Send in your stories and we will put 'em up for all to see ,giggle and even say "yeah I remember I was there when it happened". Or even sometimes to say gee....were we really that bad!!!!!!!!
Submitted by Bob Ebdon 21 June 2004
The Air Training Corps
I have my Dad to thank for introducing me to the Air Cadets. The scouts had become a little tame after I had learnt to shoot and anyway, I wanted to be a pilot. I was 13 when I joined up and I didn’t miss a parade in 5 years, attaining the highest rank at 2 Flight, a Flight Sergeant. There was a rifle range at Williamstown in those days. We would meet at Headquarters in North Melbourne and go by RAAF bus. It was often windy and nearly always cold in the mornings and shivering made it harder to shoot straight. We would practice for the rifle shooting competition at the 200 yard range. Now a .303 is a heavy rifle especially for a little kid and it was funny to see other cadets crawling back up the mound after the recoil had kicked them down. We had three shooting positions, standing, snap and prone. I hit some near perfect scores in the prone (laying) position but never during a competition.
In Preston at the 2 Flight hall in Raglan Street we used to set up a range inside. They had .303s with a .22 bore inserted (a Morrison) I’ve still got some perfect score targets from there (25 yards was a lot closer than 200)
Over the last two years I trained the drill team and the first year cadets. Drill, or formation marching was fun. We all enjoyed it. 30 kids in blue uniforms 3 or 4 abreast. The warrant officer at 2 Flight (a world war 2 veteran) had taken me under his wing. He wasn’t tall either but had all the force and clarity in his commands to control us from a distance. He showed me how to give the warning command, pause, then the execution command with a loud snap on the mark as their left feet hit the floor. “to the right in line………riiiiiiiight…..turn”. “Squad will retire …….. about…..turn”. We developed a few of our own tricks too, like the “silent halt” which resulted in no final stamp of feet. We didn’t win the drill competition at Laverton but I was proud to be the only NCO with a team. All the others had Cadet Under Officers.
There were a few excursions and exercises over the years. There were mock battles in the Mornington peninsula and the Yu Yangs just outside Melbourne. A .303 is a heavy burden to lug up and down mountains and among sand hills. The camps at East Sale though were a week long and included many such skirmishes.
East Sale is still an operational Air Force Base. The huts we used were probably left over from the war days. They had about 20 beds with a pot belly stove in the middle. I remember the cupboards had a strange smell, probably a cleaning agent. After hours on the promotion courses we would be preparing our lectures. A few times some cadets asked me to draw for them while the others protested. I liked drawing, especially aircraft and their bits and pieces. I don’t know about the others but I was always nervous about having to stand up in front of them and the officers to give a lecture for examination.
The toilet block was one big room with about 12 dunnys against the side walls. It was a nightly event to find all seats full, all trousers down and discussion in progress, something I never partook in. I preferred my privacy.
The mess hall was huge, big breakfasts, big meals, all you can eat. A few of us would feel unwell after breakfast and we figured out it was the coffee. They used these big round urns for coffee and for tea with a tap on two sides with a hand drawn sign over. “tea” or “coffee” and one time there was both on the same urn????
All the camps were fun, lots of stirring and joking, lots of excitement, lots of pride being “in the air force”. Pranks seem to occur when you get a lot of boys together away from mum and dad. Every morning there was a parade but one morning there was a bed in the middle of the parade ground. The cadet was obviously a sound sleeper and must have got the shock of his life to be wakened there. There were stories of cadets being smeared with boot polish (on their private parts), sheets removed from beds, beds rigged to collapse, stove flues removed, farting competitions and scary stories at night with the light off.
