Commando News Edition 7 July 2021

Registered by Australia Post ~ Publication No PP100016240 Edition 7 ~ 2021

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CONTENTS 

REGISTERED BY AUSTRALIA POST PUBLICATION No PP100016240 

AUSTRALIAN COMMANDO ASSOCIATION INC. 

LIFE PATRON: 

PATRON: 

PRESIDENT: 

VICE PRESIDENT: 

SECRETARY: 

TREASURER: 

PUBLIC OFFICER: 

Gen Sir Phillip Bennett AC KBE DSO 

MajGen Tim McOwan AO DSC CSM 

NATIONAL OFFICE BEARERS 

MajGen Greg Melick AO RFD SC 

Maj Steve Pilmore OAM RFD (Ret’d) 

Maj John Thurgar SC MBE OAM RFD 

(Ret’d) 

Maj Bruce O’Conner OAM RFD (Ret’d) 

Maj Brian Liddy (Retd) 

STATE ASSOCIATION OFFICE BEARERS 

ACA NSW 

PRES/SEC.: 

ACA QLD 

PRES/SEC.:: 

ACA VIC PRES.: 

ACA VIC SEC.: 

ACA WA PRES.: 

ACA WA SEC.: 

WEBSITE/MEDIA 

MANAGER: 

WEBSITE: 

FACEBOOK: 

EDITORS: 

Mr Wayne Havenaar 

Mr Graham Gough 

Mr Doug Knight 

Mr Glenn MacDonald 

Mr Paul Shearer 

Mr Steve Butlerr 

Mr John Roxburgh 

www.commando.org.au 

Australian Commando Association 

Mr Nick Hill 

Mrs Marilou Carceller 

The Australian Commando Association’s membership consists of 

Servicemen & women who have served with WW2 Independent Companies, 

Commando Squadrons & Regiments, "M" and "Z" Special units, 1 st & 2 nd 

Commando Company's, 1 st Commando Regiment, 4 RAR Commando & the 

2 nd Commando Regiment. The Association also consists of Associate 

Members who have served in units who directly supported Commando units 

in time of war and peace and Social members who’s direct family member 

was either Killed In Action, Died In Service or Killed in Training or a member 

of the ACA who has passed. 

Editor’s Word....................................................................3 

ACA National President & CWT Chairman’s Word .........5 

ACA QLD..........................................................................7 

ACA VIC .........................................................................11 

Significant Commando Dates ........................................14 

Commandos For Life......................................................16 

Commando Vale .............................................................17 

French Commandos .......................................................23 

Commando Pilgrimage to Tidal River............................27 

The Last Coastwatcher ..................................................31 

The ‘C’ Word Killed Commando Skydivers’ 

60 th Birthday ..............................................................33 

A Machine Gun Spray of Memories ..............................35 

A Few Yarns from Maj Luke Gosling .............................41 

Whiskey’s Wish...............................................................42 

Additional Commando News.........................................43 

Book Review...................................................................47 

Deadline for next edition (Edition 8, 2021): 

SUNDAY, 26 SEPTEMBER 2021 

All news on members and interesting articles accepted. 

(Subject to editors’ approval.) 

Nick Hill 

Registered by Australia Post ~ Publication No PP100016240 Edition 7 ~ 2021 

DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed within this publication are those of the 

authors, and are not necessarily those of the Editor, Publisher, Committee 

Members or Members of our Association. We welcome any input as long 

as it is not offensive or abusive but if any member has a problem with a 

printed article we would like to be informed in order that the author may be 

contacted. We do encourage your opinion. 

Official Publishers: 

Statewide Publishing P/L 

ABN 65 116 985 187 

PO BOX 682, SURFERS PARADISE QLD 4217 

PHONE: 0432 042 060 

EMAIL: russell@commandonews.com.au 

Printed by BOOST Design & Print 

Web: boostgraphicdesign.com 

Email: boostdesign@optusnet.com.au 

FRONT COVER: The rededicated headstone of CPL Cameron Stewart 

Baird, VC. MG. of the 2 nd Commando Regiment which now reflects the 

posthumous award of the Victoria Cross. The headstone was dedicated 

at Currumbin Memorial Gardens in SE QLD by the Governor-General 

of Australia, His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley, 

AC. DSC. FTCE. on 25 May 2021. 

COMMANDO ~ The Magazine of the Australian Commando Association ~ Edition 7 I 2021 1

A WORD FROM THE EDITOR 

G’day all, I hope you are all well? Welcome to 

Edition #007 July to September 2021 1 of 

COMMANDO – The Maga zine of the 

Aust ralian Com mando Association. 

During this edition we have an article on then 

French Commando Marines (who are the only French 

military unit to wear their beret badge over their left 

eye) in recognition of their beginnings with the UK 

Commandos. The Last Coastwatcher makes another 

appearance as well and in interesting article on a 

member’s personal experiences at 2 Commando 

Company and in Vietnam. Unfortunately, we have lost 

9 Commandos during the July to September period, 

three of our brothers were Killed In Action in 

Afghanistan, five Killed in Training and During their 

Service and one of fellow Commando dying of Wounds 

sustained in Afghanistan. Like most things in life, they 

slowly fade away, however, they are never forgotten 

and we have had three old’s bolds pass away recently 

as well. May you all forever Rest In Peace and have Fair 

Winds and Blue Skies. C4L. 

This is my last edition as the Editor of COM - 

MANDO. It’s been a blast and I have absolutely 

enjoyed putting together those editions of Commando 

News and COMMANDO since being handed the 

baton from Barry Grant, OAM in 2018, but as we all 

know life moves forward and priorities change. I’d like 

to thank everyone who has contributed to the editions 

of COMMANDO and previously Commando News. If it 

wasn’t for you the magazine would not exist. We are 

grateful that Steve Carter from ACA VIC will be taking 

over as the Editor. I wish you all the best for the future 

edition of the Magazine and if you need anything I’m 

an email away. To Russell Maddox from Statewide 

Publishing and Marilou Carceller, the typesetter, I thank 

you both personally for supporting the change of the 

magazine from Commando News to what it looks like 

now, without your support, patience and professional 

advice the Magazine would not be so successful. 

To that end, for those fighting the good fight, 

remember to ‘Keep Your Powder Dry & Your Sights 

Straight’ and those back home in Australia or around 

the world keep safe. 

Commando 4 Life 

Nick Hill 

Editor - Commando Magazine 

E: editor_commandomag@commando.org.au 

W: www.commando.org.au 

Australian Commando Association Inc 


Letter to the 

EDITOR 

SGT Laurie “Scuba” Hall 

1 Commando Regiment 

To Commandos past and present. 

To everyone that has expressed their thoughts, 

wishes and blessings on the passing of my dad and 

mate, Sgt Laurie Scuba Hall. “Thank you” to the 

“blokes” that attended dad’s funeral, “Thank You”. 

Those that travelled. “Thank you”. To the “Guard of 

Honour” “Thank you”. 

Barry Grant for your words and being the point of 

contact, “Thank You”. 

To Maj. Gen. Greg Mellick. Thanks for your kind 

words. Dad cherished his friendship with you. He still 

has a picture of the pair of you in his “study.” 

Unfortunately, not all your secrets died with dad. He 

told me quite a few of your adventures with him over 

the years!!! 

For me as a Sapper we can discuss these over lunch 

and a beer next time you are in Sydney..... Your shout 

of course!!! 

To Rod Hilliker, on a personal note, for the support 

you showed me over the time from dad entering the 

hospital to this present day, I say “Thanks mate”. 

There were faces that I had not seen for many years 

SGT Laurie “Scuba” Hall at the 1 Commando Regiment 

60 th Anniversary Parade at Victoria Barracks, Sydney. 

and knowing that you were there “helped us carry the 

load”. 

Dad loved being a Commando and he said to me 

the best part of the job was the men he served with..... 

well most of them! 

So from me to you I say, “Strike Swiftly”. Be kind to 

yourself and as cad would say “P. Y. A.” 

I leave you with this thought. 

Could you imagine if we had to put Scuba in a 

Nursing Home? It would have been like trying to cage 

a LION!! 

Sapper Andrew “Drew” Hall 

Son of Scuba! 

June 2021 

4 COMMANDO ~ The Magazine of the Australian Commando Association ~ Edition 7 I 2021


Hello members 

and welcome 

to this edition 

of “Commando”. As 

always, I hope that you 

are all keeping well and 

as healthy as can be. 

It is with regret that 

the committee had to 

make the tough deci - 

sion to cancel our 

planned Operation 

Rimau and Special 

Forces Day service at the Brisbane Shrine of 

Remembrance, which was to be held on the 4 th of 

July. Mandatory mask wearing escalated to a threeday 

lockdown which left us with little choice but to 

alter our plans. The event was looking promising with 

honoured guests arriving from Sydney and Brisbane. 

One of our special guests was going to be Mr D’Arcy 

Hardy and his wife. D’Arcy’s brother John” Jack” 

Hardy was a member of Operation Rimau and one of 

the remaining ten that were executed on the 7th of 

July 1945. 

I would like to thank our social committee 

members Mark S and Richard J for all the 

background work in booking of the Shrine and 

Central Hotel for the luncheon afterwards. 

Thanks go to His Excellency the Governor of 

Queensland Paul de Jersey AC, who agreed to 

provide a video address once again for the service, 

which was amended to a letter (attached) after the 

post pone ment. I would also like to thank Padre 

Michael Pock lington for being ever ready to assist in 

providing his pastoral services. Continued thanks 

also go to the National Service Band of Brisbane’s 

Piper Mr Rolly McCartney for organising the 

musicians at short notice, and Deana of Enoggera 

Florist for again being ready to support our 

association with the floral wreaths. It is the intention 

of the committee that when a “Covid normal” state 

returns, a time will be made to commemorate our 

fallen at the Shrine. Advice of this event will be 

forthcoming. 

PRESIDENT’S WORD 

July 2021 

Other events 

I had the honour of attending the re-dedication of 

Cameron Baird’s headstone on the 25 th of May 2021. 

Cameron as most would know was awarded the 

Victoria Cross for valour after his death. The new 

headstone correctly reflects the posthumous award 

“Cpl Cameron Stewart Baird, VC. MG.”. 

It was a beautiful service with family, friends and 

the Governor General in attendance. Both the 

Governor General and Maj John ‘Jack’ Thurgar, SC. 

MBE. OAM. RFD (ACA National Secretary) provided 

insights into Cameron’s life at a small luncheon held 

at the Currumbin RSL following the re-dedication. 

The new headstone that correctly reflects Cameron Baird’s 

award of the VC, at Currumbin QLD. 


Land Forces conference 

Being on the mailing list still, I received an invite 

to the Brisbane Land Forces conference this year. 

The event was staged in the first week of June 

amongst controversy over Qld Government 

sponsorship and with active protests about 

warmongering held at the entrance. Myself and 

my partner Jenni met up with Tony Mills and visited 

many of the stands inside. As with most of these 

events I ended up bumping into some old 

Commando Regiment mates including Paul “JJ” 

Cale, Brett Sangster and Ben Doyle-Cox of Plata- 

Tac. 

The technology displayed at Land Forces was 

mind blowing to say the least with a major rise in the 

un-manned weaponry and vehicles of all types. I 

have enclosed a few photos, but one of the most 

interesting items I saw was a 40mm grenade 

launchable drone delivery system. It has the ability 

once launched (fired) to idle and be remotely guided 

for up to 45 minutes prior to delivery of a multiple 

attachment system in cluding surveillance cameras 

and explosives. This was an Australian invention. 

graffiti on the “Mitchell pattern” cover, on one of the 

seller’s stands. The 173rd AB worked alongside 

Australian Infantry forces in the early part of the war. 

I already have a mannequin set up as a 173 rd RTO 

(radio operator). Before I could get a good look at 

the helmet the seller said someone had reserved it 

and it was sold. I visited the rest of the dealers but 

was kicking myself for not being quick enough off the 

mark to grab that helmet. Later that evening when 

we had arrived home, my partner Jenni said she had 

to go out to the car and get something. When she 

returned she was holding a black plastic bag. Inside 

the bag was the very helmet that I had thought I’d 

missed out on. When I later removed the camouflage 

cover, I found that the helmet was also a refurbished 

WW2 original which was an added bonus. I’m one 

very lucky fellow indeed! 

The new Klepper on display at the Land Forces Conference 

in Brisbane, QLD. 

Items/Stilettos/Plaques/Polo Shirts 

A reminder that we are still able to provide 

individual CDO Assn Polo shirts @ $40 each plus $10 

postage. I have approx. two of the new Commando 

plaques still available @ $55 each plus $10 postage. 

Also, one of the CDO Assn Australian Army Stilettos 

(AAS) @ $120 plus $10 postage. Contact me directly 

on emails below IRT any items required. 

From My Personal Collection 

I had the opportunity the attend the Toowoomba 

Arms and Militaria show recently. As some may know 

I have quite a large collection of Vietnam war 

memorabilia and usually like to have a connecting 

theme to my displays. I had seen from a distance a 

very nice US 173rd Airborne helmet with wartime 

My personal collection of the 173 rd Airborne RTO mannequin 

with the US helmet 

Thank you once again for your continued support 

of the Australian Commando Association. 

Regards, 


Graham Gough 

President 

Australian Commando Association Queensland 

E: acaqld_president@commando.org.au 

W: www.commando.org.au 



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RECENT ACTIVITIES 

Due to the COVID 19 restrictions all the 

Association social and commemorative 

activities the latter part of 2020 and early 

2021 were cancelled. 

RIP MEMORIAL AT SHORLAND BLUFF, 

QUEENSCLIFF 

The 2021 annual commemoration ceremony at 

Shortland Bluff, Queenscliff on 21 February 2021 was 

well attended considering the COVID restrictions, 

which had only been amended several days prior which 

enabled the ceremony to proceed. The ceremony was 

well attended by families and ACA members along 

with some visiting VIPs. 

PARTICIPATION IN 2 COMPANY ANNUAL 

INDUCTION TRAINING 

At the invitation of the new OC of 2 Company at the 

end of January I joined with members of 2 Company 

during their annual induction training to provide a 

presentation the history of the unit 1955-1980 and 

provide a brief on the support activities provided to the 

unit by ACA Vic. I was advised afterwards that the 

presentations were well received by both old and new 

unit members, and that they provided considerable 

information regarding the unit origins and initial 

training regimes and reasons behind these, which had 

been previously unknown. 

It was also an opportunity to visit the ‘Krait Club’ 

and view their wonderful collection of historical items, 

including some on loan or donated by ACA Vic. 

ANZAC Day 

Due to extensive works at Fort Gellibrand the 

annual ANZAC Dawn Service was conducted at the 

Williamstown Cenotaph and numerous ACA Vic 

members joined with current serving members of 2 

Company/301 Det at a Gun Fire breakfast at the 

Hobsons Bay Yacht Club followed by a Dawn service 

conducted by the Williamstown Council in conjunction 

with the Newport RSL. Over 30 ACA Vic members 

participated in the Anzac Day parade, which was 

significantly curtailed by RSL Victoria. Unfortunately, 

due to the COVID restrictions our traditional Anzac Day 

luncheon was not conducted, and a number of 

PRESIDENT’S REPORT 

members joined with the SASR Association and AATTV 

at the Kelvin club for few post parade refreshments. 

Annual Dinner 

The 2021 annual dinner will be conducted on 

Saturday, 7 August at the Box Hill RSL with the guest 

speaker being of Captain Keith Wolahan, a former 

member of 2 Company who deployed on four overseas 

operations and will be speaking of his service with the 

unit, his overseas deployment, and possible future 

options for the development of part-time commando 

personnel. 

Historical Collection Grant with Museums Victoria 

In 2019 ACA Vic was awarded a Grant from the 

Veterans Heritage Project which entailed five days of 

training by specialist museum staff and the pre - 

servation and archiving of historical items and also data 

entry on the Victoria Collections. This will enable family 

members and researchers to identify those items in our 

historical collection and their location and details as 

well as provide detailed information to researchers and 

organisations who may be interested in displaying 

these items. This project entailed the photographing 

and recording of nearly 800 items currently in the 

collection and on-site visits to our storage facility, Fort 

Gellibrand, and Waverley RSL where collection items 

Our Historical Collection cataloguing volunteers. 

Doug Knight on tape, Rob ‘Ozzie’ Osborne on photography 

and Glen ‘Macca’ MacDonald on data entry. 


are currently being stored or on display being stored or 

are on display. It was also an opportunity to fully 

research the provenance of each item and its relevance 

to Australian special operations history. Volunteers 

from ACA Vic were assisted by two staff from Veterans 

Heritage Project Team for the initial five-day training 

and ACA Vic. Volunteers will then continue cataloguing 

the remainder of the collection. 

Those interested in viewing with the current 

collection contains please go to 

https://victoriancollections.net.au/organisations/austra 

lian-commando-association-victoria 

The grant also provided $5000 to acquire specialist 

equipment and storage materials and the opportunity 

was undertaken to obtain a secure storage cabinet, 

currently being 

manufactured, 

which will be 

used to house a 

selection of ACA 

Vic historical pub - 

lications which 

will be on longterm 

loan to OC 2 

Com pany for the 

use of unit per - 

sonnel. 

The col lection 

The bookcase. 

will include all of the WW2 Independent/Commando 

Company unit histories, publications Australian WW2 

Special Operations and will be regularly updated with 

recent publications on these topics. 

Website Development 

ACA Vic is now in the final stages of development 

of the historical component of our website. Once the 

draft design and format are approved volunteers will 

commence to update relevant data on the website. 

The concept for the website to provide ACA and the 

public at large essentially a one-stop location to 

research World War II Australian Special Operations 

and post-1955 special operations units and activities. 

At this time due to national security requirements, it is 

not proposed to have any material on the website post 

2000 and where appropriate Defence clearance will be 

sought for material that may be deemed sensitive, 

prior to its uploading. 

The website will be designed in manner in which 

the history of Independent/Commando units and other 

Australian Special Operations Organisations and 

operations will be detailed, and relevant material will 

be included or hyperlinked. The main source of 

information will be National Archives and other official 

documents, private papers and photographs that have 

been donated and documents, photos and videos that 

have been made available to ACA for this project. 

Reference will also be made to published works, online 

material and videos and any other resources which are 

relevant to the subject areas. 

2020 VICTORIAN VETERANS’ COUNCIL GRANT 

In 2020 ACA Vic received a grant for $16,000 to 

establish an Oral History Program to record the 

experiences of ‘Victorians at War’. The Association is 

using this as the initial stage for the long-term 

development of a program to cover Special Opera - 

tions during WW2 and conflicts including Vietnam, Iraq 

and Afghanistan and peacekeeping operations. The 

Grant also included funding for the conversion of some 

VHS media and the production of transcripts and 

digitisation of the post WW2 M& Z Victoria association 

magazine 'Double Diamonds". 

