Going fast have you got yours a full record of 2001 all pages(weeks) are included, so catch up on all that's been happening.
Hi Pom
Great site and I’ve been browsing it for some time.
Could you please add my email address to the site;
Regards
Bob Golley
Happy to have you in old mate what have ya been up to? It's great to have another 10 course member on site.
Regards the POM
Author:
Dick Piriczky
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Date Posted: 19:05:18 02/12/02 Tue
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Looking for a James"Rocky" Grant, he was stationed at Iwakuni,Japan while in the Australian Army guarding RAAF aircraft during August of 1950 and later.
Last known address was somewher in Chelsea / Melbourne area.
would like to locate him so I can fly down and see him after 52 years.
As a Yank, I guarded the USAF aircraft and our paths crossed while guarding our respective planes and we chatted, became pals and had a beer or two at the 77 club many times.
If anyone can send me info on him, it will be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks,
Dick Piriczky
312 Hayes Road
Toledo, Ohio 43615
ETTAMOGAH PUB
Email ettamogah@hcm.vnn.vn
To anyone who can help
I am writing this request for assistance in achieving the completion of a project here in Vietnam.
The Australian Vietnam Veterans Reconstruction Group (AVVRG) in Vietnam have for some time been planning and negotiating to build a school at the end of Luscombe Field for the children that now live in the Nui Dat area
This school is to be known as Diggers Rest
Due to lack of support from the members of the AVVRG in Australia, the people find themselves with a shortfall of about US$14,000.
What is needed is support to complete this project and if organisations can put away the in fighting and think of something just a little more important, "The Kids". They are the losers in the politics of life
There are many groups in Australia that could be approached to give small donations toward this project if only people could work together.
My wife and I have both been very badly maligned by people in Australia involved with the AVVRG but we are prepared to actively support the in country by the hard working members of this group.
The completion of the school would also be of great benefit in future relationship and negotiations with the people of the Baria Vung Tau (Phouc Thuy ) Province, in the upkeep or the Cross at Long Tan and in the loosening of restriction on access to the area on days like Anzac Day and Veterans Day.
I am personally going to canvass the expat community here in Vietnam as there are many Australians and New Zealanders working here now who are proud of the Anzac Heritage and I am sure that even though they are not Veterans there will be willing to assist.
If there is anyway in which you can assist in this project then please let me know and I will forward all information to Rod Burgess, the in country President of the AVVRG
As I have said, remember the kids.
Al & Anh Davis
Ettamogah Pub
Vung Tau
9/2/02
It seems that I have to change my email address
telstra has advised that they are closing easymail.
so my new address will be joanau@bigpond.com
I hope that this is the right way to put it anyway it looks ok to me lots of luck in the new year and have a nice day
regards
Jim
G`Day Mate,
Thanks for chasing Paul up for me, I managed to get in touch with him on the
number you sent and we had quite a pleasant chat.
Once again thanks. Our proposed trip over in August may now only be a
"maybe" we`re about to pull on a mortgage and we`ll have to wait and see how
great the effect on our budget is. Will keep you posted.
Take care old son
Don.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
POM,
Have you got permission from the Gods up north
TRIFF
Click above to see what happened for not watching out.
March....2002
Around the 22nd of March we are proposing to have another get together at one of the clubs in Newcastle.
The Date is yet to be confirmed but i'll keep you's posted via this page.....The POM
3flt Amberley 1979 pic taken at Summerset Dam.
Sorry but the photo had a severe cropping
STORIES OF THE DEFENCE OF AUSTRALIA - 1942
In 1942 the people of Australia were called upon, for the first time, to defend their own
shores. Throughout that year, supported by their allies, Australians fought to turn the initial
defeats of 1942 into the beginnings of victory in the Pacific. This series, issued by the
Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Danna Vale, to mark the 60th anniversary of the Defence of
Australia, highlights some of the key events of those 12 momentous months.
January 1942 - The Fate of Lark Force
At the Bita Paka War Cemetery, Rabaul, is an avenue of stone columns to which are
attached bronze plaques displaying the names of 1224 Australian servicemen. These are
the "missing", those with no known grave. It is the largest single list of its kind from any
battle area in which Australians fought in Papua New Guinea between 1942 and 1945.
The story of the Rabaul memorial is predominantly the story of Lark Force, the small
garrison of 1400 Australians that faced the full onslaught of the Japanese invasion of New
Britain in January 1942.
At the beginning of the war in the Pacific, Rabaul was Australia's frontline, an Australian
outpost that was closer to the Japanese military base at Truk than it was to Cairns. Lark
Force - men of the 2/22nd Battalion, Australian Imperial Force, and support units, including
six Australian nurses - had been sent to Rabaul in April 1941 amid rising fears of
Japanese aggression. But from the start it was very much a doomed cause.
Just days after Japan entered the war, the Chiefs of Staff in Australia conceded that a
Japanese attack would be "beyond the capacity of the small garrison to resist". However,
it was decided that Lark Force should not be reinforced and there would be no withdrawal.
On 22-23 January 1942, the Japanese came.
What happened to Lark Force did not clearly emerge until after the war, leaving hundreds
of Australian families to wonder about the fate of loved ones.
In the face of 20,000 Japanese troops, the Australians had put up a brave defence, but
were quickly outflanked. They either surrendered or escaped into the jungles of New
Britain. At Tol Plantation, some 160 Australian soldiers were massacred after
surrendering. About 400 men, travelling in small groups, survived a cruel journey on foot
and finally reached the mainland and safety.
