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Life’s long adventure keeps Roy busy at 103 If there was a recipe for living a very long life chock full of adventure, then Roy McFadyen has all the ingredients, writes GLENIS GREEN
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ast month, Roy McFadyen turned 103. He still lives independently, still takes and develops his own photos in a darkroom he built, and recently celebrated his remarkable book – an autobiography called At A Cost – going into its third reprint. Lively and quick witted, he lost his driving licence a year ago at the grand old age of 102, and has even conquered rounds of throat and bowel cancer. His life has been full of ups and downs, from orphanages as a small child to becoming a successful mechanical engineer, businessman and inventor. Born in the year of the Spanish flu, he has lived through the Great Depression and World War II and yet still has an amazing recall of the places, names and dates that contributed to putting his life’s story into words and pictures when he retired to Queensland from Melbourne in 1981. As one reviewer of his book, Rod Moss, wrote: “This is not just an historical account of life in rural Australia from 1920 to 1960. It is an acutely personal story of the pain of growing up with a father he never knew, a mother incapable of normal maternal care and an early
childhood spent largely in orphanages.” “My Mum decided to kick me out when I was 15 and I was sent on my way,” Roy says. “I had a myriad of small jobs. It was the middle of the Depression and you had to be lucky to get a job at all.” With just a bicycle and a box camera
That changed when he ventured up to the Northern Territory in 1938 to work on stations outside Alice Springs: “It was the pioneering days of Central Australia and food was scarce.” But Roy formed a strong bond with the local indigenous people and many of the Aboriginal men among his friends are featured in his historic photographs of men, animals and machines on the land. “I got on very well with them. They helped me and I helped them – I’d bring them bags of flour and such from my own money to help out.” When World War II was declared he joined the Royal Australian Air Force and, using his skills gained in technical training, he serviced Hudson and Beaufort bombers. It was during this time he lost his brother Bob who died when his plane disappeared in action over the Pacific. Roy had two other brothers and a sister, but he is the last one left now. After the war, Roy established his own aircraft maintenance business, Aeroswan, in Swan Hill, Victoria, working in aviation from 1953 to 1979 before selling out to other licensed aircraft engineers and retiring at 61. He and his wife Lola had two
he cycled from Melbourne to Bendigo. “It was about 600km to the Mallee, but I was lucky I went to the farms. In the city you were struggling for food generally but on the farms, there were an excess of sheep and chooks and you never went without food.”
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We offer Residential Care and Respite Care Respite Care will be beneficial to you and your loved one to give you both peace of mind. If you require a break from your supportive role, please call our caring staff at either location.
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We’re here to help BUNDALEER LODGE NURSING HOME 114 Holdsworth Road North Ipswich, Queensland 4305 p: (07) 3201 8772 f: (07) 3201 7926 e: admissions@bundaleerlodge.com www.bundaleerlodge.com 12 YOUR TIME MAGAZINE / October 2021
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ALGESTER LODGE 117 Dalmeny Street, Algester, Queensland 4115 p: (07) 3711 47 1 1 f: (07) 3711 5699 e: admissions@algesterlodge.com www.algesterlodge.com
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29/09/2021 2:05:43 PM
