Moonee Valley Family & Local History Blog

James “Jim” Paizis was born in 1924, the son of Greek immigrants, in West Melbourne, and grew up in Carlton, learning English when he began at school. As soon as he turned eighteen, he enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy, serving on corvettes. Before long he was found to have “OLQ”: officer-like qualities. He became a Sub Lieutenant. As part of the commemorative website created in honour of the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in the Pacific, 95 year old Jim Paizis has been interviewed about his memories of WWII and the much shorter, smaller Melbourne that he grew up in. It’s a fascinating interview: https://www.wwiiathome.com.au/jp.html

The Italian Historical Society - CoAsIt is happy to announce that a permanent exhibition about Italians in Australia will be opening at the CoAsIt building in Carlton during the second half of next year 2010. Part of the project is to tell stories through the display of three-dimensional objects; the society is requesting assistance from the the community to suggest items that might be of interest in telling the story of Italian culture with a focus on Carlton as Melbourne's traditional Italian quarter. At the moment the society is not collecting objects. For information (English or Italian), call Paolo Baracchi (Italian Historical Society, CoAsIt) on (03) 9349 9021, or email ihs@coasit.com.au