CARAVANNING
IN THE 1940s
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MANY PEOPLE CAN’T IMAGINE WHAT IT WOULD BE
LIKE WITH NO POWERED SITES, NO SOLAR PANELS, NO
INTERNET, NO MOBILE PHONES OR INTERNET! SO, LET
US TAKE YOU BACK TO 1944…
BY KATE ANDERSON @ INDISPENSIBLE ME
D O N CARAVAN
It was the end of WW2, Harry and his
wife Isobel decided to hit the road
with their two children – Barbara,
aged 12 and Richard (Dick) aged 11
– they also packed up their cocker
spaniel “Punch”…
For the next 18 months, they went
on a caravanning adventure from
Melbourne, up the east coast to
Cairns and back down again. They
travelled in a 4 tonne Ford Truck and
towed a custom built 18 ft caravan.
4
Dick was 11 at the time. He is now
85 years young and smiling from
ear to ear as he answers some of our
questions about what life was like on
the road!
WHAT KIND OF CARAVAN
DID YOU HAVE?
Before the trip we owned a Don
Caravan in the early 1940s. Don
Caravans were built in a factory
in Neerim Rd Oakleigh (Victoria)
near where we lived (see photo of
Don Caravan). Don Caravans were
pioneers in the industry. But the
caravan we had was too small for
the trip and not ‘tough’ enough to