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Your Say!

While the Association does not necessary agree or disagree with everything on this page,

we do respect the right of everyone to have their say.

Nev Smallwood.

You don't know me, but I am Nev Smallwood’s daughter. I would just like to thank you for forwarding the letters from ex service personnel who served with my father, expressing their condolences and sharing some long ago memories. It meant a lot to mum.....and we both read these through our tears.

My dad was a simple self-made man whose love of the RAAF was only outshone by the love he had for my mother. He had good health throughout most of his life, only to be knocked down by Multiple Myeloma.

As will all RAAF families we did our share of moving around, which I am sure has made us better people for it (although moving around every two years was not really what we wanted as children).

Dad still marched every ANZAC day with my son Scott. He was a little boy who adored his grandfather and loved to march with him. In those days dad watched over Scott. As the years went by, it was Scott who watched over his grandfather on those marches.

At my father’s funeral, we, his family, felt so proud to see the Australian Flag and RAAF ensign draped over his coffin. He was dressed in his RAAF uniform. We know he would have loved that.

Again, thank you for caring. Please pass on our thanks to all those who have sent kind messages in this time of great sorrow.

Regards

Narelle Grigoriou nee Smallwood.

PS:  The pic above shows dad on his last ANZAC DAY march 2015. Scott is on the right.

The Engos at 1AD.

Gus Comer got in touch, he says:  “A couple of stories I had forgotten. Firstly, the Engos at 1AD (circa 1956) had a dislike of Radio people, I think (Queer trades, or Moon men we got called), so they began running up the Sabres right outside the Radio Section. At full revs, they produced an enormous noise, making work inside almost impossible. The fibro-cement outer wall was pitted where little bits of gravel had hit it at high speed. Our boss had complained, to no avail. One day I was standing looking out the window, straight up the tailpipe of a Sabre, about 20m away. As the engine revs were increased, I noticed the windowpane in front of me was starting to bulge. Then, the one alongside it shattered into a million bits. I quickly ducked behind a large rectifier unit as the window I'd been looking through also came apart and a large piece of glass cartwheeled across the section. Amazingly, it took a left-wheel into the Squadron Leader's office (Roy Prowse, I think). He picked up the phone and snarled 'Get me the CTO'. They never ran up a Sabre outside our building again”.

Secondly, “In 1950, I, with 21 others, were on a training course , No 99 Wireless Maintenance Mechanic (WMM), at Ballarat (Air Ground Radio School). On one occasion, a chap named Gerry O'Connor, in the bed opposite mine in the 22 bed hut, was sorting through his socks, looking for a pair to wear. "You Know", he said, "the test of whether or not they need washing is the wall test. If you chuck one against the wall and it sticks, it needs washing". Whereupon he flung a sock at the hut wall, and it stuck there!  Flat, painted Masonite lining, how could the sock stick to it? On closer inspection, almost invisible except very close up, the point of a nail was protruding a couple of millimetres through the Masonite. By a one-in-a million chance, Gerry had hit that spot! It remained a joke for a long while. Gerry died a few years back, I had a nice letter from his wife Heather”

 Spirit of ANZAC Centenary Experience

John Clarkson wrote, he says:  “I attended the opening of the Spirit of ANZAC Centenary Experience exhibition recently and came away very impressed.  It was on in the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (Hall 10) till 23rd February after which it packed up and headed to Adelaide. Entry is free but visitors are required to book a time slot so numbers can be regulated. It takes one to one and a half hours to absorb.  It’s going national and you should spare the time to have a look. You can find details of when it’s coming your way and you can book a time slot here:  http://www.spiritofanzac.gov.au/”

The incredible worm bomb!

Ron Shannon wrote, “We were sitting peacefully inside the other day when all of a sudden, what sounded like four double-barrelled shotguns went off together outside.  It was so loud we were temporarily deafened by it.  I grabbed my own shotgun, ramming shells into its magazine as I ran out the back looking for the enemy, only to be assailed by an unbelievable stench.

We have several 'Worm Farms' and we collect the liquid sh1t as fertiliser for the gardens, storing it in two litre soft-drink bottles for future use.  We often also add a few tablespoons of 'Seasol' to up the octane, so to speak, but you have to be careful. The two slowly interact in a fermentation process, particularly when the weather is hot, as it has been recently.  I remember preparing a 'brew' of this stuff but not using it straight away.  You can imagine the result !!

The plastic bottle eventually ruptured and there was sh1t from A-hole to breakfast time and an incredibly intense stench.  It painted the end wall of the house, two or three metres of eaves, the same of side walls and it was viscously dripping off the underside of the veranda roof and all over the paving.  To cap it all, the dog went running through it without looking what he was doing and walked it all over the place.

