Peter (Wally) Wallen

I was born on 13 June 1959 in Oodnadatta, South Australia. My mother, Tilley Baker, was unmarried, and my father remains unknown. Shortly after birth, I was taken from Tilley and placed at the Kate Cocks Babies Home in Brighton, Adelaide. After eight months, in February 1960, I was placed with John and Jean Wallen, who had migrated from England to Somerton Park, South Australia, in 1950 with their three children: Jen, Mandy, and Kym. I started grade one at Glenelg Primary School in 1965. In 1968, we moved to the Gold Coast, Queensland and Mandy’s best friend Fanny, got permission from her parents and came to live with us. In 1969, our family adopted Kerry-Lee Thomson, who came from the Royal Women’s Hospital in Brisbane. On the Gold Coast I attended Musgrave Hill State School and Southport State High School.

In 1974, at age 15, I applied to join the Royal Australian Navy and was accepted as a junior recruit and began training at HMAS Leeuwin in Fremantle, Western Australia in 1975. I completed training in December 1975 and chose to specialise as a sonar operator at HMAS Watson in Sydney. After training, I was posted to HMAS Parramatta in 1976. That year, we deployed to Southeast Asia and the Far East, visiting ports across the Philippines, Japan, and Hong Kong (China). In 1977, we participated in the RIMPAC exercise in Hawaii and visited various Pacific locations before HMAS Parramatta was decommissioned. I was then posted to HMAS Torrens and later volunteered for submarine service.

In 1978, I completed submarine training at HMAS Dolphin in the United Kingdom, changing specialisation to torpedo man. Returning to Australia, I served on submarines including HMAS Otway, Orion, and Otama, undertaking six covert intelligence-gathering missions in Southeast Asia. These missions earned me the Australian Service Medal (Special Operations). My last submarine posting was aboard HMAS Otama in 1987. From 1989 to 1994, I was posted to HMAS Stirling and Recruit School at HMAS Cerberus, training hundreds of recruits, many of them female.

In 1994, I returned to the fleet as a Bosun’s Mate aboard HMAS Hobart. Highlights included leading the Catafalque Guard at Anzac Day ceremonies in Singapore and Japan and visiting the Korean Demilitarised Zone. After HMAS Hobart, I was promoted to Chief Petty Officer on HMAS Tobruk. My final posting was at HMAS Cerberus as Chief Petty Officer for Parade Training and Ceremonial. I retired from the Navy in November 1997 after 22 years of service.

In 1999, during NAIDOC Week, I approached a Link-Up tent in Brisbane seeking information about my early childhood. Through their investigations, I discovered my uncle Alec Baker had been searching for me for years. In 2000, I travelled to Coober Pedy and Marla, where I met Uncle Alec and my aunties. Later, I learned of my siblings, Steven and Pauline, who were also taken from Oodnadatta. I reconnected with my family, including Steven and his partner Maria, who had served as a Bush Nurse at Yalata where they met. They had two sons Yanni and Michael, while Stephen also has his son Robert from a previous relationship. Reconnecting with my Mob has been deeply fulfilling, although I learned that my mother, Tilley Baker, passed away in 1975 at the age of 38 and is buried in Port Augusta. I now frequently visit my family across the APY Lands, Adelaide, and Oodnadatta, cherishing the bond we have rebuilt.