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Makan – No. 16
Official Organ of 2/30th BN. A.I.F. Association Dear Dig, The lads from the North Coast are working in a variety of jobs and most of them are doing fairly well. George Johnson of C Comp. is a successful banana grower in the Murwillumbah district. Knowing George fairly well, you will probably say that he eats most of the crop and sends the balance to the market. Roy Douglass is living in that district, also Harold Perandis, who is in poor health. Jimmy Hatton and Alan McPherson both live up there. Jimmy is still troubled. with his eyesight but is working with the C.S.R. He is said to be drinking his share so he must be friendly with the right people Alan McPherson has blossomed out slightly and is not as shy as before. He has a- cream run at Ballina and is making a crust. In a letter from Casino, we hear that Nugget Crummy, Leo Hogan and Jimmy Morgan are all doing well and find time to have a drink in the local every so often. Lindsay Boys is now a French polisher and has completed his course under the C.R.T.S. If you want your furniture repolished to your requirements, I will forward your letters to him. Carl Odgers of H.Q. Coy. is a big shot these days and also a very handy man to know. He and his brother have taken over the Log Cabin Hotel at Penrith and will welcome you with open arms. The beer is always on and there is nothing nicer than a spin on the Nepean River followed by a cool beer an the terrace. I am speaking from experience because I sat on the terrace all one Sunday, with Roy Mooney and Porkey Evans, and watched the folk enjoy both the rowing and the drinking. Next time I go I intend to do some rowing. Give Carl a ring or just go up one Sunday and take your wife or girl friend. If it rains it is even more delightful because you will then be able to spend all day in the lounge. I was talking to Kingie (C.A.) Martin recently. He was just back from a long visit to Greenslopes in Queensland and found the climate much more pleasant than down here. The latest person to transfer from ordinary to life membership is your very old friend William Liddell. Bill is still as fit as ever he was and just as happy. He is one of these lucky people who never lose heart, If you can remember back to Sonkurai you will recall that Bill walked from Bhan Pong to Sonkurai with a great carbuncle in the centre of his back, and what is worse, carried his own pack all the way. The ugly sore made it impossible for him to sleep on his back at all but he cracked his little jokes all through, Harry Griffis is living at Blackhead - about 10 miles from Forster - and is still fishing. He has just completed a new launch complete with all the latest gadgets. Big Fred Abbotts has his own saw mill at Nabiac on the North Coast. Still the same old genial Fred. Max Rose is to be congratulated on the birth of a new daughter. Len Denver is still working hard as ever. He is now going back to work in the coal mines. Tommy Davis of Grafton has not had it all his own way lately. He spent Xmas and New Year in hospital with his first of amoebic dysentery and also tried to stop a circular saw with his thumb. He almost lost the thumb and if his fingers and toes hold out he hopes to finish his course in carpentry. Norm Lee is working in a saw mill at Woolgoolga but has had a spell in hospital. Fred Winters is working for the Vain Roads Board up there. Ossie Jackson has his own business at Bina Burra and Ernie Stratford is still living at Federal. Arthur Roberts has been in hospital in Sydney. If you lads saw the report of the Cenotaph ceremony on Feb. 15, do not be sore because you were not notified in time. We did not receive official notice until the 6th Feb, and did not have time to inform you of any details. At the last Committee Meeting of the 8th Div. Council, it was decided to hold the 8th Div. Reunion Ball in August this year. More details will be along later. There was also a very interesting article on the Ex. Prisoner-of-War Funds. The president quoted at length from the 33rd Annual Report of the Australian Red Cross Society. I always felt somehow that we had a slight interest in this money. Most of the simple folk of Australia made regular donations to the fund thinking, no doubt in their sublime innocence that we would eventually receive some small recompense for sacrifice endured. That is the way my relatives thought, anyway, as I should no doubt imagine yours did too. The thousands of hard working volunteers who trudged around, gratis, to collect the money probably thought along the same line. They collected £4,360,000 That's a lot of money in anybody's language, but here is a staggerer, the expenditure amounted to £3,069,000. Have a little think about that figure and then, after allowing for the P.O.W's.' in Germany, try, and work out the value of the Red Cross comforts you received while you were P.O.W's. Visualise the food that actually arrived in Changi, add to it the food the Jap held on to, and then work out your share. Don't be too hard about it; throw in a few shillings and make the figure up to £2 each. Well, the expenditure amounted to over £39000,000 and I think, without being nasty that the folk who collected the money for the Fund would be interested to see how much of this money went on travelling expenses, motor car expenses, rents, wages, etc. But don't think that that is all. There was still a balance of £1,281,000. Well, you don't get your claws on that either because it has been transferred to the general funds of the Society. You are still entitled to benefits from the Society, as are all other ex-service personnel, but the Repatriation Commission gives us a very fair go, so start whistling for your share of the P.O.W. fund because you've had it. For your further enlightenment, I give you the actual extract from the Report: "Prisoner of War Funds. With the cessation of hostilities in the Far East, a vital question arose in regard to certain of our funds donated for prisoner of war purposes. These funds carried a limited specific trust - that is to say, they could not be used for any other Red Cross purpose until the needs of Australian prisoners of war had been met. On the recovery of all traceable prisoners of war and official advice from the Navy, Army and Air Force authorities that, officially, there were no longer any prisoners of war, it was felt the time had arrived for a merger of the balances of prisoners of war funds with the general funds of the Society. An application was made to the Supreme Court of Victoria for an order enabling this to be done, and the Court, after hearing evidence, ordered and approved such transfer on 18th June, 1946. The total collections for prisoners of war purposes approximated £4,360,000, and the expenditure £3,069,000, leaving a balance of £1,291,000 available for transfer. The transfer of these funds will in no way affect our service to any ex-prisoner of war, and the, Council stresses the fact that any such personnel becoming sick is, and will be, entitled to full Red Cross service by the Society on the same basis as all other ex-members of the Forces." Vic. Hamlin of Bores Creek is wheat-farming and has struck a bumper crop this season. Reg Millner is doing well in the sheep game at Armidale. Congratulations to Cecil Palmer on the birth of a baby son. Once more to the breach - don't forget your annual subs. which are now due, or better still, why not become a life member. 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