The Quarterly Journal of the Fleet Air Arm Association of Australia Inc.

Volume12 Number2 April2001

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Cl) 805 SQUADRON RE-COMMISSIONED 28 FEBRUARY2001 With Kaman 'Super Sea Sprite' helicopters 'We wish them all the very best'

Photo courtesy BANAS Photographic Section

Publishedby the FleetAir ArmAssociation of Australia Inc PrintPost Approved -PP201494/00022 Editor:John Arnold -PO Box662 , NOWRANSW 2541 , Australia. Phone/Fax(02) 4423 2412 -Mobile 0402 264 494 - [email protected] ::r­ SHELF ro1so.111 CW2-C Slipstream ~ ------

FOREWORD by

CAPTAINTW BARRETT

As the incoming Commanding Officer at HMAS ALBATROSS, I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to Slipstream. I note, with considerable satisfaction, the detail presented by the Chief of the Defence Force, Chief of Navy, Maritime Commander and Commander, Australian Naval Aviation Group in previous editions of Slipstream. The picture they were able to present demonstrates the significant enhancements currently being made to the Fleet Air Arm - in terms of equipment and facilities. We are indeed fortunate to have such an expansion of capabilities in /" 0 "" I C2I a time of relative constraint elsewhere in Defence.

I would like to focus my comments on the personnel aspects of this expansion , for without the right people, new equipment and facilities are useless . I have to say we are being challenged at the moment to find and retain people for our demanding profession. This is a reflection of the changes in our society. At a recent conference I heard the Warrant Officer of the Navy describe the contemporary sailor. Amongst his or her attributes, the modern sailor is likely to have matriculated from high school, holds or has traded shares on the stockmarket, is computer literate and owns the latest communication technology, will probably have held a job before joining up and will expect to hold others after a stint in the Service. Importantly, he or she will likely comprehend and have a considered opinion on all the social issues seen in the newspaper and practiced on the street today and will expect to be able to discuss them freely. In short, the new sailor (and officer for that matter) is different from his or her forebears.

Our challenge today, therefore, is to align our existing ethos and values with these contemporary attitudes without losing focus on our goal - to defend Australia. We are fortunate in the Fleet Air Arm to have the opportunity to meet these new expectations with ideals that have not changed substantially with time. We still offer challenging careers, with responsibility given early on, and with the opportunity to work on new and innovative equipment. Furthermore, in today's embarked helicopter Flights, where each individual is a critical member in the team, the sailor can draw satisfaction from seeing his or her direct contribution to this tight-knit group. When ably led these Flights show all the hallmarks of the Fleet Air Arm's heritage - professionalism, pride and success. We must encourage this in the newest members of the Fleet Air Arm.

Thus, the Fleet Air Arm Association has an important role to play here. Just as the Association is bound by an esprit de corps forged in earlier days, we need to share that spirit and demonstrate its advantages to the contemporary Fleet Air Arm sailor and officer. I encourage existing members of the Association to engage the younger members of the Fleet Air Arm when the opportunity arises and welcome them to the ranks of the Association.

2 Slipstream CAPTTW BARRETTRAN EDITOR'S BIOGRAPHY CaptainTim Barrettis currentlythe CommandingOfficer of HMAS CORNER Albatrossat Nowra.He is responsiblefor the administrationof the NavalAir Stationand for the provisionof operationalsupport to Onceagain I wouldlike to thankthe many the numerouslodger units on site. people who have been in contact by all mannerof means.Your input and support Captain Barrett was a Junior Entry cadet midshipmanto RANCin 1976. He completedseaman training in HMA Ships is so very important,not onlyto Slipstream, butthe FleetAir ArmAssociation in general. Melbourneand Perth,before gaining his BridgeWatch-keeping Certificatein HMSOrkney with the RN in 1982. It is goodto see that 805 Squadronhas once againrisen 'Phoenix-like' from the ashes.I havea specialaffinity with 805 Consolidationtraining was conductedin HMASBrisbane in havingtwice been a partof its commissioning,and paying-off. 1983/4.He subsequentlyqualified as aircrew(Observer) in 1984. He then servedin HS 817 Sea Kings until 1989 as operations I mustadmit though, that with the new 805 havingaircraft officer, HMAS StalwartFlight Commanderand as a simulator that rise vertically,instead of taking a 'run and jump' to get instructor. airborne,takes a heckof a lot of gettingused to . Nevertheless, it's goodto see the squadronactive again . My wishis that the He completedflight test training on the RAF Aerosystems squadroncontinues to enjoy the camaraderieand esprit de Coursein the UK in 1989/90,receiving the HumphreyGold Medal corpsthat was shared by thosewho went before. for gainingfirst placeon course. I have been asked to produceinformation regarding the He subsequentlyposted to the SeahawkIntroduction and growthof the Airframes/EnginesBranch from 1948onwards. TransitionUnit, firstly as a trialsofficer then as FlightCommander The material requested can include types of courses, to HMA Ships Adelaide and Canberra,the latter including environment,anecdotes and so on. If you can helpme with this deploymentto the NorthRed Sea on DAMASK6. projectit wouldbe verymuch appreciated . He attendedRAN Staff Coursein 1993,graduating in first The City/Country membership get-together at place,then joined the AircraftMaintenance and FlightTrials Unit Campbelltownon Saturday,26 May,is lookingvery promising. as the Officerin Charge. If you are attending,bring some of your photographswith you This was followedby a posting to HS 817 Squadronas so that namesand faces can be put together. Furtherdetails of CommandingOfficer in 1996. thisevent are in the NSWDivision Report. On promotionto Commanderin early1997 he becameDeputy Finally, pleasekeep those letters rolling in. DirectorAir Warfare Developmentin the Force Development Be kindto eachother.Ed Branchof ADHQ.Subsequent reorganisation within Headquarters sawthe positionbecome Deputy Director Maritime Aviation under CORRECTION! the DG AerospaceDevelopment , responsiblefor both Naval Aviationand RAAFP3 capabilitydevelopment. CommanderBarrett then posted into RANTEAAas the Withreference to the articleentitled 'Heart Spam ' in the previous inauguralHelicopter Operational Test Director,responsible for co­ edition. I am indebtedto Dr Fred Lane for sendingme the ordinatingthe operationaltest and evaluationof ProjectsSEA clippingfrom ModernMaturity, which refutes the advicegiven in 1405 (1 & 2) - Seahawk FUR & ESM modification,SEA the HeartSpam article. 1411 - SeaspriteAcquisition, and SEA 1414 - PenguinASM Theclipping , authoredby JudithDencott, reads as follows: Acquisition. 'Internethealth advice can be deadly. Gettingmedical advice On promotion to Captain, he assumed command of from the Web is like winninga trip from a telemarketer:You HMASAlbatross on 26 February2001 . shouldbe wary. Captain Barrett is married to Jenny and has two young Considera recent E-mailthat's circulatingthe Internet:If daughters.He maintainshis own homeat HyamsBeach on Jervis you're alone and having a heart attack, breathedeeply and Bay. He holds a BA in history and politics and a Masterof cough- repeatedlyand vigorously- to helpreturn your heart to DefenceStudies, both conferred by the UNSW. a normalrhythm. Soundsgreat. But the Rochester,New York , hospitalcited in the e-mail denies ever endorsingthe treatment, and the Pl8AS8 ...weAn yoM (iLAssesl AmericanHeart Association has issueda warningabout ' cough CPR'. Recentadvice from a veteransgroup stronglyrecommends True,a handfulof medicalstudies have shown that coughing thatveterans on anytype of medicationshould wear their glasses may help heart attack victims in controlled medical when selectingtheir medication.They quote the case of a environments. But if you thinkyou 're havinga heartattack, it's veteranwho accidentally ingested drain cleaner tablets instead of still best to call 000, take an Aspirin,sit or lie down,or ask a Viagra,which resulted in himbeing hospitalised. friendto driveyou to thenearest emergency room.' Unfortunately,at the sametime as he tookhis 'medication'he [I can't rememberwho sent me the originalarticle, but if flushedhis Viagratablets down the 'loo'. Apartfrom his medical you'rereading this, pleaseadvise anyone else you may have bills,he now has a hugebill from his plumberas the Viagratook forwardedit to. Ed] all the 'S' bendsout of his plumbing.

3 Slipstream ~ ------

DearEd of the first 40 yearsof the RANFleet Air Armw as somethingto be I was recentlyreading 'Letters to the Editor' cherished,and that it forgedman y strongfriendsh ips andalliances in Slipstreamand it brought back many whichhave stood us all in good stead since we left the Service. memoriesof HMS Heron(1947-'48), when L--1.JL..l.~:l::l::l..~_J Thereis alsono doubtthat the lessonswe learnedin that Service the RANclass of Armourerswas on course hasstood us all in goodstead i n our endeavoursin civilianlife. I just there. have to look at the manyex-FAA members who havetaken up I wasRN at thetime doing Airframes Part II training. Believe leadingroles i n the life of Nowrato seet hatthe FAAhas contributed me,the RN-ersdidn't know what to makeof the Aussies;great a greatdeal to the growthof this community in the past54 years, timeswere had by all andgreat friendships were made . andwill continue to do so for manymore to come. The runsashore in the backof a 3 tannerwere something I enclosea photot aken of the 50th AnniversaryReunion in of a legendin the town of Yeovil,Davies at Sherborne,in October1997 , whichwas capab ly organisedby 'Blue' Harrisonand Ian Ferguson,when 10 out of 14 of us madeit to the Bomaderry Dorset, in the Drill Hallsand Pubcrawls etc.. Drawyour own BowlingClub and later on at the Museum. 'Huck' Finnmade it to the conclusions! Reunion,but typicallywent AWOLon the Sundayfor this photo. EventuallyI transferred to the RANon a two and halfyear Thesewere the first directentry members into the RANFAA , who loan,embarking in Vengeancein 1952,and sentto Nirimbain joinedtogether at Cerberusfor recruittrain ing priorto the trip to UK early1953 at thetime of the commissioning. in January 1948. All with no idea of what lay ahead, but I thoroughlyenjoy Slipstream, it hascome a longway since subsequentlyapproving of the life we had for manyyears in the inception, pleasekeep up the goodwork. outfit,and the differencesit madeto us for ourgreater benefit. By the way,the barberat Heronwas a Free PolishNavy chap by the name of Sovoloski(probably spelt wrong); someonementioned him in a previousletter. I amincluding a short'dit' youmay wish to publish:

'Threeelderly gents are sittingaround a tablein an exclusive clubLondon . The first explainshis circumstances- retiredField Marshall, marriedwith two sons, one a judge , the othera barrister. Thesecond gent explains his circumstances- retired General , marriedwith two sons, one a HarleyStreet surgeon the othera propertytycoon. Thethird gent said that he wasa retiredNaval Commander , still a bachelor, twosons , onea FieldMarshall, the other a General!' RussHamer [Sadly,Russ passed away shortly after I receivedthis letter . Ed]

DearEd It was terrific to read, in January'sSlipstream, that Doug RANFAA FIRST DIRECT ENTRY ARMOURERS' REUNION Dewhurstis stillwith us, and his memoriesof our timesat HMS 16 October1947 -25 October1997 L-R: JimHibbert -John Elliot -'Blue ' Harrison-Ian Ferguson- Heron, thetrip on the LargsBay, and subsequent 'events' which TerryEgan - JackHerbert-Neville Way-Jim ' Ghost'Hallahan - are probablyforever in all our memoriesafter all theseyears . GeorgeMackenz ie Nodoubt we all havestronger recollections of someevents than ABSENT: StanDyker -'Huck' F inn- KeithHope of others,depending on whetherwe were involvedor just DECEASED: 'MusclesVinen -Peter Busby spectators. Photoc ourtesyGeorge Mac kenzie Therewere many tales emanating from HMS Heron (RNAS Yeovilton)in thoseheady days when we weredeemed to bethe Unfortunatelysome have passed on , a fatewh ich awaits us all, millionairesin the camp(on about6 quida fortnight)-the lurks but I thinkit indicativeof servicelife thatwe haveprobably surv ived employedto overcomethe mealration cards needed to get a so far becauseof our lifestylesformulated in the FAA over the feedin the galley-the forays into the variousareas in searchof years, andthe trainingwhich went with the job. Withany luck , many extra coal for the pot belly heatersin the messes,and the of us will be ableto meetaga in for the 60th and maybethe 70th multitudeof occurrencescaused by birthdaysand the rum Anniversaryreunions in 2007and 20017. I n this dayand age it's not rationfor thoseover 21 years. beyondthe realmsof possibility as we were only teen-agerswhen Doug'srecollection of the paradeand march past held twice wejoined! Cheers . daily to marchfrom the living quartersto the technicalarea Regardsto all 'true' Armourers, and all the otherswith whom I could no doubt have extendedfurther, which might have have had the pleasureof serving over my 30 years. Theywere embarrassedsome of us, but there'sno doubtthey were good great. timeswhich we all cherishas timemarches on . GeorgeMackenzie R.35418 / 0.1641 There'sno doubt (in my mindanyway), that the camaraderie

4 Slipstream

DearEd Abouta monthlater we neededa lot of replacementmini-gun I was interestedto read the articleRAAF Base Nowra, by Mrs parts, 2 sparemini-guns, a few extra rocketpods and another TempeMerewether in the October2000 editionof Slipstream. M60machine gun, so it wasoff to VungTau again to the armoury. Especiallythe descriptionof the messand accommodationhuts. I walkedinto the buildingand , you guessedit, the sameguy was Lifemust have been the samefor all services,even for the 'non behindthe counter(I thought-here goes my boots).I gavehim birdmen'. my list andasked what he wanted.He said'One of yourguys was in herea whileago, he saidhe wasgoing to giveme some Aussie So interestedthat it mademe dig outsome old researchnotes bootsbut he nevercame back. I want a pair of boots!' I said, on the PortAdelaide Naval Depot, in thosedays HMAS Torrens . 'You'vegot a deal,but I've onlygot one pair and I'm not walking Theyalso had a number(at least9) temporaryaccommodation out of herebarefoot, I'll bringyou a pair nexttime I'm around'.I huts duringWorld War 2. 'Temporary'being somewhatof a got all the equipmentI wanted, packed it on a chopper,and away misnomerin that theywere erected in mid 1943with the last two I went. demolishedin 1971. Well you guessedit a coupleof weekslater I was off on In 1944there was so muchconcern being expressed about anotherstores run, this time with a brandnew pair of Aussieboots the standardof these huts as accommodationspaces, being undermy arm. I walkedinto the armouryand there was a different unlinedand thus, like Nowra, hot in summerand freezingin Yankbehind the counter.So the conversationcommenced about winter. So much concern that the CommandingOfficer what he wantedin exchange. 'I want a case of that Resches representedthe facts to Navy Office in June 1944,especially Pilsnerbeer, get it for me and you can havewhatever', was the concernedabout the amountof condensationrunning off thewalls reply.So, off I wentfor the shortwalk up to the RAAFsquadron and insideof the roof and drippingdown onto the bedding.The for his caseof pilsner.As I walkedpast the AmericanPX, there reply by Their Boardshipsthe following month was quite was a truckloadof AustralianResches being unloaded,I paid outstanding. threedollars for a caseof beerand took it backto the armoury. I In theirreply it wass tatedthat 'sisalcraft'insulation could be carriedout the exchangeand then went off on my merryway. At a installedby ship's staff as ceilingmaterial to stop the dampness roughestimate I figurethat I collectedguns and equipment worth andto stopthe beddingfrom getting wet fromcondensation . But closeto 300thousand dollars in exchangefor a threedollar case in a slightlyveiled expression of censurethe letter concluded of beer. "That the lining of sleepingquarters is contraryto prescribed By the way, I lookedin my wardrobethe other day, sitting standards,and could only be authorised where special there,looking a bit forlorn, aremy Aussie Boots.' circumstances,involved with the healthof personnelconcerned, exist." JimHill RobinPennock [ As theysay, one 'dit' leadsto another, someonetold me about the American medic who was working in the Pathology Departmentin a US hospitalin Saigon. His maintask was taking DearEd urinesamples from Marines suspected of havingmalar ia. I findSlipstream a greatread and get great pleasure from readers' Afterworking all day he hadcollected six cratesof specimens. contributions.To that aim, I feel that it's abouttime I did my bit, Hesaid to the pathologist, 'Whatdo I do withthese , Sir?' also I would like to encouragemembers of mine and latter generationsto send in their 'dits'. The FleetAir Arm didn'tjust Thepathologist replied , 'Sendthem to the Australians,they'll drink startand end in the lateforties and early fifties. So heregoes .. . anything'. Ed] A PAIROF AUSSIE BOOTS DearEd 'I was in the first of four groupsof the RoyalAustralian Navy HelicopterFlight Vietnam (RANHFV).To the uninitiated,a The articlein the last edition,which covered the two Pilotswho combinedgroup of RAN and Americanarmy to form the 135th toppedtheir respectivecourses with the RAAF,brought back AssaultHelicopter company from 1967 to 1971. Myjob wasto be somememories and I felt thatus 'O's'should not be leftout. oneof the gunshipplatoon armourers . To this end I hadto repair I was luckyenough to be on number77 Observer'scourse in or replacethe helicopterguns or armament. 1964at Halfar,Malta. Aftera daysflying, one of the 'yanks'had a bit of a dilemma, SomehowI endedup toppingthat courseand was awardthe the bungeecord holding his doormounted M60 machine gun had 'HerbertLott Trust Prize'. The award consisted of a certificateand broken, the last he saw of it was as it did a swandive into the the hugesum of 37 shillingsand 6 pence(real money -Sterling) . MekongDelta. I hadthe job of 'quietly' replacingit for him. The Captainat Albatrossduly presentedthis to me one Friday I hoppedon a helofrom Blackhorseto VungTau and went to morning. the U.S. ArmyArmoury. At this point I must mentionthat the Thestated aim of the awardwas that the recipientshould use acquisitionof stores in Vietnam was rather unorthodox.I the moneyto purchasea 'Goodbook on Aviationor Navigation'. approachedthe Americanat the counterand askedhim what he Alsoattending the presentationwere other members of the course wantedfor an M60 machinegun. He replied,'I want a pair of and my CO at the time,Ben Matthews,who was heardto mutter those Aussie boots!' (The GI boots were nylon, hot and somethingalong the linesof - 'I thinkthat shouldgo overthe bar uncomfortable).I said, 'You'vegot a deal, but I've only got one at lunchtime' . It did;but I stillhave the certificate. pairand I'm not walkingout of herebare footed. I'll bringyou a GordonEdgecombe pairnext time I'm around.' I leftwith an M60over my shoulder and thoughtno moreabout it. 'Reality is an illusionthat occurs through lack of alcohol'

