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Back to 1962 index or Main Index Makan – No. 153 Dear Dig, HOSPITAL VISITATION During the last year one of our most important members was a patient at Yaralla and not a soul knew of it! It rather shocked the Committee to think that such a thing could happen, but in point of fact it has been happening for years and we have neglected this side of our work. Bessie Ellis was the patient. Our newest committee member, Phil Schofield, is a hospital visitation man and after listening to him a small sub-committee presented us with a plan which has been adopted. Briefly, it will work like this. We will send TWO members each week to visit Yaralla. Names of patients will he supplied to the visitors by Kevin Ward who will ring the visiting members one week prior to their visit. Members will work in pairs and may visit at any time during their week. They will report to Kevin Ward after each meeting in order that Information away be conveyed to members per “Makan”. If at any time, a visitor is unable to go, the next visitor on the list will be advised to "fill in". We want about twenty members to volunteer for hospital visitation, making one visit every ten weeks. Ring Kevin Ward if you are interested. We are starting late but, at least, we will do it properly now as we can expect a great incidence of hospitalization as the years roll on. LAYING-UP OF COLOURS On the 9th December it is preposed to "lay-up" the colours of the 30th Inf. Bn. at St. Stephens Church, Macquarie Street. Full details of the ceremony will be published in the next “Makan", but briefly it will be the normal Army procedure as laid down. It is a very colourful ceremony and will be preceded by a parade in Hyde Park of 30th Bn. diggers from both first & Second World Wars, plus the present serving members. After the ceremonies, an afternoon tea will be held for members and wives at North Sydney. All members and wives are invited. To ensure that catering arrangements are adequately made, we request that you confirm that you are coming - not later than the night of the Reunion, 27th October. THE SECRETARY'S OVERSEAS TOUR For many years now we have, repeatedly, asked that you write us of your trips and holidays and the information received has always been read with interest by the other members. Never did I contemplate that I would make a world trip myself and now that I have returned from one I find myself in a position to write of a trip and I feel a little diffident about it. First, let me tell you why I went overseas. I went to attend a World Convention of Credit Unions at Madison, U.S.A. and then to study Credit Union techniques in the U.S.A., Canada and Fiji. Whilst I was there, my trade union, the A.B.C. Staff Assn., in conjunction with my employer, sent me to New York and later to London to investigate salaries and conditions in the T.V. & Radio industry in order that such evidence may be used to evaluate similar wages and conditions in Australia. Now, you are probably wondering what is a credit union and I would like you to know all about them so that if you are interested you may get in touch with me. A Credit Union is a group of people bound by a common bond who group together and save regularly (or invest) and the money saved is lent to those of the group who require it. Money saved earns interest or dividend at almost double bank interest and money is borrowed at a true rate of approx. 10% p.a. The security is based on the member's character and his ability to repay. Money may be borrowed up to £1,000. The whole of the Credit Union is run for members, by members and all profits remain in the Credit Union. The common bond may be the one religion, the one trade, one employer, one residential area, and so on. Migrant people have the bond of one nationality - there is no limit to the type of bond so long as it is common to all members of the Credit Union. The Credit Union is managed by a board of directors elected by the members and is subject to the Co-operation Act of N.S.W. and to government inspection. The Credit Union is welcomed by the management of big organisations as a means of increasing the real value of wages in the employees' pockets and of relieving them of financial worries. Bad debts are practically non-existent in credit unions and, as an example, in the organisation where I work we have six credit unions, have lent half a million pounds in four years and have had less than £400 bad debts. In a credit union if a borrower dies, his debt is cancelled and no claim is made on his estate. That, briefly, is a little about credit unions. I would like you to think about it and if you would like to see one in your firm, your R.S.L. Club or your parish, just let me know and we will have a talk about it. When I left Australia I was open minded about the people I would be meeting and the places to which I would be going, so I give you my personal impressions only, as I would not have the temerity to pass judgements on such short experience. Here goes: At Los Angeles I was disappointed at the cold, blustery weather as I always imagined Los Angeles to be perpetually warm. I left my overcoat in the plane and by the time I recovered it all the passengers had gone and I was left at the terminal with my baggage and with only a few odd people in sight. Due to a mistake, I was not met at Lou Angeles and I thought I would telephone a few credit unions as I knew they would help me. The telephone was too complicated for me to use and the staff on duty showed no interest in assisting me. I eventually got into a bus and into Los Angeles to a pub just near the bus terminal. Tea time was over (it was about 8 p.m..) and the fabulous "American Service" was unable to feed me, so I walked around and around the block looking for a restaurant, or an eating house which catered for ordinary people like me. I was worried about this as I was unused to the currency and did not know what to order. Eventually I went into a semi hamburger type of place and ordered the