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Contents:

Page 3 Girl - Pam Condie.

Ray and Mary Thompson's Diamond Anniversary.

Remembrance Day 2021.

The Winjeel.

Vietnam Wall.

Page 3 Girl.

Our lovely Page 3 girl this issue is Dr Pamela Condie,

OAM, DMin, GradDipTheol, BTh.

Pam Hiddens was born in Brisbane and attended Greenslopes Primary and Yeronga High Schools. (She is the cousin of Les Hiddens, the “Bush Tucker Man”.) During her school years, Pam was involved in her local Girls’ Brigade Company, becoming a leader when she was 18. After leaving school, she worked in Statistics at the University of Queensland before transferring to the Pathology Department at the UQ Medical School at Herston.

When Pam was 19 she wanted to join the Air Force as an Aircraft Plotter but was told there were no vacancies at that time but as she was experienced in medical terminology, she was told to join as a CLKMED and she could just apply afterwards to re-muster. She joined the Women’s Royal Australian Air Force in August 1965, on Course 147, and found the re-muster business was not quite as she was told. He stayed on as a CLKMED and served on various RAAF bases in Victoria until her marriage to David in January 1967. They have three children and seven grandchildren (now all young adults).

Following their marriage, Pam and David settled in Melbourne where David was an aircraft engineer with Trans Australian Airlines (TAA). Pam worked as Clerical Supervisor Radiology Department, Queen Victoria Hospital, Melbourne for 12 months. They then joined Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), moving to Ballarat where MAF-Air (MAF’s engineering department) was based. Their first child, Stephen, was born during this time.

After 12 months, they re-joined TAA and were transferred to Mt Isa. Here Pam was asked to start a Girls’ Brigade company at their local church. Their second child, Joanne, was also born in Mt Isa. The family eventually returned to Brisbane and settled in Albany Creek. Pam became a Girls’ Brigade leader in the company at Stafford Heights Baptist church, eventually becoming captain. Their third child, Andrew, was born and the family joined the new Baptist fellowship at Albany Creek (now South Pine Community Church). Pam was asked to start the church’s new Girls’ Brigade company.

When Pam rejoined the work-force she worked in Customer Relations with Commercial Union Insurance then as Girls’ Brigade Queensland’s State Training Coordinator for four years. Her next position was as a Project Officer with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in the Queensland Government (also occasionally functioning as Executive Officer) for ten years.

Pam has invested her life in working with girls and young women through both the Girls’ Brigade (local, State and National levels) and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme, becoming an accredited Expedition Leader and canoeing instructor. During Pam’s Girls’ Brigade service, she was the Queensland State Commissioner and served on the National Council. Pam established the annual residential leadership development course, which she directed for its first 10 years and remains involved as staff chaplain. This Course has now been running for 30 years and, over the years, has attracted participants from interstate, as well as overseas (Solomon Islands, New Zealand, and even the USA).

Pam served on the Duke’s Award Queensland State Award Committee for 10 years (a ministerial appointment). In 1999 she was awarded a Medal in the Order of Australia for service to youth leadership development in Queensland.

Pam holds a Bachelor Degree and a Graduate Diploma in Theology. She has also completed a Doctor of Ministries which was awarded in August 2020.

Pam and David continue to support the work of MAF both as volunteers and professionally. Pam was on the national MAF Australia Board for 14 years, including serving as Board Chair for over 4 years. In February 2015, David was appointed Interim Engineering Maintenance Manager for the PNG Programme and they moved to Mt Hagen till May 2016.

In 2020 Pam completed an 8 year term on the Queensland Baptist Board and has served on various Board sub-committees.

Currently, Pam is President of the Women’s Royal Australian Air Force Association (Qld) and works as the Queensland Baptist denominational Archives Officer.

The Winjeel.

On the 3^rd February 1951 the first flight of the Winjeel trainer was conducted. The Winjeel, named after an Aboriginal word for ‘young eagle’, was an Australian designed and built aircraft in response to a RAAF specification to replace the Tiger Moth and Wirraway. The aircraft was developed by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation. Two prototype aircraft, A85-618 and A85-364, designated CA-22 Winjeel, were built and trialled.

