A century of memories
Life didn’t come easy for cane farmer Carmelo “Charlie” Vella (above), but he never wasted an opportunity that came his way.
LIFE didn’t come easy for Babinda cane farmer Charlie Vella, but he never wasted an opportunity that came his way.
Born on the Maltese island of Gozo on April 1 1917, Carmelo Michael Joseph Vella was one of seven children born to George and Maria Vella.
A week shy of 100, he is the only surviving sibling and continues to tend a vegetable and herb garden most days.
“Until a few years ago, dad kept chickens, grew bananas, avocados, citrus, abiu, lettuce, tomatoes, shallots, beans and kept a pumpkin and watermelon plot, which supplied produce to family, friends and the wider community,” says daughter-in-law Desley Vella.
“Those long-ago lessons to be self-sufficient, learnt in Gozo, have remained with him,” she says.
Charlie left school at 12 to help his father on the farm with more education than most children at the time.
But by 20, he was working as a stonemason at a local quarry – a major source of employment on an island built from limestone.
When WWII broke out, Charlie was considered too short for the army, but found work building underground air-raid shelters.
“He remembers 1939 as a very hard year,” Desley said.
“Wages were five shillings (50 cents) a day. There were severe food shortages and the constant bombing raids meant very few provisions were able to reach Malta and Gozo.”
He married Caterina DeBrincat in Ta Pinu Basilica on July 23 1941, but there is not a single photo of the occasion.
“It was illegal to have photographs taken during the war in Malta as it was considered a security risk.”
That year Charlie began farming in his own right and welcomed sons Lewis in 1942 and Joseph in 1943. He was sheltering underground with Caterina during a bombing raid when she went into labour with Lewis and the couple made a dash to their home, 50 metres away, for the birth.
After the war, Charlie sailed for Australia with up to 50 others from his village, hoping to create a better life for his family. “The idea was to work for four years, save as much money as possible and return to Malta,” Desley said.
Using the family savings and with only a few words of English, he found work cutting cane around Innisfail – with a gang of men from Gozo.
It was seven years before Caterina, Lewis and Joseph joined him, by which time he had bought a farm at Frenchman Creek near Babinda, adding two more farms later. Caterina died in 2005. “While Dad may be short in stature, he has a big heart and a huge zest for life. Hard work has never daunted him and he always puts his family first,” Desley said.
He will be joined by his two sons, four grandchildren and four great grandchildren for his 100th birthday on April 1.