The high-quality video, audio and lighting equip - 

ment have been procured and five volunteers have 

undertaken specialised training with the Oral Histories 

Association-Victoria. Specific training sessions on use 

of the video equipment and of the unique social and 

psychological issues to be considered when inter view - 

ing veterans has also been conducted. Current plan - 

ning is for the initial interviews to be conducted in mid- 

July with a planned completion of the oral history 

program by September 2021. At this time approximate 

half of the 250 editions of Double Diamonds have also 

been digitally scanned into PDF (searchable) to enable 

researchers and family members to utilise this valuable 

resource. 

FUTURE ACTIVITIES 

Dedication of the Special Operations Memorial at 

Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance and Memorial 

maintenance. 

Initial discussions have commenced regarding the 

formal dedication of 

this Memorial which 

was designed in 

2017 and installed in 

2019 and is yet to be 

dedicated and cur - 

rent planning list be 

undertaken, subject 

to COVID res - 

trictions during the 

annual com me mo - 

ration activity at the 

Melbourne Shrine of 

Remem brance on 

the Sun day 26 Sep - 

tem ber 2021. The 

current plaque as 

Proposed new plaque for Shrine of 

Remembrance (badges will be 

updated). 

listed below was designed some time ago and it was 

recently decided at a Committee meeting that this 

plaque does not fully represent the intent and 

therefore planning is underway to have it replaced 

shown below. 

In addition, there will be some repairs and 

maintenance done later in 2021 on a number of other 

memorials at Tidal River and Shortland’s’ Bluff to 

correct inaccuracies in names and unit designations as 

well as repair some graffiti damage. 


Tidal River Open Space Development 

There has been little movement on this activity over 

the last 12 months with the exception that $600,000 

was allocated in the last Victorian State budget TO 

fund the ‘Commando Walking Track’ but at this stage 

there is no detail about when works will commence. 

Welfare 

ACA Victoria continues to liaise and attend regular 

meetings with the Victorian Veterans Council, Legacy, 

RSL and DVA network to promote ACAVIC’s 

objectives/expectations and support requirements in 

the very crowded Welfare & Advocacy arena. There 

have been no requirements for financial support in the 

past 12 months. 

Public inquiries 

ACA Vic has been assisting Ed Willis and formally 

Jim Truscott with research and preparation for the 

forthcoming Timor-Leste Battle Field guide. Asso cia - 

tion members are frequently engaged in responding to 

public queries with regard to ancestor records and 

individual service history within Australian special 

operations units in World War II. It is hoped that future 

public enquiries will be able to set be satisfied by 

individuals researching through our upgraded website. 

Support to Fort Gellibrand 

During the initial liaison with the incoming OC at 

Fort Gellibrand the Association was requested to assist 

with the following. 

a. The installation of a CSM’s honour board and this 

board has been manufactured and is currently 

being fitted to the Drill Hall wall and a formal 

handover will occur in the near future. 

b. The production of a coffee table type book 

covering the history of Fort Gellibrand and of its 

occupancy by 2 Company and 301 Det. This work is 

well underway, and a sample edition should be 

available by end of July. 

c. The 1960’s era commando badge parquetry floor, 

originally donated and laid by unit members, 

relocated from the old OR’s Mess into the former 

O’Connor Club has been lifted, catalogued and 

placed in storage pending the identification of a 

new location. The cost of this has been born by the 

HQ SOCOMD and was undertaken at the request of 

ACA Vic because of its historical significance. 

ACA Vic would like to formally acknowledge the 

support and assistance of HQ SOCOMD and the 

staff of 2 Company in ensuring that this historical 

piece has been retained and available for future use. 


Colonel Doug Knight 

President 

ACA VIC 

A message 

from Luke 

I’m encouraging as many 

people as possible across 

Australia to come up to 

Darwin and explore the 

Territory’s military history, 

with up to $1000 off your 

travel costs, thanks to the 

NT Government. 

Did you know that Darwin 

was Australia’s battlefield 

in World War Two? It had 

more bombs dropped on it 

over 18 months than Pearl 

Harbor. 

I hope as many Aussies as 

possible can get up here to 

find out more, and to join 

us in commemorating the 

79 th anniversary of the 

Bombing of Darwin on 

February 19. 

Invite your friends up to 

the Top End to explore our 

iconic national parks, swim 

in fresh, cool waterholes, 

take an unforgettable 

outback road trip, discover 

our Indigenous heritage 

and culture, wander 

through our colourful local 

markets, and explore the 

sites that make the Top End 

such an important part of 

Australia’s Commando and 

WWII history. 

Whether that’s visiting the 

Darwin Military Museum 

and Defence of Darwin 

Experience at East Point or 

Darwin’s Aviation Museum 

in Winnellie or RFDS 

Darwin Tourist Facility and 

the WWII Oil Storage 

Tunnels at the Waterfront, 

there’s something for 

everyone. Find out more 

here: 

northernterritory.com/prom 

otions/summer-sale 

Luke Gosling MP 

Federal Member 

for Solomon 

Co-Chair Parliamentary 

Friends of Veterans 

Commando4Life 

Luke Gosling is the 

Federal Member of 

Parliament for Darwin 

and Palmerston and 

served in the ADF for 

13 years. 

COMMANDO FOR LIFE 


SIGNIFICANT COMMANDO DATES 

JULY to SEPTEMBER 

JULY 

July 1942 

2/8 th Independent Company (Ind Coy) the Double 

Whites was raised at Wilsons Promontory, Victoria. 

The 2/8th Ind Coy is the last Ind Coy to be raised 

during WW2. 

1 July 1942 

133 men of No 1 Independent Company drown 

when the MV Montevideo Maru sank after being 

torpedoed by USS Sturgeon off the coast of the 

Philippines. 


Four operatives of ISD are landed in Portuguese 

Timor as part of Operation Lizard from the MV Kuru. 

They RV with Sparrow Force sometime later in 

Mape. This is the first Operation by ISD later SRD (Z 

Special Unit) during WW2. 


The 2/8 th (Cav) Commando Squadron (later just 

Commando Squadron (Cdo Sqn)), sailed for Lea, 

New Guinea via Milne Bay on board the SS 

Ormiston. 


2/3 rd & 2/5 th Cdo Sqn’s landed on Green Beach in 

Balikpapan. 


The 10 remaining Z Special Unit members of 

Operation Rimau Are Executed in Singapore. 

July to August 1945 

2/6 th Cav Commando Regiment in action defending 

Bandi Plantation during the Aitape - Wewak 

Campaign. 


2 Commando Company (Melbourne) was raised at 

Victoria Barracks, Melbourne VIC. 


The Commandant Royal Marines grants approval for 

Australian Commandos to wear the Sherwood 

Green Beret once they were deemed Commando 

Qualified. 


CAPT George Cardy of 1 Commando Company is 

presented the first Sherwood Green Commando 

Beret to an Australian Commando. . 


Tactical Assault Group – East (TAG-E) (Charlie 

Commando Company (CCC)), 4 RAR Commando is 

now ‘Operational’ and is the Federal Governments 

Force of Choice for a resolution to a Domestic 

Counter Terrorism Incidents in Australia. 

09/10 July 2006 

A Platoon from Delta Commando Company (DCC), 

4 RAR Commando are surrounded and fighting 

heavy insurgent numbers whilst providing the Quick 

Reaction Force (QRF) for a Canadian Special 

Operation Forces Command (CANSOFCOM) unit in 

the Chora Valley of Urazghan Province, Afghanistan 

during what was known as Operation Nile. During 

the Operation, three USAF SOC AC-130 'Spectre' 

Gunships went 'Winchester' (empty of ammunition) 

whilst supporting the Operation. This Operation 

occurred to set the conditions for a wider Multi- 

National Coalition effort that was part of the 

Combined Joint Task Force – Afghanistan, 

Operation Mountain Thrust. Miraculously not one of 

the Commandos was Killed or Seriously Wounded 

during the heavy fighting. 

AUGUST 

2 August 1942 

2/6 th Ind Coy deploys to New Guinea on board MS 

Tasman. 

August 1943 

2/4 th Cdo Sqn lands in Milne Bay, New Guinea 

2/5 th Ind Coy reforms as the 2/5 th Cdo Sqn of the 2/7 th 

Cav Commando Regiment at Wongabel on the 

Atherton Tablelands after returning from New 

Guinea. 

3 August 1942 

Z Special Unit training is moved to the house on the 

hill in Fairview, Cairns. Also known as Z Experimental 

Station (ZES). 

(Continued next page) 


Significant Commando Dates 

AUGUST (cont’d) 

6 August 1945 

At 0815 Japanese Standard Time, the Atomic Bomb 

“Little Boy” is dropped from USAAF B-29 

Superfortress (Enola Gay) on the Japanese city of 

Hiroshima, killing over 66,000 people. 

9 August 1945 

The Atomic Bomb “Fat Man” is dropped from 

USAAF B-29 Superfortress (Bocks Car) on the 

Japanese city of Nagasaki, killing approx. 40,000 

people. 

15 August 1945 

Offensive action against Japan ends and is com - 

monly known as Victory over Japan Day (VJ Day), 

later known as Victory in the Pacific Day (VP Day). 

August/September 2005 

Alpha Commando Company (ACC), 4 RAR 

Commando Deploys to Urzghan Province, Afghanis - 

tan as part of Special Forces Task Group (SFTG) 

Rotation I. 

SEPTEMBER 

September 1942 

Camp Z at Refuge Bay, NSW was established. From 

here the Z Special Unit operators selected for 

Operation Jaywick began their training. Some of the 

Z Special unit members departed from Camp Z 

onboard the MV Krait for Cairns on 

18 January 1943. 

23/24 September 1942 

2 nd /4 th Independent Company lands on the beach 

just west of the village of Betano, Portugese Timor 

from HMAS Voyager to replace the 2 nd /2 nd 

Independent Company. HMAS Voyager becomes 

aground and both Independent Company’s begin 

to fight against the Japanese. 

24 September 1943 

After a relatively uneventful voyage, Krait arrived off 

Singapore. That night, six men left the boat and 

paddled 50 kilometres to establish a forward base 

in a cave on a small island near the harbour. 


Six members of Z Special Unit led by LTCOL Lyons 

conduct raids using three folboats and carrying 

limpet mines on Japanese Shipping in Singapore 

Harbour as part of Operation Jaywick. In the 

resulting explosions, the limpet mines allegedly 

sank or seriously damaged seven Japanese ships, 

comprising over 39,000 tons between them. The six 

Z Special operatives waited until the commotion 

over the attack had subsided and then returned to 

the MV Krait which they reached on 2 October 1943. 


2/4 th Cdo Sqn landed at Lae during the Salamaua- 

Lae campaign. This was the first Australian 

amphibious landing since Gallipoli in 1915. 


23 men of Z Special Unit depart Garden Island in WA 

aboard HMS Porpoise as part of Operation Rimau, 

the second raid on Singapore Harbour. 


Japan formally signs the instrument of surrender 

onboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Harbour, ending 

WW2, thus ending the combat operations and the 

beginning of the demobilisation and eventual 

disbandment of the Commando Squadrons & 

Regiments and M & Z Special units. Japanese formal 

surrenders continued until 22 Feb 1946. 


19 Islamic Terrorists flew four commercial passenger 

jets into three buildings & a field in The United 

States, which intern began The Longest War in 

Australia’s Military History & forever changed the 

way Australia’s Commando Regiments operated & 

onducted their Operations. 


14 members of Z Special Unit depart Exmouth 

aboard the MV Krait the first raid into Singapore 

Harbour. 


2/6 th Cdo Sqn in action during the battle of Kaiapit, 

New Guinea. 


COMMANDOS FOR LIFE ~ JULY to SEPTEMBER 


LCPL Todd Chidgey 

Alpha Commando Company 

2 nd Commando Regiment 

Died of Wounds 

Kabul Province, Afghanistan 


SGT Todd Langley 

Charlie Commando Company 


Killed in Action 

Helmand Province, Afghanistan 


SGT Ian Turner 

Bravo Commando Company 


Died in Service 

Sydney, New South Wales 


SGT Gary Francis 

Operational Support Company 


Killed in Training 

Mount Cook, New Zealand 


WO2 Mick Craig, CSM 


Attached to 1 st Commando Regt. 

Died in Service 

Swansea, New South Wales 


PTE Sean Ryan 

1 Company 

1 st Commando Regiment 

Died in Training 

Holsworthy, New South Wales 


LCPL Mervyn McDonald & PTE Nathan Gallagher 

Alpha Commando Company, 2 nd Commando Regiment 

Killed in Action, Helmand Province, Afghanistan 


SGT Daniel Lorkin 

2 Commando Company 

Killed in Training 

Melbourne, Victoria 


Dick, dad, pop, uncle, father-in-law and 

husband. No matter which one he was to all 

of us he loved us and we will never meet 

anyone like my dad again. Fortunately, I was able to 

spend more time with dad in his twilight years, sharing 

many stories and laughs over many cups of tea. Dad 

was adventurous, resourceful, brave and loyal. He was 

a natural scholar of history and geography and was a 

natural born mathematician, a highly intelligent man. 

As a young boy he was shaped to become the 

strong and adventurous man he grew into by his early 

years of exploring and running free in the bushland 

adjoining the North West Arm of Grays Point and on 

the shores of Port Hacking and Gymea Bay. Running 

into trouble one day in the water that was too deep for 

a young boy, dad bounced himself off the sandy floor 

bed of the bay one bounce at a time until he made it 

back to shore where his home was waiting not far away. 

His mother, Annie, would row him across the bay each 

day to school except on the days when she declared, 

‘there’s too many sharks in the bay today Dickie, I’m 

not rowing across there’. This didn’t worry dad too 

much, he just headed off into the bush for the day on 

another adventure lasting the whole day long. 

A few years into WW2 dad was working on the 

platform of Janalli Station in Sutherland when he heard 

on the radio that Japanese submarines had entered 

Sydney Harbour, he was 17 years old. He made up his 

mind there and then that he would enlist, which he did 

as soon as he turned 18. After completing his army 

training, he spent quite a few years in Borneo with the 

2/11 th Commando Squadron as a Forward Scout. He 

turned 21 while he was there, with those who became 

his lifelong mates, Cliffy Hampton, George Rosa, 

Johnny Woods, Ted and Bluey to name a few, friends 

through thick and thin for close to 7 decades. They 

came together in Sydney every ANZAC Day to march, 

remember and celebrate. After the march they would 

congregate at the Tattersalls Club and enjoy a cruise 

on his beloved Sydney Harbour, enjoying being 

together again to reminisce. Great years. The WW2 

Anniversary trip, ‘Operation Trek Back’ in 1993 up in 

North QLD where they had completed a large part of 

the Army training many years before was one of Dick’s 

fondest memories. 

Returning from Borneo after many years away was 

the start of a new life, which Dick began after meeting 

19-year-old Edith at the dance hall. Edith was to 

become his sweetheart and wife for 73 years which 

were packed full of countless adventures, including 

COMMANDO VALE 

VALE – NX157807 LESLIE RICHARD ‘DICK’ HYSLOP 

2/11 th Commando Squadron (WW2) 

22 October 1924 – 08 April 2021, Aged 96 

By Anna Rosen (Daughter) 

Dick Hyslop (2 nd from right) at an ANZAC Day Service with some 

mates of 2/11 th Cdo Sqn, in Sydney during the 80’s. 

starting and raising a family, travelling and working all 

around the country as well as growing old together. 

Dad’s heart was captured by the west out on the sheep 

stations roaming the 100,000 acre paddocks with his 

constant companion and cherished border collie, 

Chloe. He would be out from dawn until dusk, fixing 

fences, checking that the bores were all working, 

rounding up sheep and enjoying a cup of billy tea 

made on the campfire. Often times he’d feel a bout of 

malaria coming on so he would pull the saddle of his 

horse, lay down under a shady mulga tree (his favourite 

tree) with his head resting on the saddle. His trusty 

horse would head back to the homestead and help 

would turn up a bit down the track after they saw the 

horse return without his rider. He loved it out there and 

came very close to claiming a ‘small allotment’ of 

100,000 acres offered to returned serviceman for a 

time. He saw the advertisement in the paper when he 

was working way out west, but post wasn’t what it is 

today and the scheme had just wound up when they 

received his application, so he just missed out. That 

didn’t stop dad from being a part of it and enjoying his 

country, he spoke of his love of the Australian land - 

scape and of Dundoo Station, right up until his last 

days. 

Memories of his two trips right around Australia, 

kids in tow, stayed with him forever. After 20 or so years 

of living in Bundaberg they made their way south and 

settled first in Sydney and then the Central Coast which 

was to be home for the next 45 years. Every other time 

you’d share a cup of tea with dad he would surprise 

you with stories of some amazing job and experience 

he’d had over the years. His favourite job, apart from 

the sheep stations of course, was when he was a 


stevedore at the wharf in Sydney, there were strikes at 

the time to do with the wharf not wanting to allow 

supply of products (lead I think) that would end up 

being used as bullets against the allied forces. He said 

it was the best job he ever had, he had terrific mates 

down there and enjoyed the work. 

For the last 10 years of his working life he worked at 

Sara Lee, fixing and solving the many problems that 

arose with the production line until he retired. We all 

enjoyed an uninterrupted supply of Sara Lee apple pies 

and desserts for many years, something I am still trying 

to kick the habit of! Dad then retired in 1985 at 60 and 

took off on a much-deserved trip around the country 

with mum and 14-year-old daughter Anna. 

Returning to the Central Coast he was a regular 

down at Umina Beach every morning enjoying his 

ocean swim and catching a few waves. He was often 


down at his special spot on the waterfront in Woy Woy 

where he enjoyed his 70 th birthday celebrations with 

the whole family. He enjoyed many a day down at the 

Koolewong foreshore watching the boats bobbing up 

and down while drinking a cup of tea and reading the 

paper. Dick stayed at home after he voluntarily gave up 

his licence at 93 but was always happy to see his kids 

and had a great love for all his family members. His 

love for Edith was strong and was evident until the last 

days. 

Thank you, dad, for all that you’ve given us with 

your fair, kind nature, honesty, hard work, good humour 

and loyalty, strength and bravery. The world won’t be 

the same without dad, but it is a better place for him 

having been here. 

We will remember him. 

Love always. 

VALE – MAJOR JAMES FRANCIS ‘TAIPAN’ TRUSCOTT, OAM. 

1st Field Engineer Regiment / SASR / 2 Commando Company 

26 May 1964 – 28 April 2021, Aged 64 

By MAJ Rick Moor (Retd) ASASA - ACT 

“In the end it is not the years in your life that count, it is the life in your years” – Abraham Lincoln 

Vale Jim Truscott, OAM who passed away 

suddenly on the 28 th April 2021. At the time 

of his death Jim was on an unsupported push 

bike tour of the Mungo Loop with two close friends. 

They were following the footsteps of the Burke and 

Wills expedition and were approximately 80km north 

of Balranald nearing the end of their first day’s ride 

when Jim collapsed. They’d had a great day, perfect 

autumn conditions, much friendly banter, enjoying life 

to the full far from the madding crowd. Jim passed as 

he lived – with his boots on, riding into the setting sun, 

on an adventure. 