There were some memorable flights in RAAF Dakotas (a Dakota was an Air Force DC3, WW2 vintage freight/passenger aircraft with two radial engines). During a training camp at East Sale we were taken up for a flight where one at a time we were shown into the co-pilot’s seat. After the cock pit door closed the plane would often slip and roll and flop all over the sky. The entertainment in the back was watching the “green” cadets try to get to the toilet at the rear before throwing up. The pilots must have had a laugh too. When my turn came (I was about 15 then) I didn’t know what to expect. I was seated in the right hand seat when the pilot said “Are you familiar with the controls” to which I readily answered “Yes sir”. My familiarity of course was all in my head and I had been studying. The first task was to make a right bank and I was trying to see over the instrument panel and watch the altimeter at the same time, but what I remember was the feeling of that big bird responding to me. It was wonderful. I suppose it went OK because next he said “alright now try a left bank”. I thought I had performed marvellously and when back in the main cabin I noticed my friend at the toilet door hanging on with both hands and not looking happy at all as the plane again dropped a few hundred feet.
About 1962-3 there was a May camp at Brighton Army Base just north of Hobart. The trip across was by RAAF Dakota and that means that the main cabin was piled full of equipment with us cadets sitting along the sides in front of the portholes. We had great coats on of course but we were still cold. The kid next to me had some orange juice, it was a bumpy ride and the juice was spilt onto the window where it froze instantly.
They took us for a joy ride over the Hobart area a few days later. It was overcast on take off but bright and sunny a few hundred feet up. All we saw of Hobart was a valley filled with white cotton wool and a mountain with the TV tower on one side. The trip over the coast was great though, the pilot banked and turned a lot and we were shown a line of jagged rocks that were used as target practice during the war. It was still cold and misty though at camp but that’s where I was introduced to hot cocoa at night. We had straw palliasses for mattresses on wire bed frames that had probably been there since the war. For some reason I didn’t get any straw so I slept on the wire with a blanket. I was a corporal then and “in charge” of the hut of about 20.
One night they all ganged up on me. They intended to tie me to the bed and then “do stuff” to me but I wasn’t sure what and I fought like an animal. I was about 5 feet tall then. They had hold of my legs and arms and were holding me down while they roped my arms to the bed head. They were laughing a lot but I wasn’t going to be nuggeted or have any thing poured over my private parts so I wriggled and jack-knifed my body until one leg broke free and was kicking around so they let go of the other one and I jumped up breaking the rope on my arm. They all stood back in surprise while I stood there on the bed glaring and breathing heavy, daring them to try again. I didn’t have to yell at anyone for the rest of the time we were there.
Often in the last years I was asked to take the parade for the C.O. My friend Paul was a sergeant and he was given the adjutants role. He would march to the side, call the role and then present the flight to me. We then wandered around inspecting the cadets while they stood at attention. I still remember some hesitant reactions when I would pick a cadet out of line or tell him to adjust his dress or cap. Some of them towered over me!
In 1965 I finally had my chance. The air force offered flying scholarships to qualifying cadets and I passed all the tests and the interview. The thrill was short-lived as a week or two after I was informed that it had been reallocated to another cadet at another flight. It was also made known to me that the other cadet was the son of that flights commanding officer. My original intention was to join the air force and fly Mirages (small jet fighter of the day). I had built many models in my teens, could identify most of the world’s aircraft (and cars) and had studied everything I could but things started coming apart in my last year of school. They had made me take chemistry in 5th form because they couldn’t fit art into the time table with physics and I loved drawing and painting. Dad had died in ’64, Geoff was working interstate, Lorraine was married so it was just Mum and me and Carolyn and my dog Kim. I recall making a whip and practicing cracking it for hours when I should have been studying. I was more interested in my models and in the guitar I had bought from Terry next door. I didn’t admit it but I missed my Dad, the ex drover, goldminer, factory manager who had taken us to so many places.
I stayed with 2 Flight until I was 18 in 1966. Mum let me drive the car then so there would often be 6 of us in it and looking very official. The blue uniforms in a new white Holden were easily mistaken for police. The last time I drove to a Friday night parade was in my Customline the next year to take back my uniform. That was after the prang on my BSA. Fortunately, Mum had taken a photo of me in uniform beforehand but bikes, birds, booze, music and long hair were yet to have their way with me.
