NEWSLETTER – APRIL 2015 - 100 years of Anzac for...
8
ROYAL AUSTRALIAN ARTILLERY ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA Inc. NEWSLETTER – APRIL 2015 Postal Address: 12 Chatsworth Grove, TOORAK GARDENS SA 5065. Phone (08) 8332.4485 e-mail: [email protected] Website: artillerysa.asn.au AUSTRALIA DAY HONOURS Hearty Congratulations to our long-standing member, Les Partridge, who was awarded the OAM in the 2015 Australia Day Honours, for long and dedicated ‘service to veterans and their families’. A great effort Les, and, on behalf of the SA Gunners we thank you sincerely for all of the work you have done. WEARING OF RETURNED FROM ACTIVE SERVICE BADGE Quite a few members would, on occasion, wear the Returned from Active Service Badge (RASB). The following is a brief excerpt from an interstate RSL magazine (RSL Runner, issue 1, 27/1/2015), which is reproduced for your information: “It has been noted that a number of members incorrectly wear the Returned from Active Service Badge (RASB). Here, advice is provided on the wearing of this badge, through an excerpt from RSL State By-Law 14.6 and 7, which decrees: “The Returned from Active Service Badge (RASB) is issued to Australian Defence Force personnel who have rendered warlike service. The badge enables individuals to display their involvement in warlike service when wearing civilian attire. It is worn when the wearing of service awards is not appropriate or possible. Conversely, it should not be worn when wearing service awards. The RASB is only worn by the person to whom it has been issued. Family members and others, who wear a deceased person’s awards on appropriate occasions, do not wear the RASB.” VALE – WO 1 REX TAYLOR Many of us will remember WO2 Rex Taylor who, with his brother Bruce (‘Tubby) Taylor, were both WO2 Assistant Instructors of Gunnery (AIG’s) in 13 Fd Regt in the 1969 era. Although ‘Tubby’ Taylor passed away some years ago, Rex passed away only recently at the age of 79 years. It is safe to say that the Taylor brothers will be long remembered as very capable Gunners, who were very willing to pass on their knowledge and expertise to any other member of the Gunner fraternity who was keen to learn – both are also remembered as ‘great characters’. Thankfully, at the time the Regt also had Frank Pellatt as the RSM to keep an eye on them! In 1977, while RSM of 1 st Fd Regt, Rex received the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal for his meritorious service, and in the 1978 Australia Day Honours, he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia. He retired from the Australian Regular Army in January 1979. RIP Rex Taylor. (Extract from 105 Bty Assoc magazine, ‘Tiger Rag’ Feb 2015). Ubique! 1
Transcript of NEWSLETTER – APRIL 2015 - 100 years of Anzac for...
ROYAL AUSTRALIAN ARTILLERY ASSOCIATION
OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA Inc.
NEWSLETTER – APRIL 2015
Postal Address: 12 Chatsworth Grove, TOORAK GARDENS SA 5065. Phone (08) 8332.4485 e-mail: [email protected] Website: artillerysa.asn.au AUSTRALIA DAY HONOURS Hearty Congratulations to our long-standing member, Les Partridge, who was awarded the OAM in the 2015 Australia Day Honours, for long and dedicated ‘service to veterans and their families’. A great effort Les, and, on behalf of the SA Gunners we thank you sincerely for all of the work you have done. WEARING OF RETURNED FROM ACTIVE SERVICE BADGE Quite a few members would, on occasion, wear the Returned from Active Service Badge (RASB). The following is a brief excerpt from an interstate RSL magazine (RSL Runner, issue 1, 27/1/2015), which is reproduced for your information:
“It has been noted that a number of members incorrectly wear the Returned from Active Service Badge (RASB). Here, advice is provided on the wearing of this badge, through an excerpt from RSL State By-Law 14.6 and 7, which decrees: “The Returned from Active Service Badge (RASB) is issued to Australian Defence Force personnel who have rendered warlike service. The badge enables individuals to display their involvement in warlike service when wearing civilian attire. It is worn when the wearing of service awards is not appropriate or possible. Conversely, it should not be worn when wearing service awards. The RASB is only worn by the person to whom it has been issued. Family members and others, who wear a deceased person’s awards on appropriate occasions, do not wear the RASB.”
