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.

Cliff Schwerin
1952

Colin's Diary

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.

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.

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)

This summary was placed on the “Asturias” website by Catherine Schwerin who can be contacted via the website administrator.