Radschool

Newsletter

Vol 10

Page 3

2 Radio Appy.

We had the photo below in our previous issue, and we asked if any-one could supply the names. Ian Symonds who was on number 2 RAS at Frognall in 1948, and who now lives in Pt Macquarie was quick to tell us that the photo was of 2 RAS and was taken at Frognall not at Ballarat as we had said.  Ian says the blokes in the photo are:- 

Ian says that his pay in those days was 3/- (30¢) per week, with 2/- (20¢) deferred.. He says No 2 Course started on the 7th July 1948 at RAAF Frognall and attended the Mel Tech College (now RMIT) until 1950 then spent 6 months at Ballarat learning RAAF equipment. In those days, radio and radar were quite separate trades and when first posted to 10 Gr Sqn Townsville, he used to spend time in both sections (H2S in Lincolns and TR 5048??), spending most of his time as airborne fixer and later as spare wireless operator. He says “We graduated as AC1’s Radio Mechanics (Air) and while at Frognell we were not permitted to drink, had smoking passes issued if studies were OK, were not allowed to have motorbikes, had to attend church dances (where the DI would grab you by the neck and lead you up to a girl to ask her to dance), had to attend cinema shows at Camberwell Theatre, and there was no leave from the base for the first year. Most blokes off the course were posted to either Malta or Japan (BCOF & Korea) in 1952/3. Below is a photo of our meteors of 77 Sqn at Kimpo, Korea, 1957.

Our daily hours, 7 days a week, were from 5.30am to 9.30pm, helping to take snow covers off, normal radio repair work, on call for the 20 aircraft departures about 3 times per day, then snow covers back on at 9.30pm. Good union hours. I was with 482 Sqn Japan, 77 Sqn at Kimpo then Kunsan and 36 Sqn Iwakuni before returning to 6 Sqn Amberley. I then applied for Aircrew and was on 26 pilots course at Uranquinty in 1955”.

We knew you’d want to know too so we asked Ian where it was…....

"Uranquinty is about 20Klm south of Wagga, on the Olympic Way, and was an RAAF base from WW2 days. I was on 26 Pilots course, and the Tiger Moth had just been phased out as a training aircraft, being replaced with the Winjeel which was a great abinitio trainer. When I started my course I was 25 yrs old,  having been rejected for 5 years due to my apprenticeship contract, then I was relegated to a nav course until more pilots were wanted, and as a result I was dubbed “the old man.”  I went solo in 5.20 hours which is still pretty good. We then had x hours on the Wirraway before going to AFTS at Pt Cook, the course being whittled down from 31 to 11 blokes and where we finally graduated as Sgt pilots.

When I was at Pt Cook, Paul Colby, who was on 27 course, bailed out of a Winjeel due to smoke in the cockpit and joined the caterpiller club and 2 instructors were killed at Canberra doing spins. An RAN trainee, Pat Vickers, was later KIA in Vietnam when bullets penetrated the seat of his chopper. One of my instructors was Cec Sly, who had been a POW in Korea, another was John Laming, later to check me out as a Sgt captain on Lincolns at Darwin, and we’ve kept in touch over all those years. 

Alec Young.

Ian also told us of Alec Young (right), also in our previous edition. Alec was on No 2 Radio Appy course with Ian until 1949, when he transferred to Point Cook cadets for pilot training where he successfully graduated into RAAF aircrew. Ian says he met Alec again about 1961, just before he was killed while leading a formation of four vampires (the RAAF aerobatic team) which were known as the "Red Sails". All four aircraft crashed just near East Sale in about 1962.

Theresa Hart, winner of one of the incredibly difficult competitions on the night, shown here wisely choosing the bottle of Ben Ean over that other mundane old prize of 3 months all expenses paid holiday in the Whitsundays.

You can quite clearly see the looks of envy from those around her.

Good News.

Over the past 2 years or so, we’ve had many requests from blokes who had done themselves a damage one way or another while serving with Her Madge’s finest. These blokes were looking for some sort of compensation but didn’t know how to apply for it, or were having trouble getting it. There were blokes who’d zapped themselves while playing with APS20 radars, blokes with tropical ear, blokes who’d fallen off things, blokes crook from sniffing petrol, all sorts of stuff, and up until now we too were at a loss as what to do about it, but not any more.

We’ve recently been in touch with Richards Lawyers who are an experienced applicant law firm practicing in the area of Veterans’ entitlements. They are specialists when it comes to the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (the SRCA) which is the Act that compensation should, in a lot of cases, be sought. This does not include any injury suffered while on active or operational service unless the service was after 7 April, 1994 but instead covers blokes and blokettes for any injury at any time while serving in Aust or overseas, provided it was not in a war zone.

However, receiving a pension from Vet Affairs does not automatically preclude you from making a claim under SRCA. For instance, LAC Bloggs suffered injuries to his back and neck while in Vietnam and gets a pension from Vet Affairs. He also suffers pain in his legs and gets headaches as a result of his back injury but only gets a pension for his back. Provided his leg and head pain are likely to continue he might be entitled to a lump sum payment, and as the conditions are not accepted conditions for the Vet Affairs pension, any lump sum he does get will not affect his pension.

Or, perhaps you are the widow of someone who has died as a result of a work related injury, if so, you could be entitled to a lump sum death benefit which may be more than $170,000 as well as an addition $3,000 to cover funeral expenses.

Every case is different and an individual’s entitlements will vary according to their specific circumstances.  If you think you are entitled to compensation, the first thing you should do is ring Richards Lawyers at either their Canberra office on 02 6230 1111 or Sydney on 02 9261 7444 (elsewhere 1800 009 977) and discuss your circumstances over the phone. If after your first consultation you find that you have a case, Richards are prepared to submit a claim for you and to argue your case on a no win, no cost basis.

Richards are amongst the most experienced applicant law firms in Australia, and as they’ve made this offer available to you—you should use it.   Good Luck!

HELP!

We need your help!  To produce this little newsletter every three months we need an consistent supply of news, stories, funny yarns and/or articles of interest. You’d be surprised how much material gets chewed up in one edition. If you’ve got any old photos, stories, anything, (but no jokes please—we’ve got a bunch of those) please send them in. You don’t have to write the article, we will do that for you, just give us the bare bones of the story, with a photo, and we’ll pad it out.

Everyone has a story about their RAAF time, about the equipment they used to work on, the blokes they used to work with, the bases and even though you mightn’t think it newsworthy, someone will. Please go through the spare room and dig out some of that old stuff you’ve had stored away for yonks and let us have it—Please!!