Jim was well known for his drive, enthusiasm and 

dogged determination. He was in many ways a renais - 

sance man – a very professional but un con ven tional 

soldier; intrepid and daring adventurer; somewhat 

reluctant engineer; amateur but respected historian 

and author; red wine connoisseur; highly successful 

businessman; and committed community member; but 

above all, son, brother, husband, father, grandfather 

and friend. 

Jim first served in the Marist Brothers Ash Grove 

school cadet unit then the Queensland University 

Regiment before entering the Royal Military College 

(RMC) Duntroon as a third class cadet in 1975. He 

graduated in 1977 and was awarded a BE (Hons) in 

1978 (he later completed a BA out of interest). Jim 

subsequently served as a Troop Commander in 1 Field 

Squadron of the 1 st Field Engineer Regiment and as an 

observer with the Commonwealth Monitoring Force in 

Rhodesia attached to a mixed race field propaganda 

unit before completing SAS selection and serving as 

Jim during a mountaineering expedition 

the Operations Officer in 3 SAS Squadron. He along 

with his Officer Commanding will be long remembered 

for organising and overseeing “Exercise Biltong 

Watcher”, an epic in the Northern Territory that even 

included airstrikes by B52s operating from Guam. Jim 

subsequently served as the Garrison Engineer in New - 

castle and on the Operations Staff in Field Force Com - 

mand, Army Headquarters and Headquarters Special 

Forces. Following these postings, he vowed to never 

again serve in the “Big Army” or as a “Staff Wally”. He 

achieved legendary status as the Officer Commanding 

2 Commando Company with his many innovative and 

realistic exercises often involving short notice call out. 

He also served in the Pilbara Regiment as a Surveil - 

lance Squadron Commander then in the Northern Ter - 

ritory as a Civil Affairs Officer before returning to SASR 


as the Operations Officer. It is during this last posting 

that his ingenuity, knowledge and experience came to 

the fore as he led the regimental planning team for the 

deployment to the Middle East to enforce the no fly 

zone, the initial entry by the ADF into East Timor and 

the counter terrorist support to the 2000 Sydney 

Olympics. But above all Jim’s core professional interest 

lay in Special Warfare. He starred on the Special War - 

fare Course, taught himself ‘jungle’ Indonesian and 

studied in detail the activities of the Services Recon - 

naissance Department (SRD) during WW2. He was a 

known “Friend of Z” and had befriended, supported 

and interviewed many of the original operatives. He 

had also conducted a long distance sea kayak trip from 

Singapore through the Indonesian archipelago tracing 

the route of the escaping OP RIMAU party, spent two 

months walking through the jungles of Borneo re - 

tracing the steps of the OP SEMUT operatives and 

inter viewing the few surviving guerrillas and their 

families and had recently travelled to East Timor to 

research a battle field guide covering the activities of 

the Independent Companies and SRD in WW2, TNI 

and Falantil during the Independence War and finally 

INTERFET and UNTAET post 1999. As a 

Special Forces Officer, Jim was one of the 

few truly unconventional thinkers, and he 

pushed and prodded SASR and Com - 

mandos toward more advanced 

capabilities, often with complete 

disregard to his own career. A 

subordinate at the time recounts that it 

was always a joy and terror to be a junior 

officer within his command or earshot. 

Jim was also a passionate, committed 

and enthu siastic mountaineer, rock 

climber and Nordic skier. As a cadet at 

Duntroon, he was a founding member of 

the RMC Mountaineering Club, 

instrumental in the re-establishment of 

the Army Alpine Association (AAA) and 

the instigator of the famous RMC August 

Epic. He was a fierce and dedicated 

climber and mountaineer his entire life. 

Anyone who knew Jim will have a 

favourite tale of his eccentricities, his at 

times manic drive and his fiery intellect, 

his endless energy, great projects and 

causes and his legendary wordsmithing. 

He was always driving hard, whether 

rustling up a team to tackle Carstenz’s 

Pyramid; signing off on C130 flights for 

Everest logistics or hitting up Big Ben Pies 

to sponsor an expedition to the remote 

volcano of the same name. Jim’s list of 

achievements is lengthy. As a 

mountaineer and climber, he first headed 

to the Southern Alps of New Zealand in 

December 1974. He then spent many 

summers in the 70’s and early 80’s in the 

Southern Alps. While recovering from a major injury 

incurred solo climbing near Majors Creek, Jim made an 

early ascent of Ball’s Pyramid, this in turn after a 

disastrous and near death experience attempting to 

sail to the remote sea stack. In 1981 he survived an 

avalanche at Camp 2 on Ganesh IV (7102 m) in Nepal. 

Tragically Dave Sloane was not so lucky and was swept 

to his death. Jim was a member of the successful 

expedition to Broad Peak (8047 m) in Pakistan in 1986, 

at that stage only the second 8000 meter peak climbed 

by an Australian team. Jim was also a member of the 

successful 1988 Australian Bicentennial Everest Expedi - 

tion, the second ascent of the mountain by an Aust - 

ralian team and the only ascent of the mountain 

accomplished without local high altitude porters. He 

was awarded an Order of Australia Medal and Chief of 

the Defence Force Commendation for his organising 

efforts and participation in this activity. Subsequently, 

he climbed Aconcagua in Argentina (the highest moun - 

tain in the America’s) in 1990, Carstenz Pyramid in Irian 

Jaya (the highest mountain in South East Asia) in 1991 

then Nanda Devi East on a multi-national expedition 

with the Indian Army in 1996. 


He was also a voracious rock climber, putting up 

hundreds of new rock climbing routes wherever he was 

based from Kangaroo Point and Frog Buttress in south 

east Queensland, the Sydney Sea Cliffs and Blue 

Mountains in New South Wales, Arapiles and the 

Grampians in Victoria, the remote Western Australia 

northwest coast, to the Perth Hills and his beloved 

Southwest. Generations of future climbers will puzzle at 

his climb names and wonder at his route selection and 

bolting practices. Jim knew a quality route when he 

saw it, but didn’t mind putting up the odd scrappy 

climb – one climbing partner recalls getting told to 

bring a shovel when joining him on one of his Perth 

Hills new routing adventures. Many a climbing partner 

will recall that it was always prudent to double check 

Jim’s belay stances and to be wary of his pick of climbs, 

as the call “your lead” would oft come at an in oppor - 

tune moment. They will also recall many a session in 

the Dugandan, Natimuk and Mt Vic pubs con templa - 

ting their failures, celebrating their successes and 

building Dutch courage for future ventures. In the 70’s, 

80’s and early 90’s Jim was also a committed and 

competitive Nordic skier. He organised and competed 

in many Inter-Service events, representing Army on 

numerous occasions and finishing in the top 30 in NSW 

state championships several times in the 1980’s. On 

one occasion he, along with a friend, skied from 

Kiandra to Mt Kosciusko in 18 hours. In 1989 he also 

led a ski mountaineering trip to Mt Shasta in California. 

Jim had in addition to tracing the route of the OP 

RIMAU operatives conducted several remote sea kayak 

trips including to the Monte Bello Islands and two 

attempts to cross the Torres Strait. He also rafted the 

Franklin in Tasmania before it became popular. 

Immediately following the Sydney Olympics Jim left 

the Army and entered business as a crisis management 

consultant, first with a British multinational company, 

before setting up his own firm “Truscott Crisis 

Leaders”. After a lean start Jim through sheer deter - 

mination and exceptionally hard work established a 

very successful consultancy with a clientele that in - 

cluded many of the world’s leading multi-national com - 

panies. His straightforward and sometimes abrupt style 

was not everyone’s cup of tea but his advice and 

training was highly valued by many mining and off 

shore oil and gas companies operating in the remote 

corners of the world. Jim was known to cover 10 


countries in 7 days, conduct day trips to Singapore and 

travel to Europe for one day jobs. His ideas, advice, 

guidance and training significantly enhanced the 

emergency response capabilities and safety of many 

work places around the globe. 

Jim was a prolific writer. A cursory inspection of 

professional journals and newsletters will feature Jim 

Truscott. Jim’s thoughts on Special Operations pub - 

lished under his nom de guerre “Taipan” and his 

accounts of his personal adventures informed and 

inspired many. He was also a prolific reviewer and 

authored several books including his autobiography 

“Snakes in the Jungle – Special Operations in War 

and Business”, an account of OP SEMUT titled “Voices 

from Borneo – The Japanese War” and a business 

sales guide titled “Who Dares Sell, Wins - Mastering 

True Sales in Management”. At the time of his death, 

he was finalising a detailed “Battlefield Guide of 

East Timor”. His writing was always erudite, often 

lengthy and sometimes unprintable. As you considered 

his ideas and read of his adventures, as you listened to 

his proposals and stories, you were sometimes stunned 

by his audacity but more often left enriched by his 

grasp of history, military capabilities, mountain 

geography and business practices, giddy in the wake 

of his often preposterous ideas and actions, and 

unsettled by how boring your own mind and life 

appeared next to his. 

Following the recent sale of his business Jim 

qualified as a Surf Life Saver and served as a hose man 

in the Darlington Volunteer Bush Fire Brigade. He was 

also actively working with the 2/2 nd Commando Com - 

pany Association in an attempt to have the unit 

awarded a Unit Citation for Gallantry for their actions as 

an Independent Company in Timor in 1942 and the 

HMAS Armidale Association on a project to locate the 

wreck. 

Above all, Jim was a family man, devoted to his 

wife, children and grandchildren. He was a man to 

follow and learn from, both in his words and deeds. 

You had to be quick to keep up and follow his thinking, 

but he suffered fools better than he made out, and we 

are all the better for his friendship and life. His passing 

not only brings a great sadness to his family and close 

friends but leaves an enormous gap for many across 

military, veteran, business and adventure communities. 

Vale Jim Truscott, gone but not forgotten. 

VALE – 378511 PTE ROBERT (BOB) GEORGE DUNBALL 

1 Medium Workshops / 2 Commando Company 

15 October 1939 - 7 June 2021, Aged 81 

By Dick Pelling ACA VIC 

Bob did his National Service from the 3 rd 

January 1959 to 20 th March 1959. His posting 

during that time was the 20 National Service 

Training Battalion 03 January 1959 , 1 Medium Work - 

shop 21 March 1959 and then Bob was posted to the 

Citizen Military Forces (CMF) as it was called back then, 

signing up for 2 Commando Company on 21 March 

1959. For his service, Bob was awarded the Australian 


Defence Medal and the Anniversary of 

National Service Medal. 

As Bob said, “I was called up for 

National Service on the 3 rd January 

1959 with 20 th Battalion E Company 

RAEME and posted to Puckapunyal 

where I shared the hut with Glen Doyle, 

and 14 others. After 3 months I was 

posted to Medium Workshops RAEME 

at Yarraville with Glen Doyle. However, 

Glen came up with this great idea of 

joining the Commandos, so off we 

went, we never ever reported to 1 

Medium Workshops and went straight 

to Ripponlea instead. Glen and I lived 

around Essendon and we travelled together to the 

unit”. 

Remarkably, only three weeks after transferring into 

the Commandos, Bob and Glen were selected for the 

17/59 Basic Parachute Course alongside Ian Wis - 

chusen, Peter Harvie of media fame who more recently 

was a trustee of the Commando Welfare Trust, and 

their company Adjutant Captain John ‘Jack’ Fletcher, 

who was soon to be awarded the George Medal for his 

bravery during the Rip incident. 

The 17 th of February 1960 Rip incident has ever 

since been in Bob’s memory and he recalled that night 

when they were rescued: 

"How long we drifted after that I cannot remember 

but it was quite some time and the waves were by now 

huge and at times, we floated over them and at other 

times great mountains of water crashed down on us. By 

now I thought that we would be lucky to get out of the 

situation. We spotted an ocean liner with search lights 

and we all whistled very loudly but the ship didn’t seem 

to see or hear us. Joe Lamb, after great difficulty, 

managed to get a .303 rifle loaded and fired some 

blanks, which alerted the ship. It was a great feeling to 

see the search lights hit us and Joe was very popular 

for his effort under duress. The liner was the Toscano 

which had a boarding line along the ship and a Jacob’s 

ladder hanging down. The sea was so rough at times 

we could see the propellers of the 20,000-ton ship and 

the next minute we were nearly on the bridge. The ship 

was heaving from side to side which made it very 

difficult to get near. Roger Wood had managed to hold 

the Zodiac to the boarding line, enabling one man at a 

time to scramble up the Jacob’s ladder. 

This was frightening. As the ship rolled the ladder 

then shot out at an angle causing the person on the 

ladder to hit the side of the ship, Roger was the last 

man in the Zodiac and as he grabbed the Jacob’s 

ladder a huge wave hit the side of ship causing him to 

dangle dangerously on the ladder. A crew member, 

Ascione Pasquale, was lowered down and reached 

Roger but another huge wave hit and when it receded 

only Pasquale was left dangling. But for Roger perhaps 

many more may have been killed. If anyone deserved a 

bravery award more, then Roger deserved one. 

Bob Dunball 

We were taken to the ship’s hospital 

in poor physical condition due to the 

exposure of wind and water and were 

stripped and rubbed with huge rough 

mittens and given cognac. Some of the 

crew thought that we were American 

Marines raiding Australia, but this was 

soon corrected.” 

For many years Bob has kept in 

contact with Joe Lamb up until Joe’s 

death in 2020, but continued to keep in 

contact with Joe's daughter Jasmine. 

Bob's attendance at the last Rip 

service in 2021 where he was one of the 

few remaining survivors was in doubt, 

due to his condition, but regardless, he attended with 

his wife Suzie, and daughter Karen. 

For many years Bob was an AFL football Umpire 

and the AFL Umpires' Association awarded Bob a Life 

Membership, a Lifetime Achievement Award, and he 

was inducted into the Umpires Hall of Fame. Bob was 

a member of Legacy (and Nepean Area Captain) and 

was responsible for the good care of many Legacy 

Widows. 

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Simili Training 

4 Garema Cct, Kingsgrove NSW 2208 

ABN 49 163 142 005 

Phone: 1300 SIMILI (74 64 54) 

Email: info@similitraining.sydney 

Web: www.similitraining.sydney 

Simili Training is a Registered Training Organisation (RTO No40942 ) based in Sydney. 

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Call Kevin Simili to book your course directly 

0416 740 516 or office 02 9637 7412 


THE COMMANDOS MARINE 

The French Navy’s Special Forces 

The Commandos Marine are the Special 

Operation Forces (SOF) of the French Navy. 

The Commandos Marine are nicknamed Bérets 

Verts (Green Berets). They operate under the Naval 

Riflemen and Special Operations Forces Command 

(FORFUSCO) and form part of the French Special 

Operations Command. 

History 

The Commandos Marine were formed in 1942 

during World War II in the United Kingdom and were 

modelled on the British Army Commandos (who were 

founded in 1940). They were formed from Free French 

volunteers from different services, mainly from Navy 

Fusiliers Marins (Naval Infantry), other navy specialities 

and even from the Army. They were trained at the 

Commando Training Centre in Achnacarry, Scotland and 

joined No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando as the 1st and 

the 8th Troops. To commemorate this, the beret of the 

French Naval Commandos is worn pulled to the right 

with the badge worn over the left eye or temple, the 

opposite of all other French military units. 

The 1st BFMC (Bataillon de Fusiliers Marins 

Commandos, Commando Naval Riflemen Battalion) 

took part in the Normandy Landing on D-Day under the 

command of Lieutenant Commander (LT COMD) 

Philippe Kieffer, on Sword, and were for the occasion 

integrated in No. 4 Commando. They further parti ci - 

pated in the Netherlands campaign, still associated with 

No. 4 Commando. When the British Commando Units 

were disbanded at the conclusion of World War II, the 

two French Troops (forming the 1st BFMC) were 

repatriated to France to relieve in position the 1st RFM 

(1st Naval Infantry Regiment) departing for Indochina. 

Most of them demobilised or returned to their services 

(army or other navy specialities) but now Commander 

(COMDR) Philippe Kieffer 

made the case to the 

French Ministry of the Navy 

that a Commando Corps 

was a capacity required to 

counter the guerrilla 

warfare in Indochina. The 

surviving members of the 

1st BFMC formed the core 

leadership and the cadres 

for the Commando Training 

School to be created in 

Algeria in 1946 (Siroco 

LT COMD Philippe Kieffer Center, Matifou Cape). 

Post WW2 

Another branch comes from a Naval Recon nais sance 

Unit created in December 1944, Company NYO, formed 

from volunteers from different parts of the Navy, mainly 

Naval Riflemen (Fusiliers Marins) and Naval Artillery. This 

unit later renamed as 

Company Merlet (the name of 

its founder and commanding 

officer, Lieute nant (Navy) Jean 

Merlet), fought in Italy before 

em barking for Indochina in 

Sep tember 1945. It was re - 

The Beret Badge of the 

Commandos Marine 

named Company Jaubert, then naturally became Com - 

mando Jaubert, the first unit to be constituted as 

Commando when the French Navy decided to create a 

Commando Corps in 1946. Com mander Pierre Pon - 

chardier and his Special Air Service Battalion aka SAS-B 

(also nicknamed Tigers Com mandos), created in early 

1945, fought in Indo china until 1946 before the 

battalion was disbanded. Pon chardier was a visionary of 

modern Special Opera tion Forces (SOF). Although he 

was not subordinated to a Naval Rifleman chain of 

command, he ran large-scale operations in conjunction 

and with the support of Compagnie Merlet/Jaubert and 

the 1st RFM. His auda city, the innovation of the TTPs 

and the course of actions he applied in guerrilla warfare 

and Counter Insurgency Warfare (COIN) set the spirit 

and were disseminated to the overall Commandos 

Marine organisation. 

By a 19 May 1947 decision, the Ministry of the Navy 

decision created five "Commando Marine" units, 

organised and designed as the former British Com - 

mandos. The French Navy transformed several Fusiliers 

Marins companies (Naval Riflemen) already combatting 

in Indochina (including Company Jaubert) or based 

aboard French Navy destroyers (to become Com mando 

Trepel and Commando de Penfentenyo) and gradually 

renewed their personnel with commando-qualified 

recruits after the Siroco Center (Commando Course) was 

commissioned. Commando François and Commando 

Hubert were formed from scratch. Although Commando 

Jaubert was already trained for parachute and airborne 

operations, Commando Hubert became the official 

Paratrooper Commando unit for the French Navy. For 

this reason, they integ rated by preference and priority 

former Ponchardier SAS-B members, who were already 

jump qualified. 

Each Commandos Marine bears the name of an 

officer killed in action during the World War II or during 

the Indochina campaign: 

• Captain Charles Trepel was an Army officer 

(artillery), Free French Forces; commanding officer of 

the 8th Troop (French), No. 10 Commando (Interallied). 

MIA/KIA 28 February 1944 during a night 

reconnaissance raid in Wassenaar, the Netherlands. 