VALE – WO 1 REX TAYLOR Many of us will remember WO2 Rex Taylor who, with his brother Bruce (‘Tubby) Taylor, were both WO2 Assistant Instructors of Gunnery (AIG’s) in 13 Fd Regt in the 1969 era. Although ‘Tubby’ Taylor passed away some years ago, Rex passed away only recently at the age of 79 years. It is safe to say that the Taylor brothers will be long remembered as very capable Gunners, who were very willing to pass on their knowledge and expertise to any other member of the Gunner fraternity who was keen to learn – both are also remembered as ‘great characters’. Thankfully, at the time the Regt also had Frank Pellatt as the RSM to keep an eye on them! In 1977, while RSM of 1st Fd Regt, Rex received the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal for his meritorious service, and in the 1978 Australia Day Honours, he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia. He retired from the Australian Regular Army in January 1979. RIP Rex Taylor. (Extract from 105 Bty Assoc magazine, ‘Tiger Rag’ Feb 2015).
Ubique! 1
18 POUNDER PROJECT I invite your attention to both the postcard (reproduced below) circulated by the RAA Historical Company, and to the request for tax-deductable donations.
Ubique! 2
2015 GUNNER DINNER This year’s Gunner Dinner will be held on Friday 28 August, again at the Naval, Military and Air Force Club of South Australia, 111 Hutt Street Adelaide. Details will be provided in the next newsletter, but please enter the date in your diary. ** ARMY MUSEUM OF SA’S HISTORY WEEK LUNCH, 2015 ** This year’s History Week Lunch will be held at Keswick Barracks on Wed 20 May – a flyer containing all details is attached. NOTE: We are forming a ‘Gunners Table’, so when booking, please mention that you wish to sit on that table. It will be helpful if you also let me know! OPERATION ‘BRING THEM HOME’ I recently received a copy of a letter from the Vietnam Veterans’ Association of Australia (NT Branch), addressed to Vietnam Veterans and their descendants, the content of which drew attention to the fact that 25 Australian soldiers who were KIA in Vietnam, are laid to rest in cemeteries in Terendak or Singapore. The VVAA is petitioning the Australian Government to ‘bring them home’, after all, the Government sent them to Vietnam in the first place. The following is a website on which you will find the VVAA’s Petition, and the VVAA invites you to add your name to the Petition in the hope of a positive outcome. www.bringthemhome.org.au CONGRATULATIONS – LTCOL GREG FLINN Congratulations to LTCOL Greg Flinn who has recently retired from the Australian Army, having completed about 50 years of service, spread over the Air Training Corps, Citizen Military Forces, Australian Regular Army, and finally Australian Army Reserve, including several recent years on full-time duty. Commencing his ‘Gunner-life’ as a Field Gunner in 13 Fd Regt (CMF), on joining the ARA he underwent a ‘conversion’ to become an ‘air defender’ in 16 AD Regt. A great effort Greg, and we wish you a long and healthy retirement. OLLIVER HILL BATTERY - ROTTNEST ISLAND Following my article in the last newsletter relating to the Leighton Battery Historical Site (just North of Fremantle), I was contacted by our long-time member (but currently living in WA), Steve Winter, who advised that in recent years he had visited the similar battery site located on Rottnest Island. Each battery position was visible from the other, and both were sited to engage enemy shipping attempting to threaten the approaches to Perth and Fremantle harbour. The following couple of photos were among several that were generously provided by Steve as a as part of a ‘follow-up’ article.
Ubique! 3
Battery buildings (as they exist today) on Rottnest Island, WA
Ubique! 4
Preparing ammunition for the 9.2 inch Gun during World War 2
A 9.2 inch Gun emplacement on Rottnest Island
Ubique! 5
THE GA GAU-8 MODERN-DAY GATLING GUN The photo and associated article below is an extract from ‘Cascabel’, the Journal of the RAA Assoc of Victoria, Issue 122, April 2015 – a very impressive weapon!
