Ian Martin was a Quartermaster on the Himalaya and recalls the emotional scenes when the ship left Sydney.
I was a Quartermaster on the Himalaya and the photo of the ship leaving Circular Quay in Sydney was taken on board her in 1971.
As the ship pulled away from the quayside, the passengers would throw streamers to their relatives and hold onto them until they snapped.
It was always an emotional time with lots of tears and waving goodbye.
On one ship I was on they stole all the toilet rolls and threw them instead!
Leaving England was even sadder, the same scene was repeated but for some passengers it would be the last time they would see their loved ones as they sailed away to a new life at the other side of the World, the streamers acting like a symbolic umbilical cord as it parted.
There was no Internet, mobile phones or instant communication in those days, only an occasional letter or a very expensive land line call.
Looking back on their behalf, it was a very brave thing to do. For us it was just a job but for them, especially the children it meant boarding a huge ship and sailing across the Atlantic/ Pacific to the other side of the World.
Many of them never returned to England and Australia/New Zealand became their home.
Ten Pound Poms was a slang term to describe British citizens who migrated to Australia and New Zealand after World War II.