5 • Slipstream

DearEd DearEd I've exchangedphone calls and correspondedwith a personin I shouldhave written this letter'yonks' ago but, betterlate than WesternAustralia that mostof us will easilyrecognise after all never.I referto the July2000 edition of Slipstream(Vol. 11 No.3) theseyears. I receivedthis photographjust beforeChristmas. where-inwas printedon page 19 Jack Dun'sphoto of the NAS Just lookat that photographand you will see someonewho Armourystaff 1952(good one Jack). I can supplysome of the was friend to everyone.'Honest Ray Thomas- The Sailor's missingnames although a coupleI am not 100%certain about. Friend'. However,I mayjog a few memoriesand we couldwind up witha full complement.In the ordershown in the photo,missing names are: BackRow L-R: B . Norman- Col Archer-Nell Robson -? - Merv Hardy-? -JohnWilson. FrontRow L-R : CAAPrice RN -? - POAFMatt Jennings . Referringalso to the photo of 723 Squadronpersonnel depictedbelow the above,I havea suspicionthe Lieutenant(4th fromleft-front row) may be TonyHunt (Electrical Officer). Havejust receivedthe January2001 editionof Slipstream. Whata host of great memoriesDoug Dewhirst's article and the accompanyingphoto bring back. There are only two pointson whichI'll clarifyyour memory, Doug . We,the firstdirect entry Recruit Naval Airmen, travelled to UK with you on the old LargsBay (sistership of the famousJervis Bay)and in the photo,for 'Ned' Kellyread 'Buck'Rodgers. The fourteendirect entry NavalAirmen stayed together as one class throughoutour six monthArmourers' course which we completed at RNASYeovilton in September1948 . In the late 1960s,Ray was the Librarianin chargeof the Threeof the classstayed at Yeoviltonand completed SAMCO TechnicalLibrary with the great responsibilityof maintainingthe courseson Fireflyand Seafuryaircraft before posting to RNAS absolutecorrectness of every Aircraft Publicationat HMAS Eglintonin NorthernIreland where they joined the 20thCAG. The Albatross.He didn't personallyamend every publication,only restof our classwere split into two groupsand postedto RNAS thosein the Library,but he distributedthe amendmentleaflets to Abbotsinchand RNAS Lossiemouth, both located in Scotland,and everysquadron and section and kept the AmendmentDistribution as theysay in the classics'thereby hangs another tale (or tales)'. Recordright up to date. His recordswere so good,that when Who knows, I may even be temptedas a result of Doug's Navy Office sent him a computerprintout showing him what promptingto write the saga of what happenedto a groupof standardhis publicationsshould be up to, he returnedit to them innocentyoung Aussie sailors sent into the wilds of Northern with many hand written inclusionsso that THEY could bring Scotlandto honetheir skillsas Armourersin the newRAN Fleet THEIR publicationsand records up to date and then be Air Arm.Perhaps George Mackenzie or TerryEgan could do the comparablewith the contentsof the HMASAlbatross Technical samefor theirgroup! Double dare you fellas! Library. Appreciatethe time and effort you put into SlipstreamEd, it I have it from manyreliable sources that this penchantto reallyis a greatread. It wouldbe niceto seethe occasionalarticle librarianship,developed in 'B' hangarsome years previously when from currentserving members about their comingsand goings hewas the LeadingAirman in chargeof the IssueCentre. Placed aroundthe planet.Keep up the goodworks Ed; ' we do luvyou'. on the counterfor easierselection, and also under the counterto be held in reserve,were variousnon-technical publications for John(Blue) Harrison. whichone paid the princelysum of threepenceeach time the [NowI'm REALLYgetting worried, 'we do luv you' waswhat you publicationwas requiredfor use duringthose infrequent trips to armourers'told the goat at the bomb dumpprior to paintinga the heads.Why threepence?How else couldRay affordto buy delicateportion of hisanatomy with port and starboard paint. Ed] thegreat variety of suchtastefully illustrated publications . DearEd As youcan see in the photograph,Ray is nowconfined to a I am organisinga 40thReunion of the JR 5thIntake to be heldon wheelchair with crook knees,bung handsand wrists, and a the GoldCoast on 05 July2002. somewhatrepaired heart, but he is still functioningat 75 yearsof age (at last count),and from the sight of all thosebooks in the I am trying to contact the followingpeople: D. Batty - background,a well read, good librarian. A. Divitini- E J Fuller - P. A. McNamara- M.J.Phillips- KA.Smith - J.A.Sundholm- R.W.H.Bolitho - AT.Geary - AlanG Spearpoint J.M.Murphy- W.R.Ponton- A.J.Barrett - R.J.Bowles- [ Rayalso designed and manufacturedsome terrifictoys for his AF.Browning- RM.Burgraff- RR.Kendall- R.V.Dentith- kids.They were LARGE toys -trucks, trains etc. All finishedin top R.L.Jones- P.W.Williams-A.T.Edwards -B.S.S .Hartfield- quality'pussers' enamel and equippedwith workinglights and LR.McLeod-P.J.Norton -P.M.Salmon -A.D.Sleat. otherbits and pieces. The only problem was, you could never find a pusserstorch within half a mileof wherehe was employed .Ed] Jim Watson Phone:W (07)5582 8612-H (07)55751598

6 Slipstream

DearEd DearEd I wouldl ike to makeyour readers aware of SteveHart 's Museum The forewordby CommodoreGoble in January2001 Slipstream andworkshop at Archerfield, Brisbane. Theyhave some nice old states, 1hefirst powered flight took place on 17December 1903 '. planeslike the SeaFury in the enclosedphotograph. I disagreewith this statement inasmuch as I claimthat the first This aircraftwas originallyfor Iraq; SteveHart purchasedit poweredflight took placeabout fifty yearsbefore this at Chardin from NewZealand . It is interestingto note that the numbersand Somerset,not far fromthe RNASYeovilton . markingsare a copyof Lt Carmichael's aircraftfrom HMS Ocean, From memory,a Mr Stringfellow,a memberof the Royal whosho t a Migdown in Korea. Society, conductedthe flight and it was powered by a steam engine. Lastyear , whilstin Chard,I visitedthe ChardMuseum where there is a display of the aircraft and the steam enginethat poweredit. Whythere i s suchlittle knowledge of this historicevent surprisedme as it waswell documented at the time. StanBrown - ex POElect (Air) [I thinkthat to be 'officially' recognised, an aircrafthad to exhibit sustainedand controlled flight. Several others also made claims of being the first; in 1890Clement Adler (France)-1901 Gustave Whitehead(USA) - 1902 RichardPearse (NZ) - 1903 Preston Watson(Scotland) . The only aircraftthat Stringfellowmanaged to get airborne weighedapproximately nine (9) pounds.It wasflown inside a lace Someof the otherplanes are a Yak3 , oneof onlythree left - mill wherethe air was still. Eventuallyhe managedto get the a Harvardt rainer (ex-Pensacola)-a L39 Albatross, Russian aircraftto fly ten yardsbefore punching a holein a canvasscreen designedje t aircraft, anda T28 Trojan(Korean War) . A Yak9 will at the endof the mill.Stringfellow 's son, Fred,who witnessed the be arriving laterth is year. Note the photoshowing the 'Mig on a event, saidthat t his wasconsidered to be a spectacularsuccess. stick' outsidethe w orkshop. Source- Inventor's World. Ed]

DearEd This letteris an initialattempt to organise a reunionfor Survival Equipment personnel. Discussionsheld at Nowraduring the 'RANAS2000 Reunion', targeted Coffs Harbour on the Labour Weekend2001( 28 Septemberto 01 October)as the venue. All are welcome,wives , girlfriends, evenpersonnel from outside the branch.So , if you run into an old shipmateinvite him/heralong. Accommodation and travel are your responsibility,Ican supply some telephone numbersfor accommodationin the areaif required. At this stage,it is intendedthat all membersare to musterat Coffs HarbourRSL on the Fridaynight for post-indrinks (non­ formal). Saturday(Race Day) will kick off at the Coffs Harbour Anybodyis welcomeat the workshopfor a chat,the personto racecourse,on completion, winner's drinkswill be consumedin seeis DavidMeld rum, whohas a heapof information. the RSL. The workshopi s at BeaufighterDrive off BoundryRoad, Sundayis a rest day after the churchservice , however,the RockleaQld . whole routineis flexibleat this stage. Follow-updetails will be I reallyenjoy reading Slipstream , keepup the goodwork . mailed throughoutthe year to those personnelwho will be RexDay attending. Please contact' Jaffa' Robinson or Kerry Jones Cl- Senior DearEd Sailors' Mess, HMASKuttabul , Wylde Street,Potts PointNSW Withreference to the photographon page6 of the last Slipstream, 2011.Work te lephoneNumber (02) 9359 2448. theoffice r picturedw ith 'Bats' Leeis LT (0) Bill PalmerRAN , who 'Jaffa' was an observeron 817 Squadronwhen we formed up at Culdrosein 1955. DearEd Frommemory , I think Bill was originallyan RAAFNavigator Readyour article on the Vengeancein the last edition. I thought whotransferred to the RAN. your readersmight be interestedto learnthat thereis a fabulous All the bestto everyone. photoof the ship (1954)on the internetat http://exbirdie.port5. com/albatross.him Phil Rowe 'Silentnumber '

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DearEd DearEd I wouldlike to congratulateyou for the productionof an excellent Slipstreamis circulatedaround the wartimeguys here and is magazine,which I havebeen reading for quitea fewye~r .s since muchappreciated. joiningthe FAM. Thelast edition is a realwinner containing a I oftenhear comments such as, 'Can't be 'im, surely, whenI varietyof interestingsubjects , particularly'Loveable Louise' and knew'im he wasbuilt like a racingsplit pinwiv buckteef . 'EagerJournalist', they were absolute classics! Bestwishes and keep flying your flag. Havingread my magazine,I then pass it on to a coupleof MickHoldsworth - RNArmourers' Association non-navymates who enjoyreading of FAAactivities and general [Allbest wishes to the membership,Mick . Ed) navalstories. Onething that often makes me wonder, is the apparentlack of DearEd ex-miscellaneousbranch members(Cooks, Stewards,Stores, Slipstreamgets better each edition . Welldone . Writersetc.) . Theymay think that the FAM is for the Air Branch only.There must be manyhundreds of theseex-personnel. In the Januaryedition, page 19 was a photographof CMDR Benny Mathewswith Gough Whitlam and CPO Simpsonin Duringmy six yearsservice in the Writers'Branch, I served Melbourne. Pleaseallow me to correctthe captioning. four anda halfyears with the FleetAir Arm at Albatross,Nirimba and aboardVengeance and Melbourne,so there must be other The photographwas taken on 28 September1970 during miscellaneousbodies with somewhat similar backgrounds. 'SHOPWINDOW'. As a matterof interest, due to a shortageof accommodation As PR OfficerI had the task of co-ordinatingthe domestic at Albatrossin 1951-'52,the Writerswere allocatedthe disused arrangementsfor a visit by, I think, about 19 Federalpoliticians Masterat Arms hut for living quarters.This was locatedabout headedby the Ministerfor the Navy and the Leaderof the Opposition- Mr E G Whitlam.Each MP was given a personal midwaybetween the Canteenand the Administrationblock. It was officerguide for the wholeday at sea, when, incidentally,we had verycosy as we hadour own showerand toilet and didn't have to run the gauntletof the famousNowra 'westerlies' to get to the HMASQueenborough in company.As the seniorguest, Gough ablutionblocks. wasgiven the seniorguide. Threeof us Writerswere the proudowners of an ex-USArmy It was a very successfulday during whichthe messageof HarleyDavidsons and this allowedus to go ashorein certain organicnaval air powerwas highlighted . Didwe succeed?At least definedcivilian dress, which was knownas 'MotorCycle Rig'. we continuedfixed wing flying for anotherten years. ChrisRobson - [email protected]

DearEd Thankyou for all youreffort in producingan excellentmagazine. In the January2001 edition , page19, there is a photographof GoughWhitlam , CPODon Simpsonand myselfwith th~ caption 'HMASMelbourne circa 1973 PrimeMinister E G Wh1tlamand CDRBenny Matthews talking to CPODon Simpson' . Thiscaption is incorrectas that photographwas taken on 18April 1969,when many Federal Politicians , includingThe Leader of the Opposition(not then PM) Gough Whitlam, embarkedearly morningin Jervis Bay for a 'ShopWindow'and passageto Sydney. I wasthe escortfor GoughWhitlam for the whole day andhe touredthe shipvery thoroughly, including donning overalls andgloves to visit the engineand boilerroom spaces. Yoursaye, 1952-THE DAYSOF WINEAND ROSES BenMatthews FourWriters at the rearof the MAAhut at RANAS L-R:Hugh 'Bluey' Campbell -John Mccosker -??? - DearEd andStan Laughlan with his HarleyDavidson Yet a furtherRATOG memory . In 1951,during the 808 Squadron(Sea Furies) work-up to go to Korea, an attemptwas madefor a RATOG launch from RANAS Duringmy timeat RANAS,I wasfully employedas Captain's Nowra. Typistand your story on RATOGprompts a memoryof typing I waspositioned at the 'firingpoint' and when the rocketsfired, variouscorrespondences regarding this subject. the runwaysurface coiled up like a carpet,which, when the It wasalso my sadtask to typean accidentreport in regardto slipstreamhit it, shatteredand causedextensive damage to the the crashof a Sea Fury,that resultedin the deathof LTCDR aircraft'stailplane. 'Bunny'Hare whilst practising for ourfirst Air Show.On the day of Afterthis incidentthe stripat JervisBay was used, but I'm not the show,it rainedall day,but was still declared a hugesuccess. surehow many RA TOG take-offs took place. StanLaugh/an DonQuartermaine - UK 1ASouth Street, West Wallsend. 2286

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DearEd provide,but I was in 805 Squadronat Nowrain 1957and flew the Further to your request in the October 2000 Slipstream aircraftthree times. re (composite)Sea FuryVX-730, and the contributionby Graham Thefirst time on 07 March1957 doing paired IF interceptions 'Zork' Rohrsheimin the January2001 edition, I see from my with another805 aircraft.The secondtime on 15 Marchdoing logbookthat I flew VX-730on 07 Marchand 03 April 1957whilst 'WatsonInterceptions'. That was an exerciseof trainingfor the undergoingNo .6 FighterOFS in 805Squadron. 'Os'at HMASWatson on SydneyHeads. We haddrop tanks and Like' Zork',I haveno recordof a TF-925at that time (witha the trip lasted2 hours.The third time was a test flighton 30 May serialnumber like that, perhapsit was a Sea FuryTrainer?), nor that lasted45 minutes,but my log booksgive no moredetail. of a VW-232.Like him, though, I flewa VW-632on OFS(03 may AlthoughI remainedon 805 Squadronuntil the Sea Furies and 16 July 1957)and as an 805 Squadronstaff piloton 13 and werestood down in April1958, I didn'tfly it againand guess that it 15August 1957 . waswithdrawn from service in the middleof 1957. I have beentold that an ex-RANFirefly, S/No. WB-518, is Keepup thegood work! stuckon the top of a polein the Riverinatown of Griffith, NSW. A DaveEagles low-flyingaccident or carelesslanding? I notefrom my logbookthat I flew that serial numberin its DearEd manifestationas a target-tugsome eight times in 723 Squadron I am writing in the hope that you will give a plug for a new between02 November1961 and 22 March1962. There were no organisationwhich has started in Queensland. RANships i n the Murrumbidgeedoing gunnery firings against a Followingthe combinedsuccess of the FESRAssociation (Far sleevetarget during that time, so I pleadnot guilty. East StrategicReserve) and the NAA (Naval Associationof JohnDacosta Australia)in bringingabout changes to the RepatriationAct , a few [I can recallone RAN aircraft,a Wessexhelicopter, which DID dedicatedadvocates and supportershave opened a newoffice in impaleitself on a post located on the top of PigeonHouse Brisbanecalled ASAC (Armed Services AssistanceCentre) Mountain. Mindyou , it hadsome help. Ed] Australia. ASAC'sgoal is to establisha coordinatedand combined. networkof servicecentres, which along with regularvisits to regionaland rural districts,will provide easy accessto free, qualified assistance, in relation to welfare, pensions, compensationand entitlements,to all serving and ex-serving membersof the AustralianDefence Force and their families. ASACcurrently works alongside existing services in an effortto providethe bestpossible trained response. ASAC Australiahas a strong web presence.The ASAC website at http://www.asacaustralia.com provides extensive coverageof the organisation.With an Advocates'Forum, General DiscussionPanel, Social Forums and informationon entitlements and medals,the site offerseasy accessto an array of services includingon-line assistance. Keepup the goodwork , I alwayslook forward to our magazine. FAIREY FIREFLY BobWitt - UAirAH2 1954 - 1960- [email protected] THJSAJRCR..\FT . ACQllREDFROMH ..\I .A. . DearEd ALBATROSSXO"'RADESIGXED & B ILT IS Congratulationson a trulygreat issue of Slipstream(Vol.12 No .1) . BRJTAlNOOR!SG ml A KORLD\\'AR !I ~AVAl It wasa delightto read,not that previousones weren't! RECO~'NAJSSASCEAJRCRAFT. Therewas so muchof interestin it that I couldn'tput it down SAIi.~CTJ\1£ SER\'ICE ON H.MAS . S\'DSE\'IXKOREA until I had readthe lot. I knowit is hardto maintaina particular SPEC/F/CAT/ONS standard,but if it could be done for this publication,you 'll be 2245H.P . ROLLSROYCE GRIFFO N12 CYUS DER producingone that will be greatly sought after. A pity it's not UQUTDCOOLED B'GJSE. MAX. SPEED l86M .P.H. availableon the newsstands. 00/' lfDeY OTlliNS 0- G' F!rHAS 1' 1/,fMOl!W.TO Olli :.RM Keepup the goodwork. PeterMcNay Firefly'on a stick'at Griffithand its accompanyingsign Photo's courtesyPeregrine DearEd The top pictureon Page3 of the last editionshows, I believe, DearEd JohnClark briefing 816 SquadronTracker crews . In a recentedition of Slipstream, you referto the rebuiltSea Fury The pictureon Page6 - I think is DougAnstee, who left the at the Australianwar Memorialin Canberraand asked if any Navyabout 1959-60 to join Qantas. readershad any information on VX730in theirlogbooks . The'Jumbo' accident occurred in Hobartabout 1960. I thinkyou'll be requiringmore serious information than I can LenKenderdine

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DearEd THEREWAS A GOODRESPONSE TO THE REQUESTFOR Theattached photograph shows the WestAustralian contingent of INFORMATIONRELATING TO THEPHOTOGRAPHS SHOWING NavalAir recruitsin the March1948 intake . THE MOBILECRANE (Jumbo) HANGING OVER THE SIDEOF After only eleven weeks of recruit training and' square HMASMELBOURNE . ED. bashing' at HMASCerberus , we were part of the 54 recruits selectedto go to the UKfor technical training. DearEd On selectionwe were immediatelysent hometo Perthfor At the bottomof page 19 of the January2001 Slipstreamthere fourteen days embarkationleave, followed by three weeks are two photographsaround which you correctlyassume that stationedat HMASLeeuwin , Fremantle, awaitingHMAS Kanimbla theremust be a story. The photographsare two viewsof 'Jumbo', to arriveon routeto UK. the flight-deckcrane of HMAS Melbourne, on its side and Life was good at Leeuwin,we helpedi n the constructionof precariouslybalanced on the edgeof the flightdeck just forward tenniscourts by day, and leave every night and weekend.It of the island. certainlybeat the daily square bashingat Cerberusunder a The photographswere taken i n February1963 when the ship fanaticalGunnery CPO who marched us intothe deck. was alongsidethe wharf in Hobart. 'Jumbo' was stuck in this undignifiedposition after the dutycrane driver, whilst manoeuvring on the flight deck, showeda certainlack of drivingskill and put a wheelover the side. As the cranetoppled, the driverwas thrown over the ship's side and landed on the wharf far below. Fortunately,a sponsonstopped the crane from followingthe driver's trajectoryand joining him on the wharf. Miraculously,as I recall, the driversuffered little more than a mildcase of shockand surprisethat couldbe treatedby offering himan aspirinor two in the sickbay.Gett ing the damaged'Jumbo' backin actionwas clearly a muchmore difficult problem requiring an urgent solution if the ship was to meet its planned commitments. The photographon the left seemsto showthat there were manyminds working on the problem, while the one on the right couldgive the impressionthat Commader(A ir), DigbyJohns , was leftto solveit on his own. WESTAUSTRALIAN NAVAL AIR RECRUITS-1948 The realitywas that as the ship's Air EngineerOfficer , I held RearL-R: 'Prof Edwards-'Tiddly' Dav is - 'Wog' Howarth(Dec .) - the shortstraw. There was no liftingdevice in Hobartwhich could BobProud - 'Blue' Stivey be usedto get the 'Jumbo'back on its wheelsso it wassecured FrontL-R: ' Kit'Potts (Dec.) - JackShortland -John Currie - whereit lay andthe shipmade a hastyreturn to GardenIsland . Len Murray Togetherwith SBLT Daisley, I flew back from Hobartto Sydneytown with detailsof the damageto the craneso that the A WestAustralian journalist too k the photographin front of the dockyardcould get ready to do a quick repairwhen the ship Administrationblock at Leeuwin; it was published in the daily arrived. In summary, it mightbe saidthat this incidentgave rise to papersas partof Navyrecruit ing drive. two miracles.That the cranedriver could have survived his fall to BobProud- ex POAF(Nee ' HungryHobday ') the wharf withoutserious injury was indeed miraculous. That GardenIsland dockyard did in March'63 willinglyundertake and completea speedyrepair to the crane, somewould say, was also DearEd quitemiraculous . At a timeof lifewhen I don'tneed i t, a longtime friend has passed GordonJervis awayand left me his businessof ManagementRights at Noosa. I havesome 33 two-bedroomtown houses which are available DearEd for holidaylettings . They come all found includinglinen. The complexhas three pools , one solar heated, and a full sizetennis The undignified photographsof 'Jumbo' on page 19 of the court,off street parking, barbecuesetc . It has an established January2001 issue of Slipstreamwere taken while Melbourne familyclientele , but I wouldlike to makefull useof my involvement wasalongside in Hobart. to make'mate rates ' availablefor servingpersonnel, association The story is that, while the duty watch was preparingthe membersand their families . FlightDeck fo r 'DressShip' , the driver of Jumboput one of its The only conditionI wouldplace on this discountis that the drivingwheel over the side. As the vehicletoppled the driverwas bookingsmust be placeddirectly through me , or my staff,either thrownclear , and fell to the wharf below,with the resultthat he by phone,fax or emailto [email protected] had to be admittedto hospitalin Hobart, with what I think,and hope,were only minor injuries. Phone: (07)5449 8122 -Fax : (07)5449 7678 I can rememberthat as Little 'F', and maybe as Duty Seealso www .noosasound.com.au LieutenantCommander as well, havinga very one-sided, no-win Co/Spence discussionwith a very unhappyCaptain shortly after the accident,

