KENMORE-MOGGILL RSL SUB-BRANCH

NEWS N VIEWS February 2012

This newsletter is printed courtesy of

JANE PRENTICE MP FEDERAL MEMBER FOR RYAN

636 Moggill Road, Chapel Hill QLD

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President - Stewart Cameron

Ladies and Gentlemen, On behalf of your Committee could I wish all of you a happy and prosperous New Year. Christmas seems but yesterday but in reality we are now at the end of January: time never flew like this when I was younger. Your Committee has had the first meeting of the year with the focus on Committee Membership and this year‟s budget. We have a number of long serving Committee members standing down or relinquishing some elements of their portfolios after many years of dedicated service to you. I do not intend to name these Committee members in this edition, rather, I want to take the opportunity of the Annual General Meeting to thank them publically and then report to the wider membership after the AGM. Returning to the issue of Committee membership we are fortunate in that we have had one nomination for a Committee appointment (Secretary); however, we still have no nominations for President, Welfare Officer or any of the assistant positions. The reality is that anyone who nominates for the position of President and the more senior appointments really should have some experience working on the Committee and as such it is of vital importance to the health of the Sub-Branch that we have members willing to volunteer a small amount of their time. Unless we re-new we will ultimately be forced into the position of not being able to fill the key Committee appointments which will see the need for us to consider the viability of the Sub-Branch. I believe that we have at best, 12 months, before we are forced to discuss the future of the Sub-Branch with the District President. The reality is that the future lies in the hands of those of you who have the ability and willingness to contribute. You cannot expect that the current Committee will continue in perpetuity. We have our next Committee meeting on the 13th of February and the AGM on the 19th of February and I trust that as many of you as possible attend. There is ample time to nominate for appointment to the Committee.

Stewart

Don’t Forget!!

Genera l Meet ing and Luncheon

Sunday 19 February a t 11am

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Secretary - Chris Osborn

Summary of the Seventeenth Annual General Meeting Held on 20 February 2011 The auditor‟s report was adopted and Ms. Katherine Ellis B.Com, CPA was appointed

auditor for 2011.

The Office Bearers and Management Committee members were elected:

The Income and Expenditure Account for the year was presented and the 2011 Budget was approved.

Stewart Cameron and Dianne Pickering (President and Vice President) were elected as Delegates to Brisbane North RSL District.

All Reports as published in News n Views were adopted

Summary of the General Meeting Held on 16 October 2011 The Treasurer‟s Report was accepted, the payments listed in the Bank Transactions to

30 September 2011 were approved and the Income and Expenditure Account to 30 September was noted.

Remembrance Day badge sales will commence on Saturday 5 November through to Thursday 10 November.

The Remembrance Day service at Kenmore will commence at 1050 hours. The service held by RSL Care at Fairview will commence at 1025 hours.

The Moggill Anglican Church had sought support for a Service to celebrate Defence Sunday, on 6th November. The request was discussed, but those members present could not assist.

Work had started on the Kenmore Memorial restoration; the olive tree had been removed, paving had been uplifted and restored, but the handrail installation remained uncertain.

The Battle for Australia commemoration service was held in Brisbane on 7 September. Several members from the Sub Branch attended.

The Schools Program Selection meeting had been held and the Kenmore State High School (KSH) bursary winners will be announced by the President at the Awards Night.

The Sub Branch/Schools Breakfast Concert will be held at Fairview on Tuesday 15 November.

In addition to increased bursaries, the Schools Enhancement Program will initiate a prize for a teacher, to get more leverage for the RSL at the same time enhancing the skills of the teacher.

The President again made a plea for members to step up and join the Committee. He announced that the Delegates for next year would be Dianne and Doug Pickering.

The Annual Dinner is confirmed for Friday 2 December at Riverglenn. As with the venue, the cost and menu will be the same as last year.

Shed West will be having an Open Day on Saturday 22 October between 1000 and 1400 hours.

Funds raised at ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day are a substantial proportion of the Sub Branch Income and needed for welfare activities. Badge sellers are needed from 5-10 November.

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Laurie Hall advised the meeting that there was great angst among the older veterans concerning the proposed RSL MoU with the Vietnamese Veterans Association. Some of the veterans were talking of resigning from the RSL in protest. The President advised that while there was some support for the proposal, District HQ will not support it, and as no decision had been made in QLD, the MoU may not eventuate.

