Commando News Issue 12 2018

MV Krait Restoration
Barry Grant and The Director of the Australian National Maritime Museum, Mr. Kevin Sumption at Darling Harbour.
Barry is presenting a donation for the restoration of the MV Krait.
News from Harry Bell…
(Continued from page 5)
everything's OK. Spent Sis's birthday [the previous
day] crawling up hills with about 2 tons on my back, in
almost Canungra style only here we take it steadier
and halt about 3 times as often.
. . . We did about 7 miles by middle of the morning
and spent the rest of the day putting up doovers and
scratching round through roots etc [trying to dig
foxholes with a bayonet]. If the NSW coalminers could
see us, they'd strike till we joined the union, then strike
again till we were expelled. Still more hiking yester -
night over some flaming alps whose only inhabitants
were scrub turkeys (even then we saw only nests) and
pigs (we saw tracks etc). . . Have just had a bath in the
creek (3 inches deep) - my first since Saturday (this is
Wednesday) and we have to toil up a veritable Everest
to bring our water, so there isn't much to spare for
washing . . . the rain gave me a bit of a rinse yesterday
. . . There's absolutely no news.
I seem to have got my days or dates muddled for
January 15th, 1945 was a Monday. And "No news"
meant "No news that I'm permitted to write about". In
fact, on 15th January, in a long patrol over Nambut
Ridge, Joe Olsen got the Squadron's first Nips and we
saw our first cannibalised (Nip) corpses. On the fol -
lowing day we had our first man killed in action: Tony
Hanly, MID from 5 Section. Had he not been killed, his
MID would have been at least a MM. Such is life - and
death. Here endeth the lesson.
NOTE FOR EDITORS: Barry Higgins sent
me some nice shots of Keith; I hope Barry
Grant will publish one. I also have some
taken by me of Keith in black Cavalry
beret and will ask Kathie to send a couple
to Robert for Cavalry News. Happy 2018.
Harry Bell
2/9, Ding dong Mark
COMMANDO NEWS ~ Edition 12 I 2018 7