FEBRUARY 2020

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Page:

1. Welcome to “51-72”, Reports.

2. Sub-Branch Happenings.

3. RAAF Nursing Service. The Emu War.

4. 2020 program. *Our sponsors.

MARCH 21-30

10-day coach trip to Victoria and Murray River cruise.

This trip is fully booked

MAY 5-11

7-day, 6-night coach trip to Lightening Ridge and Moree.

Opals, Hot Springs, Cotton, Pecans and lots more. Includes 7 morning

teas, 6 lunches, 6 dinners. All our remaining grant money has been used to pay for the coach on

this trip so, unfortunately, any further bookings will revert to the full price of $1,620 p.p., with the single supplement being $300.

WEDNESDAY 23 SEPTEMBER

Coach trip to Port Macquarie. Morning tea and VIP presentation at Billabong Zoo, and 2 hours to see the fabulous animals. Buffet lunch at Port City Bowling Club, visit to Cassegrain Winery with presentation and wine tastings. $90 per person, all inclusive.

NSW NATIONAL SERVICEMEN’S

ASSOCIATION & affiliates inc.

WELCOME TO “51-72”

Hi everyone, Well, we are getting towards the end of our trips for which our grant money has been used to fund all the coach costs. We just have the 1-day trip to the Australian Reptile Park on Thursday 20th February, the 10-day trip to Victoria and the Murray River Cruise, and the 7-day trip to Lightening Ridge and Moree to go. The grant money has been put to wonderful use and has now all been used. Unfortunately we are unable to cover the cost of the coach for the proposed trip to the Easter Show, but that was always a “maybe”. So the cost of this trip is now $380, instead of $240. Of course, if you still want to go ahead with this one we can, I think it’s still a cheap trip and you don’t have to drive. To those of you who have been and/or will be going on these trips, which have been organised for you all, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support, I really do appreciate your participation and I hope you have all had/have a great time. Cheers, Kim Dwyer

REPORTS

PRESIDENT / SECRETARY - Hi and welcome to a brand new decade. Our group was formed in 1998 and we are still going strong, unlike lots of other sub-branches in NSW. Declining numbers caused by old age and/or lack of interest are the obvious problems but our committee is working very hard to make all of our social events fun for you. The grant from the Federal government , $50,499, has helped a lot but alas many of our members have not been well enough to take advantage of our low cost travel and it is now in doubt if we will seek further grants as lots of work is involved in that process. Our 2019 Christmas party was a great day and all attending had lots of fun Many thanks to our ladies who made the Christmas cakes and puddings. I know that those who have booked to go on the Victoria trip in March and the Murray River cruise on the paddle steamer can hardly wait, so we all hope you have a great time and bring back lots of stories to tell and photos to show. Please try and get to Little Street, Forster, on Friday 14th February 2020, for our annual National Servicemen’s Day memorial service to start at 11am, then off to Forster Bowling club for a free light lunch. If it’s raining on the day the service will be in the club auditorium, starting at 11am. Our membership is remaining steady, we lose a few and then we gain new members. It is still around 100, which is not bad when you think of those sub-branches that have had to close because no-one was willing to run a committee. Please let our Welfare Officer know if there are any members on the sick list, sometimes a get well card or a phone call can be all that is needed. Have you applied for your White Card and Lapel pin yet? (Google Veteran

White Card). Happy Parade, Keith McNeil

PRESIDENT Keith McNeil

Ph. 6555 7787

V. PRESIDENT Kevin Dwyer

Ph. 6557 6767

SECRETARY Keith McNeil

Ph. 6555 7787

TREASURER Judy Russell Ph. 6555 3274

ASSIST. SEC. Marlene Meyer Ph. 6555 3825

QUARTERMASTER

Kevin Dwyer Ph. 6557 6767

SWONS CO-ORD.