I won't do that again” !!!!

True or false??

Enie Gimm sent us this, he says, “I wonder how true this is??”

“Once upon a time SGT meant someone not to muck with. Now the troops go straight to the CO to voice their concerns with how mean the SGT was for making him/her do his/her job! Then the SGT is made to do a 2 week course called “identifying ways to connect with the troops”. The SGT comes back, buys flowers and now cooks for the troops whilst doing their job at the same time. SGT is now called into the WOFF office and disciplined for allowing the troops to take advantage of him and sighted for bribery allegations for buying flowers.

SGT is convicted and discharged.

CO promotes the CPL into acting SGT’s role and recommends the “identifying ways to connect with the troops” course. CPL completes the course buys flowers and now cooks for the troops whilst doing their job at the same time. CPL/Acting SGT is now called into the WOFF office and disciplined for allowing the troops to take advantage of him and sighted for bribery allegations for buying flowers.

CPL/Acting SGT is convicted and discharged.

WOFF is called to appear before the CO and asked to retire as he has failed the SGT and the CPL. WOFF says “Bugger you” retires and takes 35 years of experience with him. CO summons officer execs into a conference and demands to know why the Junior officers haven’t looked forward and planned for these early retirements. The most intelligent junior officer speaks up and suggests that the CO is to blame for this very predicament and is then made the escape goat, he discharges and goes on to run the next fortune 500 company.

Meanwhile, all the troops now expect their SGT’s to cook dinner and give them flowers, they send a representative to the CO once again to voice their rights. CO looks blankly at the troop and has no idea what he is talking about, tells him to go through his chain of command and to stop wasting his time. CO tells the new WOFF that his first duty is to discipline the troop for not using his chain of command. Troop “now confused” tells the WOFF that they need their SGT’s to be tough and if they had tough but fair SGT’s, he wouldn’t have bothered the CO, although still confused weather the CO still has an “open door policy”.

New WOFF recommends to the CO that all SGT’s under his command need to toughen up. CO agrees and sends all SGT’s to do the “identifying ways to connect with the troops” course. CO gets promoted to a staff position and self nominates to be recognized for an “Order of Australia” for having the foresight and changing the Defence culture within his old unit. Having being recognized for his services, receives another promotion and is now put in charge of changing the Defence culture and he issues all SGT’s within the Defence force do the “identifying ways to connect with the troops” course.

Politicians are now wondering which idiot “stuffed the Defence Force”, recognize that they have a major cultural issue and summon the old CO to fix it. He orders that all junior officers, WOFF’s and FSGT’s to do the “identifying ways to connect with the troops” course.

Meanwhile, the troops are now getting frustrated with the system that is supposed to give them discipline, the smart ones discharge, leaving massive holes in the rank structure which become filled by the remaining troops that are left. These troops complain to each other that they long for the old SGT who told them off because at least they knew were they stood.”

Yarloop bushfires

Ernie Gimm says again, “The below was received from ex WRAAFie Jan Delaney on behalf of husband Del. They lost everything in the Yarloop bushfires. Are you able to assist/direct Jan on her request for a Ballarat tie. I should think Googling the Ubon Assoc would be the best bet for that tie. Jan says “Subject: Radscl ties......................Hello there,  This is on behalf of my other half, Bevan.  He is seeking a Radscl tie, such as he purchased at Ballarat Reunion (whenever) as he didn't rescue his on 7th January. He is also looking for a replacement for his Ubon Group tie...........(Has lost oodles, but these are most important).!!  IF anyone out there can help he would be forever grateful!!  Thanking you all for your thoughts etc. etc., JanD. and Bevan..........

Not funny Lisa!!!

That not so very funny woman from the West, Msss Lisa Williams, thought she would send us something that she considered was ever so very very funny. It was obvious she had found this advertisement in a “Boys’ Own” manual and had the temerity to change the meaning by changing the words “Women” to “Men” and “Men” to “Women”.

Dastardly!!

We can just imagine Msss Williams, after she had changed the words and hit the Send button, would have been rolling around on the floor, laughing uncontrollably and shouting “gotcha, gotcha, gotcha”.

We were not amused!!   Msss Williams, you have now been erased from the Christmas Card List.

Click HERE - What do you think??

Climate Change.

Dear Editor,

I was dismayed to see, in the most recent edition of RAM, several pieces supporting the position that global warming is either a myth or a conspiracy. In none of the articles is there a shred of evidence supporting the "Global Warming is a Myth" hypothesis. One piece said, "for every argument for it , there is an equal and opposite argument against it."