• Lieutenant Augustin Hubert was an Army officer 

(infantry), Free French Forces; platoon leader in the 

K-Gun Troop (French) operating in support of Troop 

1 and 8 (French) integrated for D-Day to the No. 4 

Commando. He was killed 6 June 1944 (D-Day), in 


the first hour of combat, when the French Troops 

were manoeuvring to seize the Casino of Ouistreham 

near Sword Beach, Normandy France. 

• Commander François Jaubert was a Naval Rifleman 

officer, commanding the Riverine Flotilla in 

Indochina, severely wounded during a joint opera - 

tion with Compagnie Merlet, Ponchardier SAS-B and 

the 1st RFM and his Flotilla. He died of his wounds 

25 January 1946. 

• Lieutenant (junior grade) Alain de Penfentenyo was 

a Navy officer, commanding officer of an LCVP 

platoon, killed in action during a riverine raid on the 

Donai river, Indo China (Vietnam), 14 February 1946. 

• Lieutenant (junior grade) Louis de Montfort was a 

Company Merlet Platoon Commander. After his 

commander was wounded and evacuated de 

Montfort took command and was killed leading the 

Company in Haiphong, Indo Chine (Vietnam) 26 

November 1946. 

• Lieutenant Jacques François was a Navy officer, 

commanding the 1st Amphibious Flotilla North. He 

was killed leading his unit, on the Nam-Dinh-Giang 

River Indo China (Vietnam) 6 January 1947. 

Commando François suffered dramatic losses on 29 

May 1951 when it faced the attack of the 308th Vietminh 

Division in Ninh Bình, Indochina (Vietnam). Only 29 

survived, five were taken prisoner for months, 40 were 

killed and nine were declared MIA. Their sacrifice 

disrupted the surprise effect and unveiled General 

Giap's plans for the battle of Day. It gave French 

General de Lattre time to organise his counterattack. 

This Commando unit was disbanded in May 1953. 

Commando Hubert officially became a combat 

swim mer unit on 30 March 1953. It was a joint unit 

composed of Navy and Army (SDEC, secret service) 

combat swimmers. The army branch later separated to 

establish their base in Aspretto, Corsica (France) and 

today in Quélern, Brittany (France). 

Commando Kieffer was created on 6 June 2008 in 

Ouistreham during the D-Day com me moration cere - 

mony. 

In May of 2019, four host ages were freed from terror - 

ists during an operation in Burkina Faso. French 

Commandos took down the location in Burkina Faso 

which was considered a terrorist camp. Two operatives 

from "Hubert" Underwater Operations Commando 

were killed in 

the operation 

which took 

place in the 

early morning 

hours of Friday 

morning. 

Recruitment 

Most of the 

recruits must 

have com - 

Tribute to Commando Kieffer, 

6 June 2009 in Ouistreham Fance 

pleted the Fusiliers-Marins Basic Training and served at 

least nine months of service. They have to enter a 

Special Forces basic training course, called Stage 

Commando (commando training) and reputed to be 

one of the toughest among the NATO Special 

Operation Forces. In 2016, the Stage Commando had 

an attrition rate of 82%. The SOF Basic Training is open 

to sailors or enlisted from other Navy specialties. 

Commando Kieffer recruits’ specialists and experts from 

other specialties in the Navy or other services. They 

must go through the same training pipeline to earn the 

green beret and be deployed overseas. 

Commando training is the gateway to the Special 

Operations Forces for the Naval Riflemen. Conducted at 

the Fusilier Marins school at Lorient on the Atlantic 

coast, it provides upon successful completion entry to 

the Commandos and the right to wear the green beret. 

Lasting 20 weeks, it includes; 

• One week of Commando testing, 

• Six weeks of screening and preparatory training, 

• Four weeks of evaluation, 

• Seven weeks of the actual SOF course, and 

• Two weeks of parachute training. 

During this period, any mistake can instantly 

disqualify the candidate. The ultimate goal of this 

training is to detect individuals with the physical, 

intellectual and psychological potential needed to serve 

in the Commandos Marine. The historical roots of 

Commando training date back to the Second World 

War, when Fusilier-Marins volunteers from the Free 

French Navy went to the Commando training center in 

Achnacarry, Scotland. Since then, the Commandos 

Marine have kept by tradition the green beret pulled 

right with the bronze shield badge on the left, the only 

such exception in the French armed forces. They have 

retained the principle of exceptional training without 

compromise, based on immersion in a highly stressful 

environment, close to the conditions of combat 

operations. 

The prospective Commandos in training are 

constantly under stress and pressure from instructors 

leaving them no respite. All activities are timed and 

scored: marching tens of kilometers with equipment and 

weapon in all weathers, obstacle courses and night 

navigation exercises. The training is punctuated by 

firearms training and assault tactics, climbing and 

rappelling, boat handling, explosives instruction and 

hand-to-hand combat. The instructors are experienced 

operatives assigned to the Commando School who 

monitor and punish failure with extra-hard physical 

activity. 

The Commandos Marine have evolved to be broadly 

comparable to the British Special Boat Service. 

The Commandos Marine Composition 

Their personnel are distributed between seven 

Commando Units (Company+ size), named after former 

French Commando officers killed in action, and are 

dedicated Maritime Counter Terrorist (MCT) units: 


Commando Hubert 

Since the 1950s, the combat swimmer unit of the 

French Navy have been formed as Commando Hubert, 

also known as French commando frogmen, the only 

Commandos Marine unit having combat swimmers. The 

tip of the spear of the overall Commandos Marine 

organization, their military capacities are broader than 

combat swimming operations. They are publicly known 

to be a Special Mission Unit supporting Counter 

Terrorism along with GIGN 3 . Jacques-Yves Cousteau was 

a naval officer in World War II and helped to set up 

France's Commando frogmen. France further 

1 

Similar to 2nd Commando Regiments, Tactical Assault Group-East 

(TAG-E). 

2 

Similar to Australia’s Special Operations Logistics Squadron (SOLS). 

3 

Groupe d'intervention de la Gendarmerie national (GIGN) English: 

(National Gendarmerie Intervention Group) is the elite police tactical 

unit of the French National Gendarmerie. Its missions include counterterror 

ism, hostage rescue, surveillance of national threats, protection of 

government officials, and targeting organized crime. 

developed the role of commando frogmen in the First 

Indochina War. The French intelligence service DGSE 

also has combat-swimmers brought together in the 

Centre Parachutiste d'Entraînement aux Opérations 

Maritimes (CPEOM, "maritime operations training 

parachutist center") at Roscanvel. 

While these are the only French combat-diver units, 

other French units have divers, including: 

• Military Engineer units of the French Army have two 

types of divers: 

o the spécialistes d'aide au franchissement (SAF, 

"specialists for help in clearing"): swimmers 

trained to recon and clear banks and bridges to 

permit their use by military vehicles. 

o the nageurs d'intervention offensive (NIO, 

swimmers "for offensive actions"): they accom - 

plish missions similar to combat swimmers but in 

rivers and estuaries, to destroy bridges inside 

enemy territory for example and belong to an 

engineer-regiment. 


• Some commando units like the commando group of 

the 2nd foreign parachutist regiment and the special 

unit forces of the Army and the Air Force have 

offensive divers. 

• GIGN and RAID 4 counter-terrorist groups have divers 

trained to assault a hijacked ship in support of 

Commando Hubert. 

List of operations 

• 1982-1984: Lebanon 

• 1987: Actions in the Persian Gulf. 

• 1988 May 5: a hostage rescue in New Caledonia: see 

Ouvéa cave hostage taking. 

• 1991: Embargo in the Persian Gulf. 

• 1992 December - 1993: Somalia: Operation Restore 

Hope. 

• 1994: Rwanda: evacuating foreign nationals caught 

up in a civil war. 

• 1997 March - 2000: Mission Alba in Albania. 

• 1999: Operation Allied Force in FR Yugoslavia. 

• 2001 July: Security at the G8 meeting in Genoa in 

Italy. 

• 2001 October: Afghanistan and/or Philippines: 

Operation Enduring Freedom. 

• 2008 September: French naval commandos freed 

two hostages (Jean-Yves and Bernadette Delanne) 

held by Somali pirates aboard their yacht off the 

coast of Somalia, killing one gunman and capturing 

six. 

• Since January 2013 : Multiple counter-terrorist 

operations during the Mali war , part of Operation 

Serval and Operation Barkhane. 

• May 2019: Burkina Faso hostage rescue by 

Commando Hubert. 

4 

Recherche, Assistance, Intervention, Dissuasion ("Research, 

Assistance, Intervention, Deterrence"), commonly abbreviated RAID, is 

an elite tactical unit of the French National Police. 


Article Source: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commandos_Marine 

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COMMANDO PILGRIMAGE TO TIDAL RIVER 

An Address to Commandos by LT Peter Ryan, MM. MiD. (Retd) 


Forward by MAJ Brian Liddy (Retd) – ACA Public Officer 

Today is the second time the 

Commandos have invited 

me to speak at their moving 

annual pilgrimage, which is a great 

honour. I hope I don’t owe it merely 

to forgetfulness on the part of 

someone on your committee. Some 

people – certainly I am not one of 

them – have a sort of genius for 

addressing a parade. One who did 

was Captain “Bully” Hayes, MC, of 

the 2/6 Battalion. As their ship sped 

them across the Mediterranean, 

thrust without warning into Churchill’s 

tragic Greek campaign of 1941, 

Colonel Wrigley ordered Bully to give 

the Battalion a good general back - 

ground briefing on the country where 

they would soon be fighting; Greece. 

Bully Hayes, a farmer from Gipps - 

land, was a great infantry officer, 

though hardly a scholar. But, as always, he rose bravely 

to any unexpected task. Let me give you just the 

flavour of what the troops on deck heard that day: 

“Shut up there in the rear rank and pay attention! 

Now, we’re off to Greece, and you men have to 

remember that Greeks aren’t like the rest of us, and 

they’re not all in the fish and chips business, either. 

They have a great military tradition, the Greeks. 

They’re currently belting the daylights out of the 

Italians, just as they thrashed the Turks and Persians in 

the past. They are fighting alongside us as friends and 

allies. The Greeks are strong on culture. For instance, 

they invented democracy and the Olympic Games, 

though I haven’t heard of them winning too many gold 

medals lately. They had wonderful buildings, the 

Parthenon, for instance. Damn near two and a-half 

thousand years old and a bit clapped-out now. Well, 

that’s government departments for you --- same in 

Greece as everywhere else. From photographs of their 

sheep, their agriculture must be bloody terrible. 

They’ve got goats and mules, too, which bugger land 

nearly as fast as rabbits; wouldn’t be surprised if the 

rabbits are out of control in Greece, too. The Greeks 

put turpentine in their wine because they like it that 

way see. They make some watery beer like that horse 

p*#+ from New South Wales. Their favourite food is 

octopus and squids; well, that’s their business, and 

better than frogs and snails, which is all we’d get to eat 

if we were sent to France.” 

And he broke the parade off with a firm: “No use 

Peter Ryan, MM. MiD. Circa 1945 

Image supplied by MAJ Brian Liddy (Retd) 

asking any questions. You all know as 

much about Greece as I do now.” 

What you’ve just heard comes 

from Jo Gullett’s marvellous little 

book about his own soldiering, called 

Not as a Duty Only. Jo was one of our 

greatest fighting soldiers, and his 

book, long out of print, is to appear 

in a new edition next year. When Jo’s 

Battalion went to New Guinea in 

1943, and were fighting in the Lae- 

Wau-Salamana area, they met Aust - 

ralian Independent Companies for 

the first time. The experience -- need 

I explain it to this assembly? – was a 

bit of a shock. Colonel Wood, the 

new CO, wouldn’t have a bar of these 

scruffy, unregimented no-hopers. 

“Just look at that man there, Gullett! 

Unshaven! He’s cut the legs off his 

issue trousers to make shorts! For 

God’s sake look at this next one! A bird of bloody 

paradise plume stuck in his slouch hat!” Apart from his 

scathing distaste for all Commandos as individuals, 

“Freddy” Wood – (I hasten to add that I certainly never 

called him “Freddy” to his face, and I dare say that 

nobody else did either, unless it might have been Mrs. 

Wood) – Freddy was doctrinally and on principle 

opposed to the very existence of Independent 

Companies, and to any other military entity which had 

the faintest whiff about it of “Special Forces” or 

“irregulars”. “We don’t need them! They only get in 

the road! There isn’t anything they can do that we can’t 

do better as a proper Infantry Battalion!’. 

There may, of course, be at times a grain of truth in 

the Colonel’s disparagement. Some of the very small 

and highly specialized cloak-and-dagger shows were 

indeed run by prima donnas in battledress. Some of 

them spent so much time watching each other that 

they could pay very little attention to the enemy. They 

made perfect material for the satire of novelist Evelyn 

Waugh, who was indeed himself a Special Forces man. 

In my experience, this sort of taint never touched our 

Independent Companies. Certainly, they relished the 

freedom they often had to fight in their own way, but 

they were serious military performers, and their record 

shows it. Colonel Wood was a fine Battalion Com - 

mander, but in this respect, he had a blind spot, and his 

judgement was unfair. It was unfair to men who, for 

months on end, had conducted the only offensive 

actions against the Japanese of all the Allies in the 


entire South West Pacific Area. It was unfair to men 

who had so neatly smashed up the Japanese base in 

Salamana in June 1942, with great slaughter of the 

enemy and just one man wounded on our side; unfair 

to men whose patrolling and bush work had kept the 

vital town and airstrip at Wau in our hands, and who, 

when the 2/6 Battalion arrived, taught its soldiers the 

actualities of jungle warfare. It was they – had the 

Colonel paused a moment to reflect – who, against the 

odds of malaria, hunger and loneliness, had hung 

grimly on to the very patch of land where his own 

battalion headquarters now stood. 

On a personal note, it just occurs to me that 

Freddy’s view was a bit unfair to my own little force of 

five barefooted black policemen. It would be hard to 

find irregulars who were more irregular than that crew 

of tough eggs, yet in the week or so we worked for 

Freddy their short-cut tracks and native intelligence 

saved his Battalion miles of unnecessary walking, and 

quite possibly saved some casualties too. But what was 

Jo Gullett’s view of all this? Jo was among the very 

bravest of the many brave men I knew, and yet I doubt 

whether he ever quite faced up to an argument with his 

Colonel on a matter of military doctrine. It would have 

done no good if he had. Wood was a man of strong 

mind, as a Battalion Commander must be, and he was 

supported by the thinking of many senior military 

commanders. 

Thirty-five years later, however, when Jo came to 

write his memoirs, his recollections of the commandos 

were warm and appreciative. He praised their 

toughness and endurance, and their determination to 

stick it out on poor rations and short ammunition, and 

the discouragements of feelings left out on a limb and 

alone. He readily acknowledged all the help his 

Battalion got from the Commandos’ knowledge of the 

country, and the cunning needed to stay alive in it. He 

mentions warmly the individual Independent Company 

soldiers with whom he worked side by side in the bush. 

Yarning with him after the war, it was plain to me that 

he had never forgotten that the actions in which he 

won his MC, and was promoted on the spot to com - 

mand his company, had been fought with the loyal help 

and hard experience of his Colonel’s derided irregulars. 

Today, the Australian government is reviewing our 

defence policy and the structure of our military forces. 

Most of us will say: “And about time, too.” The public 

is being encouraged to contribute its own views, and 

men who served now have a chance to speak up. Yet 

the technical complexity of modern military forces 

makes it very hard to reach a useful conclusion. Were 

our submarines (even when modified) a wise 

acquisition? Should we have an aircraft carrier --- or 

maybe two of them? Ought we to be looking at new 

tanks, or will the Leopards jog along for a few more 

years? Will “over-the-horizon” radar really perform the 

wonders claimed by its supporters? The mind of the 

ordinary citizen reels, but the mind of the admirals, 

generals and air marshals are hardly at one, either. But 

it is some reassurance to hear the big questions at least 

being asked. 

For myself, I simply have a hunch that we will more 

and more be well served by compact, versatile and 

self-contained army units. They will be useful in such 

places as Timor, where trouble is far from over, in Irian 

Jaya (or West Papua); in the Pacific island generally, 

and (one hates to say it) perhaps in Papua New Guinea. 

All these are areas in which we would hardly wish (or be 

able) to deploy whole divisions, but where entities 

resembling the Independent Companies might be just 

the answer. They would probably be somewhat larger 

in numerical strength, and more sophisticated in 

equipment and communications. But they would have 

that self-reliant spirit; that urge to get the job done. 

Those of us who are left, and who learned that spirit 

in our youth, have one last responsibility: to hand on 

the tradition: to see that the next generation of our 

soldiers knows that a worthy standard was set for them. 

Let us go home today with a warming thought: Jo 

Gullett fought in four separate theatres of war, and was 

three times seriously wounded. His distinguished 

service almost entirely followed strict regimental lines, 

yet this great soldier thought well of the Commandos, 

and he did not stint his praise. 

Obituary Peter Ryan (04 September 1923 – 13 December 2015) 

by Rowan Callick from The Australian 17 December 2015 

Peter Ryan, who died on Sunday aged 92, was a 

rare hero, of both words and action; a great 

Australian, convivial and combative, and a 

persistent reminder of the days when Australia was 

inextricably — and in Ryan’s view, epically — linked 

with its difficult and brilliant colony, Papua New 

Guinea. He never forgot the PNG villagers who acted 

as his guardian angels when, aged 18 to 20, he was 

deployed to garner intelligence behind Japanese lines 

in the jungles west and north of Lae. He described how 

“at the end of a week of being hunted by the 

Japanese, assisted by tracker dogs, I sought refuge by 

climbing a stupendous dry cascade of huge boulders, 

as it ascended ever higher up a mountainside” to 

about 10,000 feet (3048m). A great voice seemed to 

boom in his ear: “You’ve reached the end of the 

Earth!” His answer was: “If ever I get out of this, I’ll 

never travel anywhere again.” And he kept his pledge. 

No tours of America or Europe. 

But he did return again and again to thank, and 

simply to chat in pidgin with, those Papua New 

Guineans. In one village he helped fund a new primary 

school, which the grateful recipients named in his 

honour the Peter Ryan Memorial School, which he 


elished officially opening. On another such visit, he 

was staying overnight at the Gateway Hotel adjacent to 

Port Moresby’s Jacksons airport, preparing to fly on to 

Lae the next morning, and thence up into the moun - 

tains. He was dining alone, and he noticed that half a 

dozen Japanese men of similar age were eating at a 

nearby table. They were struggling to communicate 

their orders in English but managed much better in Tok 

Pisin (pidgin). Ryan guessed, correctly, that they also 

had done war service in PNG and introduced himself 

after their meals were completed — all speaking in Tok 

Pisin. They were members of a signals platoon that had 

been based at Salamaua. He then explained his role. 

One of the Japanese recalled the morse code radio call 

sign used by an Australian whom they had viewed back 

then as a particular pest, always evading the patrols 

they sent to silence him. “Em mi tasol,” revealed Ryan. 