It was Mum who got me my first job as a draftsman with the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works by calling Geoff’s old boss at the Country Roads Board. I decided to join the army next year to learn to fly helicopters and Hercules. 6 years and I could leave if I wanted. Life had its hopes but the government had conscription.
Hello any old mates.
I saw the site listed in "Australian Aviation" May 2003 issue and had to have a look.
The first of interest is the letter from Peter Lalor. It brings back a lot of memories. First to answer his question about the roll of honour. It is currently located at 7 Flight's successor no 307 Sqn AAFC at Lidcombe NSW. The Olympic Games saw them thrown out of Regents Park and new facilities were provided at the Army Reserve site at Lidcombe.
I served in No 7 Flight (Motto "Super Omni - Above All) from Nov 1957 until the end of 1961. That would make me officially eligible for the nominal of "Old Coot" . The big supprise to Peter may be the fact that one of the instructors, FLTLT Percy Yates (a WWll) vet is still trotting about in uniform. Having first joined thr RAAF in 1937 and currently holding an Honorary rank I would think that he has probably served in RAAF uniform longer than any one else in the service's history. Another intersting point is that the Link trainer we frequently contested each other for a turn at flying is stiill going having recently been fully restored.
The ATC certainly had a lasting influence on my life. After being accepted as an RAAF Apprentice for the 1960 intake at Wagga I was told not to bother as I broke my hip just prior to the reporting date. So went back to the & Flight and eventually became a CDT FLT SGT. I took up an apprenticeship as an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer with Bristol Aviation Services and went on to become licenced and work, mainly on helicopters all ove Australia and the South West Pacific Area.
After leaving the aircraft game in 1971 to work in the motortcyle industry ( As if crocodiles, cannibals and Viet vet helicopter pilots, let alone south sea pirates and drug runners werent enough, I had to race motorbikes,) However in 1976 the oportunity to not waste my aircraft trade skills was brought to my attention by a boss who offerred full paid leave, for 4 weeks a year, if I joined the reserves. This resulted in my serving almost 20 years as an ENGFTT, come AVTECH, come Flight Line Supervisor. When I first reported to the CO of 22SQN I was asked if I had any military experience. Uponnadvising the CO of my ATC time I was queried as to the rank I acheived. On telling him I was told, "A CDT FLTSGT eh! You don't need any rookie training. Go and get a uniform and report to the SNGO on the Caribous"
In 1983 I left the motorcycle industry and became an inspector in the Defence Directorate of Defence Quality Assurance (Air). I am still with them.
I was medically discharged from the RAAFAR in 1996 due to my gyros toppling.
I was advised just last night that my appointment as a Flight Sergeant Staff Instructor with No 303 SQN AAFC has been approved. So I guess the Ive turned the full circle.
While in the RAAFAR I was given secondary duties as the Unit Historian a position which I still hold.
I have quite a few good memories of the ATC days and still keep in touch with a few other ex members on the flight. I also have a few photos which I will scan and send as soon as I get a chance.
My thanks to the master of this site for the opportunity it provides.
It might also be of interest to let every one know about the "Schoolfriends" site which is excellant for finding old friends and has a specific facility for naming cadet/military units.
Regards to all. Dick Hutchinson
( Also known - in ATC days - as, "Dirty Dick Daring the Dauntless Dog Dater.) Espie!
Apart from the fact you need a haircut and look like you've been
shaving with a teaspoon, this is an excellent site!
Oh, God, the memories . . . . it's more than 20 years since I joined
(Sept
1981) and I remember a coke break soon after I started - you were a
LCDT,
and you were trying to get everybody to stand back, nice and quiet,
good-natured, then when no one took any notice, you just bellowed
"STAND
BACK!!!!!!"
That's my earliest memory of you, but certainly not the last. Whilst
I know
where to begin, where do I end?
Paul Seds told me about your site yesterday - we both live in Ascot
Vale, so
we see each other all the time, go to gym together, and so on.