Well no, sorry, that's not the case. Assertions made without evidence, or with inaccurate reflections of the evidence, do NOT equal those that are evidence based.

It's also asserted that there are "Believers" and "Sceptics".

Well, wrong again.

I belong to a group that neither believes nor disbelieves. I simply go to the source of the facts, check that they're properly sourced and quoted and read them. A great many people do the same thing. The inevitable conclusion is that Global Warming is happening now and constitutes a serious threat.

As Daniel Moynahan said, "You're entitled to your own opinion but you’re not entitled to your own facts."

We now have the Paris Agreement, where more than 190 countries signed on to taking dramatic action to fight Global Warming. Are the authors of these articles asserting that all 190 countries are participating in this conspiracy theory? And if so, against whom?

Isn't it time RAM stopped promoting this utterly discredited position, get on board and start doing something to help. After all, didn't most readers originally join up to protect our nation against threats?

Well, according to the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Global Warming will be the most serious security threat affecting the US in the 21st C.

The same can and is being said for Australia.

I counsel readers to also stop believing or disbelieving in Global Warming. We are all sufficiently well trained as technicians to trust the measurements. Go look for yourselves. Reliable data isn't hard to find. And the story the measurements are telling us is crystal clear.

In my view, by giving disproportionate space to these rather silly assertions, RAM runs the risk of discrediting all of us, which in turn makes it harder for government, etc, to take us seriously when we campaign on genuine issues.

Have a look at THIS.  The data used to assert that there's been no warming over the past 18 years is cherry picked. The fact turns out to be that 1998 was an exceptionally hot year so the deniers choose that year to start the graph. (1998 was also an exceptional El Nino year – tb). The scientist who compiled that graph, has himself said it's being totally misused and he, the scientist, showed how Andrew Bolt is lying about his data. This is what happens when we actually do what we did as Radtechs, when we actually check the facts. We discover that the debate about global warming is over. It is happening. It is caused by human activity. The problem is intellectual laziness, and I'm ashamed of my fellow ex radio guys for falling into the trap by being too damned lazy to actually find out a bit about reality.

Next time deniers get on an airplane, they might just remind themselves that they're trusting the science. Next time they need an MRI because they have cancer, they trust the science, but on global warming, they're so arrogant they think they're smarter than the scientist. There are only two countries in the world where this debate is still happening.  Australia and the US. Why do you think that is? Because in both those countries, right wing governments saw political mileage in denialism. And millions of intellectually lazy Americans and Australians got sucked in. If RAMS is to remain credible, it should stop aligning itself to a view that is increasingly being seen around the world as sheer stupidity.

Regards,

Anthony Element

Anthony, thanks for your mail, I think we have stated on several occasions that no-one in their right mind would deny that Climate Change is happening, what we question is the cause, why is it changing??

Contrary to what you say, there are a considerable number of people who do not blindly agree that man is causing climate change through the emission of CO_2. 

Have a look at the video below.   tb 

We’re dismayed, Anthony, the way people accept this man made climate change liturgy without question – it has become virtually a religious cult with belief and faith over-ruling intelligent thought.

Here’s some more info that seems to put doubt into the zealots unwavering belief in man-made climate change.

WE WELCOME YOUR INPUT!!!

Truth of the matter …..

Australia’s hottest day?

Not 2015, but 1828 at a blistering 53.9 °C

Back before man-made climate change was frying Australia, when CO₂ was around 300ppm, the continent savoured an ideal pre-industrial climate…….. RIGHT? – NO!

We are told today’s climate has more records and more extremes than times gone by, but the few records we have from the early 1800’s are eye-popping. Things were not just hotter, but so wildly hot it burst thermometers. The earliest temperature records we have show that Australia was a land of shocking heatwaves and droughts, except for when it was bitterly cold or raging in flood. In other words, nothing has changed, except possibly things might not be quite so hot now!

Researching records from early explorers and from newspapers has uncovered some fascinating data, it’s as if history is being erased! For all that we hear about recent record-breaking climate extremes, records that are equally extreme, and sometimes even more so, are ignored.

In January 1896 a savage blast “like a furnace” stretched across Australia from east to west and lasted for weeks. The death toll reached 437 people in the eastern states. Newspaper reports showed that in Bourke the heat approached 120°F (48.9°C) on three days. (Refer HERE, HERE and HERE). The maximum temp at or above 102 degrees F (38.9°C) lasted for 24 days straight!