“That’s me. If it’s taken you 41 years to find me, it’s no 

wonder you lost the bloody war, isn’t it?” Roars of 

laughter all around. The former enemies drank whisky 

together and reminisced well into the night. 

Ryan was one of the reasons I 

migrated to Australia from PNG, 

where I had worked for a decade, and 

where he had sought me out on his 

visits for chats. If there were more 

Australians like him, I thought … But 

of course, there was only one Peter 

Ryan. When I arrived in Australia, he 

arranged lunches at his favourite 

haunts — old-world classic Italian 

restaurants such as the Latin and the 

Society, where all the staff seemed to 

know him. His extraordinary life 

started to emerge, piece by piece, in 

the context of my broader education 

in the ways and the characters of 

bohemian Australia and beyond. 

Ryan grew up in Glen Iris, in 

eastern Melbourne. His father Ted 

taught him to speak Tok Pisin, having 

served in World War I as a lieutenant 

on the staff of the “Tropical Force”, which garrisoned 

Rabaul, then capital of German New Guinea, after its 

capture. Ted Ryan died when Peter was just 13 — 

inevitably leaving him, says historian Bob Murray, with 

“a lasting pain”, as well as an enduring sense of 

longing for the country that had so attracted his father. 

1 

Fear Drive My Feet is Peter Ryan’s enduring account of his time 

patrolling isolated regions of New Guinea during World War II. Far from 

his fellow Australians and with Japanese forces closing in around him, the 

eighteen-year-old Ryan endures the hardships of the jungle, overcoming 

loneliness, fatigue and fear with quiet courage. He finds beauty in the 

rugged mountain landscapes of New Guinea, and admires the charm 

and resourcefulness of its people. Rarely out of print in the past four 

decades, Fear Drive My Feet is a classic memoir of the war in the Pacific, 

a major work of Australian war literature. For the work he describes in this 

book, Peter Ryan was awarded the Military Medal and Mentioned In 

Dispatches. 

Fear Drive My Feet, by Peter Ryan 

Peter Ryan left school at 16 and was working at what he 

called “a dull job” as a junior clerk in Victoria’s Crown 

Law Department when he enlisted, soon before Japan 

entered the war in 1941. He was rapidly sent to Port 

Moresby after com pleting basic training. He wrote the 

Australian World War II classic Fear Drive My Feet 1 

when he was 21, soon after the events it enthrallingly 

relays. It took Ryan a further 14 years to have it 

published, but since then it has been through several 

editions and has been republished this year as a Text 

Classic edition. Its title derived from the Book of Job, 

18:11: “Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, 

and shall drive him to his feet.” 

For the bravery and persistence with which he 

overcame the fear driving his feet, he was awarded the 

Military Medal (MM). Ryan writes in the book: “Nobody 

thought it very strange then, least of all myself, to send 

someone into that country without such basic neces - 

sities as food, maps and compass. When you are 18 

the fact that quite stupid people can play chuck 

ha’penny with your life doesn’t seem too unjust. This is 

partly because the thrill of the 

adventure is more dangerously 

intoxicating than liquor, and you 

aren’t too closely in touch with reality. 

You stride down the jungle trail full of 

confidence, a pioneer, a new David 

Livingstone; you feel exactly like your 

favourite hero from the Boy’s Own 

Paper.” But “the hangover from this 

kind of binge is unpleasant”. The 

excite ment vanishes, “leaving behind 

an empty flatness that was only one 

degree removed from despair”. Ryan 

thus swiftly came face to face with 

reality, with the need to marshal 

skilfully the resources — including his 

PNG comrades — on which he would 

depend for survival. He retained a 

close interest in the constantly 

colourful ravelling and unravelling of 

PNG, and kept in touch as best he 

could with the PNG police constables and others 

whom he first met during the war, until they faded as 

he lived on. Ryan, while a constantly engaged and 

amusing observer of human foibles, was overall a glasshalf-empty 

kind of analyst, especially about govern - 

ments, politicians and others with tickets on them - 

selves. In his last communication with me a few weeks 

ago, inevitably interspersing Tok Pisin with English, he 

wrote of a recent, slightly upbeat article of mine from 

Port Moresby: “My gut feeling is that most of it will 

wash up fairly badly. But then, after all it is PNG.” 

Peter Pierce, editor of the Cambridge History of 

Australian Literature, writes in his introduction to the 

republished book, which he views as Australia’s finest 

war memoir, “This is a visceral but also an expres - 

sionistic journey — into a landscape of terror and 

exhilaration … “Ryan’s youthful spirit is tested relent - 


lessly: he has to judge whom to trust, 

what path to follow, where danger 

might lie.” The book concludes: 

“Man is very brave. His patience and 

endurance are truly wonderful. 

Perhaps he will learn, one day, that 

wars and calamities of nature are not 

the only occa sions when such 

qualities are needed.” Ryan him self 

certainly enlisted those qualities 

during his long and varied working 

life, which had not even begun in 

earnest by the time he had written his 

magnum opus. 

After the Japanese were expelled 

from PNG, Ryan taught Tok Pisin at 

Duntroon in Canberra, where he 

became a friend of politician-poet Paul Hasluck. He 

was then invited to join the Directorate of Research and 

Civil Affairs, which provided policy advice out of 

Melbourne’s Victoria Barracks. This “oddball unit”, as 

Ryan later described it, was commanded by Colonel 

Alf Conlon, whom half a century later he regarded as 

“even today, mysterious”. Still only 21 when the war 

ended, Ryan took a history degree with honours at the 

University of Melbourne, studying alongside many 

other war veterans. He joined the Labour Club, helping 

defend it against communist takeover attempts. He 

also in this period married the indefatigable Gladys 

Davidson — always known as “Davey” — and they 

raised a daughter, Sally, and a son, Andrew. All survive 

him. Ryan was a dapper dresser, an urbane figure who 

nevertheless loved, besides his family and his books, 

the countryside, horses and dogs. Over the dozen 

years after graduating, he made a living by writing and 

by small-scale publishing, managing for “a small 

syndicate of well-off Melbourne lefty journalists” Atlas 

Publications, which included Captain Atom comics, 

Miss Young Romance comics, Heart-Throb photonovels, 

Gunsmoke western novelettes, and a racing 

guide. Murray describes Ryan as “a man incapable of 

writing an ugly sentence”. 

He became account executive at Melbourne’s 

largest advertising agency, handling companies such as 

Heinz and Shell. During this period, he also wrote the 

witty and spiky Melbourne Spy column in the 

fortnightly liberal publication Nation, run by Tom 

Fitzgerald — enjoying the considerable speculation as 

to the Spy’s identity. He moved into more corporate 

glamour by becoming public relations chief for ICI, 

working from 1958 in the company’s 20-storey HQ in 

East Melbourne that was Australia’s first great 

modernist building. In 1962, Melbourne University 

Press boldly appointed 38-year-old Ryan as its 

publisher. The gamble — “the luckiest break of my 

working life”, he said — was successful, with Ryan 

helping deliver a wave of important and profitable 

works across the next 27 years, until he retired in 1989. 

Ryan was excited by publishing, having, as he wrote in 

Peter Ryan when Director of 

Melbourne University PressThe correct 

number of men was in fact 74. 

his memoir Final Proof, passionately 

shared with Edward Gibbon “the 

early and invincible love of reading”. 

His MUP authors included Macfarlane 

Burnet, Gus Nossal, Norman Lindsay, 

Alec Hope, Michael Cannon, Ken 

Inglis, Hasluck, Geoffrey Serle and 

David Malouf. He also published his 

own pet project, the magisterial 

Encyclopaedia of Papua and New 

Guinea, and Manning Clark’s sixvolume 

A History of Australia. 

It would be disproportionate to 

weigh Ryan’s remarkable life solely by 

his having first published, then 

rubbished, Clark. But when he wrote 

in September 1993 in Quadrant — 

where he soon began a regular column that he 

continued until his death — that Clark’s work was “an 

imposition on Australian credulity — more plainly, a 

fraud”, he would have anticipated the unfriendly fire 

that would result. Ryan had studied under Clark at 

Melbourne University. The History was a valuable 

money-spinner for the press, which was contractually 

committed to completing its publication. And Ryan 

admitted to liking Clark, “the camaraderie somehow 

enduring from our earlier roistering days”. He was 

appalled to discover, chatting as the final volume was 

awaiting its birth, that Clark — who had presented 

Labour leader Bert Evatt “in a saintly light, ‘the image 

of Christ in his heart’ … but his opponent RG Menzies 

as an imperialistic booby” — after reading the Menzies 

diaries and papers, was having second thoughts. “He 

was, as always, imperturbable. ‘Ah, yes … Well, I don’t 

think my readers would be greatly pleased now to see 

me praising Menzies’ … It was the last straw.” 

Eventually, Ryan could contain his critique no longer. 

By then he had become secretary of the board of 

examiners for Victorian barristers and solicitors in what 

for others might be twilight years. No quiet life for him, 

though, as he fought in his columns the history and 

culture wars. Ryan’s eyes remained bright with mischief 

until the end. He was a quintessential brave Australian. 

Editor’s Note: Peter Ryan’s book is still available on 

Amazon & Google Books 


THE LAST COASTWATCHER 

Rabaul Under Japanese Occupation 

By Mr James ‘Jim’ Burrowes, OAM. – M Special Unit, WW2 

On 23 January 1942, just 46 days after Pearl 

Harbor when the Japanese Navy had taken 

all before it, the bastion town of the South 

Pacific, Rabaul, fell to the Japanese invasion force of 

5,000 troops. Pandemonium reined after its com - 

manding Officer, Colonel J. Scanlon, issued the igno - 

minious order that very afternoon of ‘Every man for 

himself!’ The consequences were dire! Of the 1,485 Lark 

Force troops, which included 273 men from the 1st 

Independent Company, and the 275 civilians of Rabaul – 

a total of 1,758 – only 422 (24%) survived. Thus, 1,338 

(76%) were casualties. This was the greatest Australian 

military disaster of the war against Japan in World War II 

(compared with Buna-Gona 967, Malaya 700 and 

Kokoda 625) with the sinking of the Japanese POW ship 

Montevideo Maru with 1,053 victims – which included 

132 men from the Independent Company and 208 (20%) 

who were non-combatant civilians – the greatest 

Australian maritime disaster (compared with HMAS 

Sydney 645).Bully Hayes, a farmer from Gipps land, was 

a great infantry officer, though hardly a scholar. 

My Story Unfolds……. 

Once my family learned the fate of my brother Bob – 

lost on the Montevideo Maru in 1942 – I had always 

wondered how the prisoners fared during the five 

months before they were transported. It was not until 

August 2008 that I obtained a first-hand account of that 

time and events! 

A story in our local newspaper by Max Hayes (a 

member of the Papua New Guinea Association of 

Australia) told of the retrieval of a handkerchief – with a 

name and number, VX 19523 B. O’Neil, noted on it – 

tossed aside by a prisoner as he was being loaded 

onto the Montevideo Maru. This handkerchief was 

picked up by a 12-year-old indigenous local, Rudy 

Buckley, which put paid to occasional theories that the 

men were not lost on the Montevideo Maru but had 

been slaughtered. I was able to obtain Rudy’s phone 

number (in Kingston, Queensland) and while vacationing 

in Coolangatta, I then travelled by bus and rail to meet 

up with him, when he was kind enough to pick me up at 

the Loganlea rail station and take me to his home to 

have a talk. 

As background, Rudy is a very responsible person 

with 30 years in electrical maintenance with the 

Department of Civil Aviation, both in New Guinea and, 

after he and his family relocated to Queensland, in 

Australia. 

The following notes are based on his comments in 

response to my questions in 2008. Rudy told me that he 

had kept O’Neil’s handkerchief for many years as a 

souvenir until he drew attention to it at a recent 

Montevideo Maru commemoration in Brisbane at which 

One of the two guns at Praed Point ‘guarding’ the entrance to 

Simpson Harbour. Photo Curtesy of: 

www.lastcoastwatcher.wordpress.com 

the handkerchief was displayed. I checked the names of 

prisoners listed on the Montevideo Maru, and 

confirmed that Cpl O’Neil’s name is on it, as are the 

names of my brother and his mates in the Engineers. 

Rudy’s comments, which I have briefly paraphrased, 

follow: 

“During the Japanese occupation of Rabaul, there 

were always approximately 100 Japanese ships of all 

kinds, including aircraft carriers and battleships, in 

Simpson Harbour”. 

(Apparently, this included the period following the 

Japanese defeat in the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 

1942 when the invasion fleet that had been headed for 

Port Moresby returned, badly damaged, to Rabaul.) 

Rudy confirmed he had watched the prisoners on their 

death march to the Harbour and then being barged out 

to the ill-fated Montevideo Maru. 

I then asked him about life under Japanese occu - 

pation, which I believe is the only account of that time. 

His wife Mary’s father was Japanese and was deported 

along with German nationals to the Cowra enemy 

detention centre in New South Wales. 

“The Japanese had been bombing Rabaul regularly, 

including the hospital, before the invasion, but not 

doing too much damage to the airstrip (such as it was), 

obviously destined for their future use” he said. 

Rudy then went onto say: “The Japanese landed on 

23 January 1942 from the north of Simpson Harbour 

and on the other side, cutting off Praed Point where two 

massive gun barrels pointed menacingly towards the 

sea (like Singapore!). The guns never fired a shot, but 

the landing in that location would have denied many of 

our soldiers any prospect of responding effectively to 

the ‘Every man for himself!’ order”. 

“The Japanese soldiers were extremely cruel and not 

averse to killing anyone on the spot, including civilians, 

who gave them trouble”. In fact, Rudy’s 42-year-old 


father, a mechanic, was killed with many blows from a 

tyre lever when he was slow in repairing an engine. 

“Prior to their shipment on the Montevideo Maru, the 

Australian prisoners were used largely in loading and 

unloading ships in the Harbour. Countless other 

prisoners, including Koreans, British and Indians, had 

been imported as slaves and were used to dig all the 

tunnels into the mountains around Rabaul. They were 

also used to clear all available fields to establish the 

growing of rice, tapioca, sweet potatoes and other 

vegetables to fulfil the enormous task of feeding over 

60,000 of their troops”. “All natives had been relocated 

to the Chinese quarter and outer areas. There were no 

shops” Rudy explained. 

Rudy’s family – his mother, two brothers and two 

sisters – survived by selling and bartering rice, fish and 

craft products with the Japanese in exchange for tinned 

food and other goods. The Japanese had ships pro - 

ducing food and treating whales from fishing expe - 

ditions. Rudy said “Generally, the Japanese didn’t worry 

children and natives and even had a system of feeding 

them. They also organised a school to teach the 

children the Japanese language, but this didn’t last long 

when the school was destroyed in a bombing raid. From 

1944 Rabaul was routinely attacked by Allied bombers, 

usually from 10am to midday with occasional raids at 

night to keep the Japanese ‘on their toes’. Apparently, 

they tried to bomb the Matupi volcano to cause an 

eruption, without success. During Japanese rule, 

approximately 42 US, New Zealand and Australian air - 

men who had been shot down were captured and 

executed by sword”. Rudy witnessed some of this from 

a Japanese truck. 

In 1949, Rudy met up with members of the War 

Graves Commission visiting Rabaul and was able to 

direct them to the site of the burial. It is not impossible 

that one of these executed airmen was my twin brother 

Flight Sgt Tom Burrowes of the RAAF’s 100 Squadron. 

As mentioned elsewhere, Tom went down on his first 

mission to Rabaul in a Beaufort bomber from 

Goodenough Island. Authors 

Comment. Rudy had also seen 

the prisoner John Murphy, one 

of the Coastwatcher party 

leaders captured at Gasmata. 

Murphy was court-martialed 

after the war for disclosing the 

positions of other parties in 

enemy occupied New Britain, 

but was exonerated. 

Rudy also mentioned, 

“There was great elation for all 

of the surviving indigenous 

popu la tion when the war 

ended. Apart from the pri - 

soners, there had been only 

four Europeans in Rabaul since 

the departure of the Monte - 

video Maru”. 

It is worth adding that I have 

also spoken to Lex Fraser (since deceased), who had 

been the only surviving officer of the Ist Independent 

Company prisoners held in Rabaul for the five months 

before being transported to Japan (on another ship). He 

told of the unspeakable conditions in the prison quarters 

of the previously occupied 2/22nd Battalion barracks, 

with poor accommodation, no clothing replacement, 

meagre food and water, unattainable medical treatment 

and supplies…. before their transport and death on the 

Montevideo Maru. 

(As an aside, the now-leaderless members of the 1st 

Independent Company who were not captured were 

‘picked up’ by Eric Feldt, Commander of the Coast - 

watchers, and transferred to ‘M’ Special Unit to become 

the essential military component of the Coastwatching 

parties. Their contribution in this role became critical to 

the success of the Coastwatchers as explained in ‘How 

Survivors of the Ist Independent Company became the 

Fourth Dimension of Coastwatchers’.) 

It is perhaps also worth briefly noting that, after 

capturing Rabaul, the Japanese quickly established a 

massive military base to support their navy, air force and 

infantry. At its height, the Rabaul base and its 

surrounding encampment served 100,000 soldiers and 

thousands of other personnel. Because aerial bombard - 

ment was the main threat to the island’s remote location, 

the Japanese used their own personnel but also much 

slave labour (local people, as well as British, Chinese, 

Indian, Indonesian and Korean prisoners, many captured 

at Singapore) to build an estimated 300 to 500 

kilometres of tunnels into the volcanic soil around the 

Gazelle Peninsula and the caldera wall surrounding 

Rabaul Harbour where a number of facilities – such as 

hospital complexes, barracks, storehouses and 

command centres – were installed. 

It was because of its importance to their military 

operations in the South Pacific that my own Coast - 

watching party had been deployed to report Japanese 

movements to and from Rabaul. 



The ‘C’-Word Killed the Commando Skydivers’ 

60 th Birthday 

By Kelly Brennan, Supplied by Richard ‘Dick’ Pelling – ACA VIC 

Commando Skydivers in the air again after Lockdown. 

Image Courtesy: Commando Skydivers 

Things often escalate quickly at a boogie 1 . 

Not always in a good way. But the swift and 

brutal unravelling of the Commando 

Skydivers 60th anniversary will be hard to beat. Even 

for a club that’s handled a lot of challenges over six 

decades. In Victoria, jumpers had woken to 

worrying headlines after a few cases of the new UK 

strain of the Coronavirus were linked to a quarantine 

hotel in Melbourne, 150km away from the 

Commando Skydivers’ base. “Snap lockdown talks” 

screamed the front page of the Herald Sun. “Third 

wave fears.” The usual excitement of a boogie 

check-in soon won out over any lockdown gloom. 