It's just amazing how long the AIRTC friendships lasted, given that I
didn't
go to school with any of these guys. Chris Print and I were best man
at each
other's weddings. Chris was also a groom's man and I was MC at Seds's
wedding, and best man at Paul Liistro's. Seds was also a groom's man
and
Mick Donoghue was MC at my wedding.
Just a brief summary of who'd doing what now:
Steve Scicluna - married, no kids, IT project manager
Paul Sedunary - married, two kids, school principal
Chris Print - married, two kids, IT project manager, living in
Brisbane
Mark Masini - married, two kids, RAAF SQNLDR engineer currently
posted in
Dayton, Ohio
Paul Liistro - married, three kids, RAAF FLTLT flight instructor
currently
posted in Tamworth, NSW
Forch Baldasso - engaged, geophysicist, has been working all over the
world,
currently relocating from Mexico to Malaysia
Mick Donoghue - hitched, one kid, policeman
I've passed your site address to Chris, Liistro, Mark and Forch . . .
. .
I'm going to have to dig up some pictures, and get them over to you
for the
site.
We should also catch up - I reckon a few beers for you, me & Seds
would go
quite well with some very tall stories.
I've got a website as well (see the link below) - but I haven't done
much
with it lately.
Cheers,
Steve Scicluna
120010, CDTWOFF (Ret.)
Web: http://people.smartchat.net.au/~scicluna
Hi Espie,
I doubt that you will remember me at all, but I do remember you,
seeing your photo confirmed it. I have a few photos that I will have
to scan in and send to you.
Loved your site, it was great reading the anecdotes from past
Cadets and Staff. If you are talking to Sedunary tell him I said hi
and I hope he and Stacey are keeping well.
Have included a few pics that may assist you, including a better
scan of the old AIRTC crest. Will get back to you with more pics if
you would like them. You may also remember my Mum, one of the
pics included, her nickname was "The Old Green Dragon". Look
forward to hearing back from you.
Regards,
Andrew Baker
Ex 1FLT (Cadet), 8FLT (Cadet and Staff), 5FLT (Staff), and HQ Staff
Vlad,
I can’t just sit here and read all your anecdotes without saying, “My God! They all joined up in the ‘80s! I’m old enough to be their dad!”.
I joined the South Australian Squadron, Air Training Corps in March 1965, at fifteen (go on, count! You should get 52) as cadet 76525, in the City Flight. My dad’s generation, who dated back to the Big War, called us ‘Blue Awkwards’.
After a week of torment at school it was blessed relief to go in to the HQ at Barton Terrace, North Adelaide, for a Friday evening or Saturday afternoon, where life was more adult, in a juvenile sort of way.
No female cadets then, by the way.
A DH Vampire served as gate guard. I think its engine was in the engineering lecture room. The aircraft, A79-202, later went to Mildura, and last I saw was in the SA Aviation Museum, Port Adelaide, all cleaned up. You still saw Vampires and Canberras at air shows. The Mirage was space age stuff, and the Yanks were working on the XB-70 Valkyrie, a design of great promise, as was the British TSR-2. The Yanks also had an idea for a swing-wing aircraft which would obviously go nowhere.
We wore the standard WW2 battledress (blues) in winter, including the greatcoat and “C-cap”. My dad, of WW2 RAAF background, told me they were “C-caps” – “Cap, c---, troops, for the use of”. The ‘C’ stood, of course, for a brief biological noun.
For drill or ‘ground defence’ we used the Lee-Enfield .303 bolt action rifle, which now is not too far removed from Zulu War technology.
One of your contributors mentioned an NCO telling the flight to look where it was going, just before hitting a pole himself. Well, our annual camps were at RAAF Edinburgh (were all us potential fighter aces got to throw up during flights in RAAF C-47 Daks). We would march from A to B along the base footpaths a lot of the time, and where the path met a road, a white pole of about waist height would serve, hopefully, to caution the challenged to look for traffic.
The trick was for the leaders to march impeccably right at the pole, and perform a nifty sidestep about two inches before it. The crude but effective result was that the less wary behind them would hit the pole, and the sound of an impact with the bollards brings tears to the eyes.