10 Slipstream but I haveno recollectionof whichCaptain it was. This lapseof I and another couple of armourerswere detailedoff to memorywhich is due no doubtto the fact that somethings are accompanyChief AA(O) Gorden Alfred 'Gaf Field, ex RN,to go to best forgotten, makes it very difficult for me to date the the site and investigate. Gaf was chosento lead the expedition photographs. becausebeing WW2 trained and ex RN,he wasvery familiar with The photographon the right howevertells me two things. boththe type of aircraftthat we couldexpect to find andfamiliar Firstly, becauseit was takenimmediately after the accident, and with Brownings.We weretold we were to removethe gunsand prior to Colours, it confirmsthe Dress Ship theory, because anyammunition and take it all backto Albatross. bunting can be seenon the deck in the rightforeground corner . On arrivalat St. GeorgesBasin, we foundthe aeroplane, the Secondly, the officerin the photographis in No 5s, whichmeans fellowswho had hauledit out of the water,a coupleof 'goofers' the photographwas not taken duringone of the Navy'sroutine and a coupleof policeofficers. The 'planewas the rightway up HobartRegatta visits . These two factors, plus a very strong andin quiteremarkably good cond ition consideringits history. The feelingthat we were escortingHer MajestyThe Queenin the mainplanes, while very bent and buckled,were completeand RoyalYacht Britannia at the time, datesthe photographsto the attachedto the fuselage. Thefuselage was also in goodcondition, secondhalf of 1962or 3, and I willgo for 1962. although,as I rememberit, the tail assemblywas missing. As therewas no docksidecrane in Hobart, it wasnot possible A quickinspection established that it wasfitted with six 50cal to rightJumbo before sailing for Sydney, so it hadto be securely Browningsand that the ammotanks were full of ammunition, but lasheddown in situ,with manylashings passing over the vehicle. the gunswere not loaded. Afterwe hadcerti fied thatthe weapons On approachingGarden Island , we receiveda signalfrom some were quite safe, the fishermenwho had hauledit out said that wit in the Dockyardto the effect, 'AwakenGulliver , and loosen theywere claiming the whole' kit and caboodle' as salvageand we your bonds,help awaits', this in turn resultedin manycartoons couldp---off home. Theywere very promptlyadvised that we had appearing, depicting the same theme. Can anybodyremember ordersto take both the guns and ammoback to Albatrossand the wordingof the originals ignal, or lay theirhands on oneof the they shouldmake any claim throughthe appropriatechannels. originalcartoons, which I knowwere used in the LineBooks of the Thepolice supported this proposaland that was the endof that. day. One must assumethat the policewere a bit apprehensive I, like manyo thers I am sure, look forwardto the arrivalof about lettingsix heavy machineguns and almosta thousand eachedition of Slipstream, and congratulateyou on the very high roundsof ammo loose in the public domain. Removalof the standardthat you a re ableto maintain. ammunition,all up aboutn ine hundredrounds (150 per gun), was GordonMcPhee prettyeasy as was the guns themselves,in spite of beingwet , slimy, and very slippery. Oncethe guns were out of the aircraft DearEd andbegan to dry out,corrosion set in veryquickly, Re: The photographon page 19 of the Januaryedition . If my On arrivalback at Albatross,the ammunitionwas despatched memoryhas notfailed me , I believethe photois the mobilecrane to whatwas then the bombdump, later changed to the explosives (Jumbo)lying on its side in the forwardgun sponsononboard area (a gem of uselessinformation) , and five of the gunswere HMASMelbourne in Hobart1961 or 1963. immersedin an open 44 gallon drum of old engineoil. The The driverwas NAAH(Cowboy) Keating w ho fell out of the protrudingbarrels were slosheddown with copiousquantities of craneand was hurtling headfirst for the wharfwhen he caughthis the samefluid. armon one of the cablesrunning from ship to shore. Thisturned The sixthgun was movedto the gun shop, stripped, and the himaround and so he landedfeet first on the wharf.From what I partscleaned and, as 'Fergie'mentioned in his letter,all withone rememberof his injurieshe had bothankles broken and quite a exceptionwere in excellentcondition . The exceptionwas a small rashunder his armpit. compressioncoil spring belongingto the sear assembly. This JohnWard - ExWOAVN spring was completelyossified and very brittle. The gun was KevinCamm had this to say: It happenedat 0745 on 27 February reassembledsans the little spring, manuallycycled a coupleof 1963whilst Melbournewas alongsidethe MacquarieOil wharf. timesand appeared to be in excellentworking order. We knowthat 'Cowboy'Keating was a hard person, but he fell Thiswas the end of my involvementwith the guns. I haveno fortyfeet to thewharf ... who said that Handlersweren't tough .. . knowledgeof Fergies' subsequentinvolvement with the gunsor [Onlyif theyfall headfirst , Kevin. Ed) ammobut I do knowthat the guns were despatchedto RANAD soonafter their recovery DearEd JimParsons - 47 FindlaySt, HigginsACT The simpleanswer to Ian Ferguson's query regardingthe 50 calibreBrowning machine guns that were recoveredfrom St. The More Things Change GeorgesBasin, is that they were,on the veryexpl icit ordersfrom navyoffice, despatched to the RANArmament Depot at Spectacle - The More They Remain The Same Islandfor destruction. Thiswas despite very eloquent pleas that at Two mice are having a chat . leastone be keptfor historicaland display purposes . One mouse tells her girlfriend that she is dating a bat. I wasa 'kellick'working at one of the ordnanceoutstations in 'What's this 'thing' you are dating?' A or B hangerwhen Albatross was advisedthat a WW2aircraft 'It's a bat - it's a mouse with wings!' had been draggedup onto the beachfrom the depthsof St. GeorgesBas in, and that it was fittedout with machineguns and 'But he's SO ugly!' perhapsammunition. 'Well ...yes. But he IS a pilot!'

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DearEd In a veryshort time, she returned, with the Yankshore patrol , I amenjoy ing the Journalso verymuch and would l ike to be a part This' big head' wearing a steelhelmet told me that I hadordered of it. I am not surehow long or shortyou needyarns to be but I'll drinksand hadrefused to payfor them. My answerwas less than offersomething for youto useif you needit. politeand I wasreminded that if I spokel ike that againI wouldbe No matterwho we wereor whatour functionwas , we served in serioustrouble . The suggestionwas then madet hat I should in the FleetAir Arm becausewe lovedit. Of course,for mostof pay the lady some money. I repeatedmy original verbalisation, us, that mayhave been a longt ime ago and our effortsand toils maybewith a bit morecolour , andfound myself being ushered out arenow nothing but memories. That in itselfis a sadcircumstance of the buildingand i ntothe cagedvehicle out front. but even sadderis the realisationthat you might be the only At this point, Jim Heroldshowed up and wantedto know personalive who does remember those efforts. whereI wasgoing . Surelyhe couldnot havebeen that silly; so I In over twenty-twoyears of Navallife, I am blessedwith a told himthat theseblokes were giving me a lift to a dance.To cut millionrecollections and the facesof the peoplewho shared those the story short, Jim called JohnnyChedham and after a short experienceswith me are still fresh in my mind. Onesuch i mageI altercationw ith the 'big head'wearing the steelhelmet , we aft set savouris that of 'GentlemanJim ' Herold,he was a gentleperson off for the SEATOLanding. exceptfor a wonderfulsick sense of humour. WhenJim realisedthere was not goingto be any dance, he A quickstory, if I may, Sir. wentballistic and almost wrecked the cage. I hadvisions of going on reportat the SEATOLand ing and missingout on the nexttwo ~ portsof call, but beingthe eternaloptimist , I couldalways hope for a miracle. It was the 1960trip and a fair percentageof 805 Squadron electricaland radio section had been entrenchedin Manila's All hopes were dashedwhen Jim attackedthe American famous'Yellow Bar' for mostof the day. The crowd, as I recall, Officerof the Watch,accusing him of kidnapping,abduction and consistedof Jim Herold, Bob Green,' Ripper' Kirby, Des Morley, deprivationof liberty. In his tusslewith the cagehe had alsotom JohnnyChedham , maybe'Sluggo' Collins and myself . his shirtand he wantedrestitution for that too. Latein the afternoon, everyoneseemed to be fast runningout The Americanwas speechlessfor a long time but he finally of moneyand as we werestill feeling bullet proof, a volunteerwas managedto say something. He said, 'Get these peopleout of selectedto returnto theship to replenishthe coffers.I wonthe job here. I don't care where they go, just get them out of here.' andset off witha bunchof assortedlocker keys . Miracles DO happen. We dragged Jim away, as he was demandingtransport back to the YellowBar . As you know,there were two landingsin Manila,the Manila Landingand the SEATO Landing. I foundmy way to the Manila Thetr ip homeis anotherstory. Landingwhere I tried, in vain, to find a LCM that serviced RonSmith Melbourne. As far as I couldmake out I hadabout an hour'swait I wasnever one to drinkalone and I begana conversationwith ~ DearEd localsa ilor. A few of his matesjoined us and beforelong I was Withreference to the ABC film clip on Pg.3 of the January2001 involvedin anotherparty . editionof Slipstream. The photohas to have beentaken in the At somepoint , I reallydid run out of moneyand the trip to aircrewbr iefing room of HMASM elbourne (CV21), the crews Melbournebecame very urgent.By this time it was dark,and the beingbriefed are VS 816(Tracker) personne l. boatthat I waswaiting for hadalready been and gone . Theblokes I suspectfrom scrutiny of my logbook, that this clip wastaken whohad beendrinking w ith me at the landingturned out to be a during the work-upfor 'RIMPAC73 ', or possiblyduring that LCMcrew and it wastheir suggestion that they drive me out to my exerciseoff Hawaii in September1973. At that time I was with ship. I haveno ideahow we madeit, butwe did. VS38USN , embarkedin USS Kittyhawkand participatingin the TheOfficer of the Watchwas very understanding, and having same exercises. I recollect seeing some of the 'actors'in the obtainedcash from the variouslockers , we set off for the shores photoashore in Hawaii. of Manila.I hada drivebut I was not at the helmwhen we came Thetop photoi s JohnClark , the SeniorP ilot VS 816, briefing ashore.We actuallybeached the boat,and from memory I thinkit yet again. wasdone purposely to get me nearerto the Yellow Bar than the The lowerphoto shows Front L-R:: RichardScott (P/LSO) - ManilaLanding would have been ... nice blokes, those Phillipinos . RobPartington (P ICOVS 816)and PeterWilliams (0/Tacco). EventuallyI got backto the bar, whereI was an instanthero . RearL-R : My apologies, I think it is one of the aircrewmen, A wholetable full of thirstysailors were champing at the bit, so the andM ike Killingsworth(P) . first thing I did, beforegiving each personhis money,was to Keepup the goodwork - lookforward to receivingSlipstream order,and pay for drinksfor the wholetable . herei n HongKong . Thehostesses must have been having a prettyhard time with JeffDalgleish theseblokes who had beenbroke and soberfor a considerable [Accordingto RichardScott , the film footagewas taken by the time,and I probablydid standout sincei t appearedthat I wasthe ABC for a seriesof programmefill-ins underthe heading'The onlyone with money,and lots of it. I was approachedby a little GoodLooking Australian' . The aircrewmanmay be eitherKevin ladywho suggested that we shouldleave the premisesand find a MacKenzieor 'Irish' O'Neil or?. quieterspot, After someconversation I told her to go away, but shewas very persistent and eventually I hadto resortto rudeness Manythanks to all thosewho havetaken the time to get in to getrid of her. touch regardingthe photographs, your help is very much appreciated.Ed]

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DearEd DearEd Withreference to 'GANNETSGALORE' in yourJanuary edition, I Sundaymorning's paper [04 March2001] carried the following wouldlike to enclosethe followingaccount from my time flying articleon our mate,David Green. The articlewas solicitedby Gannets. BenPatynowski may or maynot wish to useit. the paper, whichsays it all aboutthe man. Mostnaval personnel of the timewere aware of the Gannet's To all those who sent their heartfeltgood wishes,be roleas an ASWaircraft , however, I can recallan occasionwhere assuredthat both the formalfunerals were exceptionaland theold girl wasused in an unusualrole . Davewould have said in his laconic, no bullshitway , 'You'd Mycrew (Sam Smith and BrianWilkinson) and myself were on diefor a funerallike that'. anti-submarinepatrol when the aircraftd irectoron the Melbourne Thanksto all. calledus up for anotherduty . We wereto becomea fighter, and AlanWinchcombe intercepta RAF Shackletona ircraft which was shadowingthe fleet.This was a rolewe acceptedwith pleasure . EMU1967-68 The Melbournevectored us onto an interceptheading and threepairs of eyesscanned the sky (althoughone pairwas facing DavidGreen aft) for the bandit.Then the Shackletonwas sightedat 1 o'clock low. The pulsequickened, the mouthdried , then the throttleshit 1944- 2001 the fire-walland with a 'Tally-Ho' we divedtowards the bandit.At a rangeof about200 yards I fired (simulated)all 16 rocketsat the Vietnamveteran, David Green, intruder. was decoratedtwice by the US On returnto the carrierwe were confidentthat the ground for his bravery. crewwould soon be paintinga Shackletonon the side of 846, He was awardedboth the however, at the wash-upof the exerciseit was determinedthat US Air Medaland the Oak Leaf therewas only a 50/50 chanceof gettinga kill with rockets. It was for the combat hours he flew decidedthat a flip of a coin wouldgovern the outcome.Alas, the with distinctionas a helicopter coin came down tails when it shouldhave come down heads. gunner. David signedup for the Crestfallen,I informed the groundcrew that they need not visit the RAN in 1962 and joined the paint-locker.In case anybodydoubts the veracityof the above FleetAir Arm. He was serving story,I haveincluded a copyof the signalsent at the time of the aboard HMAS Melbourne in exercise.[It's true! The signal (22 July 1967)also quotedthe 1964 when it collidedwith the writeras saying, 'If I'd had a brickwith me I'd havethrown that destroyer HMAS Voyager off too'.Ed] JervisBay, NSW. At the time of this exercise a very good cartoonistwas In 1967 he was secondedto an Americanhelicopter embarkedwith HS 817. He was an observeron exchangeduty assaultcompany in Vietnam. Duringhis two yearsin Vietnam, fromthe R.N. by the nameof RonGent. he picked up the name 'Taipan' after the call sign of his As the exerciseprogressed a Venomcrew ; I can't remember gunshipplatoon . It wasa namethat stuckwith him for the rest theirnames although they mayhave been Ian Jocelynand 'Lofty' of his life. Kimpton,were enjoying some success. The pilot got the nickname Duringthe Tet offensive, he gave helicoptercovering fire of 'GrandSlam Sam' . Withthe humourthat alwaysexisted in the duringOperation Coral , whichsome historianssay was the FAA, a cartoonsoon appeared . I haveenclosed a copy. biggestbattle Australian troops fought in SouthV ietnam. He Graham'Beatles ' Bailey wasalso involved in trooprecovery from the junglebattlefield. Hewas shot down three times during the conflict.On the third occasionhe was badlywounded and flown home to Australia, wherehe wasdischarged . LastYear he wentto Charlottein the USfor a reunionwith the 135thHelicopte r Company. In civilianlife he drovetrucks beforestart ing a Sydneyelectronics company manufacturing radar detetctors.He movedto Perth in 1985 and was an . :;;.,, 2 owner-driverof taxisfor ten years. = ~/ ' In 1991 he becamean active memberof Legacy,the organisationthat looksafter dependantsof deceasedservice 2~:-•0 ~ 'b~ca, personnel. Davidwas a long-servingmember of the WA Chapterof the VietnamVeterans' Motorcycle Club . On a club run back fromNSW in February,he hit a kangaroonear Broken Hill. He diedin AdelaideHospital a weeklater on 24 February. He is survivedby his fatherJack, fiancee Dianne Bourke, Signin a KingsCross card shop: andfour children, Jenny , Darren, Annetteand Chad. 'A specialfor sailors,Valentine Cards with the message -$- "I .£oveOnl,!j %, ./ are nowavailable in multi-packsof six'.

