewell at the quayside, but Dad felt a bit out of it because there was no one there to bid him goodbye.
First the Asturias travelled south, then across the Great Australian Bight. It stopped at Fremantle in WA before heading on to Colombo (Sri Lanka), Aden (Yemen) and through the Suez Canal to Port Said (Egypt), where it picked up British troops and their families bound for Britain.
Before arriving at Valetta, however, the Asturias was diverted to pick up survivors from a Dakota which had apparently crashed into the sea. The DC-3 had had about 32 people on board, and the young men on the Asturias were a bit worried that they would be fishing bodies out of the sea. Imagine their relief when they found the Dakota floating like an impatient turtle and most of the passengers and crew unharmed. That’s one reason why Dad likes the old Dakotas. They were solid and reliable.
On 28 July 1952, three days after Dad’s 23rd birthday, the SS Asturias finally disembarked 78 Wing – my dad among them - in Valetta for a three-year stint on Malta. This was a magnificent adventure for a lad brought up on a little farm in the Queensland bush.
Before arriving at Valetta, however, the Asturias was diverted to pick up survivors from a Dakota which had apparently crashed into the sea. The DC-3 had had about 32 people on board, and the young men on the Asturias were a bit worried that they would be fishing bodies out of the sea. Imagine their relief when they found the Dakota floating like an impatient turtle and most of the passengers and crew unharmed. That’s one reason why Dad likes the old Dakotas. They were solid and reliable.
On 28 July 1952, three days after Dad’s 23rd birthday, the SS Asturias finally disembarked 78 Wing – my dad among them - in Valetta for a three-year stint on Malta. This was a magnificent adventure for a lad brought up on a little farm in the Queensland bush.
Here are also some photos from an album that the lads from RAAF 78 Wing put together and had printed as a book, including one of my dad, Cliff (above).
(Click on photos to enlarge)
(Click on photos to enlarge)
This summary was placed on the “Asturias” website by Catherine Schwerin who can be contacted via the website administrator.
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Army Chaplain's Poems
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Ship's Voyage Logs
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Statistics
about the Ship
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