One of our instructors was a reserve officer, and fulltime regional airline pilot. He could, apparently, only face lectures to us after a drink or two. He was our favourite officer. Usually he took us for navigation.
“So there y’are, flyin’ across the ocean. The water’s as smooth as P--- on a plate ….”
And, from outside the lecture room, the CO. “None of that language in front of the young lads, Flying Officer!” (Certainly, the young lads were unused to such talk!)
“Sorry, sir!…. Okay, fellas, we’ll finish there. Some of you got me for flight theory next. We’ll talk about slats ….” (upon which we would give dirty sniggers … huh, huh, he said ‘slats’ … we invented Bevis and Butthead behaviour.)
“ … and when you guys can tell me anything about ‘slats’ I’ll be flying a bloody wheelchair!”
Anyway, maybe a few old SA Sqn. blokes (Col Bissett, Dave Alderson, Tony Rundle, one of the two David Leigh/Lees, etc.) will read this and feel inclined to chat themselves. They can do it here, of course. And A79-202 is on the Australian Aviation Archive website which may be on the links page, here.
John Burford
The Air Training Corpration was started by a groupd of ex-ATC officers
when
the ATC was disbanded in 1975.
It existed for the interim years before the new Cadet Forces was
constituted
and the new Air TRaining Coprs came into being.
IOt was HQ'd in an old shed in Flemington, where a lot of equipment was
stored.
The management group that run it met at the Air Force Association in
South
Yarra each month.
From memoery, each cadet paid a weekly/month;y fee that help keep the
flights going. Without doubt, without the corporation to run the place,
the
whole flight stucture etc would have collapsed. I think it was a brave
and
selfless act by the guys who started and ran it.
(AS a matter of interest, a lot of ex-2 FLT staff were involved: Dave
Crickmore, Wilf Knapp, Ian Coulson plus another guy whose name escapes
me at
the moment. This guy was a travel agent and he pit up the premises and
some
backing.)
I was the treasurer for the corporation for a while. I remember that it
was
a tough time and no-one knew whetehr or not we would continue, the govt
would step in and stop the backdoor support we were getting etc etc.
How are you going??
Regards,
john
Dear Espie,
You most likely wont remember me, (a long time has past) I was a cathedral boy
1981-84, and a cadet at No. 2 Flight, second to none, 1982 - 1985. It was great
visiting your ATC site. It did sure bring back lots of old memories back. Good to
see the Malavisi bros. I never forget when one of them came and took a class in
airplane mechanics with a new female officer, and he couldn't get passed the sentence
of how flaps work ( he was in hysterics... so were the rest of us.) or the time we were
on our way to Safeway carpark for drill practice and he was giving us hell that when
we march we were to keep our mouth shut and face the front and look where we were
going, only for him to walk into a pole as he was telling us. We didn't dare laugh in front
of him but we did have a laugh after.
The photo of the Anzac would have been 1980 or 1981, It looks like Mario Becchia and he
never attended after 1981. I used to see the Becchias a lot, But its been a while now. I'm
not sure if you aware but sadly Marc is no longer with us. He had a tragic accident in
Greece over 10 years ago he is greatly missed. Mario Is flying in the Northern Territory and
has for sure 1 girl, but might have more now. I might drop in and see them.
My dad worked with Wilson at Amcor (Containers Packaging) several years ago but he is now
retired or working else where.
Great to see the site. I'll keep posted to the site see what else turns up. Keep up the good work.
How are you still in the military?
Regards John Mercuri
Now that I have had 2 ops on eyes I would expect to be able to see print in
a month or so.
I do have an interesting report on our ATC camp at Albury, NSW held over
Easter 1944. If I remember correctly, the aircraft in the background will be
a Ryan Trainer.
I expect tro be meeting former Sergeant George "Mac" Job next Saturday. He
is travelling up frpm Melbourne and we have been in touch for many years.
Indeed we flew together in a 1934 Leopard Moth a year or so ago when I
visited Melbourne.