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AN EMU'sREUNION ~IJN l/011f.lEL?? ~ RANHFVand Yanks Get Together 1 Ben Patynowski,who is writingthe book abou~ VietnamEMUs (Experimental Military Unit) will be gatheringin the Gannetaircraft, would like to contactthe nextof kin ~ Nowraarea for ANZACDay commemorationsnext year (2002). of two aviatorswho died whilst servingin the Royal Formermembers of the RoyalAustralian Navy 's HelicopterFlight - AustralianNavy. Vietnamand their US Army counterpartsof the 135thAssault Theyare: PeterArnold and DavidPadgett. If you can help, HelicopterCompany, jointly knownas EMUs,will be holdinga pleasecontact Ben at: 16 CowperSt, FairyMeadow, NSW 2519 reunioncentered on the BomaderryRSL Club . Ph:(02)4284 1801 - or [email protected] The AustralianEMUs consisted of four contingentsof some 50 RANAir and Groundcrew who were integratedwith the 135th ~ AssaultHelicopter Company during the headyVietnam conflict PeterDunget writes: I am buildinga 1: 72 scaleradio controlled years1967 to 1971. The Australiansheld seniorpositions in the modelof HMASMelbourne which comes in at threemetres long USArmy's troop lift andgunship helicopters unit providingtactical at the deck. All the drawingshave been suppliedby Navtic- airlift of troops, supplies, medical, and search and rescue CampbellPark ACT, and are markedin the corner, Garden operations.Flying their UH-H and UH-Cmodel 'Hueys' throughout Island. theiroperational area in SouthVietnam they soonlived up to their It willhave working arrestor cables, aircraft lifts, stem and bow motto'Get the BloodyJob Done'. mooringlines, radar dishes , catapult (thatcan fire Chloeoff the Reunionplans are well underway. A sizablecontingent is deck),deck lighting, hangarlighting , landingmirror system , tie­ expectedfrom the USand there are alreadya numberof veterans downpoints, some scuppers, and bilge pump. and their partnerssigned up to comefrom aroundAustralia and WhatI am tryingto do, is talk to Navymembers who served overseas.The programmeof eventscommences with a cocktail on her, by fax 08 8186 3558 (not a phoneline) or Emailat party on Wednesday24 th, ANZAC Day commemorations,a [email protected],especially about Grumman Trackers and dinner/danceon the Saturdayand a numberof other events McDonnellDouglas Skyhawks. throughoutthe week.The highlight,other than catchingup with I am to commencethe buildingof mock portions, with the old - and not so old - mates,will be the commemorationof a hangaron it, so as to see whereI can fit the workinggear and Memorialdedicated to the Australianand UnitedStates members batteries, as therewill be a lot of the latter.The actual keel will be whogave the supremesacrifice . laidmid July this year. A committeeof old EMUsis tacklingthe task of facilitatingthe ~ eventsand supporting requirements . A numberof keyfactors are GeoffMcKeown is lookingfor ex- AE Robert'Bob' Kerr who is alreadyin place and now the hunt is on for as manycontact marriedto Dagmar.He would like to makecontact with him. addressesof vets as possible.If any are interestedin attending, Anyoneknowing Bob's whereaboutscan contact Geoff at or knowsthe addressof andold EMUwho they think might like to [email protected] attend,please contact: DavidHardy - Secretaryof the EMUReunion, ~ BomaderryRSL, Bunberra Street, Bomaderry NSW 254 1 I am writingto ask if anyoneknows the whereaboutsof Thomas Clo AloysiusHoulihan (I think the spellingis correct).Tom was the Tel (02)44228420 or [email protected] best man at my weddingin Melbournein 1955. He may be or: FrankEyck on (02)4423 1862 rememberedby some when he was a memberof the Blue JacketsBand at Albatross. TheGolfing Commodore Afterwe 'paid-offin 1958,Tom joined the Armyand wentto Onenight the Commodore'swife didn't return home. Vietnam;I havesince lost track of him.A few peoplehave told me Thefollowing morning , he receiveda ransomcall sayingthat that he movedto WA, but I'm not sure if that informationis if he ever wantedto see his wife alive again, he was to bring correct.I thinkthat he originallycame from up Gympieway. $50,000to the 17thhole of the CountryClub at If anyoneknows of his whereabouts,would you pleaselet me ten o'clockthe nextday . know.Peter Doniger -42 MonteithStreet, Turramurra NSW 2074 Hedidn 't arriveuntil twelve-thirty. E-mail:vk2sj@telstra .easymail.com.au ~~~~'r!P A maskedman steppedout from behindsome ~ bushesand growled,'What took you so long? My name is Christopher'Bomber' Brown, I was a 'kellick You'reover two hourslate.' greenie'(LEMAW) on 723 Squadronduring 1970/'71. I wouldlike 'Hey,give me a break,'snorted the Commodore. to catchup withtwo shipmates, namely, Roger P Priest(who was 'I've onlygot a twenty-sevenhandicap!' a SARdiver at the time) and Neil 'Snages'Nagle - both were NAMAEs. !?00@~~@@ 'jj'@\?@t!JJ C> t!JJ©~ ©'il'\?!l,~ Any informationwould be appreciatedby telephoneon: DuringWorld War II, the US Navycommissioned the world'sfirst floating (02)9774 1640 - or by mailto: PO Box217, PADSTOW, 2211. ice creamparlour for servicein the Pacifictheatre . This concretebarge, ~ capableof producingten gallonsof ice creamevery seven seconds, kept shipswell supplied.

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Sv Jeff Oalqlelsb

Nevervolunteer they say - well having respondedto John The number of people - now 6.8 Arnold'srequest in the January 2001 Slipstreamto name the million-a huge increaseto back in the Aircrew, Squadronand circumstanceson Page3 - I think I got it 60's and with that the infrastructure. nearlycorrect -John being an astutechap notedthat I was from There are now three cross harbourroad HongKong and immediatelyemailed back requestinga SHORT and rail tunnelsnegating the needfor the articleabout Honkers today to remindus of our misspentyouth WallaWalla as a meansof gettingback to and beingan ex SquadronDiary Officerand later Staff Officer, the shipfrom the joys of TsimSha Tsui or I thoughtthat I wouldhumour him.[© Ed] Wan Chai in the wee small hoursand allowingthe nightowls to So am I qualifiedto write about HongKong then and now - catcha taxi trainor bus. well goingbackwards -Julie and I have now livedin HongKong WanChai is still herebut whilethere are still barsand Clubsit for nearly9 years, me with CathayPacific Airway and Julietrying is not longerthe bustling nightspot that I rememberso well from to keepme out of trouble. Duringmy RANcareer, 1963 to 1984 the late 60's & ?O's. The cost of living may well be relativeto I visitedthis greatc ity five timeswith the RAN/USNand on R & R salariesetc but if in 1967 I would have been askedto pay the from Vietnamwhilst with the RAN Helicopter Flight and visited equivalentof $A10 for a pint I thinkthat I wouldhave headed back anotherfour times betweenleaving the RANand joiningCathay to the Wardroom. Pacific. The latter were for the Hong Kong Rugby?'s and in Of coursein 1997 there was a big changepolitically when transitto otherplaces . HongKong , Kowloonand the NewTerritories were handedback So whatare the differencesbetween that first visitat 19 years to Chinaand the Territorywas no longerBritish with an appointed of age in 1967and now. Probablythe mostnoticeable difference BritishGovernor. HongKong became the SpecialAdministrative is the skylineas seenfrom VictoriaHarbour with the proliferation Regionof the Republicof Chinawith a Beijingapproved Chief of highrise as you looktowards the Peakabove and beyondthe Executive. The PLA (Land/Sea/Air) have replacedthe Black CentralBusiness District. Watch, RoyalNavy, Auxiliary Airforce & Ghurkas. Notthat we see In conjunctionwith the skylinethe shoreline has movedever muchof the Guardiansof the Peaceor in fact noticeany major outwardsw ith reclamationstak ing place - to the point that the changein lifestylewith t he changeof government. Trams that run East/Westfrom KennedyTown to Shaukiwan HongKong is a major Financialand BusinessCentre with a whilestill clunkingalong the originaltracks these tracks are now large port and containerfac ility and of coursea new airportat wellinland from the edgeof VictoriaHarbour. ChekLap Kok, on the northwest side of LantauIsland -just 23 minutesby fast trainfrom Central.Hong Kong International Airport is a majorAsian hub for bothpassengers and freight and remains a majorentry point to mainlandChina. You mayget the impressionthat you wouldnot recognisethe Honkersfrom your youth if you visited in 2001 -well that is just not true -thereare still manyaspects you wouldremember. The view from the Peak both day and night is still spectacular, as is the tram rideto the Peak,that is assumingyou madeit up the hill fromWan Chai on earliervisits . The Star Ferriesstill ply the harbourfrom Centraland Wan Chaito TsimSha Tsui every 7 minutes-still the bestway to cross for the princelysum of $HK2.20(about 50 cents Australian)for first class. On the southside of HongKong Island the RepulseBay Hotel Thisphotograph is takenon the deck of Melbourne. The shipwas moored or at leastthe fa~adeis still thereas are StanleyMarkets and jail , off Tamarw ith Hong Kong Islandi n the backgroundand depicts817 or if you were like me and reallydid not ventureout of Central, Squadronaircrew . (Notethe skyline) For interest, and to the best of my Tsim Sha Tsui and Wan Chai when carryingout officialNaval memory, thesquadron members are : Duties,Visits and Liaisonyou maywell not recogniseany of these Backrow L to R: · aforementionedlandmarks. Wayne(Lofty) Kimpton , StaffLowe, Guy Cooper, TonyCasadio , Jim Firth, The RoyalHong Kong Yacht Club is still on Kelle!Island -yes Jeff Dalgliesh(selD , Tony Hill, Ivan Misfield,Bruce Crawford, John Leak, GordonEdgecombe , MickBayliss , JohnWilke , JohnNicol, Roy Coulter it is still Royal,they votedto remainbeing a RoyalYacht Club at Middlerow L to R: handovertime - but nowyou can get a taxi to the clubinstead of a Jim Buchanan, Pat Vickers, Zork Rorsheim(SP) , Alan Evans (CO), bumboat -more of the reclamationthat I mentionedearlier . The RonGent (SOBS) , CarlDaley , BobRay , HongKong Jockey Club (like the policeforce droppedthe Royal Frontrow L to R: in 1997)is still a big drawcard with worldclass facilities at Happy ? Beningfield,Joe Kroeger, SquizzyTaylor , Jeff McIntyre, DarkyPhillips , Valleyand Shatin. MaxMcClure , LoftyYellema , ? Brooke, TerryBurke. (Continued on page 16)

15 Slipstream

StoneCutters Island and Tamarremain but are populatedby HMASWollongong's the PLAinstead of the RNand the Basin at Tamar hasbeen filled in andis a car parkawa itingre-development. 'BoxingKangaroo' 1 The Barsand TattooParlours in Wan Chaiwhere you were HMASWollongong, one of our most distinguished entertainedand possiblyhad your anatomytatto oed with 'MUM' corvettes,featured prominently in a full-pagearticle etcare still there , youjust haveto looka littleharder to find them. about the boxing kangarooin the Sun Herald..--.--CC-',, __ duringthe OlympicGames . The articleclaimed that the boxingkangaroo had usurpedall other mascotsas a symbolof Australiansupporters during the Games.Everywhere there were just as many boxingkangaroo flagsas Australianflags, which must mean something . The articlehighlighted the part playedby the crewof HMAS Wollongongin promotingthe boxingkangaroo . In 1944, whilstin Alexandriaharbour , the Wollongongcrew painted a boxing kangarooon the crow's nest. Cook NormanPhillips, wrote homethat Able SeamanCarl Locke and Roger McKay, had climbed the mast to paint a kangaroowith boxinggloves on its paws and tail. This was to replacethe skulland crossbones(which had beenpainted there soonafter the shipwas commissioned) after the verynew 'pusser skipper'ha d objectedto it beingthere . NormanPhillips now lives in Perthand still has the letterhe HONGKONG A COUPLEOF YEARSAGO wrotehome, dated August 1944 . Takenlooking in the samedirec tionas the previousphotograph when the fillingof the TamarBasin had commenced . Wollongong,the lastwarship to leaveSingapore before it fell, had been in the Atlanticand Mediterranean,tak ing part in the So to finish off this shortarticle , whoof the old FAAteam are invasionof Sicily. The sailorswanted to showthat theirship was in HongKong, or recentlyretired. Our mostsenior member is Jim Australian,because RAN ships always wore the WhiteEnsign and Campbell, who with Lyall O'Donoghueand myself are all flewthe Australianflag onlywhen in harbour,and then only on the SimulatorInstructors with Cathay Pacific Airways, and co­ forwardjack . incidentally, all have amongother types and airlinesa common The Sun Herald article said that at the Games, many FAAbackground of Dakotas, Trackersand HS748's.At present Australianswaving the boxingkangaroo flag, saidthat they did so Jim is on the 8747 200/300 and Lyalland myselfthe 8747400. becausethey felt that the flag was more distinctivelyAustral ian On the flyings ide with Cathayare MikeKillingsworth, (Trackers than the Nationalflag, which,with the UnionJack in the corner, and HS748, now Airbus) Mark Wilson,Greg Rulfs and Dave couldbe confusedwith flags of othercountries . Marshall(Trackers now 8777) Barry Evans (A4's now 8777) Several Australianathletes complained that when they draped MarcusCarr {Trackers, now Airbus) Nev French and DaveCoote themselvesin the Australianflag, they were concernedthat all (A4's now 8747 400) Dale O'Meara(HS748, RN Harriersnow that could be seen was the Union Jack, so viewersthought 8747 400) Ray France(A4's , HS748'snow 8747 400) Paul Britain, notAustralia, had won the medals. Kalade(A4's, RN Harriers, now Airbus) Wayne Troedson (Tracker The boxing kangarooha s quitea long history. Thefirst image Observer)and Steve Davidson (Wessex and SeaKing Pilot), now of a boxingkangaroo was a film of a circusact in 1895.Real Air TrafficControllers with Hong KongCAD . Adam' Dutchy' De kangarooswere pitched in mockbattles w ith peoplein sideshows Ruiter {Tracker and HS748's) now Honeywell/AlliedSigna l in the lastcentury . TechnicalRepresentative for HongKong. Some that haverecently The boxingkangaroo was first elevatedto the statusof a retired are Peter McNair (Gannets,A4's, 8747 400) Frank nationalicon in 1941,when RAAF pilots based at the Sembewang O'Grady(Ganne ts + ?, 8747 200/300Simulator Instructor) and station,Singapore, painted them on the sidesof theirWirraways . GrahamBailey (Gannets,Trackers, Dakotas,8747 200/300 SimulatorInstructor) . Warrant Officer Gus Bluett designed the image and AircraftsmanDavid Marfleet stencilled them on the planesto show So that'sabout all of my short tale of 'Honkers'and no gory that they were Australian.The next recordeduse was when detailsof the VS816Squadron party , or wasit HS817, or possibly Wollongong's crewpainted it on the crow's nest. the VF805lot - yes HongKong i s a greatplace to call homebut it is alwaysgreat t o get backto Oz. So if you are up this waydon't Then.. .Alan Bond latched onto it whenhe challengedthe USA forgetto giveus a shout- thefirst roundis on you! for theAmerica 's Cup- andwon! He copyrightedit and the AustralianO lympic Committee PRESSRELEASE boughtthe rightsfrom Bond's liquidatorsfor $80,000-the best NewZealand's worst air disasteroccurred today when a two­ moneythey ever spent as it was the Australianteam's official seaterplane crashed into a cemeteryearly this afternoonnear mascotand the flags sold like ' hotcakes '. Auckland.Search and rescue workers have recovered358 And what did the RAAFand the Wollongong's blokesget? bodies so far and expect the number to climb as digging Nota singlecent! continuesinto the night. CourtesyRAN Corvettes ' Association

16 Slipstream 1\ SI.. IPS'l1IlE1ltl l~IllS'I'! Thqt Once, So Pt-ouqly, A 'l'OI•SE(;llE'I' t•UO'l'O Oil 'l'UE NEl\r Someone Flew S'l'EAt'l'UAIIU;llAll'I' By Doug Atkins Twisted metql on scrqp heqps piled, Shqttered Perspex, broken diqls. Remqinsof qircrqft dripping dew, Thqt once, so proudly, someone Aew.

0 A bombers grey, gqunt, silhouette At dqwn or dusk qppeqrsintqct. A gqllqnt ghost with phqntom crew Thqt once, so proudly, someone Aew.

An qncient biplqne, tqttered wreck, So soon forgotten like the rest. Bqttered old Wqrriorno longer new Thqt once, so proudly, someone Aew.

Nqmes of tqrgets, squqdron crests, Once so heqSUredbut now forgot, With the qircrqft mid the dew, Thqt once, so proudly, someone Aew.

Blamethe FleetAir Arm... Tttt~tNOOS PASSttv6t~- ~ • • In some areasof the South Pacificand New Hebridesduring This manis reallynervous about flying, but has11 WW2, Americanforces liberating them from the Japanesewere businessacross the countryand hasto fly. • lb lookedupon as Gods, especiallythe aircraftbringing cargo and To curbhis fear he decidedto get thereearly ~ usingtheir weapons on the invaders.Quite often mothers would so he can talk to the pilot.As he walkson board,he seesthe nametheir sons after such aircraftand thereare lots of native flightattendant , andasks her if he can speakwith the pilot. warriorswith names such as Typhoon, Mustang,and even 'I'm sorry, she's noton boardyet ,' shereplies. DouglasDakota. However, after the war when flights to these He can't believeit. His first flight and the pilot'sa woman! remoteairfields became less frequent,people resorted to using Heasks again, 'Can I speakwith the co-pilot?' theirtraditional native names . 'I'm sorry, she's noton boardyet either,'she replies . Oneday when HMS Victorious was on passageto Yokohama from Perth, flying exerciseswere carried out involving803 He's reallysweating now, even the co-pilotis a woman,so he Squadronand 849 'b' flight. Unfortunately, one of 849s aircraft asksif he canspeak with the navigator. suffereda seriousmalfunct ion and the pilot was facedwith the 'I'm sorry, she'snot on boardeither,' she replies. prospectof diverting,being unable to makea decklanding. The As sweat is running down his face he graspsfor some onlyairfield available was the old wartimerunway on the islandof reassuranceand asks a finaltime, 'Can I at leastsee the cockpit?' Truk,where the USNavy kept a radarsite. To this remark, the friendlyflight attendantresponds, 'I'm The pilot managedto make a safe landingat the exact sorry, sir, we aren'tcalling it that anymore!' momentwhen Mrs SarahTufia 'appelwent into labourShe gave birthto a strappingbaby boy and on lookingout of the windowof extract from a Groundcrewman's memoirs ... the clinic, she saw this strange looking aeroplane. On In my early militarydays I once flew in a two-seatTF51 with a rememberingtales told to her by her father,she saw this as a pilotwho 'thought'he was prettyhot. He likedto take-off,raise a good luck omenand askedwhat was this strangelooking b ird few inchesoff the runway,pull up the gear and hold his altitude becauseshe would like to nameher newborn son in its honour. whilethe undercarriageretracted . To thisday, there is a Customs'Officer on Trukwith the name On this particularflight, the aircraftsettled slightly and it was of FaireyGannet Tufia'appel! obviousthat the proptips struckthe ground. Whowould have thought it? It was also obviousthat he was continuingon his mission. In the Chinesewritten language, the ideographthat standsfor I askedhim if it wouldbe an ideato landand check the damage. 'trouble',represents two women under one roof. He replied,'Hell no! It's theirrunway, let themworry about it.'

