Thursday, July 14, 2011

Postcards from Australia - Broken Hill - 1968

 Zinc Corporation Ltd, Broken Hill

From:- Friend Peter Jones whom David met in New Zealand 1969

Dear Pennie and David,
Thank you for your letter.  I wish I could be with you in Spain.  I am finding B.Hill terrific.  People fab and Social life swinging.  I mix in a group of teachers, engineers, geologists, journalists, uni staff etc. etc. and you can imagine how they play up.  Have been to some beaut parties, one pool party went from Friday tonight to Sunday night with brief periods of rest.  Don't think I will be over there before you come home but you never can tell.  All the best and lots of love, Peter

(Footnote:- Peter sailed to England after we'd returned in 1971. We were on the boat to see him off but he didn't come through Customs till the very last minute of departure, he was very angry because he'd been mistaken for the Bomb Hoaxer calling himself Mr Brown.   From Wiki:- On 26 May 1971, Qantas received a call from a "Mr. Brown" claiming that there was a bomb planted on a Hong Kong-bound jet and demanding $500,000 in unmarked $20 notes. He was treated seriously when he directed police to an airport locker where a functional bomb was found. Arrangements were made to pick up the money in front of the head office of the airline in the heart of the Sydney business district. Qantas paid the money and it was collected, after which Mr. Brown called again, advising the 'bomb on the plane' story was a hoax. The initial pursuit of the perpetrator was bungled by the New South Wales Police Force who, despite having been advised of the matter from the time of the first call, failed to establish adequate surveillance of the pick-up of the money. Directed not to use their radios (for fear of being "overheard"), the police were unable to communicate adequately.[88] Tipped off by a still-unidentified informer, the police arrested an Englishman, Peter Macari,[89] finding more than $138,000 hidden in an Annandale property. Convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison, Macari served nine years before being deported to Britain. Over $224,000 has still not been found. The 1985 telemovie Call Me Mr. Brown, directed by Scott Hicks and produced by Terry Jennings, relates to this incident.)

Peter came back to Australia and we kept up for years... Peter where are you now?



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