The guest speakers at the meeting were Blake Sherriff from KHS Year 12 (Sub Branch bursary winner); and Eleanor Mills from Centenary Year 11, (a blind swimmer and winner of an RSL Youth Development Program bursary). Each spoke well and gave a good account of how their bursaries had assisted them in their school activities.

Agenda for the Annual General Meeting at Fairview To be Held at 11.00 a.m. on Sunday 19 February 2011 Attendance and apologies

Minutes of the previous meeting and business arising

President‟s Annual Report

Treasurer‟s Report

Review of TCC status

Election of Office Bearers and Management Committee (see below)

Election of delegate and alternate delegate to Brisbane North RSL District

Appointment of Auditor

Agenda for the General Meeting at Fairview Following on from AGM on Sunday 19 February 2011 Minutes of previous meeting

Business arising from the previous Minutes

Management Committee report

Treasurer‟s report

General business

Nominations for Management Committee

POSITION NOMINEE

President Stewart Cameron

Vice President Dianne Pickering

Secretary Alf Delaney

Membership Neil Mackintosh

Treasurer Trevor Dixon

Commemoration Jack Vintner

Fund Raising Max Lockwood

Schools Liaison Geoff Haigh

Special Events Graham Barnard

Funerals Doug Pickering

Welfare Officer VACANT

Note the Welfare Officer's position is vacant and needs a member to step up to assist in this important sub-branch role

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2011 Calendar The 2011 Calendar will be posted with the next edition of News n Views following the election of the Committee at the Annual General Meeting. For planning, remember:

Annual General Meeting .... 3rd Sunday in February General Meetings .............. 3rd Sunday in every second month starting from February Committee Meetings .......... 2nd Monday in every month (starting 3rd Monday of January) Happy Hours ...................... 3rd Friday in every month starting from March News ‘n’ Views .................. Two weeks before a General Meeting (generally)

This is my last report as Secretary as I am not standing for nomination again this year I‟d like to thank all those who have given me support over the last couple of years. In particular I'd like to mention Kevin Daly, who took on some of my tasks that I would have found difficult to do while in full time employment. I‟m sure Alf, my nominated replacement, will provide you with the service that you want, and frankly should have. Finally I‟d like to wish all members and their families the best for the year and the future.

Chris

Treasurer/Membership - Kevin Daly

Accounts The balance in the current account at CBA Kenmore on 31 December 2011 was $15,005.98. There were two cheques @ $200-00 each sent to two students and another cheque for $200 for one school for the Sub-Branch's Primary School prizes. These should be on the statement due on 31 January 2012. Term deposits are as the Christmas edition of News n Views.

$52,925-99 is invested @ 5.800% to mature on 5 March 2012.

$25,000-00 is invested @ 5.800% to mature on 20 February 2012. There is no petty cash on hand.

Kevin

Membership. Neil Mackintosh, a current committee member, has taken on the role of Membership officer. On 31 January 2012 a Membership Renewal Notice was posted to a group of Service members who have not yet paid their membership fees ($20.00) for 2012. It seems that we at the Sub-Branch did not send out these renewal notices late last year with News & Views, as has been normal practice. For this we apologise.

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It is important for continuity of service reasons that membership for 2012 be paid by 28 February 2012. Continuity of service is important for the purpose of qualification for RSL Awards, Long Service Awards, Life Membership & Life Subscriber Status for over 80 year olds. If you receive a letter/renewal notice, please send your payment to the Treasurer as soon as you can. Best wishes and thank you for supporting the Kenmore-Moggill RSL Sub-Branch.

Neil Mackintosh

School’s In! - Geoff Haigh

Kenmore-Moggill RSL Schools Program has had a successful year with the 14 schools in our community. As we approach our AGM, I will highlight some of the activities in 2011. Kenmore-Moggill RSL High School Bursaries. This is the flagship of the Program and is an opportunity for the Sub-Branch to recognise attributes of the ANZAC spirit in our local High School. These Bursaries were recently increased from $500 each to $1000 each. The two High School Bursaries and Book Prizes at the Kenmore High School went to:

Year 11 Bursary – Rosie Katunar

Year 12 Bursary – Catherine Anderson who is also one of the School Captains. Unfortunately I have not yet been able to get photos of that award but am following up. RSL Youth Development Grants. RSL Queensland Branch provides these grants into the Year 11 and 12 of the education system as their flagship for youth awareness. The Sub-Branch supported three applications for the State RSL Youth Development Grant and two have been successful. They are:

Year 12 Grant – Ella Peacock – Year 12 at Kenmore High - $5000 to compete in Rowing

Year 12 Grant – Josephine Whitfield – Year 12 at Kenmore High - $5000 to also compete in Rowing.

