Makan – No. 66
1st May,1952

Official Organ of the 2/30th Bn. A.I.F. Assn

COMMITTEE

Dear Dig,

THE CALL

With this issue of "Makan" you will receive a copy of "The Call to the People of Australia”. We foresee that most of the members will agree with the ideals of "The Call", but that not all will agree that we should be distributing agents. Well there is no necessity for any member to become heated about it and perhaps consider that we are attempting to force a moral code upon them, we are not. It just happens that the 8th Division Council is represented on the Committee which is responsible for the dissemination of the Call and as members of the Council we were asked if we would distribute copies to our members. Presumably other Associations have also been asked to do so. The Executive decided that we would distribute a copy to each member.

PRISONERS OF WAR TRUST FUND

At the General Meeting of the Association which was held on 18th April, the question of the claims on this Fund were discussed in detail. It is apparent that the majority of the members of this Association will not benefit from the Fund, because the terms of reference have been so worded that they are excluded. Many of those present at the Meeting almost foamed at the mouth with indignation at what they said were insulting and impertinent questions asked on the form. Forthwith, a strong motion of protest against the form was moved and seconded and the whole Meeting were almost ready to rush off to Canberra and stage a protest Meeting before the House. However, Jimmy Cooper made the following remarks and the motion was postponed far a period. Jimmy said that:

1. The Association now has an elected Welfare Officer (Sammy Hall) who is accredited as such with the Canteens Services Trust Fund. The C.S.T.F. is a much larger fund than the one we are at present arguing about.

2. Acting as Welfare Officer, Sammy Hall has already made application and has been successful in claiming the maximum amount of relief for one of our members.

3. The space headed-"For Use of Investigating Officer" on page 4 of the application is considered by the Executive to be for the use of an accredited Investigating Officer such as Sammy Hall.

4. Acting on this assumption, the Old Man (who disagrees with us on the interpretation of this particular point of the form) has written to the Trustees asking that Sammy Hall be registered as an Investigating Officer.

5. If the Trustees agree to this we suggest that you might do better if you completed the form and sent it direct to Sammy Hall, who would be the only person of the Executive to see it and who would then make his report and forward it to Melbourne.

6. We expect a reply within a couple of weeks, so if you are interested, Sydney Members should ring Sammy Hall at XY. 4046 after 15th May.

7. Although the bulk of the members will not benefit from the-Fund, there are undoubtedly many genuine cases of hardship amongst members and we earnestly urge you to make application to the fund for relief.

Major Okey, ex 2/18th Bn., was recently appointed to a post in Europe and on his way over, he stopped in Singapore. An extract from a letter he wrote to the Old Man is as follows:

"On the way over I stopped for a night at Singapore. There I rang Garry Rickwood and he brought his wife and brother to Raffles, where I gave them drinks. When he asked me what I like to do, I said that I would like to see the cemetery at Kranji. So we boarded his 1951 Pontiac and out we went. I cannot tell you how beautifully it is being maintained. You can assure any Unit that has personnel buried there that they can, with the greatest confidence, tell next-of-kin, that they could not look after grounds with more devotion than is being bestowed on them now. A Malay is in charge and there is not a blade of grass out of place. The headstones are crosses on which the name, rank and unit are marked and they are set in grass terraces, surrounded by well kept paths and lovely flowering trees. From the summit of the cemetery, one looks out over the Kranji River and across the Straits of Johore. It is a truly lovely and peaceful site."

Val Henning has given the peanuts away and has returned from the Northern Territory. He says, "I have been feeling the strain of my limited mental powers and I am glad to be back at Weethalle.

We have very good news from Ross Madden who tells us of his new daughter, now three months old. The new addition to the family is as healthy as a cricket and the Maddens are loving every minute of her. Ross is at Armidale, and is a painter of houses. He has been working with the one firm now for some years and although there are six men in his gang, he writes that they are still twelve months behind in their orders. Bill Humphreys lives in the same town and recently built a garage for Ross, who repaid him by painting his house.

Frank Purvis of Abbotsford, is well but has a very tired pen.

Clem Jobson of Crowdy Heads via Harrington is still fishing for a living, but with the high price of gear now there is not much in it. Clem is batching with his three boys as his eldest daughter has married and has left Pop to cook for himself. At Taree where the local club is situated, the new additions to the Club will cost about £3,800 and it should be a grand place for Clem to tell about the big ones which got away.

Jacko Jackson of Chatswood is still golfing mad and recently won a very nice trophy, in the shape of a pewter mug. Jacko finds the walking very congenial, particularly the walk- from the eighteenth to the nineteenth hole.

The Masseys, who have changed their address as frequently as most people change their socks, have changed it again, but this time it is the fault of the Postal people, and not their own. Their new address is C/- Lowers Plain, St. George, Queensland. Hank and Thelma are now expert brewers of home made ale but only after a long period of trial and error. The first batch washed Hank, the floor and the curtains, the second batch had to be covered with a heavy sack to stop the exploding bottles from injuring the family, whilst the third batch was just plain bad. However, they have mastered the recipe now and swear by the result. It has been very hot in St. George and when we received this letter a couple of months ago the temperature was 112 degrees in the shade.

Alan Prentice of Walgett writes that Bert Carter was sighted at Culgoa some time ago and that Claude Neilson, 2/29th , and known to all the Great World boys, is jackerooing at Morundah Station. Bill Hill also of the Great World is or was out at Pokataroo. Alan is well and hopes to make one of our reunions one of these days.

Clarrie Burgess of Parramatta, is well and fit and he would certainly need to be with four children to keep. Clarrie has had a tough spin since we came home and we hope that the future will be brighter for him.

Subs for two years came along from Monty Montgomery recently. You all know of him, he himself states that he is blind in one eye and cannot see out of the other and he grins as he says it. For all his great affliction, Monty is happy enough and manages to come along to all of our reunions.

Harry Griffis of Taree missed out on this year's reunion on the 15th. Feb. He was all ready to come down when the date was transferred to the 22nd: and he was unable to stretch his leave. He hopes to make it next year.

The usual long letter came to hand from Dave Tate, it read, "Please find two years subs and note address, regards." Dave probably hasn't time to write anyway and at least the important thing is to keep up those subs. We must ask Dave's cobber Snowy Stevens whether Dave has put on any weight since we knew him. To our knowledge Dave was one of the thinnest men we had ever met, but he was certainly one of the toughest and Dave was always on his feet and still going strong when most of the others were on their last legs.

Jackie Fell has moved again and is now at Cessnock. Jack thinks that this will be one of his last moves as he is very happy at Cessnock and has a good job as greenkeeper at the local Bowling Club. Jack is busy with negotiations with the War Services Homes at the moment for the purchase of the house in which he is now living.

The General Meeting and the Anzac Day March will be reported in full in the next Makan.

Cheerio,

STAN ARNEIL

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