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~ MOMENTSIN TIME 'J>a

CRASHEDGUNSHIP- VIETNAM13 JUNE1968 LT (P) JohnLeak RAN, LT (P) Andy Craig,Leading Air Mechanic David Green and Americangunner (Specialist4) Jerry Abels, survivedwhen their gunship, operating in supportof 4 RARcrashed into the jungle. They were particularlylucky becausethe helo's enginecould not be shut down and the area was coveredin fuel fromthe rupturedfuel tanks - it wasalso carrying ammunition. Photocourtesy AMoF

THEUNVEILING OF THE BRONZE BATSMAN -AMoF 1994 Thelate Dennis Adams and Admiral Robertson

WHOARE THE ARMOURERS? BANYANIN BROOME- 1975 Thenames on the aircraftare LT Becker(P) LTWhitton (0) Namesand story please . Photocourtesy AMoF TEL.PO Kelly and LAPMCooper. Photo courtesy AMoF

18 Slipstream 4:¥ .

. ' , I . . ., ,/

L-R:'Darky' Howlett-MickHousten -Ralph Mayer-Hughie Richards - DAKOTACREW RANAS? 1948 JohnBarnes - 'Doggy'Thompson - BillBowles L-R-CPODavey-PO Jarrett - Reg'Tiny' Davis Photocourtesy AMoF POKeeley Photocourtesy AMoF Photocourtesy AMoF

20 JAN77 WHAT'STHE STORY?

HMASMELBOURNE 1970 PEARL HARBOUR L-R:SBL T (P) Hutchinson- UAircrewmanPhillips -LT (0) Johnson-LT (P)Farthing - L-R:(? 'Greenie' PO)- CPO McCreanor- SLT (0) Coulson- LT (0) Davies-Graham-PO Aircrewman McCreanor - SGTMAJ Robert F HuffUSMC- ('Greenie'PO 817) - SLT Kavanagh-PO Aircrewmen Peteas and Ryan CPORP Donovan - CPOLindsay Kneeling: LT (P) MorrittSenior Pilot and LTCDR Dadswell Commanding Officer Photocourtesy Fred McCreanor Photocourtesy Fred McCreanor

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sprawledon the metal floor. CatherineHuisman, her clothes bloodstainedfrom cuts on herface, wept helplessly . DorothyJean Gillilandfought back the painfrom a badlybruised arm, and tried to calm her companions.But their situation seemed less By RichardBlair precariousthan i n the nearbycar, whichwas held aloft only by the tow cable,that carriedManmohan Kaur and the survivingmem­ As the afternoondrew towardsa close on the resortisland of bersof herfamily. Sentosa,hundreds of visitors began makingtheir way to the Two youngNew Zealand soldiers, Allan Brownand Stephen cable-carstation for the 1.75 kilometretrip backto Singapore.It Wells, werein a car suspendedover land some150 metres from wasSaturday, January 29, 1983,and greyclouds were rolling in. the Singaporeterminal. In a fourth car were four young Everyonehoped to beatthe rain. Singaporeanresidents, Leong Siew Keng, Halijahbinti Manaf, At 5.50 p.m., sevenmembers of an Indianfamily boarded a Low HockSeng and Hamedbin Jorn;their gondolahad just left bright-redgondola, and were liftedup overthe SouthChina Sea. the Sentosastation, and hung suspendedover the island's From56 metresabove the jade-colouredwaters of Singapore verdantwoodland . harbour,the viewfrom the bubble-shapedcar was breathtaking. They attempteda few Malaysongs to keep up their spirits. Inside,Manmohan Kaur, 25, her mother-in-law,Pritam Kaur, But they couldn't rememberthe words, and their singingfinally 60, a sister-in-law,Harbhajan Kaur, 43, and a brother-in-law, dissolvedinto sobbing. MahinderSingh, 44, looked across the harbourand chatted. In ManmohanKaur 's car, the two womencried, prayed, and Manmohan held Harbhajan's eight-year-old son, Jagjit. pleadedfor help until their throatswere hoarse. Harbhajanwas Manmohan'sown sons, Tasvinder , 22 monthsold , and Balvinder, sufferingfrom broken bones in her handand a severelywrenched fouryears old , watchedthe tugboats below. back.Only four year-oldBalvinder remained calm. Consoling his Suddenly,their car beganswinging wildly . Manmohanfroze motherand cousin, he remindedthem of templeteachings about as she, saw a blue car up aheadoscillate violently, and plunge the love of God and the need to have faith in that love. 'Don't intothe churningwaters below . Fartherahead, a red car lurched worry,'the boysaid at one point.'God will helpus, you'll see.' off the maincable and tumbledinto the bay, spillingpassengers It was soon after midnight.The rain had slackened,but the throughan opendoor. windhad picked up to 12 knots.Officials in the towerwere worried Manmohan'scar somersaultedcompletely round the main that the downdraught of the rescuehelicopters, combined with cable.The door popped open . In a lightningmove , Mahinder,who thewind, might blow the carsinto the sea. washolding Tasvinder, threw the boy awayfrom the door.But he The drillingrig was still caught in the cable; mooringlines lost his own balanceand pitchedheadfirst through the opening. weremade fast betweenthe mothership andthe wharf,and tugs Springingup, Pritamgrabbed her grandson.She slippedand were helpingto keepthe rig from driftingdown the harbourand plungedout the doorwith Tasvinder. Manmohan fainted from fear carryingthe entirecable system with it. The soundof screeching andshock. metalborne on the wind emphasisedthe precarioussituation of In a few momentsof horror,seven people had beenthrown to the 13trapped people. their deaths. (Miraculously,Tasvinder would survive.) The 'RescueOne Zero ,' pilotedby SingaporeAir ForceLieutenant remaining13 cablecars had stoppedmoving. Inside four of them, Kao Yit Chee,made a trial run on an emptycar - then moved 13 peoplewere danglinghelplessly above the darkeningsea, down the line to the first stranded car holding the New paralysedwith fear. Zealanders.Swinging in widependulum-like swoops on theend of On the fourteenth-floorobservation deck of the harbourside a winch cable 15 metres below the helicopter,was Kao's building,Colonel Lee HsienLoong, Chief of Staff of Singapore's winchman, LanceCorporal Phua Kim Hai. Phuawas takinga Air ForceRescue Squadron , who was in chargeof the rescue fearsomerisk. If he becameentangled in the tramwaycables, operation,viewed the accidentscene and listenedto a briefingon LieutenantKao would have to order the severingof the winch the disasterfrom officialsof the Port of SingaporeAuthority cables, sendingPhua to almostcertain death in thedark waters of (PSAJ.An oil-drillingship being towed out to sea had brokenloose the harbour.The alternativewould be to risk losingthe helicopter from its tugboats, and its drillingrig, 68 metrestall, had hit the andits four-mancrew. main cablecarline . One car had been wrenchedfree from its It tookmore than 15 minutesof manoeuvringto edgePhua to 42-millimetresupport cable, and was now hanging only by the tow the side of the New Zealanders'car. He openedthe door and cable,29 millimetresin diameter;there was no tellinghow longit hoistedhimself inside. Allan Brown emerged first, strappedinto a wouldhold. rescueharness. Pulled into the chopper30 secondslater, Brown Windsand rainwere blowing up to eightknots. 'Anything we huggedthe floorand muttered with relief, 'Thank you, Singapore!' try will be risky,'one of Lee'saides warned. BothNew Zealanders were transferred to hospital.Kao's crew Lee called in a ship-bornecrane, hoping to lower the movedto the car nearestto Sentosa, and liftedthe four terrified cable-carpassengers to safetyin a basket.But whenit arrived,it Singaporeansto safety. provedto be too short,So Lee summonedtwo helicopterrescue The two 'easy' rescues had been accomplished.The teams. challengenow was to savethe sevenpeople in the two remaining Lightningcrackled, and a coldwind howled through the empty cars,one of whichwas held aloft only by the towline. windowframe of the car holdingan American,Dorothy Jean The pilotingpart of this job fell to LieutenantGeoff Ledger , of Gilliland,and a Canadiancouple, John Huisman, 43, and his wife the Royal AustralianNavy , who was in Singaporehelping its Catherine,36 . In pain from a broken collar bone, Huisman

20 Slipstream armedforces to train helicopterpilots . Ledgerlift ed 'RescueOne down draught.Manmohan was certainthe end was near.She One'into the darknessand manoeuvredtowards the car in which bowed her head in prayer. When she lifted it again, Lance the Canadiancouple arid the Americanlay injured.Sight ing on the CorporalSelvanathan was swingingin the doorway. 'I've cometo cableand its concretesupport tower, Ledger started turning the takeyou home,'he said. LittleBalvinder seemed most composed , helicopterso that his winchman, LanceCorporal Selvanathan, andthe winchman put the harnessaround him first. couldapproach the car from the side. Suddenly,as the aircraft 'Don't dropme,' Balvinder said. ' You be carefulnow.' yawedin the wind, Ledgerlost sightof his hoverreference. He Don't worry,' Selvanathantold the boy. 'We're goingfor a backedoff , realisingthat he wouldhave t o dependon directions helicopterride . from his winchoperator, Staff SergeantHo Tsu Keng,the only When he returnedfor Jagjit however,without his cousinto crewmemberwho could see both the winchmanand the car. givehim cou rage,cowered in a corner. Selvanathanspoke gently, Ledger cut off radio contact with the ground in order to 'Yourcousin is waitingfor you,Come on, it will be alright.'Slowly, concentrateon intercominstructions from Ho . Selvanathanslipped the rescueharness over the boy'shead and 'Geoff, yougotta move left ... more... steady!' arms as both he and Manmohanpetted him . Then Selvanthan In spiteof his 11 years'experience as a pilot,Ledger found i t took the boy in his arms and, with Jagjit sobbingaway on his impossibleto keephis machinefrom lurching in the windgusts. A shoulder, he steppedback through the openingand ascendedto violentbillow of windslammed against the aircraft.'Pull back!' the the chopper. winchoperator shouted . A flashcaught the cornerof Ledger'seye Manmohanwas lifted out next. But when Selvanathan as sparksshot up from below. Selvanathan'swinch wire had re-enteredthe car and attemptedto strap Harbhajaninto the touchedthe support cable. 'We overshot, ' shoutedHo. rescue harness, each movementbrought screams of pain. Ledgerchecked his watch. He'd been manoeuvringfor only Desperately,Selvanathan struggled with the harness,knowing 15 minutes,but it seemedlike hours. Hishands and wrists ached . that Ledgercould not holdhis hoverfor morethan a few minutes. Hepointed the helicopter'snose towards the strandedcar. Finally,the harnessin place,the exhaustedwinchman struggled 'A bit moreright. That's it now, steady... he'sgot hold now. to hisfeet andeased the woman'slimp body through the door. He'sin! ' After falling56 metresinto Singaporeharbour , 22-month-old The Huismansand DorothyJean Gillilandwere transferred Tasvinder Singh had beenplucked from the tidal currentsby an safelyto land. NowLedger f aced his toughesttask . Observersin alert bystander,Abdul Latip , whojumped aboard a movingferry the PSAtower and on the drillingrig had reportedthat the four and divedinto the waterfor the rescue.Tasvinder was rushed to occupantsof the lastcar seemed, understandably,to be in a state hospitalsuffering from shock , a fracturedskull and bleeding lungs. of panic.If they movedsuddenly, rushing at the winchman,for At first, his bloodpressure and pulse wereso weakthat doctors example,the thin cable supportingthe car couldbe dislodged. had difficultyrecording them. But , after 10 days, recoveredfrom Ledgerjerked his headback and forth,fight ing the stiffnessin his his injuries,he wasreunited with his family. neckmuscles. This time he wouldhave only the fine tow wire as All the crewmembers received letters of commendationfrom referenceto helphim hold his choppersteady. WinstonChoo , Singapore's Chiefof GeneralStaff, congratulating HarbhajanKaur lay semi-consciouson the floor. Manmohan them for courageouslybearing the perils, injury or death,on a sat on a bench,Balvinder tied to her with a scarf.I will go mad nightwhen 13 lives were hanging by a thread. withthis terror, she thought. GeoffLedger became the first foreignnational to receivesuch Whenthe helicopterapproached, the car shudderedin the an awardsince the formation of the Republicof Singapore.

A MUSICALINTERLUDE FORE a11d Af'l' A British officerspotted a buskerat the bottomof An airliner took off from Sydneyairport. the escalator of the LondonUnderground. The After it reached a comfortablecruising ,,. buskerhad a signthat read; altitude, the captain made an (W"~MJ!1~g 'V616R.AN OT-7H6 T-AlKlANDS WAR.' announcementover the intercom. Theofficer thought , 'Poorchap, I wasthere and it 'Ladies and gentlemen,this is your captain speaking. wasawful!' Welcometo FlightBO 3, non-stopfrom Sydneyto Honolulu.The Feelingsorry for a fellow veteran, the officer took twenty weatherahead is good and we should have a smoothand poundsout of hiswallet and gave it to the busker. uneventfulflight. Now sit back,relax and ...... OH! .... NO!. .. .Bloody hell!.. .' Theofficer was then greeted with a hearty,'Gracias, Senor!' Silencefollowed ... 0 vu:e-- upon, ev "LIA'YU'lthenv w~ ~ Then after a few seconds,the captaincame back on the intercomand said: 'Ladiesand gentlemen,I am so sorry if I Nude- p~ IA'\! your cUaYy - cui u frightenedyou earlier, but while I was talkingto you, one of the weu\t'ed,, w~ for y01A1-to- enter the, do.:t~ flightattendants brought me a cup of hot coffeeand accidentally spilledit in my lap.' of the, ~ ~ cuui th0Yv u Hechuckled and said ; 'Youshould see the frontof mypants!' wou1drtJt" be, Nude- ~mor~ A passengerin economyyelled loudly, 'That's nothing, mate . .14Jl{AI£ 200.l Youshould see the backof mine!'

21 Slipstream ~ ------

805 Squadron Re-forms at Albatross

A new chapterin 805 Squadron'shistory commencedon 28 February2001 with its ·~- _! . • '. --. officialreformation for the fourthtime as an "- . · '·· • · · activeRoyal Australian Navy unit. , · _· · _· · In a low key ceremonyat the NavalAir Stationat Nowrahosted by RearAdmiral Geoff Smith, AM RAN, MaritimeCommander Australia, 805 Squadronwas commissionedas part of the transitionprocess in supportof theANZAC Ship Helicopter Project. Underthis projectthe Squadronwill ultimatelybe equipped with elevenKaman SH-2G(A) Super Seasprite helicopters. As theseaircraft are still underdevelopment by the manufacturer,the Squadronstructure remains quite embryonic and will be primarily AN 805 SQUADRONSEA VENOM ABOARD 'MELBOURNE' occupiedwith layinga solid foundationfor operatingthe aircraft Notethe 'Checkmate'drop tanks afterthey are accepted . 805Squadron reformed for the thirdtime on 10 January1968, A highprofile 'rededication' ceremony is plannedin abouttwo this time equippedwith the McDonnellDouglas A-4G Skyhawk yearstime whenit is expectedthat the Squadronwill be at full lightweightstrike fighter. 805 Squadronoperated the Skyhawk strength,both in aircraft and personnel,and ready to go from boththe NavalAir Stationat Nowraand the carrierHMAS 'operational'.Ex-members of 805 Squadronare encouragedto Melbournefor fourteenyears before being disbandedagain in makecontact with the Squadronto ensurean invitationto the 1982with the retirementof the Navy'ssole a ircraftcarrier. event. 805 Squadronoriginally formed as a RoyalNavy unit during WorldWar II. Thesquadron's crest of two palmtrees and motto of 'OverSea and Sand' reflects this earlyoperating period with the Royal Navy in the Libyan Desert. With the formationof an independentAustralian Fleet Air Armafter the war,805 Squadron wastransferred to the RoyalAustralian Navy on 28 August1948. Forthe nextten years805 Squadronflew HawkerSea Fury FB Mk 11 fightersfrom the carrierHMAS Sydney and the Naval Air Stationat Nowra. Duringthis periodthe squadronsaw active dutyin the KoreanWar with HMASSydney in late 1951and early 1952.

805 SQUADRONA-4G BEING LAUNCHED FROM HMSHERMES -1968 TheSkyhawks had been making carrier landings and take-offs fromHermes whilst the shipwas off JervisBay . Thiswas a work­ up priorto embarkationfor the first timeon HMASMelbourne

The Squadron'snew facilities are locatedon the old 'H' Hangarsite at the NavalAir Station. This $25mfacility, which includesa mirrorimage element occupied by 816 Squadronand their Sikorsky S-708-2 Anti-Submarine Warfare helicopters, 805and 808 SQUADRONAIRCRAFT ON THE LINE 1951 consistsof a modernadministration , operationsand maintenance headquartersbuilding and an adjoininghangar complex. The On26 March1958 805 Squadron was disbanded and the Sea hangarcomplex is split betweenone largeopen plan hangar and Fury retired. Five days later, on 31 March,the squadronwas six smallersingle aircraft ' hangarettes'. 805 Squadron's hangar reformedwith a new complimentof de HavillandSea Venom complexhas been designated 'K' Hangar. FAW53's,the first of a new generationof jet poweredfighters . The Squadron's SH-2G(A)aircraft are due to enter service 805 Squadronoperated the Sea Venomfor five yearsfrom the overthe nexttwo yearswith six of the elevenaircraft to undergo NavalAir Stationat Nowra and the new fleet carrier, HMAS final assemblyin the squadron's hangars. Thesenew maritime Melbourne,before being disbanded on 30 June1963 . surveillanceand attackhelicopters are beingspecially configured

22 Slipstream for Australiawith state-of-the-art avionics systems to enablethem CommandingOfficer of to operatein the harshestenvironments from the decksof the 805Squadron Navy's ANZACclass frigates in all weather,day or night. Once operational, the aircraftw ill form the primaryoffensive weapon CommanderAnthony Dalton RAN systemfor the ANZACfrigates. The aircraft will weighin at about 6450kg (14200pounds) and will be equippedwith an advanced Vice AdmiralShackleton, Rear Admiral imagingradar, an infra red camera,a sophisticatedelectronic Smith,Mrs NancyBird Walton,Mrs Gash, emissiondetection and classificationsystem, an anti-missileself Distinguished Guests, Ladies and protectionsystem and a comprehensiveship to aircraftdata link. Gentlemen, welcome to this the fourth -=- ...... The primaryweapon will be the highly capable Kongsberg commissioningof 805Squadron. '------:,___J Penguin AGM-119air to surfacemissile with the aircraftalso In these times of high tech wizardry and computerised capableof carryingMk 46 torpedos,Mk 11 depthcharges and a technologyit is often easy to forget the humanelement of our doormounted 7 .62mmgeneral purpose machine gun . endeavours. However,this commissioningceremony for 805 Squadronprovides us all with an opportunityto reflecton howthe Navyhas arrivedhere today and the fact that it is in realitythis enduringhuman element that is perhapsthe mostvital ingredient in the process. As our Guest of HonourNancy Bird Waltonso gracefully epitomises,a pioneeringspirit is oftena prerequisitefor longevity in aviation. In Australianterms, with a historydating back t6 1948 anda trackrecord of beingamong the front runnersin introducing angled flight deck operationsand fighter jets at sea, 805 Squadronqualifies on both countsas a squadronwith longevity anda healthypioneering spirit. Indeed,if you haveever tried to explainto an ex-Navalfighter pilot that we are resurrecting805 as an attackhelicopter squadron you too wouldrealise just howthe currentgeneration of 805Squadron personnel feel likepioneers . KAMANSUPER SEA SPRITE But it is this qualityof the humanelement that has madethe Photographfrom Kaman when they were tendering with Navy squadronso special. If we go back in time to 1951,during the work-upfor the KoreanWar embarkedin HMASSydney, the squadrondiary notes that on TuesdaySeptember 11 . . . To ensurethat theseweapons are employedeffectively, the 'At approximately0905 Sea Fury 131 called up for an data from the aircraft's multiplesensors are fused in smart emergencylanding with the possibilityof bailingout. For the displaysin the cockpitthrough a fully IntegratedTactical Avionics secondtime in the rocketattack session a fluid was seento be System. An advancedelectronic flight information system or 'glass streamingfrom mid span in theport wing. Thiswas thought to be cockpit', the equivalentto thatfound in modernpassenger jets like petrolbut provedto be a majoroil leak. Thepilot, Sub Lieutenant the Boeing777, presentsall the flight and tacticalinformation Webster,made provisionfor bailing out after noticingthe oil requiredin sucha mannerto allowa crewof just two to conduct the full spectrumof tacticalmissions. The crewwill consistof a pressuredrop to zero. Thelast rocketwas jettisoned, likewise the hood and althoughthe drop tankjettison was pulledthe tanks pilot,responsible for the safe executionof the mission, and an observerwho will act as the overalltactical miss ion commander. remainedwith the aircraft. Theaircraft was now at 2000feet and Eachof the plannedsix flights at sea will haveone aircraftand as the gaugemay have been unserviceable and no roughrunning twoflight crews (a pairof pilot and observerteams) supported by or rise in temperaturewere observed, Webster decided to havea eightmaintainers. crackat landingon. At 100feet on the downwindleg the engine cut and the aircraftwas ditched. At the momentof impactthe Thearr ival and acceptanceof the aircraftis eagerlyawaited . wheelswere approximatelyhalf retractedand the speed was There is no doubt that the SH-2G(A)will introduce new between110 and 120knots. capabilitiesto Australia and will eventuallymature into a formidablemaritime surve illance and attack platform. With the 'Thepilot evacuatedthe aircraftwhilst submerged, the only aircraftwill come the opportunity for the new805 Squadron to add visibleportion being the tail plane. As a parachuteand dinghy to the Squadron's alreadyimpressive history - an opportunitythat pack werebeing worn the dinghywas operatedand on arrivalof thecurrent generation of squadronmembers are keento grasp. HMAS Sydney's motor cutter Sub LieutenantWebster had consumedthe majorityof the ediblesin the emergencykit. He 0000000 was uninjuredand after a showerand a tot of rum was in the [As a matterof interest,other eventswhich occurred on 28 readyroom to answernumerous questions. Good show, Tas! The February,include the launchof HMS Majesticin 1945,later to firstditching in the RAN.' becomeHMAS Melbourne, at Barrow,England. Lady Anderson, Herewe havean exampleof that characterthat setsthe Fleet wifeof the British Chancellorof the Exchequer,launched the ship. Air Arm and 805 Squadronapart. Not only did Webstercarry on Alsoon this date in 1992,training commenced on Sea Hawk in a calm and professionalmanner in attemptingto returnto S-70B-2helicopters acquired for use in guidedmissile frigates 'mother',but in confrontingan enginefailure at low levelnear the underconstruction for the RAN. Ed] (Continued on page 24)