Typing this message is a bit like flyig blind. Please excuse mistakes.
Leon Vance in Warragamba, NSW/
Vlad,
No problem!
I'll see what I can find, but I might have a little difficulty - 36 years
gives lots of opportunities to misplace these things.
PS: My Dad, R K Lalor was a member of the original 24 Sqn ATC based at
Ashfield. He went on to get his wings in the RAAF and served in the UK
during WWII. His name is on the Squadron Honour Roll that had been at one
time been in the custody of 7 Flight. The last time I heard of it, the
Roll was at Regents Park - any idea where it might be now?
Regards,
Peter Lalor
No worries Vlad - already done mate, thanks alot for your submission! I
wish you all the best. I was an LAC in the Air Cadets at North Melbourne
back in 67/68, you should have seen the shock on their faces when I marched
in one Friday night in late 68 and told them I was off to join the navy that
coming January they were not real happy about it - Best thing I ever did
though!
Cheers and Beers
Russ Graystone
Webmaster
Royal Australian Navy - The Gun Plot
www.gunplot.net
Hi Vlad, just wanted you to know that I received your email. You have
given me an oppurtunity that I would like to follow up, the only thing
missing at the moment is a word document describing some memories.
Please stay in contact. I would like to write them up, perhaps a page at
a time.
I have a few stories I could relate, they were great times, the camps at
East Sale, the flights in a few Dakotas, (10 minutes at the controls) the
drill competitions. In my last year I trained my team and competed at
Laverton, I was then the highest ranking cadet in 2 Flight, a Flight
Sergeant. I was in the rifle team since the first or second year, shot
many rounds, numerous 303s at the Williamstown rifle range, 200 yards,
scoring much better in practice than in the competitions. I gained a
flying scholarship that was taken from me ( the scholarship went to the
son of an officer commanding another flight) My intent was to join the
Airforce as a pilot and I never missed a parade in five years that I
remember, up until 1966-7.
I gained knowledge and experience in the ATC that was an advantage when
conscripted in 1969 and my eventual time in Vietnam. (another host of
memories/adventure)
I now have a private pilots license but have not flown in 3 or 4 years.
Cost is the only reason.
Keep in touch Vlad.
.....Bob Ebdon (95456 Flight Sergeant Ebdon R. W.)
Hey Vlad,
Thanks for the email, hada brief look over the site, will do a better look
over when I have a little more time and will also try and send you in some
stuff.
It is always exciting to hear from ex cadets and see how the ole AIRTC
impacted on their lives. I joined back in the dark old days (1978), well
they are now, even before they had women, and we were in the old drab, and
battles dress here in NSW, so I can tell you some 'remember when' stories
when I have a little more time.
Regards
Darryl Harris
ex CWOFF 23FLT NSWSQN AIRTC.
Thanks for your email, I am glad you took the time to contact me. I joined
the AIRTC in 1984 at 9flt East Sale and then later transferred to 5flt
Tottenham in late 1987. I have to say that when I looked at your site I
laughed out loud when I read the term AIR TACTICAL COMMANDOS It has been a
long time since I heard that phrase. I remember attending an ANZAC day
parade in Sale and when asked by a young guy what the AIRTC silver flashes
stood for ,I told him it we were an elite secret unit known as the Air
tactical commandos , he was suitably impressed by this and apparently he
collected military paraphernalia ( obviously didn't know too much about it
though). He offered me $5.00 for the set of flashes, naturally I was happy
to oblige and promptly handed them over.
I have got quite a lot of photo's from various GST camps and promotion
courses so I will get them all out and send some on to you along with some
old war stories.
Cheers and Good luck with the site
Ilona Lee (nee Marshall)
Hi Vlad,
Sorry for the long delay in getting back to you been a bit of a busy time. I am slowly working my way through some old course photo's would you like me to send them to your work address or do you have alternative address to forward them to?
