ARTHUR Scanlan has seen a lot of changes during his time in Donnybrook.
Born in London, Arthur came to Australia with his parents in 1923, at the age of two, on a group settlement scheme.
His parents were allotted a 100 acre farm eight miles south of Northcliffe.
“It was covered in bush,” Arthur said. “How could they farm anything on that? They tried to clear the land, but they had no money.”
In 1930 the Great Depression set in and like most farmers, Arthur’s parents walked off the land to go and look for work.
“Most settlers were the same,” Arthur said.
“The Australian Government painted a picture of a land of opportunity but it never eventuated like that.”
Arthur’s parents moved to Perth to look for work, but there was none.
“Finally all the people who had no money were sent back out into the bush to make roads by hand,” he said.
“They had shovels, picks, horses and drays and that was how they did it. My Dad kept on working on the road until he died at 49 as a result of inhaling gas in the First World War – it mucked up his lungs.”
Arthur did his schooling in Boyanup and moved with his parents to Donnybrook in 1935.
“I’ve been here ever since,” he said.
“It’s a different place now; everyone used to come to town on horses and carts, some had T Model Fords, but not many.”
Arthur said that shopping was done on a Saturday for the whole week.
“The main shop in town was the Preston Producers Co-op,” he said.
“I started working with them in 1937, until I enlisted in the army for four and a half years.”
Arthur was sent to fight in New Guinea, a time of his life he does not like to recall.
“It wasn’t a very nice experience,” he said. “I spent 429 days there, that was what it said on my discharge papers.
“I hated the place intensely and decided when I got my discharge certificate that I’d forget that part of my life and put it behind me.”
After the war, Arthur met Nancy, who he described as “the loveliest girl.”
They were married in 1948, had four children and spent 56 and a half years together.
“I suppose we were pretty lucky,” Arthur said.
“Three boys, one girl, the eldest just retired at 61, my daughter is 60, the next one is 57 and the next one 54, so I suppose I’m starting to get a bit long in the tooth.”
Arthur spent 43 years working at the Preston Co-op before retiring in 1981.
While he determined after coming home from the war that he’d put it behind him, and then spent many years not wanting anything to do with the Anzacs or the RSL, he is now a member of the RSL.
“It’s been a long time now,” he said.
“I’ve seen Donnybrook grow, I’ve got no complaints – I think we’ve got a wonderful little town and I wouldn’t leave it for anything.”
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