In June 1942, the Japanese sent many of the remaining members of Lark Force - 845
soldiers - to Japan on the Montevideo Maru. But on 1 July, the ship was sunk by an
American submarine and all prisoners on board perished. The only Lark Force prisoners
to survive the war were the nurses and a number of officers, sent to Japan on a different
ship.
Investigators finally discovered the fate of Lark Force in 1945, but for most of them, their
only grave was the sea or the bush at Tol Plantation, where those massacred had never
been properly buried.
The men of Lark Force should be remembered as the first Australian garrison to face the
Japanese on Australian territory and for those tragedies of captivity which prevented the
majority of them from ever seeing home again.
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The Federal Government has appointed a former Supreme Court judge, a senior
RAAF
officer and Vietnam veteran and a former Commonwealth Department head to
conduct an
independent review of perceived anomalies in the access to veterans'
entitlements, the
Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Minister Assisting the Minister for
Defence, Danna Vale,
announced today.
Minister Vale said the Review of Veterans' Entitlements was a key
commitment in the
Coalition Government's 2001 election platform for the veteran community.
"The Government has recognised concerns in sections of the veteran
community that
some ex-servicemen and women may be missing out on entitlements because of
perceived anomalies in the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986," she said.
"There also are ongoing concerns about the adequacy of benefits and support
available for
veterans receiving the Totally and Permanently Incapacitated (T&PI) rate
and other rates
of veteran disability pension.
"The independent committee will hear submissions on these issues and make
recommendations in line with the Government's commitment to providing fair,
consistent
and appropriate benefits to Australia's veterans."
Minister Vale said the committee would be chaired by Justice John Clarke
QC, a former
judge of the NSW Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal. The other two
members are
former Vice-Chief of the Australian Defence Force, Air Marshal Douglas
Riding AO DFC,
and the former Secretary of the Department of Family and Community
Services, Dr David
Rosalky.
"The Veterans' Entitlements Act is based on a number of core principles
including the
determination of qualifying service and veterans' benefits for those who
have suffered
special deprivations and pressures when confronting the enemy. These
principles have
been supported by successive governments," Minister Vale said.
"The committee will examine the history and current interpretation of
eligibility criteria for
qualifying service, which entitles veterans to apply for a range of
benefits, including the
service pension.
"This will include perceived anomalies that may be raised by groups
including some World
War II personnel who did not serve outside Australia, veterans of the
British
Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan, participants in the British atomic
testing
program in Australia and SAS Regiment personnel involved in
counter-terrorist and special
recovery training.
"In relation to the T&PI and other disability pensions, the committee will
consider the
appropriateness of current benefits and the extent to which the medical,
social and
vocational rehabilitation needs of compensation pensioners are being met.
"It will make recommendations on possible improvements in benefits and
support
programs to address any identified deficiencies, including the potential to
restructure
benefits and programs in order to fund any reforms."
The Minister said the committee would hear submissions from interested
parties on all
issues and urged members of the veteran community to give their support to
the review.
"The committee will report in November, enabling the Government to consider
its
recommendations in the context of the May 2003 Budget," she said.
Media Contact: Rachael Thompson (02) 6277 7820 or 0417 265 289
Editors' note: Terms of Reference for the Review of Veterans' Entitlements
are available
at www.dva.gov.au
Review of Veterans' Entitlements
Committee Chair
Hon Justice John Clarke QC
Justice Clarke is a former National Serviceman who did National Service in
1954, followed
by two years in a Sydney University Reserves regiment while studying for
his Bachelor of
Law. He was called to the Bar in 1959 and became a QC in 1976, practising
mainly in
common law and later in the industrial arbitration area. Justice Clarke
was appointed a
judge of the NSW Supreme Court in 1983 and sat on the bench for 14 years.
From 1987-
1997 he served as a member of the Court of Appeal and since his retirement
has also sat
as an Acting Judge of Appeal. Since retiring from the bench, Justice
Clarke has practised
as a mediator and arbitrator.
Committee members
Air Marshal Douglas Riding AO DFC
Air Marshal Riding joined the Royal Australian Air Force as an aircrew
cadet in June 1962
and saw active service in Vietnam with the 19th Tactical Air Support
Squadron USAF,
receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1969. After being promoted to
Wing
Commander in 1979, AM Riding served in posts in Australia and overseas, and
from 1987-
1990 was Officer Commanding RAAF East Sale. During the 1990s, AM Riding
held senior
executive and command positions in the RAAF and Australian Defence Force,
and in 1998
was appointed Vice-Chief of the Defence Force. He retired from the
permanent RAAF in
June 2000.
Dr David Rosalky
Dr Rosalky comes to the committee with extensive experience as a public
servant, having
held senior positions in the Commonwealth Department of Finance and the
Canadian
Treasury Board. From 1980-83, he was Senior Private Secretary in the
office of Prime
Minister Malcolm Fraser. Dr Rosalky served as Under-Treasurer of ACT
Treasury,
Secretary of the ACT Chief Minister's Department in 1994-95, then as
Secretary of the
Department of Workplace Relations and Small Business from 1995-98. In 1998
he was
appointed Secretary of the Department of Family and Community Services,
retiring last
year. Dr Rosalky is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National
University.