FYI In your SGT'S course photo the guy sitting on the viewers right hand side of the course commander is Glenn Harrap from 9Flight East Sale who later went on to become a WOFF. His mother is now the current flight commander at what is now known as 409 Squadron East Sale.
Hear from you soon
Ilona Lee
G'day Vlad,
No I don't mind in the least being contacted; it's good to hear from another
Ex-cadet. I'm probably going to disappoint you by saying that I only have
one picture of me in uniform and that is stashed away somewhere in Adelaide. This photo was a group photo taken of a whole
mob of us who were lucky enough to score a week at the RAAF base at Wagga in
1975. The picture included some of our Officers and adult NCO's and a WAAF
who happened to be present at the time! We were flown over to Wagga from
Adelaide in a C130. Actually, there are a few anecdotes to relate from
that trip so perhaps I can submit them onto your website. Remarkable isn't
it, none of the cadets from my era took cameras with us on ATC activities.
This was partly because cameras were not permitted onto RAAF establishments
and because cameras were considerably more expensive then than they are
today. Also, there was no such thing as a disposable camera in those days.
Coincidently, soon after I discovered the AirTC website my son joined the
cadet squadron here in Alice Springs. This is a rather small affair compared
to the large establishment that I was fortunate enough to serve in. . Nevertheless, they are all enthusiastic and
my impression is that they are getting really good training.
Anyway, keep the ATC flag flying!
See Ya,
Gerard Carter
Vlad,
Great idea!!
It was great to some of the photos - especially of Gonz.
I remember him as a junior CPL. I was also a cpl (adult) and was running a
1-day ex for 2 Flight.
Gonz took a section into the bush on a search mission - that was supposed to
last for about an hour and it was in a very restricted (by boundary) area.
I thought it was hard to get lost.
Bad mistake.
He managed to get well & truely lost. In fact it was pure fluke that we
found him. I happened to spot him walking in the wrong directio, about 500
metres away on another ridge. I called him & he finally turned up.
I never forgot that day!
Virginia Bath recently got married to another AIRTC guy (Chris Rubira).
By the way, Gonz is in the Squadron - last I heard he was in HQ in the
computers section. He is now a RAAF officer.
I remember you driving out of the car park in your jeep & dropping a wheelie
and creating a dust storm. I think you had just terminated. I recall
wanting to beat you for that!!
Regards,
john
Submitted by Fernando Gonzales 3rd September 2003
Hey Espie:
Seds is telling lies! I remember that bivouac well. I was given instructions to take off in a given direction as part of a search exercise. The distance we were to travel was not specified. I dutifully carried out my orders to the letter. After an hour of marching out in said (Sed) direction, I used my own initiative to turn back precisely the way we had come.
My section was happy and focussed on the mission at hand. Judging from the worry lines and constipated stance John had as we appeared (in a very professional "counter-ambush" staggered formation) within metres of his location, there was only one person lost that day - was he daydreaming of a Coroner's Inquest or, even worse, an Extraordinary Parent's Group meeting?
By the way - Who's Cpl Gonzales? No such person. Anyway,shouldn't that be SGT Gonzalez? But there are more stories at that rank, too.
Congratulations on the great site - The Gonz
FLTLT Fernando Gonzalez
Submitted by Dick Hutchinson 25 April 2003
Submitted by Steve Scicluna 23 September 2002
Submitted by Andrew Baker 18 February 2003
Submitted by John Burford 10 April 2002
Submitted by John Sedunary 27 February 2002
Submitted by John Mercuri 5 APRIL 2002
Submitted by Leon Vance 2 APRIL 2002
Submitted by Peter R Lalor 2 APRIL 2002
Submitted by Ilona Lee(nee Marshall) 28 February 2002
Submiited by Russ Graystone 24 February 2002
Submitted by Bob Ebdon 31 January 2002
Submitted by Darryl Harris 27 January 2002
Submitted by Ilona Lee(nee Marshall) 17 December 2001
Submitted by Gerard Carter 10 December 2001
Submitted by John Sedunary 6 DECEMBER 2001
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the uniform we wore