first thing I could understand on the menu. I then walked around a few blocks and saw picture shows (cinemas) which are open all night, book shops and drug stores (also open all night) and hordes of badly dressed people. The girls were not smart and the men looked untidy and I was appalled by both the flashness of some negroes and by the poverty of others. Back at the hotel I had a row with the receptionist as they said they were unable to give me a cup of tea at 5.30 a.m. the time I was booked to leave for Taxes. I left that pub without regrets and carried my bag across the road to the bus terminal, where the bus driver refused to allow me to place my bags in the bus. I had to find a coloured man to do this for which service I paid, half a crown. I hated the place and the people and was glad to get on to a plane and to get away from it all. My trip to Texas, across the Arizona Desert, was like a dream with the air so clear one could almost see people on the ground and the magnificent scenery for fifty miles on either side of the plane. At Dallas, Texas, I stopped into a warm world of warm people. Jim Barry, of the Tex Credit Union League, met me and said he wanted to take me to San Antonio and would I care for a sandwich anyway? I said "O.K." to both statements and answer and in the restaurant he declared to all and sundry that I was Australian and must have a Texas sized sandwich. We had 4 waitresses who would not leave us and a meat sandwich which was so big I had to press my jaws open to got it into my mouth. They would not take any money on my account and said "Come again", and "You're always welcome". This was my introduction to the real America and it was the same everywhere I went except in New York, which I will mention later. San Antonio, by the way, is 250 miles from Dallas - I had gathered the impression that it was a suburb of Dallas. While there I saw the Alamo where Davey Crockett was killed fighting the Mexicans in the war between Texas and Mexico. The Alamo was an old mission station and is preserved as a National monument. The next day we visited Austin, capital of Texas where I saw the House of Parliament or "Capital." All over America those "Capitals" are built as a replica of the White House. It is a quaint custom, but rather a nice one I thought and was a demonstration to me of the tremendous importance with which the Americans regard the White House and Democracy. The people think BIG in Texas. At Dallas I saw six blocks of city buildings which were to be pulled down to make way for new buildings with four-level air-conditioned streets! Texas is a State of 10 million people and is sprinkled with cities, such as Dallas & Fort Worth, where 40 storied skyscrapers are common place. They even boast the biggest Baptist Church in the world at Dallas. From Texas I travelled through America by air-conditioned car with my new friends with whom I had worked for the week I was there. The names of the States seemed magical to me.. Oklahoma! Mississippi!. Missouri! Illinois! Wisconsin! We swept a along for three days on the great motor roads and passed through Springfield where Abraham Lincoln was born, through the Ozarks where I expected "hill-billies" to suddenly appear, and through St. Louis where I looked for Negro slums and steamboats. We passed through the outer suburbs of Chicago where the area is dotted with Orange shaped water tanks parched on slender supports. It was a queer sight to me to see these unusual shaped globes dotting the landscape like great oranges on sticks. In Wisconsin we were in the Dairy State of America where milk and production is a fine art. Milk is a dream and our Australian milk is flat and watery by comparison. The North Americans drink what is called "homogenised” milk which is ordinary milk, treated in such a way that the cream is suspended in the milk and remains there all the time. The resultant mixture is a delicious, creamy milk which most Australians would enjoy as I did. While at Wisconsin I stopped at Madison, a University City and attended a convention there. Madison is set on 4 lakes and the whole of the city is tree-lined and criss-crossed by little streams which run between the lakes. I saw otters in the lakes which freeze over in the winter and visited the world's first radio station at the University. There they have 22,000 students and house students from all over the world. The football bowl there seats 16,000 spectators it was not so large. The authorities required more seating but were restricted in area, so as they could not expand THEY WENT DOWN and dropped the whole field deep into the ground and placed additional tiers of seats where the ground had previously been! In addition, of course the University has indoor playing fields! That's all the space allotted to me for this "Makan”, but if you are still interested I will tell you some more next month. LAST POST Lieut. General Gordon Bennett. All members will have read and thought about the death of our Divisional Commander. Soldiers of the 2/30th did not know General Bennett as, apparently, members of other units did. The General, to us, was just that, the General and as such, our troops did not expect to meet him in person. Any controversy regarding his actions in leaving Singapore also seemed very remote to our Unit and the subject was not of general interest to us. One thing remained, however, and it was the fact that he WAS the 8th Division Commander and belonged to the Division. Our members turned up in force for the funeral, the Committee was officially represented at the Cathedral Service and our own C.O. was one of the eight pall-bearers. Our deepest sympathy to Mrs. Bennett and her family. LEN MATTHEWS Ex-members of A. Company will be saddened to hear of the death of Lennie Matthews recently. Len was always a quiet chap and was well liked by those who knew him. Len was a member of the Ryde R.S.L. Sub-Branch. He was not a member of our Association and consequently had not attended many of our functions in the last few years. ARTHUR COLLISON Arthur did not go away with the unit. He was transferred, through poor health, out of the Unit at Bathurst. Arthur, however, was fairly well known in the unit and had attended every Reunion we have held. He was a great admirer of the "Old Man" and of the Unit's record. He was drowned on a fishing trip as a result of an accident. He tripped in the boat, hit his head-on the gunwhale and fell unconscious into the water.