ANZAC Newsletter - RAAMC Association

When “Weary” Dunlop died in 1993, Blue had the honour
of walking directly behind the gun carriage carrying the
coffin at the State Funeral. Blue was doubly saddened
because he had lost his wife, Leslie, only a few weeks
earlier.
In 1995 he was invited back to Melbourne for the unveiling
of the “Weary” Dunlop Statue, which is in St Kilda Road. He
later asked a lady to take his photo beside the statue and
told her he knew him…”Oh, they all say that.” She
laughed!
In his retirement years he enjoyed lawn bowls, snooker
and fishing. He was President of his RSL’s snooker and
darts clubs.
Blue passed away peacefully on the 16th December 2011,
at his home in Woy Woy, on the Central Coast of NSW. He
is survived by his children, son Bob, and daughter, Judith
and their children.
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(4) REVEILLE (NSW Branch) (with kind thanks to Jan/Feb
2012, Issue)
For any member who has had ADF service and is not a
member of his/her local RSL Sub Branch, may I urge you to
join. It is $30 per year—and don’t ask ‘What can they do
for me’? It’s more a matter of what you can do for your
Sub Branch..
Legislation has now been granted to RSL Members
entering “like” clubs as “Honorary Members” --without
the need to ‘sign in’.
You will still need to show your current financial RSL
Membership Card and a membership card of an affiliated
club. It is in force in NSW, Victoria and Queensland.
I must commend an article in this Issue, written by Darren
McManus-Smith and the NSW RSL secretary, Chris Perrin. It is
titled..”RSL AFOF BACK IN A WAR ZONE. It was a great read.
I also noticed in the “Book Review” (page 39) that our
member, Major Eileen Henderson, was a guest ‘Review’
reader and gave us a brief description of Kirsty Harris’s
book…”More than Bombs and Bandages”—Australian
Army Nurses at work in WW 1.
It looks at some of the issues these nurses faced at the
time, including problems with the then Director of Medical
Services, Colonel Howse VC.
If any member would like to read this issue of Reveille
please contact me and I will post it to you.
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(5) 7th AUSTRALIAN DIVISION A.I.F. ASSOCIATION
Their President, Dick Payten OAM, is a good friend of our
Association and kindly sent me a copy of their
correspondence regarding ANZAC Day and the ‘Notice’ of
their February 2012 General Meeting.
He reminded his readers, in the ‘Notice’, of the unanimous
2011 AGM decision to allow widows and descendants of
7th Div veterans to become full Association Members.
(Ed. Note: I think this is a great step for their Association
as it will, hopefully, ensure the carrying on of all the
traditions of this wonderful Division—our 2/5th Field
Ambulance was part of the 7th Division).
Dick kindly enclosed a Membership Form for any of our
interested readers who may wish to join as an Associate
Member.
If you would like me to post one to you, please contact me.
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(6) Mrs. Lorraine ROBERTS
Wrote us a letter to say she is a Public Servant working at
the Enoggera Health Centre and enjoys reading our
newsletters.
Lorraine’s husband, William, is an ‘ex’ military tailor and
was a sergeant in the Ordnance Corps. He served for 10
years and retired in 1981.
What caught Lorraine’s eye was the Harley Davidson
Memento raffle in our Christmas (2011) Issue. She
purchased a raffle ticket and wrote that Bill would love to
win this as he is a keen HD owner having bought his first
Harley in 2007 (the 2008 model).
Lorraine wrote that she was not able to attend the RAAMC
(New) Banner Presentation last November but did get to
meet the donkey! It was temporarily housed behind the
hospital.
She wrote that she has the pleasure of working with
Commander Terry Slader (whose picture was on page 51).
Lorraine said he is a very caring person who has shared
some happy and sad memories of his time in Banda Aceh
(after the 26 Dec 2004 tsunami).
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(7) RESERVE FORCES DAY NEWS-2012 (Sydney 1st July.
Newcastle TBA)
The Theme for this year’s parade will recognise the BOER
WAR service by 23,000 Reservists and about 800
Permanent soldiers who fought in this war.
Veteran’s descendants will be honoured by the ‘striking’
of two Boer War Medallions.
One will be for the “Descendants” and the other for “In
Memory”. They will be for sale and the money raised will
go towards a fund-raising to erect a memorial in ANZAC
Parade, Canberra.
(PLEASE let me know if you are interested in purchasing
an “IN MEMORY” medallion.)
The RFD Committee will have 2 “Briefing Sessions”—12th
March and 12th April (7pm) in the Sydney Mechanic’s
School of Arts building in 280 Pitt St, Sydney, for all ASM’s
and Associations’ Executives.
I take the opportunity here to thank our members,
Robert Love, who has volunteered to be the medical
coordinator in this year’s Parade, and our ASM, Fred
Bell, who attends most RFD meetings with our
President, Derek Cannon.
(Last year’s coordinator, Barry Collins, will be un avail -
able, due to another commitment.)
A major change to this year’s Parade in the Domain will
be NO INSPECTION!
Final information will be in our next Newsletter—Reserve
Forces Day Newsletter—WINTER Issue 2012.
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(8) Ian Pfennigwerth very kindly sends me information
which I use in our newsletters.
(I put a small ‘piece’ about Ian in Jim Roche’s “Messages
from Members”)
Ian kindly sent me a story on Dr. Stephen R. Ellison called
“Soon to be Gone”. I have ‘edited’ it slightly.
Dr Ellison was born in San Marcos, Texas. He graduated
from Jack C. Hayes high school in Kyle. He received a BS in
biology from Southwest Texas State University in 1987.
He enlisted as a private 1st class medic serving in the 1st
battalion, 75thRanger Regiment, Hunter Army Airfield,
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