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At 93 and a half, Arthur Millward is one of NRMA’s oldest Members. For him, life is about family, fun and the odd flat battery.
‘I’ve written a book on my life for my grandchildren. But I won’t let them read it until after I’m gone as I don’t want them to ask me any questions.’
“I was born in London in 1913 and my family moved out to Australia in 1924 when I was 11. We came out on the SS Ballarat; it took six weeks and my main memory of the trip was getting very seasick as we rounded the Cape of Good Hope. |
I met my wife Joy, I call her my sweetie pie, on a tennis court. It was love, set and match at first sight. We would go to the movies or ballroom dancing every Saturday. The last song they played was Goodnight Sweetheart, which was my song for her. We were married for 70 years and were only apart once, for two weeks, when she went to visit her sister. We have three children, six grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. She died five years ago and I still miss her every day.
I worked in the motion picture industry for most of my life. I started [out] running a cinema in Kiama in 1936 and soon we had 22 theatres around Sydney. After that was sold to Hoyts, we started a smaller chain of theatres in the city and country towns. During the war years, I’d get up on stage at interval and ask the audience to make a donation to the troops.
I got to meet the heads of the major film studios, like MGM and Universal. We would have a motorcade pick them up at Sydney airport and then we would wine and dine them at the Hotel Australia.
I don’t drive anymore. I gave away my licence when I turned 80 as I don’t think anyone should drive after that age. Now I have a motorised scooter to get me about.
I used to change my car every three years so I generally needed NRMA for things like flat batteries. Once I had one of the patrolmen ask if he could buy my car because it was in such good condition.
My favourite car was a Toyota, which I bought in the 60s. It was one of the first to have aircon. I hated driving in those days though. You didn’t have freeways and the roads had lots of curves.
I joined NRMA when I was 19. When my father-in-law died I took over his membership, which means it is 79 years old, and I still use it for my scooter and the discounts.” |
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