Pat Janes Ph. 6554 7242

WELFARE OFFICER

Robyn James Ph. 6554 5881

PUBLICITY OFFICER

ARCHIVES OFFICER

HONOURS and AWARDS CHAIRMAN Kevin Dwyer - Ph. 6557 6767

EDITOR / SOCIAL SECRETARY Kim Dwyer - Ph. 6557 6767

Email - kimkevin@bigpond.net.au

PATRONS: Hon. Stephen Bromhead MP Dr Bill McNeil OAM MB BS (Syd.) FRACGP PADRE: Padre Daryll Moran Ph. 0429370227

Page 2 FEBRUARY 2020

SUB-BRANCH HAPPENINGS

BOCCE FUN DAY AND SAUSAGE SIZZLE - THURSDAY 21st NOVEMBER 2019 - The weather was great and we had 30 people come along today, which was quite possibly the largest group we’ve ever had for our bocce fun day, so this was a great day indeed.

As usual, we played several rounds of bocce, expertly scored by our regulars, with Kerry James coming out on top. Well done and congratulations Kerry, you put the rest of us to shame. Never mind, a couple of us who played, umm, atrocious shots dare I say, also won consolation prizes ☺ Just goes to show that you don’t have to be the best on the day to win … come, join us this year, for a fun day.

4-DAY COACH TRIP TO YOUNG AND COWRA - 2-5 DECEMBER 2019 - 15 of our members, along with several members of the Tuncurry Coach Tours travel group, embarked on a 4-day 3 night coach trip to the lovely towns of Young and Cowra, to enjoy the many and varied experiences for which these towns are renowned. We travelled via the Blue Mountains, where we had lunch on the fi rst day at Mt Tomah Botanic Gardens.

We then spent a fantastic day picking delicious cherries in an orchard in Young and enjoying the delights of the fresh homemade cherry pies, then exploring the beautiful Japanese Gardens.

Our next day was spent in Cowra, where we watched a presentation in the Visitors Centre, which told the story of the 1944 Cowra POW breakout. We then travelled to the glorious Japanese Memorial Gardens where we had lunch followed by plenty of time to explore these beautiful grounds. We also visited the Cowra War Cemetery and the site of the POW camp.

It was a wonderful trip, full of both fun and very interesting experiences. The weather was kind to us, which also added to an all-round fabulous trip.

CHRISTMAS PARTY - SUNDAY 8 DECEMBER 2019 - We had a great rollup today, with 103 people at our Christmas Party. This was our first Christmas Party in the new auditorium of Forster Bowling Club and it was very successful. Once again we held our monster raffle with 5 large hampers and many homemade Christmas cakes and puddings going home with very happy prize winners.

On this day each year we also award some members of our Sub-Branch with Certificates, to show thanks and appreciation for the help and work they do throughout the year/s. This year the awardees were: Marlene Meyer - Life Membership, Leone and Paul Fitzgerald, and Robyn Tattam - Certificates of Appreciation. Congratulations to these members, their awards were well deserved and their help and work within the Sub-Branch is much appreciated.

PEARLS OF AUSTRALIA, BROKEN BAY, PEARL FARM CRUISE TOUR - MONDAY 16 DECEMBER 2019 - “Pearls of Australia” pearl farm at Woy Woy on the Central Coast, is one of the newest attractions in that region and we were one of the first groups to visit them. They grow the very precious Akoya and South Sea Pearls and provided us with a wonderfully informative experience, as we cruised Broken Bay. We were treated to the close-up viewing of pearl oysters being opened and the excitement when one of them offered up its precious pearl. It was a wonderful day, enjoyed by everyone on board.