From the trials, the production variant, the CA-25 Winjeel Trainer was developed. The trials highlighted the aircraft was a robust design - so much so that the aircraft was so stable it could not be put into a spin and thus, the tailplane had to be further modified  to allow that aircraft to provide sufficient aerodynamics to be stable but also manoeuvrable for pilot training.

Note the fin position between the next two pics. The aircraft was so aerodynamically stable that it wouldn't/couldn't spin. The fin had to be moved forward to enable full spin characteristics to be trained.

The first prototype Winjeel aircraft had its first test flight by test pilot John Miles with the two aircraft then undergoing several years of flight trials. In February 1955, the first production Winjeel flew and by September 1955, the training aircraft began being delivered with the first aircraft entering service with No. 1 Basic Flying Training School at Uranquinty, near Wagga Wagga, New South Wales.

The Winjeel commenced operating with the RAAF in 1955 with a total of 62 aircraft being delivered to the RAAF. Winjeels operated with No 1 Basic Flying Training School (No 1 Flying Training School) for training and No 76 Squadron for Forward Air Control (FAC). While it was replaced as a training aircraft by the CT-4 Airtrainer in the 1970’s, it did not fully retire from the FAC role until 1994 when replaced by the PC-9/A when the last four aircraft were retired from service.

The Winjeel was a three seater with two front seats with dual controls and a third seat rear. The Pratt & Whitney R-985 9-cylinder radial engine generating 450HP was an excellent engine widely regarded as one of the most reliable piston aircraft engines of all time.

The Winjeel was the basic trainer for the Air Force for almost twenty years meaning several generations of RAAF pilots completed their training on the durable and reliable aircraft.

Vietnam Wall.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, in Washington DC, stands as a symbol of America’s honour and recognition of the men and women who served and sacrificed their lives in the Vietnam War. Inscribed on the black granite walls are the names of more than 58,000 men and women who gave their lives or remain missing. The Memorial is dedicated to honour the courage, sacrifice and devotion to duty and country of all who answered the call to serve during one of the most divisive wars in U.S. history.

The Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Fund, Inc. is the non-profit organization authorized by Congress in 1980 to fund and build the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The organization sought a tangible symbol of recognition from the American people for those who served in the war. By separating the issue of individuals serving in the military during the Vietnam era and U.S. policy carried out there, VVMF began a process of national healing. The Memorial was dedicated on the 13^th Nov.  1982 and attracts nearly 5 million visitors each year.

Some interesting Veterans Statistics from the Vietnam Memorial Wall .

• There are 58,267 names now listed on that polished black wall, including those added in 2010.

• The names are arranged in the order in which they were taken from us by date and within each date the names are alphabetized. It is hard to believe it is 57 years since the first casualty.

• The first known casualty was Richard B. Fitzgibbon, of North Weymouth, Mass. Listed by the U.S. Department of Défense as having been killed on June 8, 1956. His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, who was killed on Sept. 7,1965.

• There are three sets of fathers and sons on the Wall

• 39,996 names on the Wall were just 22 or younger, 8,283 were just 19 years old.

• The largest age group, 33,103 were 18 years old.

• 12 soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old.

• 5 soldiers on the Wall were 16 years old.

• One soldier, PFC Dan Bullock was 15 years old.

• 997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam.

• 1,448 soldiers were killed on their last day in Vietnam.

• 31 sets of brothers are on the Wall.

• Thirty-one sets of parents lost two of their sons.

• 54 soldiers attended Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia.

• 8 Women are on the Wall, Nursing the wounded.

• 244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honour during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are on the Wall.

• Beallsville, Ohio with a population of 475, lost 6 of her sons.

• West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation. There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall.

• The most casualty deaths for a single day was on the 31^st January 1968 - 245 deaths.

• The most casualty deaths for a single month was May 1968 - 2,415 casualties.

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