By Nicole Precel
SEAHOLME’S George Said is a man of many cultures.
He has Greek parents, with a Maltese surname and a British passport, was born in Egypt before he was exiled to Britain and then decided to travel to Australia.
On 26 August, Mr Said will discuss his adventures and Altona in the early 1960s with an 8mm film he took some 50 years ago.
“My wife, myself and two kids, we started off being refugees from Egypt,” he said.
“We were expelled and under house arrest and finished up in England and came out as ten Pound Poms.”
Mr Said’s parents worked for the British forces in Egypt, and Mr Said also worked for the British Army after he finished school.
“When Britain invaded Egypt in 1956, we were put under house arrest and told to leave the country,” he said.
On 12 December 1956, Mr Said and his wife, Maroula and his two daughters arrived in Egyptian clothing in England and shivered to the bone.
“I could speak English like I speak English now, but being darker was a problem for them, and also trying to make friends was difficult. It was difficult, I didn’t fit in,” he said. “I grew up in Egypt, had lovely summers at Mediterranean beaches, and suddenly you find yourself in London and with two kids it was hard.” In 1962 Mr Said and his family travelled for a month to Australia on a boat packed with kids with measles.
It was straight to his Sister’s house in Altona where the family stayed until they bought land a block and a half away.
“We were fortunate that we had some money behind us when we came,” he said.
But the Altona he knew was very different to Altona today which included muddy roads and an improper sewerage system.
But Mr Said thinks is journey to Australia would have saved his life.
“I’ve got a pacemaker and just had heart surgery I wouldn’t have had that. I don’t think I would have survived,” he said.