23 Slipstream 4!F------

(Continued from page 23) the currentincarnation of the squadron. The new personnelof ship he achieveda successfulditching , the first in RANservice, 805 Squadronstands before you, proudof theirnavy and acutely and no mean feat in a Sea Fury. Once in the water he awareof theirsquadron 's history. LikeNancy Bird Walton , we too demonstratedanother aircrew trait in actuallymanaging to get arewilling to cut a newpath for othersto follow. Withthe support throughall his survivalrations in the five minutesbefore being of our families,which can 't be discounted, good leadershipand pickedup by the rescuecutter. the guidinghand of our Lord we stand readyto take the fight I am pleasedto saythat the spiritof SBLT Websterlives on in whendirected over sea and sand and w in. Thankyou .

ne.,:ence .J=oRce wt ves The Lord appearedoffended at the angel's- ­ lackof confidence.'What you see is not a leak.' he said.' It's a tear.' Thegood Lord was creating a modelfor DefenceForce wives and 'A tear?What's it therefor? Asked the angel. A wasinto his sixth day of overtimewhen an angelappeared . The Lordreplied , 'It's for joy, sadness,pain, Shesaid, ' Lord,you seemto be havinga lot of troublewith disappointment, loneliness,pride , and a dedicationto all the thisone. What's the matterwith the standardmodel?' valuesthat she and her husbandhold dear.' The Lord replied, 'Haveyou seen the specificationson this 'Youare a genius.'exclaimed the Angel. order? She has to be completelyindependent , possessthe TheLord looked puzzled and replied; 'I didn'tput it there.' qualitiesof bothfather and mother,be a perfecthostess, handle everyemergency imaginable without a manual, be able to carry..------~ on cheerfully, evenwhen she is pregnantand hasthe flu, andshe mustbe willingto moveto a new locationmany times during her husband's career; and, oh yes, she musthave six pairsof hands.' Theangel shook her head, 'Six pairsof hands?No way !' The Lordcontinued, 'Don 't worry,we 'll makeother Defence Forcewives to help her. We'll also give her an unusuallystrong heart do it can withstand the pride of her husband's achievements, sustainthe painof separations, beatsoundly when it is overworkedor tired,and be largeenough to say, / loveyou , regardless.' The angelc ircledthe modelof the militarywife , lookedat it closelyand sighed, 'It looksfine, but it's too soft.' 'Shemight look soft.' saidthe Lord, 'but she hasthe strength of a lion. Youwould not believewhat she hast o endure.' Finally,the angelleaned over and ran her fingersover the Lord's creation.'There 's a leak.' she announced. 'Something is Afteryou've seen the cartoonbelow, don 't thinkthat the artisthas wrongwith the construction,I'm not surprisedthat it hascracked , the planesall wrong.The Skyhawks can fold their wings, youare trying to puttoo muchinto th is model.' as shownabove . This is an actualphotograph .

A CLIPPINGFROM THE CANBERRA TIMES -A CARTOONBY PRYOR-OCTOBER 1980 Signalingthe endof the 'carrier' Navyand the fighter fi xedw ing element(805)

r HENAVY'S REPLACEMENT FOR ~HE MELBOURNE

24 Slipstream

growl of aggression.The poor beardedsub-lieutenant 'Ghe ..Ulol\tlticof' nearlyhad a heart attack on the spot. I then quit the Wolfmanpatrol. o{t As there were no more incidentsreported, we decided that the Wolfmanhad seen the error of his ways and HIUAS ttielboUPJt@ retired.However he did appearwhen the shipwas back in By 'Toz' Dadswe/1 PearlHarbour. To the surpriseof the Officerof the Watch on the forward brow the Wolfmanappeared, saluted, asked At night, in a darkenedship at sea, it is easyto becomehesitant permissionto go ashore,and raced down the gangwayto a anduncomfortable in compartmentsand spacesyou are normally waitingtaxi. By nowthe Captainhad beeninformed and this sort familiarwith. Darknesscreates its own problems,and when of behaviourdidn't amuse him . unusualor unexpectedfactors are introduced, the problems There were no reportedsightings of the Wolfmanon the becomecompounded . The combination of darknessand an homewardvoyage and I felt surethat we hadseen the lastof him. uncertaintyof the unknown, combined with a vivid imagination, For this I was grateful,for had he continuedhis roaming,sooner canquickly change a calmenvironment into one of fear,and there or latersomeone would have caught him, and his abilityto swim is no way of knowinghow a frightenedperson will react in a mayhave been tested . threateningsituation , real or imaginary. Sucha situationarose in Theship was off Sydneyon 11thApril and HS817 was flying HMASMe lbourneduring the Rimpacexercise in 1975 off for the returnflight to Nowra. I was in my cabinwhen the The stories of the Wolfmanof Melbourne, like 'Topsy', have phonerang. It was the Captain. 'Get up on the flight deck', he grown over the years, and as time passes, have become ordered. 'I've caught your Wolfman'. It seems that as the embellishedand distorted.I have beenasked to set the record helicopterswere lifting off, the Wolfman'sface appearedat oneof straight and this I will endeavourto do. However, the incident the cabin windows. The Captainordered the aircraftto return occurredo ver 26 yearsago and I cannotguarantee that myfading onboard. I arrivedon the flight deck with Tim Collinsand the memoryw ill allow complete accuracywith times, ranks and allegedWolfman climbed out. As soon as I saw him I knewwe names.No doubt there are readersout therewho wil l be ableto didn'thave the right man as I knewthe sailorfacing me and he fill in thegaps and co rrect my mistakes. wasn'tthe type (I think it was John Wade,but I may havethat At the start of 1975, Melbournewas in Darwin harbour namewrong) . However, we did havea conspiratorand that was a participatingin 'Operation Navy Help Darwin' following the advent start.The Wolfmanwas escortedto the cellsand then it wasjust of CycloneTracey . Afterleav ing Darwin, there wasonly time for a a caseof waiting.Several people came forward to protestthat I very shortwork-up before embark ing the Squadronsfor Rimpac hadthe wrong man but I wasadamant that I hadthe Wolfmanand 75. Thesh ip sailedfrom Sydney on 18thFebruary 1 975for Pearl he wouldgo to HoldsworthyDetention Centre for a longt ime. Harbourunder the commandof CommodoreGuy Griffiths. I was After a while,one of the 817 officerscame to my cabinand the ExecutiveOfficer. R impac75 commencedon 10thMarch and saidthat Leading AirmanLockett wished to confessthat he was ranfor elevendays . the real Wolfman. Lockett's story tallied with the recorded Sometimeinto the Exercise,the Master-At-Arms, WO Tim incidentsand he was duly charged and found guilty. The Collins, informedme that some'clown ', dressedin a gorillasu it, conspiratorwas let off witha warning. wasmoving about the shipat nightcreating apprehension among Afterall theseyears it doesseem like a silly harmlessprank. the Ship's Company. On investigating I found that this But time is a greathealer of emotions,and duringRimpac 75 a 'apprehension' was a very real problem. Sailors from the variety of emotionswere running high, with fear and anger watch-on-deckrefused to walka ft unaccompaniedwhen taking up dominating. There was a very real possibilitythat had the their postas life-buoysentry. I alsodiscovered that Engine-room Wolfmanencountered one of the vigilanteparties looking for him, personnel, who had to moveabout the ship carryingout routine the outcomecould have been catastrophic. Prankshave their inspections, were also moving about in pairs and had armed place,but there is no room in a warshipat sea for foolishness themselveswi th wheelspanners . They had also decidedthat if suchas practisedby the Wolfman. they encountered the 'Wolfman', as he had becomeknown, the animalwould be given a flotation test. The situationwas rather tense. WHAT'STHE STORY? I decidednot to informt he Captain who had enoughon his One of the membersforwarded me a copy of HMASAlbatross plate,running the ship and copingw ith Exerciserequirements . Mr Daily Ordersfor Wednesday31 st December1952, under the Collinsand I decidedto stakeout the ship using the Regulating signatureof CommanderJ B Crabb. staff and I foolishlyoffered to take part in this operation.Armed A coupleof itemsare of interest,namely: with a baton, I duly roamedt he darkened ship lookingfor the Wolfman(who was probably getting a goodnights sleep). NOTE2 . MardiGras - It will cost 41-to join in the frivolitybut I did have one unsettling encounterwhen I met up with shouldbe well worth the money, even thoughyou're all broke someonepush ing his way throughthe blackout curtainsat the afterChristmas leave. sameti me as I was tryingto find my way throughthem . I shone mytorch on the unknownperson and wass tartled to see a mass NOTE3. A Happyand ProsperousNew Year to all Chiefs, Petty of hairwith two eyes,wide open, peering at me. With a shoutof Officers,Leading Hands, Junior Ratings,Canteen Staff, Works 'Got you'! I raisedmy batononly to hear an oath of fear, not a Department,Men under punishment,Men who pinch petrol, Italiansand me.

25 Slipstream ~------AUSTRALIA'SMUSEUM of FLIGHT MarkClayton - MuseumDirector

We had hoped with this issue to be able to report on the Cotton was a Queensland born pilot, inventor and successfulconclusion of our StageFour construction programme entrepreneurwho served with the RNASduring WWI. The subject but regrettablythat isn't possible.These works are four months of a recent ABC television documentary(and soon-to-be­ behindschedule and althoughthe hangarwalkway is virtually publishedbiography), Cotton is creditedwith havingrevolutionized completework has yet to commenceon the new hangartheatre the conductof allied aerial reconnaissanceoperations during lightingsystem . Thedelay has beenpartly caused by the needto WWII.BHH was usedpost-war by BHPas a corporateaircraft. It resolveseveral unforeseenengineering challenges associated alsohas considerable technology significance having been one of withelevating the C-47. We intendplacing the aircraft's wheelson theworld's first 'modern' airliners. pedestals with the tail suspended, thereby substantially Another recent arrival has been Beechcraft850 Twin increasinglythe displayspace we haveavailable at groundlevel. Bonanza,VH-CDE , which has been made availableto the We shouldhave good reason to celebratethough by the timeyou Museumon a long-termloan basis. The Twin Bonanzawas the receiveyour next Slipstream. first Americanlight commercialaircraft to go into quantity Thankfullythis prolongedperiod of disruption has not production after WWII, VH-CDEbeing the only examplenow adverselyaffected visitor numbersduring our busy Christmas­ extantin Australia. Althoughthe type was usedby the USArmy summerholiday period , thesebeing fractionally up relativeto the as a radar reconnaissanceplatform i n Vietnam,the museum's previousyear. examplewas neveroperated by the military. Instead, it entered As expected-and hoped - it hasn't taken the Navy and servicewith Alice Sp ring'sbased operator Connellan Airways Pty Shoalhavencommunities long to recognisethe amenity valueo f Ltd that importedt he aircraftin 1958.The Twin Bonanzawas our StageFour facilitieswith bookingsfor our new boardroom, ferriedacross the Pacific by CaptainT W Monkton,of Trans­ theatreand mezzanine facilities starting to steadilyincrease. OceanicAirways who comp letedthe crossingin a flighttime of 45 hoursand 4 5 minutes. As reportedin SlipstreamOctober 2000 , the DeputyPrime Minister, JohnAnderson , announcedthe gift to the Foundationof the Bob Wills Collection, the country'slargest privately owned aviationlibrary . Pleasinglywe havebeen able to makean earlier thanexpected start on the enormoustask of sortingth is important collectioninto a useful public resource. Thanks to Rod and ChristineHigham , bothrecently retired librarians who havebegun cataloguingthese uniqueholdings on a regularand voluntary basis. Shelvingand compactusstorage for the WillsCollec tion and the Museum's FAA archiveshas also becomeavailable free of charge,from the Departmentof Defence.This supportis much appreciated,as arethe effortsof TomCooper and Jim Napier who havebegun reassembling these furnishings for us. Severalnew aircraft have also been acquiredin recent months, these acquisitions reflecting the museum's now broadenedexhibition and collecting interests. Perhapsthe most After spendingseveral years in the open the museum's notablenew arrival has been Sidney Cotton's Lockheed12 WestlandWh irlwindXM665 has finally headednorth , for static VH-BHH, this beingone of severalsuch machinesassigned to restoration.Donated by FoundationGovernor , NigelApperley, the Cotton's special RAF Photographic ReconnaissanceUnit formerRoyal Navy helicopter is nowgenerously being restored by duringWWII. InternationalAi r Parts Pty Ltd. of Sydney. XM665served in the Far Eastw ith 847Squadron. Other recent arrivals include a Polish Lim-2 (license built Mig-15)donated by Sydneybusinessman HockeyTreloar and a former SingaporeanHawker Hunter that hasbeen made available on long-termloan to the Museum. Continuedon nextpage ...

PHOTOGRAPHSTHIS PAGE

ABOVE: Twin BonanzaVH -CDE photographedat Canberrashortly beforeits relocationto Albatross.

LEFT: SidneyCotton 's Lockheed12 beingunloaded at the museumlate last year. The historicairframe , which has spentthe last quarterof a centuryin a paddocknear A lbury,i s stillin remarkablygood condition.

26 Slipstream

Slipstreamreaders will be especially pleasedto learnof the returnhere , in early March,of the formerRAN MacchiN14-077 which has been transferredto the RAN HistoricFlight. The AUST~S Museumis optimisticof also acquiringanother former RAN Macchifor staticdisplay . MU SEUM OF FLIGHT The museum's relianceon local businesseshas become increasinglyimportant now that manyon-base services have been transferredto civiliancontract. Special mention must be made hereof Nowra's Soilcowhich has assistedwith landscapingthe museumgrounds . Q&AEngineering of Flinder's Estatehave also assisted with recent aircraft moves, as did Manildra who generouslyloaned us their low loader.And through the combined efforts of Akwell Wreckers (towbar), Muffler Men (towbar installation),Parkhire (car trailer) and Nowra Toyota (vehicle servicing)we 've beenable to retrievefrom Queensland the former AlbatrossGliding Club's Schneider Kookaburra which is an aircraft of considerablehistorica l and technologicalsign ificance.... more on this one later.The Kookaburra's acquisitionfurther underlines our commitmentto collecting, preservingand exhib iting the FAA's heritage. Planningis wellunderway for the two Air Daysto be heldthis yearon Sunday22 Apriland Sunday 7 Octoberand thankfully, we haveagain been able to secureMobil's sponsorship for the April event.The OctoberAir Day has been endorsedas an official Federationevent and promisesto be even bigger than our September2000 MillenniumAirshow which broke all previous attendancerecords . And yes, take heart,we havetaken further steps to avoid the traffic delays that caused so much inconveniencelast September! As with mostother sizeablemuseums , the Australian Naval AviationMuseum Foundation 's museumat Albatrosshas, s inceit s inception,always had to rely on subsidiesto cover its annual tradingdeficit. This recurrentsupport has principallycome from the Navy, HIH Insuranceand the ShoalhavenCity Council.The lattergenerously agreed in 1991to providethe Foundationwith a $50,000 annualgrant for ten yearshowever, it now seemslikely that Councilwill not be able to continue its grantfunding support beyond2001 . Navy was of course staffing the museumat weekendswhich helpedconsiderably to reducethe museum's wagesbill. The MuseumWatchbill however was terminatedlast year followingthe introductionof the CSP (CivilianSupport Programme),thereby f urther increasingthe museum's annual deficit.To this injury has been addedthe recentnews that our principlebenefactor HIH Insurance,now under new management, is no longerable to continueits supportfor the museum(valued at $60,000p.a.) . Thesecumulative blows have left the Foundation and its museumin a financiallyprecarious position from which FoundationDirectors are now working strenuouslyto try and recover. Ona brighternote I 'm sure Slipstreamreaders will be pleased to hearthat AdmiralAndrew Robertson is doingwell after having been admittedrecently for bypasssurgery. Admiral Robertson was instrumentalin helpingto raise muchof the capitalfor the museum'sconstruction and continued development. All of us here at the museumwish him a speedyrecovery . PHOTOGRAPHSTHIS PAGE TOP TO BOTIOM: 1. SingaporeanHawker Hunter arriving at themuseum . Thistype of aircraftwas also used to train RANpilots . 2. WhirlwindXM665 being made ready for its tripto Sydneyfor staticrestoration . 3. Museumvo lunteerscleaning up the long-noseDakota for its longawaited elevation on piers. Thetail wheelwill be 8 metres abovethe deck . 4. Technical Manager, DonPark inson, withvolunteers Ray Larder (L) andRon Ross (R) alongs ide the museum's recentlyrestored Scout helicopter .

27 Slipstream THEROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY HISTORIC FLIGHT Updateby ColCook

Just a brief note to bring readersup to date with happeningsin the RANH istoricFlight (RANHF). Regrettablythere has still been no flying since Yogi Neasbey's report in July last year. We are progressingactivities that wouldhave us complywith CASA requirements towards airworthiness/ engineeringmaintenance standards . These include producing a procedures manual for managing maintenanceand restorationon aircraftand all the associatedactivities covering documentation, spares and inventorycontrol , just to mentiona few. The EngineeringProcedures Manual is nowready to blend with the operations manual, which is nearingk~b~~~~ ~Zc~~l!l~__ _:______:'._~ ~ ~L_~~~~ I completion.The productionof a compositeRANHF ProceduresManual should go a long way towards STALWARTSOF THE SEA FURY RESTORATION TEAM satisfyingthe decision-makersthat our practicesare L-R:Kev Hill -the lateOscar Harper -Ken Lee - LesBale - BobBrown soundand worthy of recognitionand acceptance . Thishighly skilled group of volunteersare all licensedex-Qantas employees. We are still strugglingfor manpowerand thereis an endless list of 'things'to be done. Nonetheless,the hardcore of interested the engineeringdepartment. He held the positionof Boeing747 supportersis still helpingin the progressionof Flightactivities and Superintendentat retirement.He steeredthe Sea Fury project, there is some good fellowshipto be had at the same time. virtuallyfrom its commencement,and the loss of his knowledge Particularmention goes to the band of senior memberswho andcontacts has slowed things considerably . volunteertheir time in advancingthe Sea Fury restoration.The Of interestto the morejunior readersof Slipstreammay be main wing spar repair is ongoingand CASA approvalfor the the newsthat the RANHF hasrecently taken custody of thefirst of repairis expectedsoon . Theengine sleeves are beingsh ippedto two Maachis.One of the aircraftwill go to the museum(AMoF) in the contractor,Aerotech, in Darwinfor serviceabilityassessment. due courseand it is plannedto fly the otherwhen our resources Quitea numberof structuralitems have been made serviceable allowand support arrangements are in place. andstored ready for futureuse. A final plea to any of our readers, if you are interestedin On a sad note,the Sea Furyrestoration team has suffered a getting involved withthe RANHF,give Yogior myselfa callon 02 major setbackwith the sudden passingof the team leader 44241901 (W ednesdays)or myself02 44237447 at othertimes. KennethMalcolm 'Oscar' Harper , lastyear . Anyassistance would be greatlyappreciated. You may even be a Oscarretired from QANTAS in 1983, after37 yearsservice in reservistand could get paidfor yourefforts .