Grey skies were the pressing worry, so the team got 

cracking with useful seminars. A couple of old-timers 

from the seventies were also there, sharing photos 

and stories with the flatties who were preparing to 

disperse their mate’s ashes. Numbers were only 

slightly down. A few interstaters had pulled out at 

the last minute, worried there might be border 

closures. But most of the registered players were 

there. Thanks to generous funding from the 

Australian Parachute Federation (APF) and VTPC, we 

had an excellent team of camera people and 

coaches across all disciplines. Club volunteers had 

moved everything from the usual Commandos 

hangar into the airport terminal building and we 

were ready for three days of awesome coached 

skydives from a Caravan. 

At 1.00pm, Friday 12 February we gathered 

around the TV for the Premier’s news conference. 

1 

In skydiving language, a boogie is a term for a large skydiving event, 

where the skydiving location comes alive with the gathering of unique 

airplanes, world-class skydivers, many types of formations and skydiving 

events - and fun nightly activities. 

More and more leaks to social media sites 

suggested a lockdown was likely. Yet we still dared 

to hope it would be only for Melbourne and we 

could complete our birthday celebrations in 

Traralgon. Dan Andrews started late, as usual. There 

was a horrible silence as we watched him begin. 

“Don’t say it, don’t say it!” pleaded the voices in our 

heads as he laboured through the build-up. At 

1.16pm, he said it: “From 11.59pm tonight Victoria 

– ALL of Victoria – will go to stage 4 restrictions.” 

Thud. Victorians knew too well what stage 4 meant. 

A return to August in 2020, the year we thought was 

behind us. As reality hit home, the silence continued. 

There were some hugs and tears. Nobody threw 

anything at the screen. Everybody started absorbing 

what they needed to do. For some, that meant 

hitting the road straight away to get back to their 

home states. Janine Hayes had the awful task of 

cancelling the venue for Saturday nights carefully 

planned gala dinner. Most jumpers tried to stay for 

just a few hours of fun, but the low clouds remained 

stubbornly in place. Eventually, Chief Instructor 

Craig Trimble reluctantly called it for the day and 

sent the plane home. (So, naturally the skies opened 

later for a brief but breezy period before sunset.) 

Club members carted everything back to the 

Commandos hangar, piece by piece. Then, the last 

few disappointed stragglers had a very quiet BBQ at 

the aero club, cooked by J9 who kept smiling behind 

her mask. “It was fantastic to have everyone come 

down,” she said, describing the lockdown as just a 

‘hiccup’ in the big picture of the club. “We will be 

working towards a new opportunity and will keep 

you posted,” she promised. Craig Trimble also 

reflected on how he’d been looking forward to 

spending the Saturday night in a ‘3 beer and 4 red 

wine buzz’, catching up with old friends and 

embarrassing his lovely wife. “As ever was with 

Commandos, the weekend was organized and run 

by members who volunteered to make it happen,” 

said Craig. “Thank you, members, visitors, students 

and past members, for fronting up,” he added. 

“Thank you to everyone who packed up and got us 

ready to crack open the doors and operate again 

next weekend. Thank you all, I’m proud to be a 

member of this club.” 

So, stay tuned for the Diamond Anniversary 2.0! 

The post-pandemic future looks promising with the 

current crop of members who persist, no matter 

what. 


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A MACHINE GUN SPRAY OF MEMORIES 

By David Waterston, 6 RAR (Vietnam) & 2 Commando Company 

A Brief History on the author. Dave Waterston Joined 2 Commando Company (2 Cdo Coy) in 1961, and from 

1963-1965 he was a CPL on Fulltime duty. He became a SGT in 1966 again on Full Time Duty (FTD) until 1968, 

where he reduced in rank to CPL in the Citizens Military Force (CMF). He joined 6 RAR for 6 months then joined the 

Australian Regular Army (ARA) where Dave became a Section Commander in 5 PL, B Coy, 6 RAR. Dave deployed 

to South Vietnam (SVN) with 6 RAR in from 1969 to 1970. After SVN, he requested a posting back to 2 Cdo Coy 

instead of going to Singapore for 3 years. He was posted 2 Recruit Training Battalion (2 RTB) as Instructor. He was 

then Head Hunter for 2 Cdo Coy as the Amphibious Instructor from 1971 to 1973. He became a PL SGT in 3RAR, 

then a recruiter at 3 Army Recruiting Unit and 1 RTB as Instructor and then as the Warrant Officer (WO) Infantry at 

Melbourne University Regiment (MUR) in Melbourne. Dave then returned to 2 Cdo Coy in 1980 until 1984 as the 

AIROPS/CSM and in 1985 to the Officer Cadet Training Unit, then retired from the ARA in 1985. He transferred to 

the Army Reserve (ARES) for 3 years on Full Time Duty at SW Wing, Swan Island from 1986 to 1991 then onto 3 

Training Group as the Training Development Officer (TDO) till 2001 when he retired from the Army after 40 years 

of ARES & ARA service. 

The 6 th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (6 

Bn RAR/NZ (ANZAC) arrived in South Vietnam 

in May 1969 and five days later 5 Platoon was 

tasked with a Platoon standing patrol around 3 kilo - 

metres from the base. The area was like a football field 

with no cover at all. Around 1700hrs a 105mm shell 

landed in the centre of the platoon. We reckoned 

'Charlie' was on to us, then it came over the radio, 

"Sorry, the NZ gunners had mucked up". No one was 

hurt but we were all pretty stunned. Then at first light 

the base was hit by 122mm rockets. We observed the 

direction of the launch and requested 105mm artillery 

support but as the base had been hit all support was 

then controlled by the Brigade Commander. 

Over the next 12 months our platoon copped two 

more 105mm rounds, a batch of 81mm mortars and to 

top it off, 155mm US Guns as we had moved into a 

Harass and interdiction area. We then had orders to 

move and RV with the tanks and APCs. The move was 

to take us to the village of XA Binh Ba, meeting up with 

the rest of the Bn. After a short while the plans were 

changed and 5 RAR got the task - 'lucky them', as they 

had a bloody great hard battle 1 . For the record 5 RAR 

did a house and village search of XA Binh Ba (50 by 700 

metres) back in August 1966. I have a piece of very 

sharp shrapnel to this day in my collection. 

Twice during my tour, my section did a standing 

patrol (TAOR) at this site in the rubber trees of Long 

Tan, 4km from the base, with a river to cross. I only had 

seven men in my section so all eyes were open for the 

whole 24 hours. (Note - lots of old equipment laying 

around after the Battle of Long Tan). We carried plenty 

of ammo, 1100 rounds for each GPMG. I had 21 

magazines for my M16 as well as Defensive Fire on call. 

We operated with only two sections at times thus I had 

the two GPMGS. They are a lethal weapon. Gee I love 

1 

‘This battle became known as the Battle of Binh Ba, fought by D Coy 

5 RAR, a Troop of Tanks from C Sqn, 1 Armd Regt & an APC Troop from 

3 Cav Regt. The Battle Honour Binh Bah was awarded to 5 RAR, 1 st Armd 

Regt & 3 rd Cav Regt for this action). 

The author (C) instructing 3Bn/43 ARVN Regt Soldiers on the 

M60 GPMG at the Horse Shoe Fire Support Base, 

Phuoc Ty Province South Vietnam. 

these guns (GPMG M60) they kill more than any rifles 

do. The poor Army of the Republic of Viet Nam (ARVN) 

Platoons only had one GPMG in the whole bloody 

Platoon so were severely outgunned by the North 

Vietnamese Army (NVA). 

Why so much ammo? I remember the Tunnel Rats 

section lost three men while on a night standing patrol 

forward of Fire Support Base Anderson near Bien Hoe. 

We gained a skull from this location which was placed 

above our company's Diggers Bar and had red lights 

flashing in the eyes and an NVA helmet on top. Dick 

Kluczniak, a former 2 Cdo Coy man who was then with 

the SAS, came to have a beer with me and could not 

drink at the bar, as it made him sick and we had to drink 

outside. I passed this story on to Gen Campbell (CDF) 

at the Commando Dinner last year as he was doing 

away with death head badges and similar as used by 

the Defence Force. He was shocked that this occurred. 

Times have changed! 


B Coy 6 RAR had a major battle in the first three 

weeks we were in the country. 5 Platoon earned a 

Military Cross for our Platoon Commander - not bad for 

the first 21 days in-country. During the battle the OC 

Maj Dutchy Holland, ex-SAS, came forward to ask 

about the snipers shooting at us. The Pl Commander 

and I directed him and as he placed his arm out to look 

around the tree he was shot through the arm. Such is 

life, he was repatriated home in the first month. Dutchy 

took over command of the Coy back in Townsville from 

our great Maj Les Kehoe who had been my ADJT/QM 

at 2 Cdo Coy. Les had completed two years with the US 

SEALs. Les was moved out of 6 RAR by the CO 

because he was working his Diggers like a Commando 

Company. Les introduced realistic and imaginative 

training at considerable risk to his future career. Yes, he 

was hard but it paid off in Nam - he was a great leader 

(Editor’s Note – Sounds like another famous OC who 

also came from 2 Cdo Coy and was on 6 RARs first tour 

to South Vietnam in 1966/67). 

Back to B Coy's battle. The 

Coy was patrolling in bloody 

heavy rain with 6 Pl leading. 

They sprung an NVA sentry 

hiding under a sheet of plas - 

tic. My section came forward 

for the attack. With 6 Pl we 

covered this sentry through - 

out the line-up. My 2IC John 

Joyce was to fire the M72 at 

Euro boy, PTE Mick Dunn 

who was wounded 

five times in the 

Bunker Attack. 

the sentry and that was the 

start of our attack with 6Pl. 

The 6Pl Sgt 'Butts' Buttery ex- 

SAS (we both did our Para 

Stick Commanders Course together at PTF in 1965) 

told me to drop our packs with his 6Pl group's gear that 

was in the open. But I ordered our packs placed away 

in the bush. 

We attacked the large bunker system and they beat 

us back. The remainder of 5 Pl and my section while 

waiting to attack again received rounds from across a 

clearing to our right (just like being on the 

Williamstown Rifle Range in the butts but no mantle to 

help). We then attacked again with no luck. Moving 

back in a defensive position the NVA snipers held the 

upper hand. So good was our training that we only had 

four wounded. The worst was Pte Mick Dunn from 

Euroa, whose Dad was a doctor there. Mick had the 

radio and every time he moved the bloody sniper 

punched a round into him. To get Mick out we got him 

to drop his gear, with the Platoon firing in the direction 

of the snipers. Mick had to hold a handful of his guts 

and run around 40 metres. He had been hit five times. 

Mick stayed in the army for some years after. 

Still under fire the Coy pulled back to an LZ to get 

the wounded out. My section was on the axis of the 

withdrawal and we could see Charlie (slang for Viet 

Gong) getting lots of 105mm shells (about 1000 

rounds) on their area and the bunkers. As darkness 

came on us, we called in “Spooky” a US C47 transport 

plane with gatling guns which was an eye-opener. Our 

Pl Commanders own words, from his web site, "We 

fought in the jungles of Vietnam in a prolonged 

engagement with a regular North Vietnamese Army 

Heavy Machine Gun Company". He was awarded the 

Military Cross. It is, he says, a medal he wears on behalf 

of the diggers who fought so courageously alongside 

him. 

We moved out with a hand on each other's 

shoulders to an alteranative night location. CAPT Doug 

Byers, MC. was the Coy 2IC and had command of the 

Coy - he did an outstanding job. At first light we got 

into it again and found many dead bodies, about ten, 

to greet us and we had to dig up some as well. 

My section's packs were re covered from their 

secluded hide, but 6 Platoon's that had been left ex - 

posed were miss ing. Charlie had taken their packs, all 

new Aussie packs, and the Pl Commander's Hong 

Kong pack. Our 5 Pl 

had the job to chase 

down and recover the 

packs and we did. It 

took some five days 

chasing Charlie and 

the only pack not 

recovered was the 6 

Pl boss's Hong Kong 

pack. Charley ate the 

rations and left the 

My Aussie Pack Side Pouches that 

I took back from Charlie. 

rubbish along the way, also cutting off the top flaps 

with the entrenching tools attached. They set our own 

Claymores along the way to slow us down and placed 

cleaning rods in the ground. I cut two side pouches off 

one of the packs and used them throughout my career 

and still have them to this day. 

We continued on our way and found a great track 

well used, setting a Section ambush with the other 

Sections and with Pl HQ 100 metres to the rear. Over 

the next 5 days we knocked off lots of "bad guys", with 

only one wounded, an NVA Major from the Rocket Coy 

who was shot in the bum. We winched this Major out 

and spent many more days at this track. We always 

worked with seven days’ supply of rations (three days 

Aussie - 9 cans of food, and four days US rations - 36 

cans of food!) We had to extend our rations and water 

for another three days which happened a lot during our 

tour, so the Unit saved lots of ration packs. Food was 

no problem, but having no water during this period 

was hard. I was licking the leaves at first light each day. 

The Coy weakened and we received an airdrop of three 

water bladders. On landing one bladder ripped on the 

bamboo and was lost. I think even Charlie heard our 

sighs. A bit more walking the Jungle then it was back 

to base. Our first month in-country went well. 

I must say I was shocked to think I still had 11 

months of this to go, and yes it was just as busy. I could 

write a book - I almost have. Maj Mick Harris took over 

the Coy the next day. He became a great leader. Mick 


had spent time with the USMC and some of his 

methods showed through. When our Pl was with the 

Coy the OC got my section to follow a track for some 

3km. We were told to move as fast as we could, the aim 

being to bump into Charlie and then the Coy, like the 

US Cavalry, would come and help us? One time after 

the Coy cleared a bunker system the Coy moved off 

but left my section in the bloody bunkers - six guys 

separated over three of the many bunkers - and we 

were to surprise Charlie, if he came back, and the Coy 

would return and help us out. 

Mmmm………... No, fortunately Charlie did not 

return. 

CAPT Doug Byers, MC. trained CPL Len Faver and 

me (we were both ex- 2 Cdo Coy) as part of the 6 RAR 

cadre (instructor) at JTC (Jungle Training Centre) back 

in 1968-69 and worked us bloody hard, which all 

contributed to the results we gained over the 12 

months in SVN. 6 RAR/NZ (ANZAC) Bn was issued with 

all the latest equipment such as the new Auspacks, the 

first in SVN. The Bn killed more NVA in the first month 

than the Bn we relieved did in the previous 12 months. 

Enemy KIA 99, 3 KIA by Artillery, 10 taken POW, 22 

blood trails identified and Hoi Chanh 1. We only lost 

one Digger in the Coy the whole year. PTE Barry James 

(God Bless) of 4 Pl was lost when his GPMG jammed in 

an ambush and he was shot in the head. It was not in 

vain as no GPMGs ever had a stoppage in our Coy 

during the 11 months after that. The Coy was awarded 

2 MC's and 1 MM - more could have been awarded. 

The Military Medal was awarded to PTE Fitzpatrick who 

years later was the WO Inf at 2 Commando Company. 

For the record according to the bestseller book,' 

Vietnam' by Max Hastings, in 1969 the allies in SVN 

killed the highest number of NVA. 

A few months into 1970, near the end of my tour in 

Vietnam, while on patrol in a creek bed we stopped at 

a large clearing on our left and we spotted 5 Charlie’s 

moving into a small bunch of trees in the centre. I 

placed the section in line with a GPMG at each end and 

after contacting Coy asked if there were any troops in 

our area. "Mouse Trap" - meaning no - was the answer. 

I then gave the order to engage. When they came out 

of the trees, we waited for some time so I started to 

register a Defensive Fire (DF) on the trees, then a 

chopper came in and the five men hitched a ride. We 

found out later that they were a New Zealand SAS 

patrol. Gee, to this day they do not know how lucky 

they were! 

During our first battle written above, one of our 5 Pl 

CPLs on his second tour received a small cut on his 

forehead and was airlifted out with the wounded 

diggers. A few days later he was sent home with 

dysentery and after a couple of days in Aussie hospital 

he was discharged. Because of this my 2IC and great 

forward scout LCPL John Joyce agreed that we would 

not leave each other in the weeds unless we finished 

up WIA or KIA. We had the normal 'flu and other 

infections, but two cases I wish to highlight. John was 

bitten on the testicular by a 

scorpion and it swelled up the 

size of a grapefruit. He had to 

cut his pants and let it hang 

out. This lasted several days 

but he stuck to his forward 

scout job. A few months later 

I had a bad case of dysentery 

and had to scrape it out of my 

pants but it got so bad that I 

cut the backside out of my 

trousers so I could relieve my - 

A man I owe so much, 

John Joyce. 

self about every 20 or so minutes. This lasted for some 

days, I cleaned out all the section medical kits of 

Codeine compound. The best part was a pair of new 

trousers at the next resupply. At least John and I kept 

our word to each other. It was both a sad and good day 

when John gained his own section in the Platoon. John 

stayed in the Army and retired as a WO1 (RSM 

Melbourne University Regt) and has since gone to the 

parade ground in the sky, (2017). 

A Fine Soldier & A Good Friend 

Where do I start? - Well, I was a CPL (CMF) 6 Sect, 

5 Pl, B Coy, 6 RAR in Townsville when on a Sunday 

night at midnight (I was in bed reading) the door flung 

open and standing there was a Digger with the biggest 

smile I have ever seen. For the next two hours John 

explained his life story and said that he had just 

completed the SASR Cadre (now Selection) course but 

was not selected as he was too young. John became 

my 2IC in SVN and was also my forward scout through 

his time with me until he took command of his own 

Section. I owe so much to John; on many occasions he 

saved me from trouble, and I will mention a few. 

I always carried thirty (30) detonators. They were 

attached to painted Olive Drab Det Cords of various 

lengths in my pack - there were no OH&S regulations 

then. At each night ambush I would set up a 

mechanical ambush site with possibly 6 Claymores or 

more mines linked together, with the master detonator 

and cord attached to a flare taped onto a tree. The trip 

wire was set at just below waist height. On October 20, 

1969 orders arrived at 0400hrs for us to move before 

first light to an LZ for redeployment to Tan RV Area. I 

moved out onto the track with John covering me as he 

always did. In the dark I looked at the wrong tree and 

moved towards it, when John yelled out with a very 

loud voice that was non-tactical. I froze. The tripwire 

was a hand span from my waist! When we had our turn 

as 3/43 (ARVN) trainers on the Horseshoe, on arriving 

at our location I sent John up to clear the 50 calibre 

machine gun which was in our bunker as I was settling 

in the rest of the section. Suddenly "BANG" - one 50 

calibre round exploded into the town of Dat Do. 

During our Shoalwater workup prior to SVN, I had the 

section trained on the side with .30 and .50cal by SGT 

Rex Harris, an APC Boss. He covered the what's and 

wherefore, but John must have been dreaming during 


the lesson on .50-cal. We all said nothing when he 

came back down the hill! 

When we headed into the Mao Taos mountains 

(Operation Marsden) on 12 December 1969 our 

Section was on the last APC of the armoured column. 

