RAAF Radschool Association Magazine

Our lovely Page 3 girl this edition is Eunice Lenske. Eunice lives on the Sunshine Coast and is a proud grandmother of 2 beautiful grandchildren who live in Brisbane and mother of two children, a daughter Karen who is a High School teacher and son Craig who graduated from Radschool, combining the Graduation with the 50th Anniversary of Radschool. Those Graduation Celebrations at Radschool which Eunice quite rightly remembers with pride were one of the coldest days of her life, more of that later!

Eunice was born in the old Nambour Hospital when it was on Currie Street. She went to primary school when students travelled to school by motor boat which picked up about 20 students along the way on the river banks. The school was called the Maroochy River State School and apparently it is now taken back by the bush and decay. At the time it was a building of separate classrooms.

Eunice attended Nambour High School where her favourite subject was maths. Playing tennis was a favourite pastime and she represented NSHS on the school tennis team.

In 1961 she saw the “writing on was on the wall” at Dunkley’s Grocery Store Yandina, where she worked as a clerk and applied to the PMG successfully passing the Entrance Exam with the top score of her year. Yandina was her first exchange. Around 1964 she married Ken with whom she had worked with at Dunkley’s. Ken applied to work at 7SD in Toowoomba and they spent eight years there. Their two children, Karen and Craig, were born at this time. One outstanding memory for Eunice of that time was when a truck smashed through their Unit in ANZAC Ave and narrowly missed Craig in his cot. The workers from Western Transport came rushing across the road to help with the debris and clean up. She is still shaken to this day remembering the incident.

Toowoomba was not warm enough for Eunice, she grew tired of chattering teeth and she vividly remembers the taps would freeze and fog would camouflage the driveway when Ken came home from work in the evening. Not even Ken playing cricket on the 7SD cricket team could convince Eunice they should stay in Toowoomba.

They moved back to the Sunshine Coast in 1970 and, Ken diversified and started a milk run and Eunice got a job at the Pomona Exchange. Their children Karen and Craig enjoyed Pomona State School and both attended Nambour SHS. At 15 Craig joined the RAAF and graduated from No. 37B Radio Appy.

Accommodation was not a problem for any of Eunice’s visits to Craig in Melbourne as being an incredibly friendly person she had met quite by chance at the Gold Coast (and made lifelong friends) with a resident of Eltham, Victoria. Eunice enjoyed many visits to Melbourne whilst Craig was at Radschool. True to type Eunice is still great mates with her Melbourne friend and pre-Covid they saw each other regularly.

Craig’s Graduation day in June 1985 was so cold that blankets were handed out to family and friends to get them through the Parade. A formal graduation dinner included celebrations of 50 years of Radschool.

Telecom was in for a remodel and after closures of the Pomona and Gympie Exchanges Eunice found her way to the Nambour Exchange, which was the home of Directory Assistance, International DA, Faults and a host of other jobs. Taking redundancy in 1998, world travel beckoned and she met up with Craig many times. Having toured New Zealand, Europe, Ireland, all of the United Kingdom her favourite place in the world was Ireland: Then Craig took a job in Canada and Eunice advises this is the most beautiful country in the world.

Meanwhile in 2001, Ken, the quiet achiever retired from 26 years with Noosa Shire Council where he worked after selling the milk run.

In 2018, Christine Wessels, who had worked with Eunice at the PMG exchange and who is a member of the Nambour Air Force Association, invited Eunice and Ken to join the AFA. Being parents of a RAAF member, they were eligible. Both joined and are regular attendees at the Thursday get togethers at the Nambour RSL Club.

As Christine says, “I have known Eunice since 1993 and cannot think of a more wonderful person to represent the RAAF as a “RAAF Mum” or the RAAF Association on this the 100 years of the RAAF”.

A couple made a deal that whoever died first would come back and inform the other if there is sex after death. Their biggest fear was that there was no after-life at all. After a long life together, the husband was the first to die. True to his word, he made the first contact: "Julie ..... Julie" "Is that you, Bob?" "Yes, I've come back like we agreed." "That's wonderful! What's it like?" "Well, I get up in the morning, I have sex. I have breakfast and then it's off to the golf course. I have sex again, bathe in the warm sun and then have sex a couple of more times. Then I have lunch (you'd be proud - lots of greens). Another romp around the golf course, then pretty much have sex the rest of the afternoon. After supper, it's back to the golf course again. Then it's more sex until late at night. I catch some much needed sleep and then the next day it starts all over again". "Oh, Bob! - are you in Heaven?"

"No -- I'm a rabbit ......somewhere near Mildura.”

Brian Kennedy sent us these pics!

Taken at Butterworth in the 1970s

75 Sqn Butterworth.

75 Sqn flight line Butterworth 1970. Brian says: “Couldn't spot any Radtechs as it was about 2pm and they would have been in their air conditioned dongha having their afternoon nap!”

(What do they say? “Many a true work spoken in jest….” tb)

RAF Lightnings on exercise, 1970

Off to Tengah for an exercise.

L-R: Col Buttershaw, Bob Martin, ?? McGrath, Brian Kennedy.

A big night out in Penang, 1971

Dave Peacock.

A lazy Sunday afternoon – 75Sqn

And we wonder why melanoma is common these days!

L-R: Dave Peacock, Bob Tanzer, ‘Curley’ Condell.

Tiger Bar.

A popular watering hole in Penang.

Remember back when we used to eat cake after someone blew all over it.

Man – we were wild.

Air Transport Sqn, PNGDF, Lae, PNG 1978.

Back L-R: Geoff Wood (CO), Lang Kidby (Army), Don’t Know, Bob Grey, Allan George, Bruce Green, not sure (Sgt Peter Jackson Eng Fitter?), Don’t know, Don’t know, Don’t know, Peter Asker Air Frame, don’t know, Phil Davey Instruments, Don’t know, Don’t know, Don’t know, Don’t know (RADTECHA), Don’t know, Don’t know, Bill Allen (WOE).

Middle row: 7th from Left WO1 Terry Davis WOE, 9th from L, Brian Kennedy.

Front row: 4th from left Peter Yasi (pilot), 7th Sam Siagaru pilot, 8th John Mira pilot (RIP), 9th Gilbert Yenbari pilot.