Mercy Health residential aged care homes are full of amazing people with incredible stories to tell, including Mercy Place Colac resident Les Trigg and Mercy Place Lathlain resident Ivy Ballantine.
Much loved and admired Mercy Place Colac resident Les ‘Trigger’ Trigg has spoken about his long life many times and is a seasoned storyteller.
In April this year, coverage of his 100th birthday party at his Mercy Place home made its way onto the front page of the Colac Herald and more recently he was interviewed on ABC morning radio. Because of the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic and visitor restrictions, the milestone celebration was partly held online but also featured the presentation of a gorgeous cake with Les surrounded by his wife Pam and a number of his great-great-grandchildren.
The Colac Herald reported Les Trigg’s life story while some of his great-great grandchildren assembled at Mercy Place Colac for a special party.
Les lost his mother when he was a baby and by the age of seven, his father had also died. After these devastating events, he and his sister Jean moved into foster care. “As children, Jean and I lived with a number of families. For a time we were fed not much more than rabbits and spuds but we made do,” Les says.
Les was sent to fight for Australia and the Allies in World War II. “In my 20s, I joined the transport unit in the army but I was transferred to the infantry, which meant spending months in the jungles in New Guinea. It was interesting, to say the least,” Les says.
While he is proud of his service, the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) he developed from his wartime experiences in New Guinea remained and caused deep emotional stress for much of his adult life.
Life hasn’t been easy. I’ve had lots of kicks but I’ve only known one way and that’s to keep on going.
Les has often spoken of the PTSD he suffered as a result of war service. He says the first relief he felt was when he returned to New Guinea and visited the Lae War Cemetery where many of his army mates were laid to rest decades earlier. Throughout his life, Les has followed the motto: ‘Never lose sight of each other.’ The cemetery visit, he says, was pivotal in his recovery.
“Life hasn’t been easy. I’ve had lots of kicks but I’ve only known one way and that’s to keep on going,” says Les.
On 16 March this year, more than 3,000 kilometres away in Western Australia, Mercy Place Lathlain resident Ivy Ballantine celebrated her 102nd birthday in a local park, surrounded by her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.
Around the beginning of World War II in 1941, Ivy’s sweetheart lost his life aboard the HMAS Sydney (II) when it was torpedoed by the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran off the coast of Western Australia. With the entire crew of 645 men perishing, it remains Australia’s greatest wartime tragedy.
Ivy and George on their wedding day
Later in the war years, Ivy met George, whom she married. However, not long afterwards, George was posted to the Middle East and he and Ivy lost contact for almost five years. She thought he had also died, but later discovered he had been captured and had become a prisoner of war.
Despite those initial hardships, Ivy continues to love life.
Ivy’s daughter Marg Grant says, “Mum’s still in good form but I think her longevity has something to do with her being a carer and wanting to help others.”
“She was an active member of the Red Cross for 40 years and even visited residents at Mercy Place Lathlain for two decades before she moved into this very same home,” says Marg.
Ivy today
The pattern of lending a helping hand was set as far back as 1942 when she joined the war effort as a volunteer and trained at Western Australia’s Northarm Army Training Camp. There she was taught to plot the flight paths of enemy aircraft and pass on coordinates to superiors.
Les and Ivy live on opposite sides of Australia but their remarkable life stories are just two of the many that exist within the walls of Mercy Health’s residential aged care homes.
Last reviewed August 13, 2021.