Is my tie straight, never mind the shutter clicked and perpetuated my last day on home soil.
At the back as well, is my youngest brother Tony, while Keith and Frans added a bit of good looks to the shot. Frans (Frank as he's called now) was called up in the army as a conscript.
His first post was with the Regiment Medical Troops based at the Juliana van Stolberg barracks in Amersfoort. He became a 'hospik', hospital orderly and transferred to Roosendaal where he was stationed the MCD company in the Engelbrecht van Nassau barracks.
Frank was about to acquire an extra stripe on his sleeve, a promotion to corporal, alas his time was running out as emigration became for him also, a close reality.
His request to be transferred to the Saksen Weimar barracks in Arnhem was granted, so he could prepare his papers and take part in a crash course in the English language. Six months short of his full term, Frank was demobilized, ready to take to the high seas with the rest of the family, destination 'down-under'.