Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Keith Edward Cross (dad) was the eldest of 4 children to Dudley and Amy Cross. He had 2 brothers Raymond and John and a sister Laural. Around the age of 12 Keith's dad passed away and not so long after that his mother Amy abandoned the children. It was 3 days before anyone knew they were alone. Unfortunately, Keith and his brothers were sent to the Morialta Orphanage in South Australia, while his younger sister who was 7 went to live with the grandparents but no family members were prepared to take on the boys. Needless to say three years in an orphange were difficult and dad saw it as his duty being the eldest to take care of his brothers. This sometimes meant taking punishment for things they had done. His brother Ray said Keith was always looking out for him and John.

After 3 years dad and his brothers left the orphanage to work on a distant relatives farm near Mount Compass SA. This wasn't a great experience for any of them and they moved on to their next leg of life in a relatively short time. For dad, he moved in with his grandparents and an aunt for a while. His Aunt Girlie was his favorite. Dad also adored his grandmother Isabel, who was his dads mum. When dad was in Korea on his way home via Japan, he bought his grandmother a Kutani egg shell tea set, which he managed to get back to Australia without damage. Sadly his grandmother passed away before he arrived back. I now have that tea set.

Dad worked mostly in sales and from what I can surmise lived a fairly active social life prior to his enistment. The girls seemed to like him as he had many girlfriends along the way...names and addresses in his diary and photos with lots of ladies.  He was a good looking man too.

Dad said he joined the army to travel and see the world but he didn't realise what he was really signing up for. Photo's of dad in army training show his happy and generous character. Dad really was a passivist. He hated seeing animals or insects in distress or hurt and was a real nature boy, so his war experience ultimately had a negative impact on his view of the world. Nevertheless, he went to Korea and being the person he was he went AWOL quite a few times. The Cross boys were a bit wild in their younger days! This was mostly after his leave was up and he didn't want to go back to the front. There is a story that dad had a love interest in Tokyo, so maybe that's where he spent his AWOL days. He had lifelong friends from the war, with those still alive turning up to Seacliff beach for dads ashes scattering in 2011. People liked dad. 

Dad was a gunner in the army and was seriously injured the night before the Armistice. It was a mortor that killed his gunner partner. Not long after this dad returned home to SA and was given a job at Radium Hill, which was the first uranium mine is SA. Later on in life dad received a letter about possible issues for people who had worked there but he didn't follow it up. 

After this dad worked at Harris Skarfs in Adelaide. He was working there when he met my mum Shirley. They married after 3 months and I was born 10 months later, an only child. Dad thought the sun shone out of me and spent a lot of time with me while I was growing up. My love of the outdoors, the ocean and nature is because dad shared these with me. He was a kind and gentle father, who loved books and history despite having only a year 7 education. He never punished me for anything. The only time I remember him losing his temper with me, I can't remember what I'd done, maybe a back chat but he chased me through the house all the while laughing and making out he was going to smack me. He didn't, he never did.

Dad was very much the glue to his family. He was the one who visited all of his brothers and sister, aunts and other family, and almost always with me. His brothers and sister on the other hand didn't have great relationships with eachother but dad made sure he was close to them all and that I was too. I think his mother abandoning him was a big factor in him wanting to have a family and his experience in the war made him value family so much more.  Sadly mum and dads marriage was tumultuous, mostly because they weren't really a good match but they stayed together just the same.

Dad had a great sense of humour and loved to laugh. We got along really well. Nobody ever spoke about dad with bad words, other than mum of course. He was loved by his neices and nephews too. 

Dad had lots of stuff he kept inside in relation to his time in the army and Korea but he still remained a kind and gentle person, who loved a beer, a yarn and time at the beach. He was a great swimmer, over arm he called it. I loved hanging on to dads shoulders while he swam in the deep water at the beach.

Dad wasn't very aspirational in terms of a career and work after the war. He did change jobs a lot and he did eventually have road sweeper business which he bought from his brother but dad was a softy and was really taken advantage of in terms of his generosity and his avoidance of conflict meant he didn't address things that he should have. Eventually the business folded and dad retired. 

Later in dads life I applied to Vet Affairs for dads hypertension/strokes/vascular dementia to be recognised as related to PTSD.  It took a bit of work but his claim was approved. This made life a bit better financially for him and mum.

It has always been my opinion that any person who has been to war bears the scars of that conflict in ways we who have not served can ever understand. I am proud of my dad for having served despite the anguish and pain he experienced but mostly for having retained his love of life and family, his gentleness, his humour and his dedication to me as his only child.