Peace Bell, in Young

Cowra War Cemetery

Cowra POW Camp watch tower

View from Mt Tomah gardens

Cherry picking fun Cowra Japanese Memorial gardens

Cowra POW camp memorial

Young Japanese Gardens

Cherry picking fun

Well deserved 2019 Certificate recipients L to R: Marlene, Leone, Paul, Robyn

Page 3 FEBRUARY 2020

FOUNDATION

The RAAFNS was founded in July 1940 at the suggestion of Air Vice Marshal Victor Hurley, the Director-General of Medical Ser-vices. Margaret Irene Lang, who had served with the Australian Ar-my Nursing Service during World War I and was then serving as matron of the Victoria Police Hospital, was appointed its first Matron-in-Chief. By December 1940 it had only 45 members, but this had increased to 616 by December 1945.

The RAAFNS was not a part of the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (which was not established until March 1941), but a branch of the RAAF itself. All members held commissioned rank, and wore RAAF badges of rank along with the RAAF medical badge on their tunic lapels, capes and hats, but did not use Air Force rank titles.

RANKS OF THE RAAFNS

All RAAFNS recruits were commissioned on entry with the rank of flying officer, though they had their own rank structure.

WORLD WAR II

Most RAAFNS nurses served in clearing stations, base hospitals, station sick quarters, and rehabilitation centres in Australia, but all were obligated to serve overseas if required (unlike members of

the Australian Army Nursing Service, who could choose to serve overseas or not). From November 1942, shortly after the close of the Kokoda Track campaign, RAAFNS personnel set up a medical receiving station in Port Moresby, New Guinea, and were present during the Battle of Port Moresby. Others sailed on troop convoys, accompanying contingents of airmen to Great Britain, Canada or South Africa.

Between November 1942 and November 1943 No. 1 Medical

Receiving Station RAAF at Coomalie Creek, south of Darwin, was bombed by the Japanese on several occasions. In 1944 No. 1 Medical Air Evacuation Transport Unit was created, staffed by flight nu r se s o f the RAAFNS. After the surrender of Japan in August 1945, RAAFNS personnel took part in the care of returning prisoners of war, until it was finally disbanded in November 1946.

KOREAN WAR

In 1948 the RAAFNS was reformed as a peace-time service. During the Korean War members of the RAAFNS served at the British Commonwealth Mobile Surgical Hospital in Seoul, and the Medical Air Evacuation Unit flew patients to Iwakuni, from where they were taken by hospital train to the British Commonwealth General Hospital in Kure. Between 1950 and 1953, 12,762 Commonwealth casualties took this route. RAAFNS members also accompanied 728 patients on flights from Japan to Australia, via Guam, Manila, or Port Moresby. All members of the RAAFNS in Korea were trained civilian nurses who enlisted for four years, but served only a one-year tour of duty in Korea or Japan. The last nurses returned home in 1956.

VIETNAM

During the Vietnam War, the RAAFNS operated medical evacuation flights from Vietnam to Australia. The first flight took place in June 1965. Casualties were flown from Vũng Tàu, Biên Hòa or Saigon to the hospital at RAAF Butterworth in Penang, and from there via the Cocos Islands, to RAAF Pearce in Western Australia, then to RAAF Richmond in New South Wales.

THE END

In 1977 the Royal Australian Air Force Nursing Service ceased to exist as an independent branch when it was integrated into the Royal Australian Air Force.

ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE NURSING SERVICE

RANK RAAF EQUIVALENT

Matron-in-Chief Group Captain

Principal Matron Wing Commander

Matron Squadron Leader

Senior Sister Flight Lieutenant

Sister Flying Officer Forage cap and badge of a

Section Officer (Sister), No 4 Hospital, Butterworth,

Malaya

Ascot Vale, Victoria, 1941, 8 sisters of the RAAF Nursing Service.

Darwin, December 1943, 4 sisters of the RAAF Nursing Service.

Kure, Japan. December 1954. Sister E. Dowling and Sister Ila Mary

Smith, RAAF Nursing Service.

