Lest we forget - a time to remember

Colin Heard recalled the day he signed up in 1942. 

It was around the time of the Battle of the Coral Sea - and he joined with three other young men from Naracoorte.

“It was a pivotal day and I remember the wireless said ‘America has won the war’,” Mr Heard said.

Mr Heard is the oldest surviving veteran in the Northern Territory.

He now lives in Pearl Residential Care where he has been an active member of the community for many years, after first moving into Pearl Retirement Resort with his late wife Helen almost a decade ago.

Born in Adelaide in 1924, Mr Heard joined the airforce during World War II and flew a Kittyhawk fighter plane while the Allied and American forces followed the retreating Japanese forces through the Philippines.

“It was just a matter of turning up behind the lines and that’s all we did,” he said.

Although Mr Heard feels he was not involved in many active battles during his service, his peers from Naracoorte did not return home from the war.

Mr Heard rejoined the Naracoorte community and took up a job in retail again after completing his service.

“My first achievement was I instigated a swimming pool in Naracoorte, I was very proud of the fact that I was the Chairman of that committee,”he said.

“The swimming pool was half an acre of water, built by a man that couldn’t read or write - he lived way out in the bush behind Lucindale and it took 16 weeks.

“It was a wonderful achievement.”

The Naracoorte Swimming Lake was opened in 1961, after three years of planning and fundraising by the volunteer committee, and is still in use today.

Mr Heard also met his wife in Naracoorte and they had three children, eventually moving to Melbourne.

“My wife said to me, ‘you’re bored’, so she came with me on a trip to Melbourne and we finished up opening retail stores in six different places,” explained Mr Heard.

The couple, who worked hard in their stores until they were eventually bought out by a large chain, travelled widely across Australia and the world.

About nine years ago, Mr Heard and his wife settled in Darwin where their son was a doctor and they moved into the Pearl Retirement Resort.

Mr Heard will next month celebrate his 100th birthday and a special celebration is being planned with family.

Thank you to Mr Heard and all the members of our Southern Cross Care community who have served.