Mornington
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28 May 2013
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Tears for fears and new love By Mike Hast WRITING his autobiography was a gruelling experience for 77-year-old Ronnie Carroll. Recalling events during the Second World War and the devastating effects they had on his family brought him to tears as he laboured away in his little writing room for four years. He nearly gave up writing several times. Certainly his wife Rosemary was worried when she brought him a cup of tea and found him weeping at his desk. But he pushed on with his “warts and all� story and publication of Luck of the Irish in March has put a spring in his step. Bad memories have been confronted and reconciled, demons have been exorcised and Carroll’s story has a happy ending. He is one of four children born to Irish parents. Mary was born in 1934, Noel in 1935, Ronnie in 1936 and Clare in 1937. On the eve of the Second World War, Jim and Bridie Carroll decided to emigrate to England to escape grinding poverty in Ireland. The title of his book is ironic as the Carrolls arrived just days after war had been declared. They had no idea this was about to occur. “My mother nearly fainted when she was told England had declared war on Germany,� Carroll told The News during a visit to his Mornington home. “We’d spent our last penny on getting to England and then father joined up and went off to war.� German air raids soon became a daily occurrence and the government ordered that more than three million children and invalid adults be evacuated from London and sent to safer parts of the country. Children were sent to live with strangers. There was no checking on the suitability of hosts. In his book, Carroll states the evacuation of children “was a monstrous thing to do� and ruined many young lives. He says Mary was molested by the father in the first home they were sent to. Carroll lived in three homes during the war. He said the bad experiences of his siblings led to them having dys-
Labour of distress – and love: Mornington author Ronnie Carroll with his autobiography Luck of the Irish. Picture: Yanni functional later lives. “All three became alcoholics. Mary became a nurse and married a wealthy husband, who physically abused her. They had five children who were split up when the marriage disintegrated. She suffered from severe rheumatoid arthritis for almost 30 years and died aged 60 in a nursing home. “Noel served in the Royal Marines and in Africa with the British South African Police. Back in the UK he struggled to find his place in life and used alcohol as a prop. In later years he developed a perforated pancreas, severe diabetes, a brain tumour and dementia. He died in early 2006 aged 72. “Clare suffered the most from the war years,� he said. “She was starved of love, care and good example. She died at age 50 after marrying seven
times including a shotgun marriage to an American serviceman when she was a pregnant teenager.� Carroll says his luck break was being sent to choir school at Westminster Cathedral at age nine after it was discovered he had perfect pitch. After school he joined the army and in his early 20s landed a job with the Conservative Party’s central office as a press officer. Carroll married Jennifer Neal in 1960 and the couple had two boys and two girls Later he worked as a salesman in the food industry, rising through the ranks and eventually starting his own successful commodity broking business. Three years after selling his business and retiring at age 67, Carroll lost his wife to cancer and was devastated: “I
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mary suggested I come to Mornington for a few weeks and we could grieve together,â€? Carroll said. They started almost daily phone calls and Carroll wrote letters when he went to visit friends in France. Ten months later, Carroll proposed to Rosemary over the phone. The author arrived in Australia in July 2006 and they married a year later. Looking out over Port Phillip from their home in Mornington, Carroll says he is already working on his next book. “It will be about positive thinking; how to improve your life,â€? he said. Perhaps he could call it The Luck of Ronnie Carroll. ď Ž Luck of the Irish (Xlibris) is available at Farrell’s Bookshop in Main St, Mornington.
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thought the end was in sight for me, too. “For the first time in my life I was alone. My parents were long gone, my siblings had died in tragic circumstances, including the brother who had protected me when I was young. Of course my children were alive and well but lived far away and had their own lives.� Then came a call from an old friend in Australia who had recently lost her husband to heart disease. Ronnie and Jennifer had known Stephen and Rosemary for more than 40 years. The couple had moved to Australia for work but had stayed in touch. Ronnie and Rosemary shared their grief for lost partners, the conversation lapsing into tears at both ends. “When we had recovered our emotions, Rose-
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