ANZAC Newsletter - RAAMC Association

Keith was named in the New Year Honours List, 31
December 1979 and was invested Knight Bachelor, by the
then Governor-General, Sir Zelman Cowan, at Government
House in 1980, and afterwards he and his family also
mingled with Sir Donald Bradman and Dame Enid Lyons.
Keith and Kath had a loving marriage from 1936 until
Kath died in 2002. They had 3 boys; Stephen, Richard and
Robert who are all established in their own way and with
their respective families.
Keith served with distinction in the army but he always
regarded 5th Field Ambulance as “My unit”!
Keith had 3 Service Numbers; 253291, N274197 and
NX100432.
He joined 5th Field Ambulance Militia in 1928 and
served until 28 February 1935.
He served Full Time Duty in the CMF from 10 November
1941 to 11 July 1942 and the AIF from 12 July 1942 to 7 July
1944.
Keith had Operational Service in New Guinea from 29
October 1943 to 5 March 1944.
He served in the following units;
55th Infantry Battalion, Sydney University Regiment,
8th Field Ambulance, 17th Infantry Battalion, 5th Field
Ambulance, HQ 2nd Australian Corps.
Keith was awarded; The Pacific Star, War Medal 1939-
45, Australian Service Medal 1939-45, and Returned from
Active Service Badge.
Sir Keith is survived by his sons and their families. Our
Association extends its sincere sympathies to the families
and thanks our member, Barry Collins OAM, for being able
to attend and represent us. (My sincere apologies if any
other member from our Association was present. I would be
grateful if you would let me know.)
LEST WE FORGET
MAJOR JOHN STRASKYE
OAM, OLJ, RAAMC
1950-2012
Wendy, Carmine, Michael and other members
of John’s family,
Ladies and Gentlemen
For those here that do not
know me, my name is John Taske
and I am here in my role as the
Honorary Colonel of the Royal
Australian Army Medical Corps.
I would like to start by offering
the sincere apologies of two old
warriors who would certainly have
been here today, were it not for
illness and injury.
Firstly, Maj Gen ‘Digger’ James
AC, AO, MBE, MC and Patron of the
RAAMC Association.
When I rang Digger to tell him
the sad news, he was definitely
coming but since then has had a
fall, opened an old wound, so
travel is out. He asked me
personally to convey his sincere
condolences and apologies for not
being able to attend, to Wendy
and John’s family.
Secondly, Brigadier George Mansford AM who lives
outside Cairns and who is unwell at the moment. George is
as well known to the Infantry Fraternity as Digger is to the
Medical Corps. Like Digger, he fought in Korea and was a
member of the AATTV, the Australian Army Training Team,
Vietnam; the most decorated unit in Australian Military
History.
George rose from Private soldier to Brigadier General
before he retired and is still asked back each year, to lecture
to the Graduate Class at Duntroon on Leadership.
When I spoke to George, he
also wished me to pass on his
sincere best wishes to Wendy and
the Family and his regrets at not
being able to attend today. Those
who know George will not be
surprised to hear that he is
recovering from septicaemia due
to a wild dog bite.
I first met John Straskye many
years ago, in the time of the
Vietnam Conflict. As is the way of
the Army, we lost touch until about
4 years ago, when my role as Hon
Col and his as SO2 Heritage and
President of the RAAMC
Association, brought us together.
We found that we shared very
similar aspirations for our Corps
and the Association.
John loved the Medical Corps
with a deep and abiding passion –
second only to his love for Wendy and his family, of which
he spoke often. His family and the RAAMC Association
were clearly the centre of his life.
In the army and in Society in general, there are
GUNNERS and there are GOPHERS. Gunners are the people
who are always going to ‘do things’ but never quite get
round to it. ‘GUNNA’ do this and ‘GUNNA’ do that.
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