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28 April, 2026
From Holland to Wyche: fresh face at Probus
Peter Oosterhoff was invited to give a speech to introduce himself, where he provided an interesting and entertaining talk with many anecdotes from his early life in war-torn plus post war Holland, and early arrival in Australia.
A NEW member, who has lived in Wycheproof for a number of years, accepted the invitation to join the town’s Probus Club at their April meeting.
Peter Oosterhoff was invited to give a speech to introduce himself, where he provided an interesting and entertaining talk with many anecdotes from his early life in war-torn plus post war Holland, and early arrival in Australia.
Peter was born in 1942 and when young, lived in a 400+ year old house in Holland with a moat, aviary, vegetable gardens and orchard.
In 1943 the USA started to bomb Germany.
One day a lone bomber was separated from its formation and eventually got hit. All 10 crew bailed out by parachutes.
The plane kept flying before it nose-dived, banked and crashed.
When his family finally found the plane it had been stripped bare, such was the locals desperation for materials.
Around 1945 Peter was out in a field watching cows being milked when he heard a tremendous noise approaching.
Soon the skies filled with planes and later he discovered that it was USA, who were sending a 1,000 bombers to raid Germany. The bombers flew home over Holland, an astounding spectacle filling the sky.
When his family arrived in Melbourne, they stayed with the Uncle at Hartwell for two years.
He said he had a huge house with four entrances and enough room for three families. At this time Peter learnt English from a family down the street. He started school at South Camberwell State School and then they moved to a boarding house in St Kilda.
They then spent a year at Yallourn before moving to Kew.
Peter’s parents returned to Holland to live in the 1970’s while Peter remained in Australia with his partner.
He concluded his talk with the following profound observation:
“Life is a journey, not a destination. I am not there yet; I’ve a long way to go.”
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