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Makan – No. 60 Official Organ of the 2/30th Bn. A.I.F. Assn Patron: Brig. F.G. Galleghan, D.S.O.,
O.B.E., E.D. Dear Dig, Reg Brennan who never learned to write (else why would his good wife write all his letters for' him?) has been keeping in good health and is making a reasonable living in these times of dog eat dog. Reg has two children, both boys, and lives Strathfield. Mrs. Val Ellis, wife of that lean and skinny wretch Jack Ellis (Ellis, Willis and Pluis, H.Q. Coy) has just sent along Jack's subs for a few years and will gouge a life Membership from him as soon as Reg tells her how much it will cost her. They have two children, two girls now four years and one year and they are both like Jack "long and lean". Jack is keeping good health and as a farmer, and a good one at that, has probably taken a few shekels out of the pool that was established by providence after the war for oil farmers and those connected with the land. However, with prices for primary products coming down slightly Jack has decided not to buy a new car this year but will try and scratch along on the one he purchased in 1950. Snowy Mason, D. Coy., has been off work for nearly five months with a bad wrist but is back in the salt mines again now. Snowy has shifted again and his latest address is Eastwood. The Association is very happy to record that Gentleman George Ramsey has been granted, on the occasion of his retirement from the Army, a promotion to that of full Colonel. It is a great honour and not before its time. Colonel Ramsay is now entitled to the touch of red braid around the cap and shoulders. We send our heartiest congratulations to him. Des Kearney has been flashing his white teeth around the North West recently and reports quite a bag of news. Bruce Ford,. now promoted to Tamworth, found a home the very first day he arrived there. Ray Michell is doing well at Tamworth as a farmer whilst his brother George is doing equally well as a sheep farmer in the same district. At Boggabri, Des ran into little Tommy Howard ex-A. Coy., Tommy has not changed one iota since the old days. Neil Huntley is President of his local sub branch at Spring Ridge and recently helped to manage the Local Diggers Ball as is held in every second country town with the local pub going full swing the whole night through and visitors coming in for miles around. It must be a very good sub-branch, in a recent drive for funds the sum of £400 was collected, mainly from a sheep drive. If a sheep drive were held in this city the locals would do little else but eat them! We received a report from Wal Eather of a recent re-union of ex-Eighth Div. Personnel at Tamworth. By all accounts it was a very successful show and just over one hundred lads from North Western towns attended. Of our own unit there were present Bruce Ford, George and Ray Michell, Ian Pryce, Neil Huntley, Tom Bowden, Doug Hicks and others, Lt. Gen. Gordon Bennett was the guest speaker and all in all the night was one to remember. One hundred gallons of beer were on tap and being good tacticians there were one hundred gallons in reserve. However they over estimate their capabilities in the North and only sixty three gallons were consumed. The night was quite a success financially this year as against last year’s effort when they were so deep in the red that the hat was sent around among all the guests in an effort to defray the costs. Doug Hicks who works at Treloar's store at Tamworth, makes an excellent home brew. Ian Price is now Headmaster of the Demonstrations School at Armidale. He says that his hardest task is placating his two headmistresses and repairing the cisterns. Des Kearney is the most popular favourite of the kids at Wal Eather’s school since he called upon Wal and kept him yarning for about an hour when the children should have been learning good citizenship. Congratulations are in order for Vernon Baynes on his recent wedding to a New Zealand girl. Their new address is Hornsby. In a recent tour of Newcastle and district in an official capacity the Old Man was given a nice little "do" at Maitland by Ron Maston and a gang of 30th from that district. Arthur Purdon and Bernie McMahon were among those present and Bill Jones arrived with his young son. The festivities dragged on until all present were not quite sure of the time and decided that it was not that late anyway. Life members are not coming along as often as of yore as the supply of potentials are running down. However, Dinny Lane is the latest to transfer and his worries about his annual subs are now a thing of the past. Dinny is quite the big time now, he has a business at Granville and is doing well. We saw Clyde Blencowe propping up the wall in a city street recently. Clyde had been down for a spell at Yaralla. He is very lean and is apparently not as fit as he should be. Saw Dave Jordan also of late. He is another one of the scrawny ones and is looking like myself, like a Don Athaldo advertisement (before treatment). ANNUAL REUNION The Annual Reunion will be held this year at Arncliffe Drill Hall on Friday night the 23rd November. Proceedings will commence officially at 7.30 p.m and will terminate when you desire them to do so. At first glance the prospect of going to Arncliffe sounds very bleak but a little thought will make you realise that we will be as well off as if we had held the show at Sargents. Arncliffe is only a few stations from Central Station and trains run frequently to its, that is about every fifteen minutes. The trains run from St. James, Museum or Central and NOT from Wynyard or Town Hall. The drill hall is only a few steps from Arncliffe station and you should ask the railway ticket collector for precise directions. The big thing to bear in mind is that you should be early if possible although you will not miss out on anything if you arrive later as many probably will. We can guarantee that no matter how much you like to drink there will be a little more than you want. For those who do not care for liquor (Sammy Hall, for instance) there will be a variety of soft drinks. There will be makan in abundance to suit your taste and that means everybody’s taste even though it will be a Friday night. The makan will be hot and tasty and you can eat it when you care to instead of sighting a plate of food for a minute before it is swept up by an eager waitress who has one eye on the clock. You will not be inconvenienced by the roaring of an urger that it is closing time even though you feel that you could enjoy a little more ale or conversation with your friends. In short there is the possibility that you will enjoy the free and easy atmosphere of the drill hall even more than you have enjoyed our reunions in the past. And, to make the prospect more attractive, the price is only ten shillings. Yes, ten bob is very cheap in these days of inflationary prices and to give the same service at a city hall would cost you at least 22/-. The success of the reunion will depend upon yourselves, will you try to make it a grand success by coming along yourself and by bringing that other 30th cobber of yours who lives around the corner? Just one thing, half a dozen lads at the Drill Hall at a quarter to seven o'clock would be a great help in preparing the hall. Carl Odgers is still the very popular Mine Host at Katoomba. For an old Grandfather he looks exceedingly young and certainly does not look his thirty nine years. Reg and Bess Ellis recently spent a short stay with Carl and his good lady and one day they journeyed out to Lithgow. Whilst there they dined at a Grill House and although Reg won the toss to see who would pay, Carl hasn't got over the fact that the bloke only charged him 10/6 for four steak and eggs. Reg also met Jimmy Parsons, Andy Knox and Doughy White. Jim is now employed by David Jones at Katoomba as a cutter. He had to give up butchering on account of his poor old feet. Although he has had a lot of set backs Jim can still raise a smile (and a thirst) because he's almost finished building his new home. Andy Knox was holidaying at the mountains and he and Reg were also able to knock over a couple together, as was the case with Doughy who was up there for the day only, as he said, to give the kids a blow. Stew Blow, the "millionaire" Dairy farmer from the south coast, was seen recently drinking grog at a pub in the Corso at Manly with a couple of his old cronies. Stew has a lovely new upper denture, the only thing wrong with it is that he can't (or won't) wear it. Please send all cheques, postal notes etc., to Reg Ellis, 13 Albany Street, St. Leonard’s. See you at the Reunion. STAN ARNEIL. Back to 1951 index or Main Index |