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Makan No. 166 Dear Dig, Birthday Honours come & go and, for the most part, the bestowal of awards & orders seems to be primarily made to cricketers, swimmers & on public servants whose sole claim to fame is that they may have sat secure and afraid to move in a government job for umpteen years. The list is one which one looks at with a jaundiced eye when one thinks of the great qualities and service to our country which others have and have given freely and which have passed unnoticed. Our very own Old Man to whom this country owes so much is only one of the many who take second place in this matter to, for example, a champion athlete. How happy therefore were we all to read in the last Honours List of the award of an M.B.E. to Reg Napper. It is a matter of congratulations & best wishes to Reg from all in the Unit. His citation reads' as follows: "W.O. Napper served with the Australian Imperial Forces from 4/9/1940 to 30/1/47. Was a member of 2/30 Infantry Battalion. Was a P.O.W. in Malaya. On 14th June,1948 he enlisted in 17/18 Infantry Battalion C.M.F. where he served until June,1960 when he was transferred to 2 Bn Royal NSW Regiment. W.O. Napper has carried out his duties as a citizen soldier in a most conscientious and competent manner. He is zealous and enthusiastic and displays an outstanding degree of loyalty to his superiors. His unquestioning readiness to accept responsibility is noteworthy and was exemplified in 1955 by his tireless work for a flood relief organisation. The high standard of conduct and devotion to duty maintained by W.O. Napper are an inspiration to all those who serve with him. He is an excellent W.O. of the C.M.F. who gives his free time in the service of his country." BITS ABOUT THE BOYS Padre Paddy Walsh is back in Bundaberg, Q'land, after an overseas holiday. He sends best wishes to all. That Russ Perkins moves around. He's like a ball of quicksilver, all over the place. Russ has gone into business - used cars - at "Westwar", 325 Church St., Granville. He's teamed up with a couple of mates & for our part, we hope he makes a mint. Dick Thompson, now in Hobart as you know, has ordered a dozen electric blankets for the winter. 'Tis said, 'tis true, he tried to buy a second hand space suit for this his first winter coming up in Tasmania. Karel Kearney, one of Des Kearney's pretty daughters, is doing exceptionally well in her music studies at the Conservatorium as a part-time student. She is a music teacher at Santa Sabina College at Strathfield which is like a permanently paid holiday for her as Karel spends all her time studying music. She hopes eventually to play in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. You know, it is a shocking way I delay with some of our news. I am looking at a letter here from your old friend, George Ramsay. The letter is dated some months back & is a request from George to thank all those who showed him so much kindness while he was in Concord last year. He particularly mentioned Bess Ellis, Kevin Ward, Noel Johnston, Graham Bridgewater, Sid Musgrove, David Clark and, of course, the Old Man, who finished up in Concord at the same time as George. The Old Man moved heaven & earth. for George (so George writes) and this even included transport direct from the airport to the hospital. Dear old George is, of course, a great favourite in the battalion for a hundred reasons and an important one was for his courage & example in war and later as a P.O.W. George always had a lot of guts but he has never had such occasion to use it as now. George has been in poor health for some years and his eyesight has now failed to such an extent that he is practically blind. He has treated the whole business as being of little importance and is busy re-adjusting his life and habits to overcome any difficulties. There should be a lot more people around like George. 14th JANUARY GEMAS DAY Once again the same old faces turned out to honour, in public, our Fallen Comrades. It makes one feel a little self conscious really to see the few members who make the effort to come along, but still I suppose this is the way it will always be. It is to those who attend, year after year, a privilege to pay public respect to mates who have gone before us. A LETTER FROM.... Do you remember Harry Hartnett? He was a good fellow, Harry. He's not as fit as he used to be and a letter from his wife is worth publishing in full : "I wish to thank you on behalf of my husband for the official organ of the 2/30 which he was in. He cannot see to write or read now as his sight has failed a lot. He could be blind any time & nothing can be done for him. He has got a reading machine from Repat. His general health is not good either, as he has something wrong with his chest & the doctors say it will get worse as the time goes on. He has not worked for 8 years & is on. the T.P.I. He wishes to be remembered to all his mates. His sympathy to Snowy Stevens on the loss of his mother, also Jack Black & hopes he is out of hospital. He would be pleased to hear from any of his mates at any time. Harry lost his mother 12 months ago. Kind regards to all from Harry & myself." Karl Sinclair of Armidale is another who follows the fortunes of unit members, rejoices in their good fortune and feels badly when they suffer hardship. Extracts from his long & interesting letter are: "Things have been a bit mixed for me of late. For about two years now I have been suffering with pains in the right arm and leg which got gradually worse, and after an X-ray the doctor decided to send me to a Physiotherapist. The treatment I received from her included hanging by the neck to the ceiling for quite a considerable period 3 times a week, but I am feeling much better as a result of the treatment so that is not so bad. My wife & I worked ourselves into the ground coming on Christmas, painting & doing repair work, and she ended up in hospital with a slipped disc in her back. She was a week in hospital and two weeks in bed at home. She seems to be much better now but I am worried about her generally. I seem pretty useless when she is ill, I just can't think, but being on holidays now I have set to with the housekeeping & I don't think I have been doing too badly at it. We started off this Spring in great form with the garden. I put eight years of new topsoil on it and lots of lime & manure. At present we have a lot of vegetables but it has been a struggle. With late frosts & then near drought conditions prevailing, I got no peaches and only a few cherries and apricots. I will have a few dozen apples but along with the dry weather there was far too much wind this year. I had a visit from Graham Bridgewater a few weeks ago. It was good to see the old Bridgie again. I didn't think he looked very well, but we had a good yarn & I would like to be able to see him more often. I was thrilled to hear of Reg Napper being up for a citation this year. No one deserves recognition more than Reg & my sincerest congratulations go to him. It is nice to hear of any of our chaps doing well & when I hear of their happiness then I feel happy but when I hear of any misfortune they may be subjected to, then I feel sad. I haven't seen Bill Humphreys for some time owing to the holiday period but I will no doubt see him when I start work next Wednesday. Yours sincerely, Karl Sinclair." SPOTLIGHT ON SINGAPORE There is a new book about to published on Singapore and I think you will find it interesting. It's been written by Dennis Russell-Roberts, a Lt. Col. who was with the 5/11 Sikhs. It doesn't devote much time to the Australians but gives our Unit an excellent pat on the back for the 41-mile peg skirmish when the Japs tried to outflank the Battalion and, you will recall, used tear gas. The author writes: "The 2/30th Bn. A.I.F. covered themselves with glory on this occasion by launching a counterattack and with the bayonet throwing the Japs back in confusion". It's a book worth buying and should be on sale shortly. ANNUAL MEETING I hope you receive this 'Makan' in time to persuade you to come to the Annual Meeting, but you should be there anyway as you will have already received your notice of meeting. It's on a Saturday night this year - NEXT SATURDAY to be exact 3rd APRIL. Don Garner's Occidental Hotel is the venue. Starts at 6.30 (pm) with a meal that will cost you one pound (£1) Don will provide half a chicken each plus plenty of flie lie and the equivalent of two bottles of beer (in draft, of course!). The dinner sounds great and two bottles of beer is about one & a half more than I can drink now anyway. Why not knock yourself around and come along?
OCCIDENTAL HOTEL, APRIL 3rd, SATURDAY NEXT Flie lie good hot, lousy cold see you Stan Arneil We hope you like the 'New Look Makan' Hospital Visitation WIVES Please telephone Kevin Ward if your man goes to hospital Back to 1965 index or Main Index |