Gerardus Willem Brons was born on 26 Nov 1927 in Velsen, North Holland, Netherlands. He was the second of six children of Hendrik(Henk)
Brons and Maria Margaretha Brugman. His father was a travelling salesman for Kraft selling cheeses etc .The family lived
in Ijmuiden East, near the North Sea Canal, for 11 years with the exception of one year in 1932 when they shifted to Amsterdam. Gerry
began his schooling at age 7, attending School E, Ijmuiden until class 5 . About 1936, his mother Maria became unwell and she was
diagnosed as having tuberculosis. As her health deteriorated, she was shifted to a sanitorium in Berkelo, Gelderland for 2 years .As
her health continued to deteriorate she was shifted to a hospital in Haarlem, North Holland. Henk struggled to work and take care
of his six children so he advertised for a housekeeper to help. On the 19 February 1939 , Maria died at the age of only 34 years.
Henk remarried ,later in that same year, probably out of necessity as much as love, to Gerruida Visee, his housekeeper, but
the marriage was never a happy one, and Henk and Gerruida fought frequently. Nevertheless, she was the mother, the children needed
and she kept the family together.
In late 1939, the family shifted to Zuilen in the province of Utrecht and Gerry completed his
primary school education here. A year later, now in the midst of the German occupation of Holland (World War 2) , the family shifted
to Bussum, south east of Amsterdam.Here the family remained until after the war. During the war, Henk went into food packaging
and had a factory in Bussum.The first few years in Bussum were not without fun. His older brother Henk Jnr and Gerry had a yacht which
they kept at Loosdrecht, a lake only a few km from their home. They would spend many summer days on the lake. As the war
moved on, Gerry and Henk Jnr had to hide from the German patrols who were constantly looking for young men to work in the
German factories.They had a special hiding place under the house to avoid capture. Gerry became involved with the Dutch
underground, running errands as needed. Towards the end of the war, food became extremely scarce, as the Germans took all they could
find to feed their soldiers. At times they were so hungry, they would risk everything and even steal food from the German gardens.
Once, they stole brussel sprouts from the German gardens and accidentally left a trail back to their home. Fortunately
they were able to backtrack before the Germans discovered the incident. Often they would steal logs or branches from the
forest and carry them home for firewood. He remembered listening on a crystal radio for the BBC so as to
follow the progess of the Allies advance on Germany and their eventual freedom from German occupation.Following the war,things
took some time to come right in Holland. Gerry still hadn't finished school so he had to get a special exemption from army
service to finish U.E levels
In 1947, Gerry joined the army to complete his compulsory 2 year service. After normal army training,
under officer training and officer school, he finally began his army service in Indonesia, as a second Lieutenant. He
served most of his 2 year service in East Java, quelling guerilla uprisings related to Indonesia's independence movement
and generally keeping law and order. He commanded a platoon of 35 men and finished as a first lieutenant. At the end of
the war, he was given the opportunity to emigrate to Australia or New Zealand rather than to return home to Holland. New Zealand looked
the best option at the time .On 31st May 1950, he arrived in Auckland New Zealand and stayed for awhile in a transit camp
in Onehunga, Auckland. He had the choice of working in a dairy factory or on a farm for 2 years minimum before he could go his
own way. He chose the latter and was soon working as a farm labourer on a farm belonging to Mrs Trolove on Patiki Rd, Pihama . Initially
he work under the farm manager , John Hickey for 2 years but when John left he took over the running of the farm.