We had stopped, waiting for the bridge layer to do its 

job. The sun was beating down so I informed the Crew 

Commander (a very nervous guy who only had four 

weeks to go in-country) to move the carrier over into 

the shade off the track, Route 330. We had just moved 

over when two rounds of mortar landed in the very 

spot we had just left. Later we found out that they were 

our own! Friendly fire - the perfect oxymoron! Anyway, 

once the rounds landed the Section jumped inside the 

carrier and closed down - all except me. I had jumped 

off the side. The carrier took off at a great rate of knots 

leaving me behind. John in the meantime did a 

headcount and I was missing. In fact, I was running in 

the mud after the carrier because I was expecting a 

hundred VC to come after me, thinking they may be 

following what we thought were their mortar rounds. 

Finally, the carrier stopped and the personnel door 

opened revealing John with his big grin, laughing his 

tits off. What a start to an operation. A few days later, 

up the mountain I dropped my pack to do a recon. 

When I returned, I was explaining what I had seen and 

as I reached down for my pack, John tackled me and 

we rolled down the slope. I thought he had gone mad 

as I pointed my rifle at him. The reason for the attack? 

A snake had crawled on to my sweat on the pack and 

coiled itself up. It was a two-step Charlie Krait with a 

fatal bite. Before Operation Marsden I called into SASR 

to find out about the mountains and was informed that 

no SAS Patrol had been luckily enough to venture onto 

the mountains. 

Back in Townsville John and I were walking back 

from town with a belly full of beer when we heard 

chooks squawking, and with that we soon had a chook 

each. Back in our Long Tan lines and into our toilet 

block we cleaned the little buggers. Next morning 

John took the fowls to Sgt Cook Reynolds and he 

placed them in the tray along with his beautiful layout 

ration chooks. We had a 3-hour job to clean up the 

toilet block as it looked like we had sloughed D445/VC 

in there. John collects our car smash chooks and off we 

go to Magnetic Island, chooks and beer in hand. 

Sunday lunch on the beach, we tried to eat these 

rubberized chooks - what a waste of time! The fish 

enjoyed them no doubt, All I can say is, crime does not 

pay. So many stories one could fill a book. 

Before Vietnam 

I was a CMF SGT on full time duty (FTD) at 2 Cdo 

Coy and was attached to 6 RAR in Townsville for three 

months. I had the enemy Pla toon in Shoal Water Bay 

for the two pre-SVN and assess ment for 1 and 3 RARs 

Bn exercises, "Grass Parrot and "Bell Bird". 

After returning to 2 Cdo Coy my last job was to help 

move the unit from the McWhae Avenue Depot in 

Ripponlea to Fort Gellibrand, Williamstown over the 

weekend of 11-12 July 1968. I was offered an ARA 

posting as a PL SGT to 9RAR but requested a posting 

as a CPL to 6RAR. This happened, but I was classified 

as a CMF CPL Section Comd (yellow paybook) for six 

months in the unit with my Diggers earning more pay 

than me. 

L-R CPL Snow Gannon MID, the author & LCPL John Joyce 

at the Horse Shoe Fire Base, South Vietnam 1969. 

Author (back left) with other 5 PL members fixing the B Coy Sign 

at the entrance of their Lines at Nui Dat, SVN. 


There was panic when I was attending the cadre 

(instructors’ course) at JTC under CAPT Doug Byers, 

MC. and I had to go into Recruiting in Brisbane to sign 

on, as a signal had come through from Army Head 

Quarters (AHQ) to give me Group 6 pay outstanding, 

with not many Group 6s in the unit. Why did I drop a 

rank? Well, the above speaks for itself. The "Dirty Half 

Dozen", 6RAR, was such a smooth working machine 

and the 10 National Service (NS) intake who we did 

CORPS training for in the unit were just great soldiers. 

Our B Coy 6 RAR emblem was the Phantom holding a 

skull which dated from the start of B Coy back in 1965, 

before my time. A photo shows us fixing up the sign at 

the entrance to the B Coy Lines at Nui Dat in SVN with 

me on the left with some of the boys from 5 Pl. 

While I am on a roll, when I was a CPL on FTD in 

1964 back at 2 Cdo Coy my boss was WO2 Clem Kealy, 

a stalwart of the SASR and PTS RSM in later years. 

Clem presented me with his RAR Badge with the King's 

Crown (Edward) and years later when I posted to the 

RAR I always wore this badge - no plastic 'Skippy' for 

me. Clem did three tours with Australian Army Training 

Team Vietnam (AATTV) 2 . In 1999 I contacted Clem and 

during our many talks, he stated how amazing were the 

Battalion soldiers (he also employed RAR CPLs in his 

group) who worked so hard in SVN. He was so proud; I 

suppose being ex-3 RAR during the Korean War he 

understood. 

You will notice the photo of the 2 Cdo Coy sign and 

Pegasus the flying h o r s e a t t h e Rippon lea depot. 

During my time as a CPL CMF on FTD I wrote away to 

Mobil Oil and requested a sign which they delivered. I 

painted it with blue hammertone paint then our 

ADJT/QM then CAPT Harry Smith (yes, that man!) used 

his great art skills and painted the outlines. CPL Dick 

Kluczniak (CMF on FTD) and I then installed it on the 

hanger wall at the McWhae Avenue Depot at 

Ripponlea. So many stories one could fill a book. 

https://wet-seal.com.au/become-a-franchisee/franchises-for-sale/ 

2 

Clem Kealy. Australian Army Training Team Vietnam; 29 Jul 1964 - 13 

May 1965, Australian Army Training Team Vietnam; 21 Jan 1969 - 17 Dec 

1969, and Australian Army Training Team Vietnam; 30 Jan 1970 - 13 Aug 

1970. From AWM website, nominal roll. 


Study the ACT 

Senior Secondary 

Certificate (Year 12) 

at the Canberra 

Institute of Technology 

Do you need a Year 12 qualification, ATAR 

or specific subject knowledge for further 

study or to improve your career 

prospects? 

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At CIT, you can study in a supported and 

flexible environment. Part-time, full-time 

and online study options are available, 

as well as day and evening classes. Adults 

can complete the abridged ACT Senior 

Secondary Certificate in just one year. 

https://cit.edu.au/courses/education_community/act_year_12 

Contact CIT Student Services on 

(02) 6207 3188 

or email infoline@cit.edu.au 


A FEW YARNS FROM 

MAJ LUKE GOSLING, OAM. MP. (Retd) 

ACA E-Member 

Luke Gosling, OAM. MP. is the Federal Member for Solomon, representing Darwin and Palmerston. 

He served in the ADF for 13 years including 1 st Commando Regiment and NORFORCE. 

HAPPY 40 th BIRTHDAY, NORFORCE 

In the late 1970s, it was recognised that northern 

Australia needed a greater military presence. So, 

NORFORCE, or the North West Mobile Force, was 

formed on July 1, 1981. Its primary purpose was to do 

surveillance and reconnaissance work. NORFORCE 

operates across an area larger than many European 

countries, covering the north-western tip of Western 

Australia all the way east across to the Queensland 

border, and down to the South Australian border. At 1.8 

million square kilometres, it’s the largest area of any 

military unit in the world. The conditions can be harsh 

and unforgiving, requiring great skill to navigate and 

perform well in the face of extreme temperatures and 

deadly creatures. 

NORFORCE is also unique in that over 50 per cent of 

the recruits are Indigenous Australians. The experience 

Ray Leonard, the last 

survivor of HMAS Armi - 

dale, has passed on, just 

shy of his 98 th birthday. He was a 

very good man. Ray was there on 

1 December 1942, during the 

Second World War, in the Timor 

Sea north of Darwin when the 

Armidale came under sustained 

attack by the Japanese. 

As the attack unfolded, Ray 

witnessed the extraordinary acts 

of heroism performed by his 18- 

year-old shipmate, Edward 

“Teddy” Sheean VC. The Armi - 

dale had sailed for Japanese-occupied Timor on 29 

November to withdraw the exhausted Australian 2/2 

Independent Company. It also intended to evacuate 

about 150 Portuguese civilians and 190 Dutch troops, 

and land soldiers to reinforce Dutch guerrillas on the 

island. But Japanese aircraft began bombing Armidale 

and the HMAS Kuru on 1 December. The ships were 

separated, and Armidale was attacked by about thirteen 

planes, as well as being torpedoed. 

The survivors leapt into the sea and were machinegunned 

by the Japanese aircraft. Sheean freed a life raft 

and then raced back to his gun on the sinking ship. 


VALE RAY LEONARD 

The Last HMAS Adelaide Survivor. 

of these talented soldiers when 

it comes to knowing local com - 

munities and the landscape 

give the unit invaluable understanding. NORFORCE has 

been active for 40 years, constantly on the lookout for 

drug smugglers, foreign threats, illegal fishing and other 

suspicious activity, as well as collecting vital military 

intelligence. 

During my time with NORFORCE, I had the privilege 

of working with Yolngu soldiers on their country in North 

East Arnhem Land, which is incredible country. They are 

still very close to their culture and this experience was a 

highlight of my service. So, happy birthday to 

NORFORCE! Here’s to at least 40 more wonderful years 

and to a strong and continuing relationship with the 

Commando and Special Operations community. 

Although he was wounded in the 

chest and back, he shot down a 

bomber and kept other planes 

away from his comrades in the 

water. He was still firing his gun as 

Armidale sank into the sea. 

Only 49 of the 149 men on 

board survived the sinking, and 

the following days floating on life 

rafts. It was an extraordinary 

experience for Ray. After the war, 

he fought for many decades to 

get recognition for Teddy 

Ray Leonard (R) showing his Certificate from ACA VIC 

Sheean's heroism, resulting in the 

awarding of the Victoria Cross to 

Teddy in December last year, after 78 years. 

Ray had a long career as a psychologist and helped 

countless people, including many veterans. Ray and his 

wife, Beryl, were married for 76 years. It was a great 

privilege to meet Ray and Beryl with my Dad, John, a 

Vietnam Veteran last year. Ray was very proud of the 

certificate presented to him by the Australian 

Commando Association - Vic (see pic). We extend our 

condolences to Beryl and their three children and 

extended family. Ray was a great Australian, and his 

example shines on as a beacon to the rest of us. 

Vale Ray Leonard. 


Whiskey’s Wish Inc is a 

not-for-profit charity, 

that was founded in 

2014, by the President, Scott 

Jackman. Whiskey’s Wish Inc. 

provides veterans, first responders, 

and correctional officers with a 

program that allow the recipients to 

train their own dogs, as part of their 

rehabilitation, to become service 

dogs. 

The recipients are those who 

suffer PTSD, or other mental and 

physical brain injuries, as well as assist with mobility 

issues, and other disabilities such as deafness, 

blindness, and social withdrawal. The organization 

hosts training sessions, Australia wide and have many 

training sessions and locations available in South East 

Queensland. 

The training of these dogs varies, with the average 

dog taking around 2-3 years to become full accredited. 

Recipients must be able to identify 3 tasks, that they 

would like their dog to assist with. There are over 400 

service dog tasks, we can assist with, for example, 

picking up a dropped item, alerting to a person 

approaching, or comforting a person after a nightmare, 

by applying deep tissue therapy. 

As part of the course, recipients are required to 

participate in the program, by submitting training logs 

weekly and reading and interacting with blogs and 

articles, on the Members Only Website, which is a 

fantastic training site, to allow the recipient to have as 

much information as they would like. We will soon be 

launching our own You Tube channel, to further 

provide our recipients with more valuable information 

and support. 

WHISKEY’S WISH 

Whilst there are criteria for the 

preferred age, weight, and size of a 

service dog, Whiskey’s Wish Inc. has 

had much success, with assisting 

recipients with their rehabilitation 

journeys. Specialists tell us that their 

patients are showing great improve - 

ment and that the routine of training 

and being responsible for their dogs, 

as wells their own wellbeing as their 

own, has improved the person’s quality 

of life immensely. 

This all comes about from having 

quality trainers, 

Aust ralia wide, who 

are part of the dog 

training team. To 

assist them and 

many others in the 

community, 

Whiskey’s Wish Inc 

are hosting a 

Mental Health 

Trainers Summit, in 

Brisbane, on the 6- 

7 October 2021. 

This will be an 

invaluable 2-day 

Assistance Dog Willow. 

conference for Dog 

Trainers, interested in becoming Service Dog Trainers 

and Mental Health practitioners and other referral 

agencies throughout Australia, to learn more about 

how the program works and what is required. 

If you would like any further information about 

Whiskey’s Wish Inc, or you would like to donate to this 

fantastic cause, please go to the website: 

www.whiskeyswish.org.au, and if you are interested in 

joining the program, please send an email to: 

secretary@whiskeyswish.org.au. 

Earthworks Training provides RII accreditation 

for the Civil Construction Industry on:- 

• Tractor • Compactor • Roller • Skid Steer • Backhoe 

• Excavator • Wheeled & Tracked Loader • Dozer • Grader 

• Scraper • Water Cart • Rigid and Articulated Haul Trucks 

• Vehicle Loading Crane • EWPs • Load and Unload Plant 

• Telehandler • Asphalt Paver and • Profile Planer. 

Greater Sydney, NSW & ACT 

The competent operator will receive an RTO Issued 

Statement of Attainment, an RII Card and a VOC Card. 

Ask us about R.P.L. 

Call Lisa 0400 790 894 

Call Adam 0415 214 348 

SafeWork Assessor - HN827499 


ADDITIONAL COMMANDO NEWS 

Australian Army to Buy US Apache AH-64E 

Guardian Attack Helicopter 

AH-64E Apache Guardians are to replace the 

Tiger as Army’s armed reconnaissance 

helicopter from 2025, following an an - 

nounce ment by Defence Minister Linda Reynolds on 

January 15. Senator Reynolds said Army will acquire up 

to 29 of the Boeing aircraft to replace the existing 22 

Tigers. “The Apache Guardian is the most lethal, 

survivable and lowest-risk option, meeting all of 

Defence’s capability, through-life support, security, and 

certification requirements,” she said. Apaches were 

chosen over other helicopters after meeting the criteria 

of being a mature, off-the-shelf system, according to 

Senator Reynolds. 

“By pursuing a proven and low-risk system in the 

Apache, Defence will avoid the ongoing cost and 

schedule risk typically associated with developmental 

platforms,” she said. 

With improved sensors, survivability, com munica - 

tions suites and attack capabilities, Senator Reynolds 

said Apache would strengthen recon naissance to 

better shape strategic environments and deter actions 

against the national interest. The Apache is planned to 

enter service with 1 Avn Regt from the mid-2020s, with 

the Tiger helicopters to be operated and supported 

until their planned withdrawal in 2028. Until that time, 

Army will continue to rely on the support provided by 

the dedicated teams within Army, CASG and Airbus 

Australia Pacific to ensure safe and effective Tiger 

operations. 

AH-64E Guardian Specifications 

• Crew - Two. 

• Weapon systems - 30mm cannon. 70mm rockets. 

AGM-116 Hellfire missiles. 

• Sensors - Thermal/Day TV/Laser designation 

system and “Longbow” Fire control Radar pro - 

viding: longer-range weapons accuracy and allweather/night 

fighting capability; detection of 

objects (moving or stationary) without being 

detected out to a range of 8km; classification and 

threat-prioritisation of up to 128 targets in less than 

a minute. 

• Network capabilities - Integrated sensors, 

networking, and digital communications for 

situational awareness and management of the 

battlespace in real time. Digital transmission of 

images and target locations to joint operations 

battlefield commanders. Capability to control 

unmanned aerial vehicles. 

• Medium level flight speed - 150+ knots (279+ 

kph). 

From Army News - February 4, 2021 

The Boeing Apache AH-64E Guardian Attack Helicopter 

From Wikipedia 

Formerly known as AH-64D Block III, in 2012, it was 

redesignated as AH-64E Guardian to represent its 

increased capabilities. The AH-64E features improved 

digital connectivity, the Joint Tactical Information 

Distribution System, more powerful T700-GE-701D 

engines with upgraded face gear transmission to 

accommodate more power, capability to control 

unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), full IFR capability, and 

improved landing gear. New composite rotor blades, 

which successfully completed testing in 2004, increase 

cruise speed, climb rate, and payload capacity. 

Deliveries began in November 2011. 

Full-rate production was approved on 24 October 

2012, with 634 AH-64Ds to be upgraded to AH-64E 

standard and production of 56 new-build AH-64Es to 

start in 2019/20. Changes in production lots 4 through 

6 shall include a cognitive decision aiding system and 

new self-diagnostic abilities. The updated Longbow 

radar has an oversea capacity, potentially enabling 

naval strikes; an AESA radar is under consideration. 

The E model is to be fit for maritime operations. 

The Army has expressed a desire to add extendedrange 

fuel tanks to the AH-64E to further increase 

range and endurance. AH-64Es are to have the L-3 

Communications MUM-TX datalink installed in place of 

two previous counterparts, communicating on C, D, L, 

and Ku frequency bands to transmit and receive data 

and video with all Army UAVs. Lots 5 and 6 will be 

equipped with Link 16 data-links. As of April 2020, 500 

AH-64E have been delivered. 



RIGHT, left, right, left. 

Lines of soldiers attached 

to a thick wire in the back 

of an aircraft call their steps as 

they move towards the side-door. 

They’re taking part in a ritual older 

than themselves, speaking words 

that bring them closer to stepping 

out of that door. A red light 

switches on. The loadmaster calls 

“one minute”, then “action 

stations”. “Left, right”; one step 

closer. At the front of one line is 

the CO – the first of five and the 

only one who has jumped before. 

The next stick is led by the RSM. 

The light turns green and they 

step out into nothingness, freefalling 

for a few seconds before 

the static line pulls their parachute 

out to open with the up-rushing 

wind. After a few days of bad 

weather, the trainees have finally 

completed the first jump of their 

Military Static-Line Opera tor 

course at the ADF Parachuting 

School. They descend into 

Husbands drop zone next to 

HMAS Albatross’ runway, outside 

Nowra. This jump was a “clean fatigue jump”, done 

without equipment, but over the next few days, they’ll 

add weapons and combat equipment, before para - 

chuting into water. 

If you talk to the trainees, a common theme that got 

them over the edge when looking at the ground, 1000ft 

below, was the drills hammered into them over the past 

week of training. It’s those drills, combined with the 

rigorous double and triple equipment checks that the 

school prides itself on. WO Static-Line Sgt P said the 

ADF Parachuting School 

From Army News - February 4, 2021 By SGT Sebastian Beurich 

A Special Forces soldier prepares to land after 

conducting a military static line parachute jump from 

a CASA C-212 Aviocar at the ADF Parachuting 

School, HMAS Albatross. 

Photo: Sgt Sebastian Beurich 

training lives up to the school 

motto of, “Knowledge Dispels 

Fear”. “Students who haven’t 

parachuted before are always 

going to have a bit of appre - 

hension when stepping out of the 

aircraft,” Sgt P said. “Our 

instructors are able to alleviate a 

lot of that by the level of 

instruction we give and the pro - 

fessionalism they display. 

“Likewise, our aircraft drill is 

just that – a drill. They’re calling 

out all the checks on the equip - 

ment and making sure it’s 

checked by their supervisors, 

which gives them a level of 

confidence prior to exiting the 

aircraft.” 

