Domenic Pingiaro
In 1916, Domenic Pingiaro was engaged in mountain warfare on the Caporetto battlefield, near the Italian border, when the German Army took 2,500 prisoners. Although wounded in the buttock by shrapnel, 17 year old Domenic was able to walk away from the battlefield and return to his family in Southern Italy.
In 1927, Domenic migrated from Italy, and in Melbourne, he met a relative from his Italian village. That man had married a niece of Mrs Hay, of Mt Martha, and Domenic got a job with her husband, Tom.
He also found work as a handyman, and a landscape gardener.
Craigie Lea
Initially he lived in a farmhouse, known as "Jacklyn" at the end of Dunns Rd, north of Balcombe Creek, which he later acquired. In 1932, he managed to bring his wife, Maria Aurelia, and their young children John, Frank and Jean, to Mt Martha.
In 1934 he was able to purchase an allotment beside Helena Rd, near Mornington Cemetery, and his son Frank, later lived there.
After losing his farm in the Depression in 1936, the Pingiaro family moved from the end of Dunns Rd to a cottage south of the Balcombe Creek estuary owned by Keith Aikman.
Domenic at that time was working for Norman Myer, at "Craigie Lea" – fencing the property and establishing a garden and small orchard.
Although respected residents for sixteen years, the Pingiaros were officially regarded as Enemy Aliens following the start of World War II.
Pingiaro Garage, Mt Martha
They could not work more than 25 miles from their home, and they had to report to the police every week. They were not allowed to use a car during the War, and their Oakland Six was on blocks in the Aikman’s garage.
Domenic, with the assistance of several judges who resided in Mt Martha, finally became an Australian citizen in 1944.
In 1948, John and Frank had opened a commercial garage at their parents’ home in Mirang Ave, and from here they also provided the first taxi service in Mt Martha.
In 1952, they built a garage in Lochiel Ave, where the clock tower now stands.
Domenic and his sons were amongst the early volunteers when the Mt Martha Fire Brigade was established in 1942.
Domenic died in 1949 and Maria in 1970.