Kenmore-Moggill RSL Primary School Prizes This prize was also enhanced in 2011 with funding from Brisbane North District. This RSL Prize is available to students in Year 7 at each school in our area and included the book, “Just Soldiers” from the ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee and a cheque for $200. Thanks to the Treasurer Kevin Daly all these prizes were distributed before Christmas and have been used by the recipients as they move on to Year 8 and High School. Recognition of our School Contact Officers. At the RSL Annual Dinner, Kenmore-Moggill RSL recognised the long and dedicated service of Vic Henderson who has been the School Contact Officer for Kenmore South School since we started the Schools Program. Brian Farrow will also be recognised for his service as School Contact Officer for the Pullenvale School. Brian started this service before the Kenmore-Moggill RSL Schools Program was formalised. The Kenmore-Moggill RSL Plaque reads “in appreciation of your ANZAC spirit”. Thanks Brian, for tireless service to the RSL and our community.

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More School Contact Officers are needed to give two per school so that we have some backup and reserves for when people are away. So anyone interested, please contact me on 0417 750 585 and continue to serve our country. To all our School Contact Officers, I look forward to a big year for our enhanced Schools Program and your support in getting the Kenmore-Moggill RSL message into the schools and into the homes in our area.

Geoff

Special Events - Graham Barnard

Shed West Men’s Shed – an Update As you would be aware, our Sub-Branch has been a strong supporter of the Men‟s Shed established in Kenmore - „Shed West‟. Many of our Sun-Branch members are also members of Shed West. On the 24th January a community meeting was held in Moggill to explore the possibility of developing a Men‟s Shed in the Bellbowrie/Moggill area. The establishment of the Shed is a joint initiative between the existing „Shed West‟ in Kenmore and the Moggill - Mt Crosby Lions Club. Over 50 members of the local community attended the meeting and some 40 expressed interest in joining a Shed. Given the enthusiasm expressed, it was determined that the proposal would progress to the next stage of development. The first meeting of the proposed Bellbowrie/Moggill Shed is to be held at 10.30 am on Wednesday 8th February at the Moggill Anglican Church, next to the Moggill State School. It is hoped that many of those who expressed interest in the Shed are able to attend the meeting. Other members of the community who did not attend the community meeting on 24th January, but who might be interested in joining, are also welcome to attend. This presents an ideal opportunity for those Bellbowrie/Moggill based Sub-Branch members to consider joining a local Shed.

For further information, contact me: Ph: 32026522 or email barnardge@mysoul.com.au

Graham

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Features

Harry’s War Part 3 – An Abridged Version

This is the third instalment of Harry’s War, a personal history of fellow member Harry Fincham. (Photo below provided by Harry, others added by Editor). Harry continues: Egypt can get very cold indeed. We were into winter when we were told we would be going on divisional manoeuvres with the Egyptian army. At that stage I didn‟t know they had an army and indeed even on the manoeuvres I saw very little that suggested they did. We moved from Khatatba after packing up everything. Tents were collapsed, we kept minimal kit in our backpacks, our kitbags, marked with our names and laced up over the “pith” helmets, were thrown into the backs of trucks and we got into our bren-gun carriers, which were to be our homes for the next week or so. We had packed our back-packs, bed-rolls (sleeping-bags) fuel and rations onto the carriers and also made sure we had our “desert stoves” handy. Petrol was in big tins and one of these tins, empty, was then turned into a desert stove. This was done by filling a third of it with sand and punching holes above that level to put through metal bars on which a billie-can would rest. The billie-can was usually an empty margarine tin (we got margarine in big containers) with a wire handle. Petrol was poured into the sand in the tin, the billie filled with water and a lighted match thrown in to light the petrol. Boiling water in no time and tea for everyone. Our manoeuvres were to be between an area east of Cairo and the Suez Canal. Those manoeuvres were a bit of a nightmare for me, as I was the wireless operator in our bren-gun carrier and had to keep that big four-dialled brute of a radio tuned in to the right frequency at all times, bucking bren-gun carrier notwithstanding. One night we were travelling and after I had been struggling for some time I finally got through to headquarters. The lieutenant travelling with us in the front had head-phones on, as I did, and we both got our ears blistered by Lieutenant-Colonel “Papa” Brits. He finally gave instructions that that “blerrie” operator (me) was to be taken off the set immediately (not possible, as no one else in our section had been trained and fortunately Papa didn‟t know who I was). “Blerrie” was the Afrikaans translation of “bloody” and Papa (father) was a misnomer if ever there was one. Papa Brits was a permanent officer and he commanded the SSB (Special Service Battalion), which was a permanent service battalion. One could pick them out by the way they swung their arms when marching, with a slight outward twist. They were all, Papa included, tough as nails.