Use the several links below to read the news reports at the time for yourself ……

1. By Tuesday Jan 14, people were reported falling dead in the streets.

2. Unable to sleep, people in Brewarrina walked the streets at night for hours, thermometers recorded 109F at midnight.

3. Overnight, the temperature did not fall below 103°F.

4. On Jan 18 in Wilcannia, five deaths were recorded in one day, the hospitals were overcrowded and reports said that “more deaths are hourly expected”.

5. By January 24, in Bourke, many businesses had shut down (almost everything except the hotels).

6. Panic stricken Australians were fleeing to the hills in climate refugee trains.

As reported at the time, the government felt the situation was so serious that to save lives and ease the suffering of its citizens they added cheaper train services. What is most interesting about this was the skill, dedication and length of meteorological data taken in the 1800′s. When our climate is “the most important moral challenge” why is it there is so little interest in our longest and oldest data?

Who knew that one of the most meticulous and detailed temperature records in the world from the 1800′s comes from Adelaide, largely thanks to Sir Charles Todd.

The West Terrace site in Adelaide was one of the best in the world at the time, and provides accurate historic temperatures from “Australia’s first permanent weather bureau at Adelaide in 1856″.  Rainfall records even appear to go as far back as 1839.

The media are in overdrive, making out that “the extreme heat is the new normal” in Australia. The Great Australian Heatwave of January 2013 didn’t push the mercury above 50C at any weather station in Australia, yet it’s been 50C (122F) and hotter in many inland towns across Australia over the past century. 

We get more mail from people questioning the man-made dogma than we do from those who blindly accept it as a lay down misère.  Our suggestion, don’t be suckered in by this alarmist dogma – don’t just blindly believe anything and everything the ABC and other fanatics pour forth - keep an open mind and question. HERE’S a good site from which to start.  tb.

4/87 SERGSUPMGMT.

We heard from Denis Park, he says: “I joined the RAAF in 1969 Recruit Course 1018 and became a RADTECHA on 39RMT. I left the RAAF in 1990 to transfer to the army. My final posting was 5Sqn/ADFHS Fairbairn as FSGT Avionics.

I noticed in the Association magazine Vol25 on Page 8 there was a photo with Sergsupman ? The course was 4/87 SERGSUPMGMT Course AND WAS held at Wagga 20Jan87-27Feb87

Attached is the same photo in the article but in better condition with the names of the course members at the bottom.

Also have a course photo from the 10/87 Instructor Trade Course (IT) held at Wagga. (send it to us please Denis – tb).

I would like a photo of 39RMT Course 1970 if there’s one to be had. (If anyone can help with a copy of 39RMT please send us a copy and we’ll publish it.)

Toilet roll holders.

Fred Griffiths writes, “Your very erudite dissertation on the correct direction to place a roll of toilet paper on the holder covers the very mathematical and physics aspect, but omits one very important element - that being whether you have small children and/or cats in your house!  See self explanatory video below for the correct mounting of the roll in cases where cats are present.

RAAF Base Wagga

Fred Griffiths also says, “Re Vol52, Page 10.  Just read with great interest your long story about RAAF Base Wagga.  I have recollections of Wagga as the first place we lived on immigrating to Australia from Canada in February 1967.  Loved that little town, well it was really a city by then I suppose.  I had applied from Canada to radio 2WG to be an announcer.  However between the time I sent the demo tape of my work, and our arrival, by ship in those days, some 3 weeks later, the station had changed hands and they didn't want a "Yank" sounding voice on their station.  So I went to work for K & M Duff as an electrician's assistant, which brings me to the connection with the military bases at Wagga.

K & M Duff had the contract to repair the Lightburn washing machines at the bases.  As old military types may know, Lightburn was actually a manufacturer of concrete mixers and washing machines - and one could be forgiven for not being able to distinguish between the two.  The calls to Kapooka and the RAAF base were usually to repair and replace parts damaged by the young blokes having used the machines to wash motorbike and car parts.  Seems they would pour in a quantity of Varsol, add various parts and turn the machine on.  Eventually something would break and a call would be made to K & M Duff.  When we inspected the machines the smell of Varsol was still evident, along with the dings and dents in the revolving drums.

Your article also brought back a lot of memories of "rookies" (at 1 RTU Edinburgh for me) when I joined up in 1972.  As your article says, a lot of things have changed in the technical department and accommodation area, but it seems a lot has remained in the personnel and character building field.

Again, a great read, now back in Canada when we're not enjoying the warm weather of Costa Rica.

Ernie Gimm sent us this.

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