178Seconds to Live Younow have 178 seconds to live Articlecourtesy of AviationSafety Pro motionBran ch, SystemSafety , TransportCanada Yourai rcraftfeels on evenkeel, but yourcompass turns slowly . You Howlong can a pilotwho has little or no instrumenttraining expect to live pusha little rudderand add a little pressureon the controlsto stopthe after he flies into bad weather and loses visual contact? turn,but this feelsunnatural and you returnthe controlsto theiroriginal Researchersat the Universityof Illinoisfound the answerto thisquestion . position.This feels better , but nowyour compass is turninga littlefaster Twentystudent 'guinea pigs ' flew intos imulatedinstrument weather, and and your airspeedis increasingslightly. You scan yourinstruments for all wentinto graveyard spirals or rollercoasters. The outcomediffered in help,but what you see looks somewhat unfamiliar . You'resure this is just only one respect- the time requiredtill controlwas lost. The interval a bad spot.You'll break out in a few minutes.But you don'thave a few rangedfrom 480 secondsto 20 seconds. The averagetime was 178 minutesleft . seconds-two seconds short of threeminutes. Younow have 100 seconds to live You glance at your altimeterand you are shockedto see it Here'sthe fatalscenario - Thesky is overcastand the v isibilityis poor. unwinding. You're alreadydown to 1,200feet. Instinctively, you pull back Thatreported five milevisibility looks more like two,and you can'tjudge on the controls, butthe altimeterstill unwinds.The engineis intothe red the heightof the overcast.Your altimeter tells you that you are at 1,500 andthe airspeed, nearly so . feet, butyour map tells you that there's local terrain as highas 1,200feet. Youhave 45 secondsto live Theremight be a towernearby because you 're not surejust howfar off Nowyou're sweating and shaking.There must be somethingwrong courseyou are. But you'veflown into worseweather that this, so you with the controls:pulling back only movesthe airspeedindicator farther presson. Youfind yourselfunconsciously easing back just a bit on the intothe red . Youcan hear the wind tearing at theaircraft . controlsto clear those none-too-imaginarytowers. With no warning, you'rein the soup.You peerso hardinto the milkywhite mist that your Youhave 10 secondsto live eyeshurt. You fight the feeling in yourstomach . Youtry to swallow, only Suddenlyyou see the ground . Thetrees rush up at you.You can see to findyour mouth dry . Nowyou realiseyou should have waited for better the horizonif you turn your headfar enough,but it's at a weirdangle - weather. The appointmentwas important,but not all that important. you're almostinverted. Somewherea voice is saying,'You've had it. It'sall over!' Youopen your mouth to scream,but you have no secondsleft .

28 Slipstream

RemembranceService . This seems to me to be a good NATIONALPRESIDENT'S opportunityto rejuvenatethe various naval organisationsand REPORT providea senseof purpose. Moreinformation will be providedas, plansdevelop . Mateshipin ourorganisation is aliveand well as demonstrated I suppose by now most New Year's by a recent event in South Australia. One of our former resolutionsthat were made are nowbroken as colleagues,David Green, was killed in a motorcycle accident we settleback into life on the sametrack as ~----~ whiletravelling to Adelaidefrom Broken Hill. He livedin Perthand last year. But societyi s changingaround us, hadno kin in SouthAustralia. John Sendy, who served in Vietnam forcingsome reactionfrom us and a need to grapplewith an withDave Green, was contacted and at veryshort notice made all increasingvolatile community in whichless and less can be taken the funeralservice arrangements with NavalChaplain, bugler etc. for granted.Crime is on the increasein mostplaces, drugs and with Navy'shelp. The remainswere placed on an aircraftfor WA other substanceabuse much more overt, greaterrestlessness anotherVietnam veteran colleague , Alan Winchcombe,attended amongthe youngand more, highlyvocal minoritygroups with to the arrangementsat that end. Othersno doubthelped in the singlepurpose. process,but altogetherit was a great exampleof meetingan It is interestingthat many see a solutionto contemporary urgentneed at very short notice and ensuringthat a departed problemsin nationalservice . Trainingyoung people in the military colleaguetragically killed was farewelled with honour and dignity. will teach them discipline, responsibilityand good citizenship, The commissioningof 805 Squadronas a Sea Sprite manysay . Governmentsand the militarythough have long held helicoptersquadron occurred at HMASAlbatross last weekwith that the Armed Forces are not there for that purpose. The appropriatefanfare . The Squadronwill be verywell equipped and corollaryof the viewthat nationalserv ice is a goodsocial training has the best purposebuilt hangarand workshopfacilities The groundmust be that formerservicemen and womenmake good namehas seen several iterations in the RANas we all know,and citizens,and this is definitelyso . Sometimestheir institutions, like I'm surethat the new squadronwill honourthe nameand live up the RSL,the WAA andothers, are seenas too conservativeand to its history.I recentlyread where the Royal Navy 805 was too introvertedand may now be less influentiali n community ashorein Cretein 1942equipped with 4 FaireyFulmars, assisting affairs, but in general, formermilitary personnel have been a very in the defenceof Cretefrom the Germaninvaders. The aircraft steadyinginfluence in the community. Numbersthough are were all destroyedon the ground.We wish all the best to the decliningas timeand events take their toll. latest iteration and we hope that the CO will appoint a It's goodtherefore to see a newinitiative being developed by correspondentfor Slipstreamto tell us aboutsquadron events. the NavalAssociation which plans to conducta NavalFederation Keep in mind the proposed Australian Fleet Air Arm Congressand Reunionin Sydneyto coincide with the Navy's AssociationReunion planned for early in 2003at NASNowra, to FleetReview early in Octoberthis year. Theaim is to involveall coincidewith the Centenaryof Flightair pageant.It soundsa long navalorganisations in the Congressand discussin openforum way off, but it is closerthan we mightthink -Vietnamveterans how peoplewith commonbackground of naval serviceto the rememberthe reunionplanned for nextyear. country might bind together to exert more influence on Bestwishes to all, governmentsand the communityon appropriateissues. There is NeilRalph - NationalPresident to be a generalreunion and also a marchthat will finishwith a

in orderto supportour servingand ex-servingmembers. It has NATIONALSECRET ARV'S been arguedthat when makingrepresentations to Government, REPORT the abilityto speakwith a unifiedvoice can only improveour chancesof success. A recentexample being the acceptanceof servicewith the Far East StrategicReserve as eligiblefor the I haveapologised to Ed. for missingmy report samebenefits as thosegiven to the Armyand RAAF. for the last edition, however, I was a little The pointhas been madethat all participatingorganisations surprisedwhen I read in his 'Corner'that he '-----~ woulddo so on an equalbasis. The Executivehas agreed that we thought the 'wheelhouse' was empty. supportthe proposaland assistwhere possible. Markdown the Obviouslyhe didn't hear the pipe that the helmsmanhad been weekof 3 - 8 Octoberon yourcalendars. More details will be sent takento the SickBay and the lastthing on my mindwas writing a to the Divisionsas theycome to hand.I wasdisappointed, but not report. [Wot!No subch it!] overlysurprised, when I heardit suggestedthat the 'Congress'will be just a moveby the NavalAssociation to take-overthe smaller NavalCongress and Reunion- TheNational Executive recently associations. My only commentis - 'what rubbish'! Whilewe may receiveda letterfrom the NavalAssoc iationproposing that as a belong to different Associationsor for that matter, different partof this, our Federation year, that Association will sponsora divisions, we arestill partof the same' Ship'sCompany' . 'Congressand Reunion' of other interestedNaval Associations andOrganisations . Copies of the proposalhave been sent to each FederalCouncil Meeting - At our meetingon 22ndFebruary , the DivisionalSecretary . Executivedecided that this year's FederalCouncil meeting and The aim of the congresswill be to developa morecohesive the electionof OfficeBearers would be held in the Museumon relationshipand enhancecommunications between Associations (Continued on page 30)

29 ~ __.__ Slipstream ______

Saturday13th October 2001 , startingat 10:00. Memberswish ing DVANews - We haverece ived advicefrom Vet's Affairs that as to eithernominate for a positionon the Executiveor to putforward of 12thFebruary 2001 , the rulesi n respectof hospitaladmiss ions a Noticeof Motionfor the considerationof the Council,should have been changedto allow Veteransto be admittedto select completethe flyer includedin this editionand return via your PrivateHospitals for non-emergencytreatment w ithoutthe prior DivisionalSecretary . Nominationsand Noticesof Motionshould approvalof the Department.Th is new arrangementwith these be withthe NationalSecretary - Private Hospitals is known as 'Veteran Partnering' For more informationcontact your local VAN or Vet'sAffairs office . ¢ NOLATER THAN 30 JUNE ¢:, GordonEdgecombe

Ourthanks go to all thosewho supportedthe raffle,the profit NEWSOUTH WALES thus achieved goes towards helping us to keep the annual DIVISION subscriptionsin check. The Committeehas discussed the subject of annual subscriptionsfor the comingyear and it is intendedto ask the Bestw ishesto everyone, especiallythose to incomingcom mitteeto consider that the currentannual fee of $25 our north that have encounteredserious be retained. [Thesame committee was returnedat theAGM. Ed] floodingover the pastfew weeks . I attendedth e 805 SquadronCommissioning Ceremony on 28 Onceaga in we have run our raffle; it was drawnon 03 March February, it was a most impressive event.The 'Commissioning 2001 by the new CommandingOfficer of HMAS Albatross, Lady' was NancyB ird-WaltonAO , OBE; this 86-year old lady's CaptainTim Barrett.The three winnerswere all from the local aviationexploits would be fairly wellknown by most. area, theyare: Mostof us wouldassociate 805 Squadronwith Sea Fury , Sea (1) JoanneLynch(# 2993) Venomand Skyhaw k fixed wingaircraft , I mustadm it, thatseeing (2) (2) E Mallia(#2645) the SeaspriteSH-2G(A) helicopter as the squadronaircraft did (3) (3) B Morrow(#2658) seem a little strange. Nevertheless, the aircraft looks very Vice President, NevilleNewbold , has delivered the prizes to impressive andbusiness like . the luckywinners. The commissioningtook placew ith only one aircraft,out of a total of eleventhat will eventuallybe the full complement.When theseaircraft eventually arr ive, I believethat former 805 Squadron personnelwill be invited to comeand havea look.It soundslike a goodexcuse to havea 'SquadronDooo'. We have had our shareof new membersover the last few months including the CO RANAS, Tim Barratt, and COMAUSNAVAIR, CommodoreKei th EamesCSC (transfer from the ACT Div.) The Division is trying to encourageserving membersof the FAAt o join the Association-before they are old andre tired.Whilst we havenot met with a greatdeal of success, we haveat leaststarted - andat the top! Memberswou ld be aware of the City/Countryget togetherat the CampbelltownRSL on Saturday26 May, that is being arrangedand organised by our Patron,John Goble . Anyonewho needs more information about the event should ring John in

MEMBERSAT THERAFFLE DRAW SOCIAL-PHOTOGRAPHS THIS PAGE-ANTI-CLOCKWISE 1. 'HEADSDOWN AND LOOKING FOR THE WINNERS' L-R : RayBurt -Captain Barrett -Max Altham and NevilleNewbold 2. L-R: ElaineNapier-Joan and IanFerguson -'LINING UP FOR THE SAUTEED KIDNEYS AND 'TRAIN SMASH '. 3. JohnDownton (Artist). Norma Lee , RonJenkins , BrendaArnold and Jim Lee . Photo's courtesy Brenda

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Sydneyon (02) 9450 1537, or our secretary,Mike Heneghanon (02)4441 2901. For membersin the Nowraarea who wouldlike to 'THAT'STHE LUCK OFTHE DRAW' I catch up with old shipmates,we are hopingto fill a coach withlliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiil•• membersand friends. The cost of the returnfare is $11per head if we saidRoy Allman canfill a 57-seater-or $13 per headif a 48-seateris used.Please makethe effort;we do want to fill the largercoach. It is a Saturday afternoonevent so wewill be homeearly evening. If you haveany inputfor Slipstreamthat you think wouldbe of interestto recipientsof the journal,please post, fax or emailit to the Editor.Your assistancewith photographsor writtenword wouldbe gratefullyreceived. That'sit for thisissue, best of healthto everyone. MaxAltham

get a 'caps off' and be punishedby doing anotheryear as SOUTHAUSTRALIAN secretary.We expect very few changes. DIVISION DuringFebruary there was a sad event,David Green was killedjust outsideof BrokenHill. Hismemorial service was held in Adelaideand I am sure that there would be many ex-naval SouthAustralia has not beenthe placeto be memberswho will be saddenedby his suddendeath. We salute overthe last 3 months.Record heat waves, youDavid. unendingdays of over C35°,hottest summer since1905 and so on. '----==;;;.i I havenothing more to reportfor this period;but Anzac day is on the horizon.Dinsley has organised a trip to ClareValley for us Withthat as the backdropit is difficultto envisageeverything to taste the wine. We may have the companyof Doug and goingto perfection.I have to admitto beingpart of a monumental MargaretStone who are on a visitfrom NSW. 'stuff up' by not beingdiligent in collectingthe mail from Navy JohnSaywell, our residenttourist is backand should continue Housein HuttStreet. Usuallythe contentof mailfrom that source to bethe VicePresident. is prettyuninteresting minutes from the NavalAssociation, so a weekor two missedis usuallyof no big consequence.On this I wouldlike to commendDoug Dewhirst upon his Slipstream occasionthere were important notices about the UnleyRSL sub­ effortdescribing the anticsof the initialclass of armourerstraining branchholding a dedicationservice in the UnleyMemorial Park. at Heron.The commentaryhad the sameeffect on me as a time Dueto the latecollection we missedout and I am surethat there warp machine,taking me back to those earlydays. There were would have been commentsand queries about no FAAA manyfaces in the photographthat remindedme of somegood presence.Bands were playing;banners held high and high­ times,especially with a coupleof close shipmates,Max Vinen rankingofficials in attendance. (I believenow deceased) and Terry Egan. Myguilt remindsme of the time I wasOfficer of the Guardat Finally,the SA D:visionwish other members good health and Nowraand forgot about a rehearsaland went flying instead. The excellenttimes ahead. Ship'sgunnery officer (someone straight from Whale Island with Barry'Dooley' Lord little compassion)inflicted all sorts of hurt upon me and made [Sorry,Barry, the photographs were too grainy for reproduction. Ed] threatsthat if I madea messof thingson theday 'watch out'. The big momentarrived and as we marchedforward 25 paceswith me in front,sword held erect, at aboutthe 16thstep I TASMANIANDIVISION lost count.I only took one more step than the main body but somehowit seemednoticed and I knewthat I wasin for it. At that m~mentin time I wishedthat I was still a NavalAirman (Met) On 25 Februarywe heldour quarterlymeeting at doinga harmlessmet observation. the UlverstoneRSL and hadthe bestattendance we havehad for a longtime. SomehowI have the same senseof uneasiness45 years Ulverstoneappears to be our favourite laterjust becausean anchoris beingput to rest in a park.Can I meetingplace, I think that we can thankthe RSLfor that. Mind beassured that the divineeverlasting word of Godis trueand that you, the RSL would have been happy to see many of our we arenot to fret aboutthings of tomorrow? memberssitting in frontof a certainpoker machine -sorry -make In Januarythe divisioncombined a routinemeeting with a that machines.I think they thought that the 'pokies'looked hungry XmasBBQ at Henryand MadgeYoung's residence. Henry was a becausethey were feeding them something. Furyman in the 20thCAG days and left the Navyto becomea farmer.It musthave been a successfor the Young'sresidence is The day beforethe meeting,one of our memberscaught up verycalming and pleasant. Thank you Henry and Madge. witha coupleof Nowra'natives', Geoff and Audrey Knibbs, doing Duringthe meetingwe madeonly one decision.We musthave a coachtour of Tasmania,it wasgreat to seethem. At the endof beeninfluenced by the opulenceof oursurroundings and voted to the tour,they are stayingwith one of our membersfor a few days donate$250 to the Museumof Flight.Our next meeting is in a few in the northof the State. dayswhen we holdan ordinarymeeting followed by an AGM.I will (Continued on page 32)

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Now, to digressfrom matters FAA to those of General AdmiralJohn Collins , bornin Delorainein NorthernTasmania, Service.In recenttimes a lot has been said and writtenabout and schooledhere until enteringNaval College- the rest is OrdinarySeaman Teddy Sheahan and his act of heroismaboard history. CaptainE . Dechaineux,who lost his life in HMAS HMASArmidale . No medal,but a submarinein servicenamed Australiain 1944,came from a grazingproperty in the Central afterhim. Midlands.Teddy Sheahancame from Latrobe, a town on TheCollins class submarines, all namedafter heroic seamen, Tasmania'sNW Coast. willcarry the namesof threeprominent Tasmanians . Purelyan observation. f'.Aatt'Jake' Jacobs

Ex-CPOAE Bob Liddicoat also passed away and our WESTERNAUSTRALIAN condolencesare extendedto Lynn, and his brother, ex-CPOAE DIVISION Colinand family. I am pleasedto reportthat PresidentJack Suriano,and his wife, Shirley,are makinga specialeffort to attendthe Federation Greetingsto all readers. ANZACDawn Service and Marchat Albany.Albany is the siteof Followingthe AGMheld in February,which the original ANZAC Dawn Service and visitors from across was attendedby the faithful few and theiri.====----' Australiaand overseasare expectedto attendthis very special partners,the committeefor the nexttwelve months consists of the occasion. following: BevanDaws and his committeeare busypreparing the social President-Jack Suriano, Vice President -Ron Forbes calendarand layingdown the groundworkfor hostinga National Secretary-Peter Welsh, Treasurer -Brian 'Jo' Jost Reunionin WesternAustralia in 2002. SocialSec 'y - BevanDaws aided by ElvaJost A reminderto membersthat the FleetReview is to be heldon SydneyHarbour to celebratethe 100thAnniversary of Australia's The Scribe- Surprise... surprise! My resignationwas not Federation. Moreinformation on this as it comesto hand. accepteddue to lackof volunteersfor the position. Followinga recentvisit to New Zealandby our secretary, A vote of thankswas recordedfor Colin Bushe-Jones, who PeterWelsh , I askedh im to give me a rundownon his activities hasserved as secretaryfor the pasttwo years . whilstover there . Peter's letterfollows ... On a sad note,I reportthe passingof two members,David 'Thelast time I visitedthe 'Land of the Long WhiteCloud ', it JohnGreen (ex-NA AVN), who diedas a resultof a motorcycle wascompliments of the 'GreyFunnel Line' way back in 1968after accident.Over fifty membersof the VietnamVeterans' Motorcycle a deploymentto Vung Tau. The 'natives'were friendlyand the Club on their immaculate' Harleys', escorted his cortege. weatherwas freezing, it was also hard to find a 'wateringhole ' Messagesof condolencewere receivedfrom our National thatsold cold beer i n the windycity of Wellington. President,RADM Neil Ralph (Rid), and the US MarineCorps. Our condolencesgo to David's family,friends and his WMC brothers. (Continued 0 11pa ge 33)

