WREFORD Cleeve's childhood memories are different to most.
The 71 year old became a ward of state after his father died from a work accident, leaving his mother to support eight children.
"She just couldn't manage with us all,'' he said.
Aged two, Mr Cleeve was separated from his family and sent to Turana Youth Centre. His three sisters and two brothers were also split up and sent to homes across the city.
His eldest sister, Norma, 18, stayed at home.
"When I was about five, I left Turana and they sent me to Box Hill Boys Home. It was a lot different there.''
He said the move was made with little of the love, affection, possessions or knowledge most children of his age would have had. "We went without a hell of a lot ... but it was all we knew.''
Mr Cleeve said at the home he was known as a number.
"The number was on your locker and a lot of the time that is how you were referred. When we were in big groups we were called this way.''
While he says his time at the home was fairly good, Mr Cleeve said some were not so lucky.
"There were some instances when they treated us bad. Some people I know went through a lot worse than I did. It was horrible, what happened to some.''
He recalled an afternoon when the captain made the boys remove all belongings from their locker.
"We had to put everything on the floor. Everything I treasured was in that locker and I wish I had of just ignored him and kept my locker shut.
"They were hard on us then - he took everything I had, the cards and keepsakes.''
Mr Cleeve said he was also given the strap during dinner after "Captain Cleet'' accused him of talking with his mouth full.
"I wasn't talking, we weren't allowed to. It shows you how hard they were on us.''
During his nine years at the home, Mr Cleeve saw his mother once.
"I vaguely remember when she came to see me, I would have been about seven. We didn't talk much, I didn't know her. It didn't really affect me - I was used to being alone, only having friends at the home and a few visitors each year.''
But he did receive regular visits from friends Jean and Roley Simmons.
"When it was school holidays they used to take me and my sister Shirley to their home. The visits gave me something to look forward to and I'm sure I was the envy of a lot of the other boys.
"If it wasn't for them, I think life at the home would have been a lot harder. I thanked them a lot for their visits.''
Mr Cleeve said he often wondered what his childhood would have been like with his family.
"If only my father hadn't been killed, we may have all been raised together. It would have been nice to see them more often.
"I think about it now when I see families together, even when I look at mine and I think if only it had been like that for me. My childhood could have been a lot better.''
At 14, Mr Cleeve left the boys home for a farm in Merinda. He stayed there for two years before moving to another farm in NSW.
No longer the state's responsibility, Mr Cleeve said life was a struggle.
"I had no social connections, it was really tough.''
He said services to help him get settled would have been beneficial.
"Even now we need to have services available to help with little things. To ensure we all keep in touch.''
Mr Cleeve says the Victorian Government misunderstood what care leavers went through growing up in a state home.
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