Summary

Giuseppe Gonzales met Ruth (Bobbie) Wilson on a ship sailing from Italy to Australia in 1940. Giuseppe was arrested upon arrival and interned as an enemy alien until 1946 when he could finally marry Bobbie - who lost her Australian citizenship as a result.

Introduction: Ruth (Bobbie) Hearn Wilson was born in Melbourne on 21 November 1913 and died on 18 April 1981. Her parents were Alfred Roscoe Wilson (1882-1964) and Florence Hearn (1876-1982). Alfred was Anglican Dean of Melbourne at St Paul's Cathedral, licensed in 1947 and he died giving a sermon in the pulpit of St John's Camberwell at the age of 81. In retirement he wrote a weekly column in The Sun newspaper. Interrupted Love: Bobbie met her future husband Giuseppe Tommaso Gonzales (1915-2009) onboard the 'Remo' while she was travelling to Europe, just prior to World War II. Giuseppe was the ship's engineer, and with war imminent, Bobbie returned on the same ship with him, which departed La Spezia on the west coast of Italy. Unfortunately for them the ship berthed at Fremantle a few days before Italy entered the War on 10 June 1940. Interned: The ship was seized by the Australian Government as a prize of war on 11 June 1940 and officers and crew were arrested as 'enemy aliens' and taken to internment camps. Crew members were sent to Rottnest Island and the officers to Harvey (Western Australia). Giuseppe Gonzales was one of the officers sent to Harvey where he was held at Internment Camp Number 11. He was later transferred to Murchison (13A Camp), Myrtleford (5B Camp) and Tatura, all in Victoria. He spent most of the war in Myrtleford camp. Reunited: Bobbie was living in Melbourne and kept in contact with Giuseppe while he was in the internment camps. He was released on 13 Nov 1946 and they married soon after on 23 Nov 1946. The ceremony was at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Kew, and a photograph of the couple outside the church shows Bobbie carrying the small, pink cloth handbag. They spent their honeymoon at Eastern View on the Great Ocean Road, and Giuseppe had to report to the local police every day. Marrying an 'alien' meant that Bobbie lost her citizenship and had to be naturalised. In addition, as Bobbie's father was the Anglican Dean of Melbourne, and in order to marry a Catholic, she converted to Catholicism. They settled in Bobbie's family home in Elsternwick. Giuseppe had various jobs in engineering and shipbuilding firms. His main employment (from 1950) was at the Melbourne Harbour Trust's Williamstown Workshops and Slipways, where he was the manager until his retirement in 1975. The couple had three children.

More Information