by their sister Irene Burrows (first published in the 2003 edition newsletter)
Allan and John Maynard were my brothers. Although I was only thirteen at the time I can remember very clearly the day the dreaded telegram arrived.
We were all born at Mt Perry, Qld, Allan on 23 May 1918 and John, known as ‘Jack’ on 7 April 1920. They were the eldest children of Gus and Frances Maynard. Other members of their family are Jean Maynard (Biloela), Pat (deceased), Irene Burrows (Biloela) and Ron (deceased).
We lived at Mt Perry until 1932 when Gus won a block of land at Jambin, Central Queensland. There, Allan and Jack helped Dad with the dairy and grew cotton.
Allan and Jack enlisted from Jambin in October 1941. Allan was single. Jack was married and left a wife Frances and a daughter Beverley. They are both living in Brisbane today.
At some time the boys were on the “Oranje”, and later transferred to the “Centaur”. Jim Coulson was also on the ‘Centaur’. The three of them came from the small town of Jambin. Jim survived but has since passed away.
My memory of ‘the boys’ as they were always referred to: they were loving and happy men. It was a tragic loss to us all. They are sadly missed and remembered always.