Vol 69, Page 2

Vol 69

Page 20

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Contents.

2 Sqn Association AGM.

How to join the Defence Forces in Britain.

National memorial at Tongala.

RAAF Apprentices' new web-site.

Telstech reunion at Penrith 2019

RAAF Apprentices.

Dutchy Holland, from 27 Wagga Appy, has taken over the RAAF Apprentices Association website. The site replaces the old Blue Triangle website.

The address is https://www.raafapprentices.com.au.

There are individual intake pages to which you can add content. Links to Facebook and other websites can be handled and there is an events page where reunions will be posted. The site will even collect money for events and issue tickets for these events.

If you’re an ex-brat, you should check it out and join.

Reunions.

Because of the mongrel Coronavirus, all reunions have been cancelled or postponed UFN. We’ll let you know what’s on and where when things return to normal.

A man telephoned an airline office in Sydney and asked, “How long does it take to fly to Brisbane?”

The clerk said, “Just a minute…” “Thank you,” the man said and hung up.

National memorial site at Tongala.

Wally Jolley occasionally attends the annual ceremony that is held at Tongala, which is in Victoria near Echuca, and which remembers men who fought with the Army’s 3^rd Cavalry Regiment in Vietnam.

Wally says “I understand that Tongala (Tonny) was selected as it has strong links to the Light horse cavalry. It has only been in place for a few years and they hold an annual service to commemorate Beersheba day. The army boys travel from all over Australia for the service and they have a big turn out with many dignitaries. During the War, the regiment lost 20 boys (boys they were). The local primary schools are involved and as they acknowledge their fallen comrades by individual name, a student solemnly walks with an Aussie flag and places it in a holder in line with the others. All very moving stuff. I have gone a couple of times with my 35 Sqn cap, and they all know the Caribou, and quite a few remember Wallaby Airlines”.

Wally took some photos and has sent them to us.

The memorial (see HERE) consists of seven, 2 metre high pillars of black granite with the names of 1,200 veterans engraved in silver. The central pillar includes the names of the various cavalry units who served together with a roll of honour engraved in gold for the 20 personnel killed on active service.

Click the pic to read the poem inscribed on the plaque below it.

At the end of 1918, The Light Horse Regiment has approximately 13,000 surplus horses in the Middle East. Due to quarantine regulations only one was returned to Australia. The majority were sold as remounts to the British and Indian Armies, others were destined to be sold to the local populace. Fearing for the welfare of their horse at the hand of others, some Light Horsemen quietly rode their horses out into the desert and shot them to save them from a perceived future of pain and suffering.

This statue of the Light Horseman captures the moment as he returns from that fated last ride. From that time in 1918, the Light Horse Units slowly moved through history’s journey ultimately becoming mechanised. The sand coloured pathway symbolically depicts the Light Horseman’s journey from that time in the desert sands, as he leaves the horses behind and reaches the modern day era of the Light Horse, mechanised Cavalry.

For it was, in June 1965, that members of the 4^th/19^th Prince of Wales Light Horse Regiment were first to land in South Vietnam at the head of the Australian Task Force as Cavalry.

Paddy says to Murphy “I robbed a shop last night, I took a load of pictures, the cheapest one is worth $845,000”.

Murphy says, “You dopey bugger Paddy – you robbed an estate agent.”

The ongoing DFRDB story.

The Australian Defence Force Retirees Association Inc, has taken on the fight to try and get a resolution to the DFRDB Commutation debacle. You can read their latest report HERE

How am I supposed to trust you when you keep running away every time I untie you.

Friends of East Sale.

Harry Allie advises that, due to the Corona Virus, the planned reunion which was to be held at Albury on Friday the 16^th October 2020 has been cancelled.

Join the Armed Services in the UK?

If you’ve got a child or a grand child who wants to see the world, with all expenses met and be paid at the same time, this could be of interest.

The UK allows members of the Commonwealth to join its armed forces. Britain’s Armed Forces have been working to step up their long-held global links by increasing the number of recruits from Commonwealth countries.

However, how do members of the Commonwealth go about applying to serve in the UK Armed Forces?

In 2016, the Government lifted the five-year UK residency requirement previously required for members of the Commonwealth applying to join the British Armed Forces. All three services offer a limited number of places and roles with security standards assessed on a case-by-case basis. The number of applications from Commonwealth recruits was raised to 1350 per year (to be implemented over several years) following a previous cap of 200. The places are shared between the three services with 1000, 300, 50 allocated to the Army, Navy and RAF respectively.

Navy:

Overseas applicants need to be 18 or over to join, or 16 if already living in the UK and have a biometric residency card. You must hold a valid passport and enough time on your visa to see you through the application process.