Before they strap on a para - 

chute, trainees conduct ground 

training in a C-130 mock-up, 

practising what happens in the 

aircraft, how to exit and different 

drills they may require in flight. 

“One thousand, two thousand, 

three thousand, four thousand, 

canopy okay”, they chant, 

measuring the expected time of 

flight for the main chute to deploy. They practise for 

landing scenarios such as wires, trees, unexpected water 

and avoiding collision with another paratrooper. The T- 

11 static-line parachutes they jump with aren’t steerable, 

but trainees learn techniques to influence their direction. 

When they’re versed on flight, they move into practising 

landing drills, mounting and dismounting swinging rigs 

under the watchful eyes of their instructors, who give tips 

on how to make a landing more comfortable. 


Searching for a ‘Bushie’ Replacement 

Many of us who have deployed from Iraq to 

Timor and everywhere in between have 

thanked the ‘Bushie’ for her ability to move at 

speed, give us warmth or AC, carried tons of ammo 

when needed and in those trying times, she has kept 

many of us alive when the LRPV or SRV would have been 

our coffin. 

AUSTRALIA: The Australian Defence Force is 

undertaking preliminary investigation under its Bush - 

master Protected Mobility Vehicle - Medium (PMV-M) 

replacement program. The Australian Defence Force is 

planning to replace all of its 985 surviving Bushmaster 

From australiandefender.com 5 March 2021 

PMV-Ms under Project Land 4107 Phase 1 prior to the 

vehicles reaching their service life of type in the early 

2030s. 

The Bushmaster PMV-M replacement program is 

unavoidable because the vehicle does not have the 

organic digital infrastructure or power generation capa - 

city to allow it to become a fully integrated node within 

the Australian Defence Force's digital command and 

control system - an essential prerequisite to near future 

combat employment. Department of Defence schedules 

plan for a replacement capability for the Bush master to 

enter service in the 2028/29 period. Since 2004, the 

Australian Army and RAAF have acquired a total fleet of 


1052 Bushmaster PMV-Ms under multiple acquisition 

contracts within the original Project Land 116 and the 

follow-on Project Land 121 involving 5 'build' con - 

figurations of vehicles. 

The Australian Army is currently involved in a 

standardisation program for all of its Bushmasters desig - 

nated the Bushmaster Common Configuration to 

rationalise the type's support infrastructure require ments 

and ensure that every vehicle has the complete schedule 

of survivability, reliability and tactical up grades. The 

Bushmaster Common Configuration will also introduce 

features of the latest Thales Bushmaster MR6 vehicle 

including the much need Auxiliary Power Unit and all 

vehicles will receive the wiring and hull modifications to 

allow the integration of the EOS R400S Mark II Remote 

Weapons Station. 

The Bushmaster Common Configuration will not 

immediately include the integration of a hard kill Active 

Protection System like the Elbit IMI Iron First - Light 

Decoupled (IF-LD) which was revealed in the 2020 Force 

Structure Plan, that capability will be integrated into the 

fleet under a future as yet undisclosed project within 

Defence's Integrated Investment Program which has not 

yet had final approval. 

The ADF's currently Inservice 

Bushmaster digital framework is 

too primitive to be fully compliant 

with the full spectrum capabilities 

introduced in the Australian 

Generic Vehicle Architecture (AS 

GVA) on the Hawkei, but elements 

of the digital system will be in - 

corporated in a number of in - 

cremental steps. Thales Aust ralia, 

the current owner and Bushmaster 

manu facturer, has prepositioned 

itself for Project Land 4107 by 

implementing its own develop - 

ment program for an evolved Bushmaster capability in 

the more powerful and digitally networked Bushmaster 

MR6. 

Any future Project Land 4107 Phase 1 is likely to be 

an evolution of the MR6 rather than a direct build of its 

current specifications due to the very rapid tech nol ogical 

advances in military equipment currently under way. At 

first glance the Bushmaster MR6 looks very similar to the 

familiar ADF Bushmaster, but the new vehicle offers 

significant capability improvements over the battle 

proven Bushie that has been in service since 2005. 

The Bushmaster MR6 takes all of the elements that 

made the Bushmaster PMV-M a legend during the 

Global War on Terror, putting them together with a 

refined new hull, improved armour, upgraded driveline 

and suspension and full 21st Century digital systems 

integration. The original Bushmaster PMV-M deep V hull 

design has been tweaked, leveraging data gained from 

the more than 40 IED attacks on Bushmasters in Iraq and 

Afghanistan. The new hull is certified to a higher 

STANAG level and the original armour has been 

augmented to a (classified) higher specification against 

ballistic threats. The MR6 is equipped with an 

The Thales Australia Bushmaster MR6 in its 2018 

configuration. The MR6 is fully digital and can plug 

directly into the ADF's networked command and 

control system. 

Pic Courtesy Thales 

undisclosed anti-Rocket Propelled Grenade system 

which is rumoured to deliver high immunity to PG7 and 

above RPG projectiles. An enhanced Fire Suppression 

System offers significant improvements with both a 

quicker initiation response and greater suppression 

capacity. 

The most obvious visual change with the MR6 is the 

expanded mission bay, which has been extended to 

accommodate up to ten fully equipped dismounted 

combatants on blast attenuating seats with additional 

head height. The rear mission bay door has been 

enlarged, allowing for significantly easier mounting/ 

dismounting of the vehicle. The MR6 also features 

separate driver and vehicle commander access doors, 

allowing the vehicle crew to operate the vehicle without 

passing through the mission bay. A revised and 

upgraded suspension system delivers a 2000kg 

improvement in payload while significantly expanding 

off road capability. The MR6 can ford water obstacles up 

to 1.5 metres in depth as opposed to the Bush master 

PMV-M which is limited to 1.2 metre fording. 

The larger vehicle is powered by the uprated 330hp 

Caterpillar 3126E ATAAC 2001 (Euro3 compliant) diesel 

engine running through options of the ZF 6HP5 

ECOMAT transmission. The Bush - 

master MR6 is being offered in 12 

variants including Troop Carrier, 

Mortar, Ambulance, Command 

and Control, Direct Fire Weapons, 

Combat Engineer, Electrical and 

Mechanical Engineer/Recovery, 

Surveillance, Counter IED/EOD, 

Route Clearance and Logistic. 

Where the MR6 radically departs 

from its proven predecessor is in 

its integrated digital manage - 

ment system which has been 

leveraged from the C4I digital 

management system developed for the Hawkei PMV- 

Light. All digital functions on the new MR6 are interfaced 

through two multifunction LED screens used by the 

driver and the vehicle commander. All navigation, 

surveillance, blue force tracking and Remote Weapons 

System software and vision feeds, are accessed via the 

single screen. The single screen radically reduces clutter 

in the vehicle cabin. 

The suite of digitised communications, sensor, 

weapons and navigation systems and the increased 

electricity they demand is satisfied by a larger 360amp 

alternator and a new 8kW APU stand-alone power 

generator. The Bushmaster PMV is an astounding 

Australian military equipment success story, emerging 

from the Global War on Terror with a stellar reputation 

for reliability and crew survivability after approximately 

40 vehicles lost in combat in Afghanistan, Iraq, Mali and 

Syria with only one known fatal casualty. 

The Australian Defence Force credits the Bush master 

PMV-M with saving the lives of over 300 Australian 

personnel in recent combat operations, all of which 

would likely have become high level casualties in any 

other Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle. 



BOOK REVIEW: “SEMUT” 

The Untold Story of a Secret Australian Operation in WWII Borneo 

One of the ongoing ironies of 

war is that it has been and 

remains a catalyst for great 

literature. Semut by Christine Helliwell fol - 

lows this fine tradition. As Paul Ham notes 

on the cover – ‘A superb read, brilliantly 

researched, written in prose as sharp as a 

machete.’ So, it is most apt that the 

epigraph at the start of the book is from 

Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Not 

only is the setting and psychological 

tension similar, jungle covered mountains 

interspersed with mighty raging rivers and 

a loss of innocence, but the style is equally 

evocative. Christine’s description of Bor - 

neo: ‘resting languidly across the equator … with the 

meandering flotilla of Indonesia to the south’; and the 

countryside - ‘all around were endless battalions of 

trees, marching from the riverbanks to the distant hills’ 

– takes one back to another era and another place. 

Likewise, her description of the reconnaissance teams 

parachute insertion into Borneo awakens fading 

memories of similar experiences: 

‘The Liberators crossed the coast of British North 

Borneo into enemy airspace around dawn, the rugged 

mountains of the interior directly ahead in the growing 

light. Reaching the sandstone and shale mass of Mt 

Mulu, second-highest summit in Sarawak, they turned 

southeast towards the great peaks of the Tama Abu 

Range. And there, as expected, gleaming white in the 

morning sun, were the twin fingers of Batu Lawi. As the 

nervous tension ratcheted up, the planes came over 

the range and into the air above the valley. And 

hallelujah, for the first time the pilots had clear sight of 

the drop zone. The Semut men were already up, 

stretching, adjusting their parachute harnesses, 

moving to the bomb bay out which they would be 

despatched, the Liberator crew joshing them, as was 

customary in such times of tension. The plane com - 

manded by Pockley stalled, with consummate skill, 

over a stretch of inviting grassland below, and 

dropped its human cargo of four.’ 

By Professor Christine Helliwell 

Reviewed by Mr Rick Moor 

But the strength of this account over all 

others is that it also looks at the story from 

the perspective of the local indigenous 

inhabitants: 

‘It was early morning when Keling 

Langit heard the sound again. The young 

Kelabit woman paused at her work amid 

the cool slush of the rice field. Yesterday’s 

eerie echo had returned, moving back 

and forth above the clouds that hung 

across her valley high on the Kelabit 

Plateau. It was like nothing she had ever 

heard before: quite different from the 

rhythmic whooshes of the hornbills’ wings 

as they flew across the valley in the 

evenings, or the slowly climaxing whoops of the 

gibbons as they called to one another in the jungle 

trees at dawn. This was a strange reverberating roar 

that filled the valley, overwhelming all other sounds. 

Peering skyward Keling Langit saw, to her horror, 

several giant white figures materialise through the 

cloud. They resembled the pale spirit beings said to 

have once inhabited the area, their superhuman 

exploits remembered in song during long evenings in 

her Bario longhouse home. Closer and closer they 

came, descending slowly and silently like birds 

stooping to land. Keling Langit felt such terror that she 

began to weep.’ 

While elements of Operation Semut have been told 

in the past, the activities of the Semut II and Semut III 

parties have never before been fully researched or 

properly examined. This book brings closure to this 

small but important and very unique chapter in 

Australia’s and the region’s military history. The book is 

the first of a planned set of two, and covers the 

background, planning, wartime history, strategic and 

political drivers, personal recollections, and tactical 

actions of the special operations conducted by the 

Services Reconnaissance Department (also known as 

Special Operations Australia and manned primarily by 

personnel from Z Special Unit) in Sarawak from March 

to October 1945. Importantly it also provides an 

(Continued on page 49) 


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https://www.tsvflight.com.au/contact/

overview of the colonial history of Sarawak, the ethnic 

groups inhabiting the land: their enmities and alliances; 

cultural and spiritual beliefs and living conditions; and 

their motivations for joining the allied cause. As such it 

is more than a military history; it is also significant 

resource for all with an interest in understanding 

guerrilla or more specifically special warfare (that is the 

sponsorship and use of irregular indigenous forces in 

the prosecution of military operations against a 

common foe). 

While the world and warfare has changed signi - 

ficantly since 1945 many of the lessons, especially 

those relating to Guerrilla/Special Warfare outlined in 

this book remain relevant today. At a personal level the 

importance of humility and humour; the need for 

toughness of body, mind and spirit; and critical role of 

local knowledge and a common language, usually 

theirs not ours, stand out. Likewise, the need for 

special operations teams to have dedicated transport 

assets, whether air, land or sea combined with reliable 

communications are reinforced. And more importantly 

the need for the conventional and unconventional 

forces to have common and supporting objectives 

when operating in the same theatre is and will remain 

paramount. Finally political and military leaders, 

planners and operatives need to understand that at its 

core Guerrilla/Special Warfare is inherently political and 

that while military success is important so too is the 

need to harness and protect the civilian population. 

For without their support there can be no guerrilla 

movement and while you might win the battle without 

them you will not win the peace. 

But perhaps the most striking aspect of this story is 

the dilemma presented by the conduct of headhunting 

by the indigenous guerrilla forces and the potential for 

critics to accuse the author of engaging in moral 

relativism for explaining and in part justifying the 

practice. By way of explanation “the term ‘moral rela - 

tivism’ is understood in a variety of ways. Most often it 

is associated with an empirical thesis that there are 

deep and widespread moral disagreements and a 

metaethical thesis that the truth or justification of moral 

judgments is not absolute, but relative to the moral 

standard of some person or group of persons.” 1 This is 

highlighted in the following account of an early raid 

conducted by Semut II: 

‘But then, disaster: sudden movement and a light 

not far from the fort – the radio hut! A voice sprang 

shockingly out of the murk, then more movement and 

another shout. With the element of surprise lost, 

Sheppard hoisted his gun and began to fire on both 

fort and hut. Those with him followed suit, producing 

a massive burst of gunfire. They were almost at the fort 

when a Japanese soldier ran out of its door imme - 

diately in front. Pipen shot him dead at almost pointblank 

range. There was now pandemonium: in the dim 

light it was difficult to tell who was friend and who foe. 

The Kayans and Kenyahs (Dayak tribes) nevertheless 

moved quickly to surround the two buildings, in line 

with their instructions … Other Japanese fell: some to 

gunfire, some to parang … And then, quiet: profound 

in the wake of the noise and confusion … Sheppard 

called his troops to order on the clear ground beside 

the fort. It was then that he noticed: two of them held 

human heads.’ 

It is not for me in this review to make a judgement 

either way, but the case presented in the book is 

compelling and highlights the physical, mental and 

ethical complexities of the battlefield, especially when 

isolated and working with personnel who have different 

cultural and spiritual beliefs and practices. The 

historical context must also be remembered. As the 

author notes – “all wars are cruel, but the war against 

the Japanese throughout the jungles of the Pacific – 

including Borneo – was especially so. ‘Kill or be killed. 

No quarter, no surrender. Take no prisoners. Fight to 

the bitter end. These were everyday words in the 

combat areas. As World War Two recedes in time and 

scholars dig at the formal documents, it is easy to 

forget the visceral emotions and sheer race hate that 

gripped all participants.’” 

Professor Helliwell is to be congratulated on writing 

such a fine book. I have no doubt that it will become a 

classic and be highly prized especially by aficionados 

of the genera. It will certainly occupy pride of place in 

my Guerrilla Warfare library alongside The Seven Pillars 

of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence, Battle for the Bundu by 

Charles Miller, Eastern Approaches by Fitzroy Maclean, 

They Fought Alone by John Keats and Once a Warrior 

King by David Donovan. I can’t wait for volume 2 and 

the story of the Semut I and IV parties. 

Semut by Christine Helliwell is highly recom - 

mended. In fact it is a must read. It will be available to 

the general public from 2 July 2021 – see… 

https://www.penguin.com.au/books/semut- 

9780143790020 


1 

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 


Leaving the ADF 

At some point in their career, all ADF members will 

leave the military and transition to civilian life. It’s a 

significant decision that can involve your family. 

Planning early will make sure you’re informed and 

ready to enter the next phase of your life. 

You must complete your transition with ADF 

Transition Support Services so you understand the 

process, your administrative requirements, and the 

support available to you. We encouage you to involve 

your family throughout your transition experience. 

Transition support network 

Transitioning to civilian life is a shared responsibility. 

When you decide to leave the ADF you should engage 

with your family, your Unit, and ADF Transition Support 

Services. 

Your Unit can speak to you about the transition 

process and connect you with your local ADF Transition 

Centre. Your Centre will introduce you to a Transition 

Support Officer who will help you and your family 

through the transition process and: 

• provide you with an individual transition plan 

• offer career coaching during your transition and 

up to 12 months afterwards 

• help you meet your administrative requirements 

• help you leave with all documentation like 

service, medical, and training records 

• facilitate connections to Defence and govern - 

ment support services 

nationally throughout the year. You’ll receive 

information from Defence and other organisaitons on 

topics like finance and superannuation, health, 

relocating, employment, and ex-service organisation 

support. 

ADF Member and Family Transition Guide 

The ADF Member and Family Transition Guide – A 

Practical Manual to Transitioning contains detailed 

information on the transition process for ADF 

members. The Guidce includes information on support 

services and administrative reuqirement. It includes 

checklists to help you navigate transition process. 

ADF Transition Seminar 

You and your family can attend an ADF Transition 

Serminar at any time during your ADF career to help 

you prepare for your transition. Seminars are held 


The Positive Relationship between 

Physical Activity and PTSD 

Exercise has a positive clinical effect 

on depressive symptoms and may 

be as effective as psychological or 

pharmaceutical therapies for some 

individuals with PTSD. 

Rosebaum et al, 2014 suggests 

Physical activity/exercise is a highly 

effective method in reducing 

symptoms of depression and for 

people experiencing other mental 

health disorders. 

Evidence demonstrates that an 

appropriate exercise intervention 

can achieve significant benefits to 

symptoms, depression, anxiety and 

stress, changes in body shape and 

sedentary time associated with 

PTSD, and non-significant trends for 

sleep quality improvement according 

to Rosenbaum, 2013. 

The associated symptoms and the 

improvements may be related to 

psychosocial benefits of the 

intervention, rather than functional 

capacity, but there is also a strong 

empirical (observational) link 

between improvements in functional 

capacity and psychological status 

according to the author, 2016. 

People with PTSD are four times as 

likely to have type 2 diabetes 

(Lukaschek et al, 2013) and rates of 

overweight and obesity are as high 

as 92%. 

To add to these statistics, sufferers 

of PTSD are shown to be less 

physically active due to a number of 

factors including pain, dysfunctional 

and general lack of desire or both, 

according Boscarino et al, 2004. 

Adding some form of regular 

physical activity can have a 

significant effect on a sufferer of 

PTSD. It’s important to note, the 

type of activity doesn’t matter, what 

matters is that the person is moving 

and also having fun doing it. 

If you would like to become 

physically active again and help to 

combat some of your PTSD related 

symptoms then please consult your 

GP and discuss your options for 

referral to another health care 

professional (exercise physiologist 

or physiotherapist) for help with your 

other associated or co-morbid 

conditions ie lower back pain, 

arthritis and or obesity. 


Thank you to the following companies for supporting Commando. 

aerodefence.com.au 

www.axiomsedge.com 

www.aigroup.com.au 

www.airbus.com 

www.aidnqld.com.au 

blacktree.com.au 

www.austal.com 

www.boc.com.au 

www.boeing.com 

www.astute.global 

dtc.org.au 

www.asi.com.au 

www.synqor.com 

www.nzdia.co.nz

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