Building a home
Linas and Elena arrived in Australia in 1948. They had two young children. Linas worked in the Bathurst camp for 18 months assisting new arrivals. Accommodation at that time was scarce and he had heard there was accommodation available in Adelaide. The accommodation being a caravan at Semaphore. He requested permission to transfer to Adelaide. It was granted so Elena and the children went first. Even renting a caravan was expensive, about £4-5, a quarter of your wage. Linas and Elena began saving for their own place. The banks wouldn’t lend you money for land, but once you had this then you could apply for a loan to build a house. Released from his two-year compulsory employment, Linas found a job was working at the General Motors Holden’s factory at Woodville. They found a block of land at Fifth Ave, Woodville Gardens for £150. Woodville Gardens and the surrounding area was a new land developme...