There are 33 roles available to Commonwealth applicants and 106 available to UK citizens.

Army:

For Irish and Commonwealth applicants, the age requirements are the same as British personnel. Due to high numbers of applicants the Brigade of Gurkhas’ age limit is stricter and on the 1st Jan of the recruiting year, applicants must be between 18-21, giving a window of three years and one day to join the British Army. Applicants must have permission to be in the UK for the duration of the selection and recruitment process up until the point of enlistment.

If your visa expires, then you are responsible for any costs involved with leaving the country and applying for a new visa during the process. Passports must be valid for a minimum of two years from the start date of military service.

Because of a cap on annual recruitment applications from the Commonwealth, only certain Regiments/roles are available. The Army is currently taking applications for the Infantry, Household Cavalry and Royal Armoured Corp. There is also a limit on amount of annual applications for the Brigade of Gurkhas

RAF:

Same age requirements as UK personnel. Although the MoD can recruit commonwealth citizens without the five-year residency requirement, the residency requirements for security clearance will still apply. For SC clearance the RAF requires a minimum of three years UK residency. DV clearance requires seven years.

All roles in the RAF are available to Commonwealth applicants.

Do I need to be a UK resident or be in the UK to enlist?

No, the five-year UK residency requirement for Commonwealth applicants was waived in 2016. Commonwealth applicants and Irish personnel must be in/reside in the UK in order to enlist. Gurkhas can enlist from Nepal.

Will i get UK residency when i join?

No. While serving, Gurkhas and Commonwealth citizens are given ‘exempt immigration control’ status and receive a (free) immigration passport stamp. Irish citizens are part of the EU and can travel/reside freely. Gurkhas remain Nepali citizens whilst they serve in the Brigade of Gurkhas. After five years they can transfer to the wider Army where they will serve as Nepali citizens but not as Gurkhas and can apply for British citizenship, alongside Irish and Commonwealth citizens.

Will I get UK residency/citizenship when I leave the Armed Forces?

Military service counts towards residency requirements and Gurkhas/Commonwealth service personnel wanting to stay in the UK after leaving the Military will need to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR)/Indefinite Leave to Enter (ILE) within two years of leaving and would need to have served a minimum of four years. It is much easier to apply for this while serving. The individual is responsible for all fees and charges associated with these applications.

Can I join the Reserves?

To join the Reserves, you must have been granted Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) status. Irish citizens must be living in the UK to join the Reserves.

Can asylum seekers or refugees join the British Armed Forces?

No.

What about my family?

Changes to immigration rules in 2013 mean that dependents will need to meet English language requirements and applicants need to earn a minimum income threshold for bringing family members. The thresholds are;

Partner- £18,600
Partner & 1 child - £22,400
Partner & 2 children - £24,800
Partner & 3 children - £27,200

Applicants must also meet the travel costs and visa costs. Visa costs for 2019/20 are £1,525 per person per five-year visa. There are additional costs for permanent settlement and gaining UK residency.

According to the Armed Forces Federation (AFF), it is possible to bring a spouse/partner and use your combined salaries to meet the income threshold requirements. Both applicants need to meet a minimum of six-month employment requirement. Savings (above £16,000) and other forms of income e.g pensions and property can also be put towards the threshold-providing they meet stringent guidelines. Those with sole custodial responsibility for children do not have to meet the minimum income threshold.

You can see further information HERE.

2 Sqn Annual General Meeting.

At the Annual General Meeting last Monday, 3 Feb 2020, the following Members were elected/re-elected to the Committee

Lloyd Brown - President
Nev Duus - Vice President
Arthur Rennick - Secretary
Gary Olsen - Treasurer

Committee Members

Hank Wilson
Noel Hendrix
David Potter
Di Pickering
Doug Pickering
David Leonard

After four years, Doug Pickering considered that it was time to relinquish the role of President and Lloyd accepted a nomination for President, followed by Nev Duus as Vice President.

Arthur Rennick,

Secretary

2 Squadron Association Inc.

Pubs – the official sunblock of Ireland.

Telstech Reunion, 29 November, 2019.

Attended by 76 people, the Telecommunications Technicians Association, held a reunion at Penrith RSL on Friday 29 November to celebrate, or commiserate the closing of the Telecommunications Mustering 30 years ago in 1989.

A newspaper clipping from the Laverton Community newspaper in October 1989 (See HERE) details from start to graduation of the last Telecommunications Technician course, the subsequent remuster of all serving members to Radio Technician Ground, much to their disgust and the planned functions to farewell the mustering.

Reunions have since been held at 10 yearly intervals since the closure of the mustering, this being the third – previous reunions have been at RAAF Glenbrook in 1999 and Albury RSL in 2009.