- Arthur will be missed at the reunions he loved to attend. MALCOLM MacDOUGAL It is with a heavy heart that I record the death of big McDougal. During my visit to England I worked very hard for a fortnight within a stone's throw of big Mac but I was too frightened to ring him, knowing the trouble he would get me into to. However, I finished my work at 3 p.m. on a Friday afternoon and was due to leave London before breakfast on Sunday morning. I rang Big Mac and he immediately took over. I went to his Chambers and from there to the "local" to await his wife. I as not sure whether you would have recognised Mac - enormous body, shock of grey hair and with great horn-rimmed glasses he limped along on his gammy leg like a king attended by his subjects. The landlord came out from the pub to assist him up the stairs; when leaving, came out to the car to the to assist him into it. Big Mac ignored him. When we sat down. TWO waiters awaited his pleasure and Mac just ordered his drinks from the world in general although, completely ignored, the waiters were never more than two feet away from him. The landlord, shaking at the thought of repercussions of a new hotel law which had just been brought down, kept coming to the big fellow for encouragement. Mac confided to me, on the side, that he hadn't read the new law and neither had any other lawyer, so he could speak with equal authority on the subject with the best lawyers in England. We told the landlord he would read the statute that night and pushed him away. You have heard the expression "a ravishingly beautiful woman", well ...Big Mac's wife arrived and she was just that, a beautiful woman with great charm and great intelligence. She fussed over Malcolm like a baby, stopped him drinking and got him to the car to take us to a small dinner attended by Mac's partner and wife and another couple. What a wonderful evening it was with Mac roaring and swearing at everyone, his wife Diana trying to calm him down and the good wine flowing. Big Mac had all the answers to all the world 's problems but as fast as he propounded them Diana would shoot holes in his theories. The-next afternoon I spent with the MacDougal's and we had the first official "Overseas Reunion". Mac talked nothing but "Black Jack” and the Unit and we solemnly toasted "fallen Comrades," the Regiment, and so on. We sent home Minutes of the meeting to "B.J." and Big Mac said some of our fellows had enough money and would be silly enough to come to London for the second Overseas Reunion, which we planned for next July. Big Mac is dead. Gross, uncouth, rude. The scourge of authority, both civil and military, he stamped his way through life under a facade of toughness. His facade was false, as underneath he was a kind men, passionately devoted to the Unit and a blind admirer of "Black Jack". Big Mac cared naught for popularity and rode rough shod over many, including at times, myself. There are quite a few members of the Unit, however, who owe a great deal to Mac and counted him as a great friend. Our Unit was a family with many faces. Dadda Duprez, John Gaden, Big Jim Mitchell, Tunnell Clyne, Reg Ellis, Lofty Ambrose. Their names rise in one's memory if one sits quietly and thinks over the years. Big Mac was part of our family. To his wife, Diana the members send their deepest sympathy in her bereavement. It may be some comfort to her to know that whilst we are alive Big Mac will be alive. God bless the memory of Big Mac with all the pictures his name brings to mind, but above all, his great loyalty to 2/30th Bn. ANNUAL REUNION - SHORT NOTICE The Annual Reunion Dinner will be held an Saturday, 27th October at Anthony Hordern's. We apologies for the short notice but due to a misunderstanding by Hordern's our usual date was overlooked. There is no need to tell you of the pleasure which you will have and will give to others by your presence at the Dinner. The Committee hopes for a larger attendance from our Newcastle boys. The doors open at 6.15 p.m. and the dinner will start at 7 p.m. Come as early as you can; entrance will be by the little lane in George Street at the Town Hall end of Anthony Hordern's. The "Old Man" will be there of course; he normally does not venture out at night now, but for this occasion he could not be kept away. You will receive your ticket next week. £2 per head is the damage and this covers cost of dinner and refreshments. Please send your subscription to Harry Collins, 9 Beatrice St., Balgowlah, as quickly as possible in order that we may finalise catering arrangements. MAKE THE NIGHT OUT A MUST ! See you there!! REGIMENTAL TIES We have ordered more ties after selling the 196 we ordered in the first batch. Ties cost £1 and we suggest that you send your money now in order to save disappointment again. The ties are a popular item and are so presentable that many members wear them all the time. BITS ABOUT THE BOYS Harry Wilson of Collaroy sent in his subs but forgot to add some news of himself. Lloyd Stuart is still playing good golf. His secretary, his mothers attends to all Lloyd’s correspondence. Newest Lifer is Ron McBurney, one of our old stalwarts. Ron is a member of the Police Force and lives at Cabramatta. Clarrie Lattimer of Kyogle drops a line occasionally. Clarrie keeps fair health and generally refuses to be worried by most things. Jack Hart, ex A. Coy. is working at the Small Arms Factory at Lithgow where he has been for many years. Blair Taylor is editor of a fine magazine produced by his sub-branch of the R.S.L. at West Canberra. See you at the dinner (27.10.62) STAN ARNEIL. Back to 1962 index or Main Index |