Alf was a merchant seamen during the war, and worked for many years as a steel erector on various sites throughout the country. The story of hid working life, mainly consists of hard work and confrontation with site mangers and foreman. He is a committed socialist and trade Unionist. He was forced to stop work after a serious fall which resulted in a long period of hospital and a lot of broken bones. His writing was given a new lease of life by joining Commonword and meeting other working class writers.

His solo book, ‘An Australian Journal’ follows his story of jumping a ship in Western Australia in 1946 and what follows are many different jobs and ways to get food and a bed.