He was a keen cricketer until he smashed his ankle at 23 when he was driving his cart back home to the family farm.

An electrical storm frightened the horse which bolted and left Bill jumping for his life, snapping his ankle in the fall.

“I should never have had that frisky horse pulling the cart in the first place,” he said.

“The ankle injury hasn’t stopped giving me trouble ever since.

“I couldn’t run with a rigid ankle for cricket, so I worked my fruit block for the next 30 years.

“I was called up for World War II service, but because of my injury, I wasn’t accepted.”

Bill continued with his ongoing treatment, remaining at home on the family block with his father, supporting the industry on concentrated food production during the war years.

“In 1946, I married Nancy Bandy and we raised two boys, John and Bruce who are married to Margaret and Raeline and who both have successful careers – John in education and Bruce in banking.

For more of this story, purchase your copy of Saturday’s Sunraysia Daily 21/11/2009.