The top photo shows the weapon on a trailer, alongside a VW beetle, in order to show the overall size of the weapon. The second photo shows the A10-Thunderbolt aircraft which, for all intents and purposes was ‘built around’ the gun! The barrels are almost 10 feet long, and the entire gun is 19½ feet long. The gun was developed by General Electric (yes, they also build refrigerators!) – it does what it does better than any other plane in the world – it kills tanks…….and also APC’s, radar stations, locomotives, bunkers fuel depots….. The weapon fires a 30mm round which weighs over 100 times the weight of the M16 round, at a rate of 4200 rds per min, with a muzzle velocity of 3500 feet per sec. the spent cartridge cases are retained inside the aircraft to prevent any damage to the plane when firing. The aircraft is designed with a titanium ‘bathtub’ for the pilot to sit in, providing a high-level of pilot safety, and there are two of (and in some cases 3 of) most major systems on the aircraft, thus enabling it to fly slow and low in support of ground operations with a higher than usual degree of survivability. The gun is mounted inside the aircraft immediately under the cockpit, and the above photo shows the muzzles and forward part of the barrels protruding below and forward of the nose of the aircraft.
Ubique! 6
REPLACEMENT OF ASLAV’s
About 225 ‘military-off-the-shelf’ vehicles will be purchased by Army to replace the ageing ASLAV fleet operated by RAAC; the existing vehicles (example shown above) have seen extensive service in Timor-Leste, Iraq and Afghanistan. Greater firepower, protection and mobility would be key elements of the new vehicles, according to the Chief of Army, LTGEN D. Morrison. According to MAJGEN Paul McLaughlin (Head of Land Systems Division, Defence Materiel Organisation), “w’ere looking for a networked platform that will be able to accommodate all of the modern sensors that are now available to us.” The new vehicle will need variants to perform reconnaissance, command and control, joint fires, surveillance, ambulance and repair & recovery roles. ASLAV replacements fall under Phase 2 of the Land 400 (project); the total cost of Land 400 is estimated at more than $10 billion. ‘Army’ 26/2/2015 Cheers, Geoff Laurie
Ubique! 7
ROYAL AUSTRALIAN ARTILLERY ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA Inc.
2014 – 2015
Colonel Commandant (Tasmania & Central Regions) Colonel Steve Carey RFD (Tasmania) Committee: President Major Geoff Laurie RFD (Retd) 8332.4485 (H) Treasurer Major Rex Jones RFD (Retd) 8388.4201 (H) Secretary Sgt Jan Burgess 0411.446.656 Members LTCOL Stefan Landherr RFD (Retd) 8289.4013 (H)
WO2 Hector Korsten 8344.8386 (H) WO2 Don Millard 8263.5334 (H) WO2 Tony Matz 0412.824.600
Sgt Eddie Tanzer 8263.0167 (H) Sgt John Nield 8339.6421 (H) Assoc Reps at Army} Sgt Eddie Tanzer Museum of SA } Sgt John Nield 16 AL Regt LTCOL Bernard White CO 16 AL Regt 6/13 Lt Bty Rep Capt Dave Haupt 48 Troop (6/13 Lt Bty) 8305.6256 (Tues Night) (formerly 48 Fd Bty) P&EE (Pt Wakefield) OC - Maj Jonathon Abundo (08) 8867.1005 (W) ==================== Committee Meetings: The Committee endeavours to meet on the second Monday in February, May, August, and November. Agenda items, and Newsletter Articles to: Geoff Laurie or Jan Burgess Memorabilia (when available) from the Secretary RAA Tie $40 Plaques (Pewter Badge) $25 RAA Lapel Badges $5 Book, ‘Roundshot to Rapier’ – A History of RAA in SA) $5 Membership Fee: Full Member: Annual Subscription: $30 Joining Fee $20 (at Committee’s discretion) Affiliate Member: 50% of above annual subscription
Ubique! 8