Australia cannot lay claim to any great empires or epic conquests, but we do have one distinction that no other nation on Earth can boast - we are the only country in history to lose a war to birds!! In 1932, the farmers of Western Austral-ia, fed up with the 20,000 emus that kept dropping in to their farms to eat all their crops, went to de-fence minister Sir George Pearce to demand he take action to safeguard the precious wheat of the Campion region. Pearce, a man who knew the value of a show of strength, decided that what the emus needed was a hefty dose of good old-fashioned military might. And so Major GPW Meredith of the Royal Australian Artillery was sent, along with two soldiers, two Lewis guns, and 10,000 bullets, into the scrubland to show the emus just who was the more highly-evolved species. Almost immediately the expedition ran into trouble. The soldiers attempted to herd the emus into a suitable place in which to mow them down en masse, but the birds, well-trained in guerrilla tactics, continually split into small groups and ran off in different directions, making it damnably difficult for the guns to draw a bead on them.

Also, the guns jammed and when the guns worked, and when an emu stood still long enough to shoot at, they proved resistant to bullets to an unsettling degree. Meredith wrote: If we had a military division with the bullet-carrying capacity of these birds it would face any army in the world. They can face machine guns with the invulnerability of tanks. The soldiers retreated, weary and sick of

the sight of feathers. Meredith's official report noted, optimistically, that his men had suffered no casualties. The emus' report noted that humans were slow-moving and stupid. The House of Representatives debated the matter and questions were asked of the minister regarding whether medals were to be awarded for survivors of the campaign. Of course, that would not prevent the Australian government from engaging in similar attempts at emu extermination throughout the 30s and 40s. Few were any more successful. The question of why, blessed as we are with a native animal that is essentially a cross between an armoured car and a velociraptor, our military has not taken advantage by training emus for combat duty in the ADF, remains unanswered to this day. Let this be a lesson: never underestimate an emu.

THE EMU WAR

OUR SPONSORS These businesses have made a commitment to support our Sub-Branch through their sponsorship

of our newsletter. In return, please give them your patronage whenever possible.

OUR YEAR’S PROGRAM OF EVENTS:

From time to time, EXTRA dates for special events, or outings such as bus trips, will be included in this program, marked with a **, so watch for any changes. Unless otherwise advertised, our meetings are held on the third Friday of the month (not Dec.), in THE AUDITORIUM, FORSTER BOWLING CLUB, STRAND ST, FORSTER,

commencing 10.00 am. Street parking at front of Club and the carpark at rear of Club, accessed from Cross Street.

Page 4 “51 – 72” 21 FEBRUARY 2020

FEBRUARY 21 - General meeting followed by 2-course BBQ lunch - with homemade salads, homemade desserts - $10 per person.

MARCH 20 - General meeting and morning tea.

MARCH 21** - 10-day bus trip to Victoria and Murray River cruise. This trip is fully booked but there is a waiting list for those wanting to go. Contact Kim Dwyer for details.

APRIL 24 - General meeting followed by 2-course BBQ lunch - with homemade salads and homemade desserts - $10 per person.

APRIL 25** - ANZAC DAY. Assemble corner of Parkes and Beach Streets, Tuncurry, 10.30am, ready for march to Lone Pine Memorial Park. Full uniform, including beret or hat, and medals. If hot, bring umbrella for shade.

MAY 5-11** - 7-day, 6-night bus trip to Lightening Ridge and Moree. Opals, Hot Springs, Cotton and Pecans. Includes 7 morning teas, 6 lunches, 6 dinners. Members $970, non-members $1,200, single supp. $300

MAY 14 - Committee Meeting 2pm, Forster Bowling Club.

MAY 15 - General meeting and morning tea.

MAY 22 ** - Picnic Day, Elizabeth Reserve, Forster Keys, adjacent to the boat ramp. BYO everything - picnic table and chairs, food, drinks etc.. There will be games of bocce, quoits, horseshoes etc., available for your enjoyment. Feel free to bring along anything of the like that you think we might enjoy. From 10am onwards.

JUNE 19 - General meeting, followed by 2-course BBQ lunch. Home-made salads, home-made desserts - $10 per person.