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The photograph above was taken while we were on manoeuvres. It shows the type of terrain we were operating in. We were leaning up against our bren-gun carrier. I am second from the right, the guy with the dark trousers. The man on my left is Pepler, who was killed next to me in Italy. On my right is Corporal Dell and on his right a man called Gross (he wasn‟t).

When we bivouacked for the night it was difficult to find a level piece of ground without rocks to roll our bed-rolls out on. We usually moved off before dawn, while it was still semi-dark, and on one such occasion it was my turn to get tea going in the early light. I was wearing a great-coat and army issue gloves (cotton) and when I decanted petrol into the sand of the desert stove I didn‟t notice that I had spilt some on my left glove (my hands were very

cold anyway). When I struck the match to throw into the stove my left hand caught alight. In a panic I tore off the flaming glove. Happily the only damage I sustained was that all the hair on the back of my hand was gone. I can still smell that burnt hair. When we returned from manoeuvres we didn‟t go back to Khatatba. Instead, we went to the South African base camp at Helwan, on the outskirts of Cairo, where we were housed in Nissan huts (demountables). We could see the Pyramids and the Sphinx from there, but we never got to them.

Route marches continued, rifle range practice continued (I still had to endure some caustic comments about my skills), but we also now had some more instruction in map-reading and other arcane military stuff. We were introduced to walkie-talkie radios and radio procedures for them. These walkie-talkies were quite big and heavy and were carried on one‟s chest, with webbing straps over one‟s shoulders. They would be used on patrols when we got into the line. We had instruction on the recognition of German planes (never saw any) and German weaponry (the famous 88, which was an 88 mm anti-aircraft

gun which was used with great effect in land warfare and was also mounted on Tiger tanks, which were superior to the American Sherman tanks which our armoured units used). We were introduced to the British Honey tank (example above), which was to figure in one of my very frightening experiences in Italy. In due course we packed up again and the division moved slowly to Port Said, the port at the north end of the Suez Canal. This time we travelled in three-ton trucks, with our kit in the back with ourselves, under the canvas canopy. For the second time in my life I found myself on board ship. The ship we were on, the Alkantara , was not as big as the Sibajak. We heard later that on a later voyage it had been torpedoed in the Mediterranean. When we moved out of the port we could see a very big convoy, too many to count accurately from where we were. Many of the ships were carrying barrage balloons as a protection against air attack. We joined this convoy and began moving out to sea in some pretty foul weather, the sky dark and overcast and a considerable wind blowing. I thought I would be seasick again, but despite the heaving and rolling I didn‟t have any further qualms. Lots of other soldiers did, however, and the heads (naval parlance for toilets and showers) were soon awash with all sorts of yuk stuff slopping up against the bulk-heads. It was my

