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disused horse sheds at the back - Honeycombes had a delivery van by now. Bill, now 31, was
put in charge of this development. Although he had no mechanical training (apart from being a
dental mechanic), he had a certain aptitude for machines. He assembled the first John Deere
tractor seen in Ayr, which was delivered by a train in boxes. But spare parts were hard to get,
and two years later the
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franchise was given up. It was replaced, however, by the Internationa! Harvester franchise in
March 1937.
Having failed with John Deere, Len had his doubts about this. Ethel said later: "He was diffident
about accepting their offer; he said: "I don't know machinery - I'm not a mechanic." The IH
manager for Queensland told him: "Mr Honeycombe, if you can manage one business, you can
manage another." And that gave him the confidence to accept the offer. They (IH) were a
splendid help all through the years - we never looked back.'
It was at this propititious time, on 20 August 1936, that a son was born to Zoe and Bill in the
hospital in Ayr. Bill's occupation in the birth certificate is given as 'grocer'. In view of the fact
that Rene had distanced herself from the family, that Alma and Lloyd were childless, and that
Len and Ethel would also produce no children, the baby boy soon became the focus for Len's
and Alma's and Esther's aspirations for the future. He was christened John Harold: John being
the second forename of his father and grandfather and the first of his greatgrandfather, the first
Honeycombe to come to Queensland; Harold was the name of his mother's favourite brother.
But despite the birth of a son and heir, Bill was not too happy at his Munro Street home. Alma
said later: 'He didn't want any children; he didn't want John, and he didn't want Lloyd, his
second son. The Second World War gave him the chance to get away from Zoe, and from Ayr.
He didn't want her either. So he cleared off and left everybody, all of us, and enlisted in the
Dental Corps; they were short of dentists, and he had trained as a dental mechanic. He never
went overseas; he served mainly in Brisbane and Melbourne, as a Sergeant in the RAAF.1
War was declared in September 1939. Len joined the local militia. As he was in his thirties and
the prime manager of a family business he was not pressured to enlist. The eldest son, Bill had
satisfied any obligations there. Len's obligations lay elsewhere. It was also iime, in the
uncertainties of war, to secure a wife and a home of his own.
He married Ethel Keller in the Home Hill Anglican Church on 1 January, 1940, a Saturday
afternoon; he was 33 and she was 29.
Asked why they chose New Year's Day, Ethel said: 'It was a new leaf, a new start, and it was
holiday time. Our relations could come from Ravenswood and Townsville and so forth. But the
Burdekin River had flooded the low-level bridge, and Len and others had to get a rail-motor to
go across. They couldn't go by car... The reception was at the School of Arts: there were
speeches and dancing. Afterwards, we drove to Townsville - Len had a small Austin - and
stayed there overnight. Then we went over to Magnetic Island, to Arcadia. We had intended to
drive up north, but it rained so much we couldn't go. So we came back to Home Hill. Len was
a bit sick when we got back, and he was lying on the bed, not feeling so good, and Rene's little
girl, who'd be about four, said: "I think Uncle Len's had too much wedding".'
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Later that year, Len bought a small cane farm of about 120 acres near Hutchings Lagoon. Land
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