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However,as Aussiematelots we wereduty boundto have somefun, and we did, thanksto a veryaccommodating group of VICTORIADIVISION Maoristhat took us undertheir wing and showed us howto party. Onour most recent sojourn, much older and a lot wiserin the On behalfof the Division,I would like to take waysof findinga cold beer,my wife and I set off for the South this opportunityto extendgreetings and best Islandto visither sister and take in thesights . wishesto all. In spiteof the differencein the valueof the dollartheir cost of On a personalnote, I would like to thank livingis verycomparable, although I believetheir salary levels are JohnArnold for his kindwords and comments==--=___:;=::.., a bit lower. in the January2001 editionof Slipstream. John, the fact of the Wemade our basein Christchurchand spentthe first week matteris that therewere no othercandidates or volunteersfor the takingin thelocal scenery . If anyof you arehomesick for the 'Old position,so reluctantlyI haveaccepted the officeof Secretaryfor Blighty', I suggestyou slip across the Tasman.The people are still a furtheryear, hopefullyallowing time to find a replacementfor friendly, theyhave some great local beers and the winesare as next year.Also John, thankyou for our greatjournal , Slipstream, goodas anyI've had in Australia. yourefforts are greatlyappreciated , keepup the goodwork, from We hired a car the second week and headedfor the all of us. mountains.For those of you who haven't had the pleasureof The Divisionheld its AGMon the 11thFebruary 2001 and the visitingNew Zealand yet, it is a must! Thescenery is all 'wow', following members were duly elected: President, John andevery corner provides a bigger'wow'. Champion- Vice President, Les Jordan - Secretary,Ron Witha reasonableamount of Avcatstill in theblood , Wanaka, Christie-Treasurer, John lkin - CommitteeMembers, Alan Clark, thehome of the WarBirds , wasthe next place to visit.They had a RobertEarle, C.S.Bill Martin, Geoff Litchfieid,Ian Stanfieldand veryimpressive photographic display , includingthose magnificent Ralph Mayer, the immediatepast President.The Social Co­ SkyhawkA4s we usedto have.There are restoredaircraft there ordinatoris Val Christie,and the AuditorsAnne & RobTaylor. The thatwould make your mouth water. A beautifulSpitfire, a sparkling nominatedDelegates for the FederalCouncil being Ron Christie P51 Mustang(a twentyminute ride will set you back a cool and John lkin. So - here'slooking to an enjoyableand successful $2,500), a HawkerHurricane, several Russian aircraft and a year'sactivities. myriadof otherclassics. It is well worththe trip if you havethe Our usual 'Welcome Aboard', is extended to two new slightestappreciation of ClassicAircraft. membersto the Association, Barry J Arthur (ex-UAMAE),and If that wasn't enough,you can wanderup the road a few Murray D Douglas[ex -Lt (P)). May your membershipbe both metresto their TransportMuseum , whichwill blowyour mind. enjoyableand long. Theyhave a hangarand a coupleof shedsjust crammedwith vintage'everything'. Cars, bikes, toys, aircraft (full size and The next major event for the Divisionwill be Anzac Day. models).Irrespective of what age you are, in this place they At the marchthe FAAAis due to step off at 0914,our mustering recreateyour childhood . point is in FlindersStreet approximately 300m east of Swanston Aftergoing into 'memoryoverload' , wedecided to continueon Street, on the southside. On completionof the march,a reunion to thebeautiful Queenstown, with its stunningscenery and plenty will be held at the MelbourneNaval Centre,46 Toorak Road of shops.I thinkI may haveto get a newshutter button for my (West)South Yarra. A Spit RoastLunch will be availableat_a cost $11 per person,bookings are necessarythrough the SocialCo­ cameraand a biggerfilm bag for ournext visit . ordinator, phone (03) 9764 5542. This informationis made Weenjoyed NZ so muchthat we havedecided it wouldbe a availablein Slipstream,in casethere may be membersfrom other greatplace for retirementand havepicked out a beautifullittle Statesvisiting 'Sunny' Melbourne. Likewise,the Divisionwill be placecalled Diamond Harbour, just southof Christchurch.It will conductingits Annual AnniversaryDinner on Saturday25th be an idealplace to settlethe boneswhen I reachthe big 'six August2001, at the VictorianaRestaurant situated at the Harbour zero'. Ouronly problem is that we haverun out of superlatives. If View Motor Inn, Hastings.Accommodation , Dinner,and cooked youhave ever considered a holidayin NewZealand - do it now! breakfastpackage is availableat a cost of $155 per double, or {Justbe patientmembers - waituntil Peter settles over there and Dinneronly price of $25 per person.Bookings are requiredfor the getsthe spare room ready . Ed}' accommodationpackage and for Dinneronly; depositpayments Now,back to the scribe... are requiredby the 1st June 2001 - once again, contactthe Wellfolks, it is not farewellas your scribe,it is a pleasureto Socialco-ordinator on the abovenumber. continuefor as longas it takes. The mainthing is to get the 'mail' The reasonthat we hold the Dinnerat Hastingsis that the through,and contributing to sucha finejournal is rewardenough. followingday is the AnnualRAN FAA MemorialService at HMAS On behalfof the WA Divisionand ManagementCommittee, all Cerberus,which is onlya shortdrive from Hastings,and members bestwishes, good health and ,good luck . can makeit a weekendaffair. It has beenvery successful over the JohnGreen-1{7 Prinsep Rd. ATIADALE WA 6156 Ph :(08)9330 7386 pasttwo years,and I'm sure it will be this year. THEPARTY LIST - Kerryand Kerry Sojan -Keith and Sue Doncon­ On a saddernote, Malcolm Robertson - A44543.RAN passed Bevanand Kay Daw -Vic and Judy Slim -Jim and Kathy King - away on the 10th February2001. Our sincere sympathyis Peterand Kath Britton - Louand Barbara Burns -Noel and Sue O'Leary extendedto Joyceand family. Ronand Rose Hayes - Ronand Ev Cole-Theo and Amy Bushe-Jones - RonChristie - Hon'State Secretary Brianand Audrey Dunne -Bob and Shirley Gilmore -Arthur Jenkins - NatGorin and wife - BarryDunbar -John and Val Grierson - 'Democracy must be something more than two wolves and Morrieand Lorraine M. a sheep voting on what to have for lunch'. James Bovard

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A.C.T.DIVISION QUEENSLANDDIVISION

It washoped that we wouldbe ableto advise Boy, the Editor was sure spot-on regarding our new Committeefor 2001 in this issue. deadlinesflying by! I think I mightjust have Regrettably,this is not the case and for the caughtthe tail feathersthis time. Thankyou, timebeing the committeeremains as for 2000. SecretaryTrevor , for the reminder. OurAGM was so poorlyattended that we did ...._____ ....., Now, I'll say 'hi' to everyone around.______...., not havea quorum.Consequently, the AGM Australia and overseas and trust all are hadto be cancelledand those who did attendspent the evening survivingthe heat,storms , floods and fires or whateverelse is discussingthe way ahead observing the increasinglack of interest currentlyon the go. by members.One wonders if otherDivisions are also experiencing We'vejust hada weekin Melbourne(mid February) . C23°on thisproblem. arrivaland C36°thereafter. John and RosCrawley were with us Ideas canvassedincluded disbandingthe Division and for four days, we did a run aroundJC's old hauntsin 'SanFran ' transferringthose members who wishedto NSW,disbanding the Footscray.Caught up with son, George, who knowsall the wine Divisionand all joining the NavalAssociation, try andcarry on with barsand eateries wh ich hit the highnotes on prices. Hewanted to this decreasedinterest or , in the extreme,cease functioning as a buyus somebubb ly, but my creditcard was used to startthe tab Divisionof the FAAAaltogether. In any case, it was agreedto and, of course, the card paid the bill. When I checkedthe re-schedulethe AGMafter Anzac Day and in the meantimewrite amount- $60 for threeglasses of Bollinger.Good one, George! to all memberssetting out the position. He did give us a night'saccommodation which evened things up, Twothings were agreed to by all, in that we wishedto march I guess.After takingJohn and Ros to the airport, I thoughtI 'd on Anzac Day behindour Banner,and everyonewanted to betterget in the slowlane whilst doing a familiarisationon the hire receiveSlipstream. One other event that everyoneseemed to car. I easedover into the right lane and sloweddown. After a approvewas our Annual Cocktail Party that is usuallyheld in late minuteor so, I suddenlyrealised I wasn't in USA and headed November.It was pointedout that unlesswe remainedas a back to the left lane! I wonderedwhy we weregetting dark looks Divisionas an organisationalpoint, none of thesethings, except fromother drive rs. Slipstream,were feasible. Someone is requiredto organisethese We drove the Great OceanRoad to the 12 Apostlesand events. thoughtthey werespectacula r and enjoyednights in Lorneand Thisbrings me to the pointwhen it is obviousat presentthat ApolloBay . On the way down,just beforeTorquay , I sawa sign veryfew membersare supportingthe Divisionwholeheartedly. To saying.Tiger MothWorld ', followedthe directionsand finished up runa Divisionrequires willing workers who are preparedto givea at a smallgrass airfield . Therewas an elderlybloke there with a littleof theirtime so thatall canenjoy these events . Usually, when grubbywhite beard and a fag hangingout of his mouth.I saidthat one calls for nominationsfor a particularposit ion, there is a I'd liketo seethe Tigers. His replywas, 'We don't fly, wedon't eat' deathlyhush amongst all present. Thiswas his responseto anythingI said.There was a Jackeroo Onecan recallthe days whenwe all servedat Albatrossor there, a Tigerwith 4 seatsand canopy.There are only3 in the aboardthe carriers.Then there was a terrificspirit of camaraderie worldand I knowthe one in UK very well. WhenI remarkedon and a 'Can Do' attitudesecond to none. This prevailednot only this to this bloke - you guessedit - 'We don'tfly, we don'teat!' amongthe Aircrew, but alsoequally amongst all support staffwho I slippedup by not racing out to the car andgetting him an apple. wouldoften work throughoutthe nightto be preparedfor next I thinkI 'll do a vegemite sandwich,wrap it in clingwrapand post it day'smissions . Hasthis spiritgone or are we nowbecoming to himi n a jiffy bag! too softand lazy?Here's hoping that our re-scheduledAGM will We heldour AGMon March4 at CurrumbinRSL with around get maximumsupport. The Committeeis surethat nobodyreally 65 attending.All of us on the committeewere re-elected. Mick wantsthe Divisionto fold. Blairand myself are in the 9thyear in our respectivepositions now The gripes now over, and news of the Division. Last whichis very rewarding. We weredelighted to haveAlan ' Augie' November,we helda very successfulCocktail Party at the RSL Spearpointthere as a guestand he presentedthe Division, cl- of Headquartersattended by over 40 membersand wives. A great Mick Blair, with his two books. Thanks, 'Augie'; we're looking timewas had by all, especiallyfor a certainlady who won 70% of forwardto readingthem . the raffleprizes . Fortunately,she re-donatedmost of themwh ich We presentedCert ificates of Serviceto Bob Bryce, Ian wasappreciated by all present. Hendersonand Brian Sargeson. Brian wasn 't thereso he'll get his We will be marchingthis Anzac Day and there will be a in the post.We wentout to see D'arcyDoyle on the Saturdayto barbecueto followat HarmanJunior Sailors Club which is a great presenta Certificateto him. He'spretty crook with Prostate C. but venue. Any visitorswould be very welcometo both Marchand cheeredup duringour visit andgot up to showus his paintingof barbecue. Sir DonaldBradman and a letterfrom him.Jenny said she 'd like BrianTreloar D'arcyto makeher a cup of tea beforeit wastoo late. D'arcydid makeher a cuppain 1990,25 yearsafter they were married and then askedif she took sugar! He hasn't repeatedthe exercise This iS the DEAD fiNe sincethen ! We all had a goodlaugh and I havebeen authorised to tell the tale. We enjoyedthe visit - keepgoing , D'arcy, and l't JUNE 2001 makeJenny that cuppa .

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We discussedfunctions for the year and havea few trips, on the river to Lone Pine, and over to Tangalooma,Stradbroke Island,another run on the SS Forcefuland a gamesafternoon with the Sergeants Mess at RAAF Amberley. Information gatheringis in processnow . We shouldachieve at leasttwo this year. There's another' LadiesDay ' at the Casino on the 6thApril. Numbersare increasingeach time . It's a fun day. Ian and FlorenceHenderson are back from their touring aroundAustralia and may be off againsoon. Their daughter has just hada babyboy , muchto theirdelight. Garyand Sharon Reid are on theirtravels , I don't knowwhere theyare at present. Doesanyone know where Mal Pierceis thesedays? He was SafetyEquipment and I saw him last in '69 at RANAS. He came fromAdelaide . We'dlike to makecontact again. Jack Leisk and Mick Wright have recentlyjoined us, but weren'table to makethe AGM; we hopeto see them on Anzac Day. Gordon'Pancho ' Walterhas rejoinedthe Associationwith the QLDDivision and hopes to be ableto be withus on Anzacday. I had a call from 816 Squadronrecently to ask if one of the Squadroncrew could marchwith us. We will welcomehim ; it's good to see the interestand we will write to all the Squadrons invitingany serving memberto makecontact if they are up here on leave,etc . Secretary, TrevorT ite, tells me that we've had to write off around20 memberswho , despiteseveral reminders, hadn 't paid theirsubs that weredue on 31st January.I hopesome will come backi ntothe fold . NoelPayne , Presidentof FESR,has been nominatedfor an Awardwithin the Order of AustraliaHonours and the Honours Officeasked me to writein supportof the nominationon behalf of our Division. I havedone so , stressinghis dedicationand untiring efforts in achievingrecognition for the Malayaveterans , etc. I hopehe doesreceive an award. Dee and I are engagedand will be wed on May 19 at the AnglicanChurch , Kawanaat 2pm. Sadly,close friends, Warren and Maria Walterswon't be able to make it. It will be a fun afternoonand , dueto numbers, the suggestionis to bring a plate and a drink if anyonewishes to cometo the churchhall. Open invite! I wrote to Maurice Ayling, UK, after readinghis letter in Slipstream.I had a letter back from him and from Cromwell Hospitaland it appearsthey aren't doing anythingmore on Tinnitus.Maurice is annoyedas the trialshe attendedwere at his costand upset his travel plans . So... back to the drawingboard . Sadly, Bob Brown, 'Ningi', passedaway recently after a liver transplant.Several of us attendedhis funeraland it was a very moving ceremony. There were also many of the Ulysses motorcyeleclub in attendance-they 're a greatmob . Bobwas a WOFire Chief when he retiredfrom the Navy. Well, I'm writing this after a dinner party and the vino is causinga slowingup , so I'll wrapit up now. (ThankGod , saysthe Editor)[I wasthinking more along the linesof Amen.Ed]

Topthree photographs taken at theAGM and Barbecue held at the CurrumbinRSL on 04 March01 . Photo's courtesyMick Blair . GarryReid -Don Parkinson and Sharon Reid at Nowra Bottomphoto courtesy Don Parkinson.

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FAAASSOCIATION STATE CONTACTS BIOGRAPHY A LASTFAREWELL NATIONALEXECUTIVE NANCYBIRD WAL TON 5 fie a,.,o.ciatianJt.eaJ.W widi 1WJIUdtfie President:RADM Neil Ralph AO DSCRAN (Rtd) ckatli, of-tfiefollowing, rrwn&,t.,, POBOX 164 , BOMADERRY,NSW 2541 Born in Sydneyin 1915, Nancy Bird­ Phone: (02)4421 6988 -Fax (02) 44226068 "fliprnale6and ~: Walton is one of Australia'saviation Secretary:Mr GordonEdgecombe pioneers. PO BOXA115, NAVALPO, NOWRA2540 StanleyHume Nancyflew for the first time when Phone:(02) 4422 1759-Fax (02) 4422 33979 December2000 shewas 13. Fiveyears later Nancy took AUSTRALIANCAPITAL TERRITORY DIVISION "3"3 flyinglessons with Sir CharlesKingsford­ Stuart'Brummie' Horton Smith who had just opened a pilots' President:Mr BrianCourtier Ex- RN LoanServed Albatross/Nirimba schoolnear Sydney . Nancybecame the 61/15John Cleland Close, FLOREY, ACT 2615 14 January2001 - Age71 first Australian woman to earn a Phone: (02)6259 7736-Mobile : 04 08166741 "3"3 Secretary:RADM Brian Treloar AO RAN(Rtd) CommercialPil otsLicense, at age 19. GeorgeWilliam 'Dick' Whittington Nancy helped establish a flying POBOX 3652, WESTON CREEK, ACT 2611 Phone: (02)6288 2730 Ex-CPOElect. (Air) - HMASSydney medical servicein outbackNew South "3"3 Walesto coverterritory not servicedby WESTERNAUSTRALIA DIVISION RoderickAnthony Price theRoyal Flying Doctor Service . Ex- EM(Air) - HMASSydney President:Mr JackSuriano In 1936Nancy entered an air race "3"3 fromAdelaide to Brisbaneand won the POBOX 26, MaylandsWA 6051 Secretary:Mr PeterWelsh MalcolmRobertson ladiestrophy . 42 SaddlebackCircle -Maida Vale WA 6057 February2001 In 1950she foundedthe Australian Phone: H (08)9454 6045 -W (08)9411 7781 (A44543) Women's Pilots'Association , whichtoday Fax:W (08)9411 2860 Email: [email protected] "3"3 ·- hasover 600 members . RobertF Liddicoat In 1958 Nancy competed in a SOUTHAUSTRALIA DIVISION 10"February 2001 famousall-women race in America, the "3"3 'PowderPuff Derby', the first time a President:CMDR John SiebertRAN womanfrom overseas had competed . PO BOX 177MITCHAM VIC 5062 SQDNLDRMurray Neilson Nancyhas been appointedas an Phone: (08)8351 1314 16 February2001 envoy for the Federationof Australia Secretary:Mr Barry Lord CO No.2Squadron RNZAF 65 WhitmoreSquare, ADELAIDE SA 5062 celebrations,and is also promotingan exhibitionat the PowerhouseMuseum VICTORIADIVISION aboutthe historyof Australianwomen "3"3 aviators. President:Mr John Champion WilliamSeddon James Love 8/29Brighton Street, SANDRINGHAM VIC 3191 25 February2001 Phone: (03)9521 9503 "3"3 Secretary:Mr RonChristie LeslieThomas Young 15 BiancaCourt , ROWVILLEVIC ·3178 18 March2001 Member'sE -mailDirectory# 5 Phone: (03)9764 5542-Fax : (03)9755 5417 If youwish your E-mail address published, (Ret'dSec/Mngr of the WhiteEnsign Club) pleasecontact the Editor. NEWSOUTH WALES DIVISION "3"3 Ian Leach President:Mr MaxAltham 21 March2001 PhilWilliams 27 DouglasStreet , NOWRANSW 2541 · "3ro [email protected] Phone/Fax: (02)4421 6042 RussellE C Hamer 79 HoddleAve. Campbelltown 2560 Secretary:Mr MikeHeneghan POBOX 28, NOWRANSW 2541 25 March2001 Phone/Fax: (02)4441 2901 "3"3 ColSpence DennisAdams . TASMANIADIVISION [email protected] March2001 President:Mr BarrySimpson (Sculptorof The Batsmanand the KenStaff POBOX 407, ULVERSTONE TAS 7315 FAAMemorial at theAMoF) [email protected] Secretary:Mr LesKube 61 LindhillAvenue, LINDISFARNE TAS 7015 KevinLongford Phone: (03)6243 6540 [email protected] QUEENSLANDDIVISION DISCLAIMER:Slipstream is publishedby TheFleet MikeHeneghan President:Mr BarryLister Air Arm Associationof AustraliaIncorporated. All 2 WandarriStreet ; WURTULLABEACH QLD 4575 [email protected]. rights reserved. Reproductionin part or wholeis Phone: (W)(07) 5495 4288 -(H) (07)5493 2934 - forbiddenwithout the expresspermission of the Fax:(07) 5495 4560 Editorin writing.All care will be takenwith material Secretary:Mr TrevorTite RonMelville but no responsibilityis acceptedor assumedby the [email protected]. 37 MilesStreet , CABOOLTURE QLD 4510 Phone: (07)5499 3809 publisheror editoriqlstaff for Jossor damage.The viewsand opinions expressed in thispublication do SLIPSTREAMEDITOR SLIPSTREAMEDITOR not necessarilyreflect the viewsand opinions of the [email protected] SEEFRONT COVER Associationor Committeeof Management.

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