Phyllis Neale has recently reached the incredible milestone of turning 100.
On 23rd February, the Armadale resident made it to a full century of life.
Flanked by her two children Mark and Pat, Mrs Neale shared her incredible life story, from her beginnings in provincial England in the 1920s, through the Second World War in her youth, and her move to Australia, as part of the famed cohort of “10-pound Poms.”
“I was born near Surrey in southern England in 1926. It was such a lovely area. My father was a painter, but he did all sorts of other jobs as well. He was a real handyman,” she said.
“We didn’t have a lot of spare stuff growing up. I was about 14 when the world war broke out.”
Mrs Neale recalled remarkable stories of taking shelter in air raid bunkers as the German Luftwaffe dropped bombs and distinctly remembers one instance in which she saw her mother completely coloured black after an air attack, having taken shelter in their family coal bin.
“I was at work one day, and a bomb was dropped. It dropped near where I lived. And I went running home and my poor mum in the coal bin, she was just pitch black after the attack. She was deaf, my mum, and that was the only place she could find to go.
“I was working in an armaments factory during the war. We were producing all sorts of materials, like ammunition and parts for glider planes.”
She said she distinctly recalls hearing British Prime Minister Winston Churchill giving speeches on the radio, including his famous “We will fight on the beaches” speech from 1940, following the successful allied Dunkirk evacuation.
After the war, in 1947, Mrs Neale married her husband, a veteran who had served as a tank driver in the North African campaign.
In order to seek greater opportunity than was available in war-ravaged England, they made the decision to move to Australia.
“We were part of shiploads of people. We first went to Bundaberg in Queensland, but there weren’t as many work opportunities there as the government had promised, so later on, we moved to Perth. We lived in a caravan while my husband built our house in Cannington, which was then just quarter-acre blocks,” she said.
It was here that her two children were born.
“As was normal back then, we got by on a single income. My husband was a tiler, though he did other jobs as well.
“It’s sad for the little ones nowadays because they all have to go to daycare so young because the mums and dads both work,” she said.
Mrs Neale emphasised the profound changes Perth has experienced in her time living here.
“It was not much of a town when we came here. There was Hay Street in the city, where many people went to do their shopping. We used to catch trains or trolley buses to get around, since we didn’t have a car. It was a really big thing to get around back then.”
Mrs Neale has never owned a mobile phone, nor possessed a driver’s licence, and claimed to have always been fine with it.
Attempts were made by her children to introduce her to these modern conveniences, though she proved resistant.
When asked what the key to her remarkable longevity is, it was her daughter Pat who provided the strongest answer: “Because back then we didn’t buy a lot of food, we grew most of it in our own garden. I think mum has always had access to fresh food. No pesticides, chemicals or anything like that. That was always really good for her. Also, we used to walk a lot, so that kept us very active and healthy.
Mrs Neale has received the complimentary message from King Charles, wishing her well. She is described by staff at Dale Cottages Armadale, her current place of residence, as an identity and a great part of the community.
