Gerald Lloyd was born in England in April 1909 and adopted out as a baby.

Advertise with News of The Area today.
It’s worth it for your business.
Message us.
Phone us – (02) 4981 8882.
Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au

At the tender age of seventeen he was shipped out to Australia and believed he was unwanted by his family, resenting his mother for the rest of his life.

During Gerald’s life he lived and worked in the Nambucca Valley as a banana grower and served with the Australian Army during World War Two.

Following the war he returned to the district, working on farms around Taylors Arm and Macksville for the rest of his life.

He did not marry or have a family of his own, and passed away in 1986.

“Gerry was always a part of my life,” Peter Reibel told News Of The Area.

“[He was] a lovely fellow, always calling in on my parents for a cup of tea, bringing chocolates and biscuits.

“Being a single man, he eventually moved in with my family.

“It occurred to me that when I am gone no one will know who Gerry was, so my wife tracked down his blood relatives in the UK with the help of ancestry.com and we got in touch with them.

“They are lovely caring people who have embraced Gerry’s memory.”

Janine and Peter have Gerry’s war medals, military documentation and other papers, photographs and documents that tell the story of his life.

The Reibels will visit Gerry’s relatives in London and the north of England to pass on those precious items and to provide personal accounts of the man that Gerry was.

“The relatives of Gerald Lloyd in the UK are so excited about being able to receive his medals and other items and have vowed to keep the memory of this lovely man alive, even though they never had the chance to know him themselves,” Peter said.

By Mick BIRTLES