Commando Magazine edition 3 2020

Officer Commanding, 2 Cdo Coy. I had no Commando or
similar experience and quickly found in my dealings with
HQ S Comd that I was not alone. Fortunately, I knew the
Col G S and he proved to be friendly and helpful. I'm sure
he wished me well and reminded me I would have to put
in a bid for training funds before getting a young Staff
Officer to escort me to my office - the HQ of 2 Cdo Coy.
I entered a room, bare apart from a table and a chair, and
so began for me a fascinating and very satisfying 15
months”.
“That day, the acorn was planted, and I am pleased to
think when I regretfully surrendered command on 12 July
1956 it had well and truly taken root, was standing tall
and was growing vigorously. I suspect that in those early
COMMANDO FOR LIFE
days I didn't give much thought to how I was going to
attract young men off the street to join my elite unit. But
I was determined we would not be seen as just another
CMF unit. Training would have to be challenging,
vigorous and demanding. We would have to be different
and be seen to be different”.Prior to our very welcome
move from Albert Park to Sandringham I insisted the ARA
staff who had been posted in would join me in a
lunchtime run round the lake, both to improve our fitness
and, with the help of the press, obtain publicity for the
unit”.
Ref. Strike Swiftly, 40 years of 2 Commando Company,
1995.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 2 COMMANDO COMPANY DEPOTS
Colonel Peter Seddon raised 2 Cdo Coy from HQ
Southern Command at Albert Park in early
1955, as the first Officer Commanding. He later
wrote about it. “Our very welcome move from Albert Park
to Sandringham.” That took place in 1955. Colonel John
Hutcheson wrote: “When I took command (in August
1956), the unit was located in a neat compact timber
building at Picnic Point in Sandringham.”
The Picnic Point drill hall had a long gestation period.
In November 1923 the local council proposed a drill hall
on Commonwealth land, but it was not until almost ten
years later, in 1933, approval was given to erect a building
on Picnic Point, for the Sandringham Battery of the
Garrison Artillery, and also the local Sea Cadets. It was
also used for social occasions. John Hutcheson later
wrote, “On the 15 th October 1957, the depot and its
contents were totally destroyed by fire.”
The Sandringham News reported” “More than a
thousand people crowded Jetty Road for a grandstand
view of the struggle between the firemen and the
terrifying blaze that raged for two hours and burnt the
Commando drill hall to the ground.”
Ammunition and fuel tanks exploded, risking lives, and
all of the Commando’s vehicles, boats and equipment
were lost. There are conflicting theories about the cause
of the fire, including the possibility of arson.
John Hutcheson wrote” “For a few weeks we
assembled newly issued equipment at a nearby CMF
depot.” (This was the RVR depot in Royal Avenue in
Sandringham, just off Beach Road.) “Then we moved into
Flinders Naval Depot and set up the unit in the lines of
the Gunnery Division. Shortly after the 1958 annual camp
HQ Southern Command asked me to select between two
depots, one at Frankston and a second at Ripponlea.
After much debate we decided to take Ripponlea. A
major factor in this decision was that the centre of gravity
of our membership was in the vicinity of Ripponlea,”
Colonel Hutcheson later said.
The Unit moved to Ripponlea in very early 1958, after
the annual camp and by late February, according to the
ROs. A few years later, then OC Major Geoff Cohen said,
“the unit was bursting at the seams and a new location
had to be found.” Towards the end of 1965 Cohen said
“he finally convinced a hard-nosed Colonel General Staff
Southern Command that Fort Gellibrand was the spot”.
Major Ted Stevenson took over command of 2 Cdo Coy in
January 1968. He later wrote: “I recall the movement of
the depot from Ripponlea to Fort Gellibrand.”
Operating from so many locations in its first 13 years,
this last move in early 1968 saw the Company begin a
period of stability - 45 years and counting!
From Commando magazine
Acknowledgements. Sincere thanks to Shirley Joy, Dr Ian
Parsons, the Sandringham News archives, Sgt Liz
Maclaine, the former OCs named above, David Waters -
ton and Dick Pelling.
16 COMMANDO ~ The Magazine of the Australian Commando Association ~ Edition 3 I 2020