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misfortune that on my eighteenth birthday, 19th of April 1944, I was on a heads cleaning squad cleaning all the ship‟s heads. As we sailed into the Gulf of Taranto we had an air alert, but we soon had the all clear. It had been an American fighter plane. Someone hadn‟t been doing his aircraft recognition homework. By this stage of the war the Allied armies (British Eighth Army and the American Fifth Army) had invaded southern Italy and had moved up some distance, but had found heavy resistance from German forces. The Italian army had surrendered in 1943. We disembarked in Taranto (a long process) and were moved inland, where we bivouacked on some farm land. It was a fairly bleak countryside, but the one thing I remember vividly is seeing a goat up an old olive tree. He had obviously jumped up onto one of the lower branches and was standing there watching us. The next day we moved up a crowded road through a town called Matera and on to Altamura, south-east of the big air base at Foggia. There various units of the division were gathered together, overlooking the town, which was built mainly on two hillsides split by a deep valley. It was there that I saw for the first time the then male Italian interpretation of attending Mass. It was a Sunday and the church was on one of the hills, across the valley. The women went into the church, but a group of men stood outside the front entrance, obviously talking and smoking. Presumably as long as they could see the altar occasionally, that constituted attendance. We discovered that we were not going to be part of the British Eighth army, but would instead be part of the American Fifth army, commanded by General Mark Clarke. Why this was to happen nobody told us, but then we weren‟t ever told anything, really. Ours was not to question why, ours was just to do or die. Perhaps our officers were told things and perhaps information even filtered down to sergeant level, but riflemen and privates were kept in ignorance. Perhaps that was just as well; we had enough to do keeping our rifles clean and stuff like that. The division then began to move, through Foggia, west through Benevento and Caserta and then north. Military traffic became heavier. We were in the standard three-ton trucks and were often pulled to one side of the road to let tanks and artillery through. The countryside became more mountainous and we occasionally had to negotiate hair-pin bends, which we found fairly frightening, as our driver was seldom sober. His surname was Lawrence, so he was nicknamed Horrie, as there was a prominent politician in South Africa in those days called Harry Lawrence and our driver‟s driving was so horrible it seemed a suitable soubriquet. After various stops to eat and sleep and relieve ourselves near the roadway we finally got to a staging area. We were told to leave our kitbags (clearly marked with our names and numbers) in the truck, and put on our packs. These packs, with webbing straps, were worn on our backs and had in them ration packs, spare clothing (especially thick socks), rifle ammunition (we didn‟t use bandoliers) and personal stuff like sewing kits (called hussifs, meaning housewives), soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, the odd book and writing materials (I wrote home whenever I could). The flap at the top of the pack had long straps, so we could also secure our bedrolls and rolled-up gas capes on top of everything else. We had been issued with these plastic “gas” capes (but no gasmasks) and they were quite useful, as they fitted over almost everything we carried and were great when it rained. We were wearing British issue tin hats, despite being in the American Fifth army. Our berets were in our kitbags.

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In the pockets along our trouser-legs we had what were called shell dressings, though why specifically “shell” I don‟t know. Wound dressings would have been a more appropriate description, because that‟s what they were: padded bandages. Each of us had a trenching tool (a small shovel or a small pickaxe) worn on our webbing belt, which also had two hand grenades clipped onto it. A water-bottle (slightly curved to fit round one‟s hip) was strapped onto the belt. Each of us carried two Bren gun magazines, which fitted into the pockets of our battle jackets. There was a Bren gunner in each section and he carried his gun by the little handle on the top of the barrel. It was quite a heavy gun, so he couldn‟t be expected to carry all the ammunition himself. The rest of us each carried a rifle, with the sling fitted over whichever shoulder we could find among all the other stuff we were carrying. (Officers carried tommy-guns, which were sub-machine guns; they were so called, I think, because British soldiers in the first world war were called Tommies). The total weight of stuff we carried was about 80 lbs (37 kilograms) per man, which is a lot, especially when you have to climb steep hillsides along narrow paths. The typical infantryman walked leaning forward under all the stuff he was carrying. We could hear gunfire in the distance as we set off. We had several mules to carry things like mortars and mortar bombs and rations. There were no roads where we were going. By late afternoon we had reached some artillery emplacements (4.5 inch guns, which were pretty big and could lob a shell a few miles). We passed between them and were warned to cover our ears as the guns were fired. Only one was fired while we were near; the blast from it was impressive. The country became more mountainous and we began to struggle on the steep path in gathering darkness. We had a rest period of ten minutes every hour and when the rest periods were called we just flopped down without taking any of our gear off. Some of us (like me) fell asleep briefly. The mules managed all right. I suppose they slept standing. We finally began the descent, carefully, in the dark along the path. Then we were halted and someone came down the line to explain to us that we were going to cross the Rapido river in the valley below us and were to maintain silence, as there might be German patrols on the other side of the river. We also had to wait for the next stonk (mortar attack) which the Germans delivered on the bridge with Teutonic regularity. (They knew exactly where it was, since they had withdrawn over it in earlier fighting). We‟d wait until the stonk was over and then cross. For those of us experiencing our first prospect of enemy attack, it was pretty alarming, but as predicted, the Germans followed a regular pattern and we got across the bridge without encountering enemy fire. On the other side of the river we climbed along another narrow path to our destination, which was a small deserted village called Valvori. When we got there we were directed into the various houses and promptly flopped and went to sleep. I was grateful I wasn‟t on guard duty.