australian commando assn inc. · 8 commando news~ edition 13 i 2018 commando who led a platoon of...

AUSTRALIAN COMMANDO ASSN INC.Registered by Australia Post ~ Publication No PP100016240

Edition 13 ~ 2018

This photo was taken in the Gulf States. The fatal jump was in 2015, a tandem jump, which Tony Rokov took the full impactthus saving the life of his 14-year-old student. He was awarded the Star of Courage for his extraordinary bravery.

IN THIS ISSUE…

The Happy WandererMichael Parker Foundation ~ Kshamawati Hostel ProjectCommando Memorial Service 2018HALO Parachuting in Australia ~ The Early Days

commndr cover issue 13 2018_Layout 1 21/08/2018 7:13 am

commndr cover issue 13 2018_Layout 1 21/08/2018 7:13 am

REGISTERED BY AUSTRALIA POST PUBLICATION No PP100016240

AUSTRALIAN COMMANDO ASSOCIATION INC.

NATIONAL OFFICE BEARERS

LIFE PATRON: Gen Sir Phillip Bennett AC KBE DSO

PATRON: MajGen Tim McOwan AO DSC CSM

PRESIDENT: MajGen Greg Melick AO RFD SC

VICE PRESIDENT: Maj Steve Pilmore OAM

SECRETARY: Maj Jack Thurgar SC MBE OAM RFD(Ret’d)

TREASURER: Maj Bruce O’Connor OAM (Ret’d)

ACA VICTORIAPRESIDENT: Doug Knight

ACA VICTORIASECRETARY: Glenn MacDonald

ACA NSWPRESIDENT: Barry Grant

ACA NSW Bruce Poulter - 0414 891 854SECRETARY: [email protected]

ACA QLDPRESIDENT: Nick Hill

ACA QLDSECRETARY: Tony Mills

ACA WAPRESIDENT: Alan Joyce - 0447 433 934

ACA WA Paul Shearer - 0400 522 059SECRETARY: [email protected]

PUBLIC OFFICER: Brian Liddy

EDITORS: Barry GrantBarbara Pittaway

The Australian Commando Association’s membership consists ofServicemen who have served with Independent Companies, CommandoSquadrons, "M" and "Z" Special units and Special Forces during and sincethe Second World War.

DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed within this publication are those of theauthors, and are not necessarily those of the Editor, Publisher, CommitteeMembers or Members of our Association. We welcome any input as longas it is not offensive or abusive but if any member has a problem with aprinted article we would like to be informed in order that the author may becontacted. We do encourage your opinion.

Official Publishers:Statewide Publishing P/L

ABN 65 116 985 187

PO BOX 682, SURFERS PARADISE QLD 4217PHONE: 0432 042 060

EMAIL: [email protected]

Printed by RABS PRINT & DESIGNPhone: 0438 881 854

Email: [email protected]

CONTENTSMessage from the Editor...................................3

From the Prolific Pen of Harry Bell....................5

Vale section..................................................7-11HALO Parachuting in Australia

“The Early Days” ...................................13-19Commando Memorial Service

Anzac Day address.....................................21Ex Commando sacrifices himself

for young parachutist ................................22

The Happy Wanderer................................25-27Chief of Army bans soldiers from

wearing ‘arrogant’ death symbols.............29

Michael Parker Foundation .............................30

Book Review ....................................................35

Little known facts about the wall....................37

Aust Cdo Assn NSW “Q” Store......................41

Aust Cdo Assn QLD..................................45-51

Membership Application Form .......................55

State Incorporated Associations.....................56

Deadline for next edition (Issue 14):SUNDAY, 30TH SEPTEMBER 2018

All news on members and interesting articles accepted.(Subject to editors’ approval.)

Barry G

FRONT COVER: This photo was taken in the Gulf States.The fatal jump was in 2015, a tandem jump, which Tony

Rokov took the full impact thus saving the life of his14-year-old student. He was awarded the Star of Courage

for his extraordinary bravery.

AUSTRALIAN COMMANDO ASSN INC.Registered by Australia Post ~ Publication No PP100016240

Edition 13 ~ 2018

This photo was taken in the Gulf States. The fatal jump was in 2015, a tandem jump, which Tony Rokov took the full impactthus saving the life of his 14-year-old student. He was awarded the Star of Courage for his extraordinary bravery.

IN THIS ISSUE…

The Happy WandererMichael Parker Foundation ~ Kshamawati Hostel ProjectCommando Memorial Service 2018HALO Parachuting in Australia ~ The Early Days

COMMANDO NEWS ~ Edition 13 I 2018 1

Commando News Edition 13 2018_Layout 1 21/08/2018 7:17 pm Page 1

2 COMMANDO NEWS ~ Edition 13 I 2018

Commando News Edition 13 2018_Layout 1 21/08/2018 7:45 am Page 2

1941 - 1946

1955 -

-55 19

Australian Commando AssociationNSW Inc.

http://1commando1.blogspot.com.auPO Box 1313, Sutherland, NSW 1499

COMMANDO FOR LIFE

President: Barry Grant Secretary: Bruce Poulter Treasurer: Ivan Kelly

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

0414 914 615 0414 891 854 0417 042 886

As we go to press, another Timor Awakening teamis preparing to go back to Timor Leste.

Among them is 94-year-old Ian Hampel, 2nd/4thIndependent Company.

Ian landed on East Timor as it was known duringWW2, on the ill fated HMAS Voyager in the southernshores at Betano.

Ian marched the full distance on Anzac Day inSydney so there’s no doubt he can handle the trip.

I have been trying to contact him for a couple ofweeks, finally ringing his son to find out he is snowskiing.

God bless him.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

The passing of Bruce Horsfield was a sad event, hehad been working on the SAS documentary DVDseries for about 17 years and just a few short weeksago was awarded an OAM for contributions to militaryhistory. He also completed another on Long Tan, alsoacclaimed DVD.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Wayne Havenaar (ex 1 Company) has issued awarning order for a small craft reunion paddle.

It will be held in lateOctober, paddle fromShelley Beach, Manlyto Balmoral Beach toClifton Gardens.

A l l sma l l c r a f tqualified (also the nonqualified who canpaddle) are invited.

Paddle some of thetrip or all of the trip,just paddle to Clifton Gardens or just come and jointhe picnic at the end.

More details to follow.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Just a heads up.

AGM of ACA NSW will be held on Satur day, 20thOctober 2018.

More details will be sent out by email and post tofinancial members ASAP.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

The last Reserve Forces Parade was held on 1stJuly after 20 years of parading.

Seems it lost the interest ofa lot of donors and the ADFhas said that the differencebetween Regular Forces andthe Reservists is "blurred" inthe modern age.

Barry Grant

Message from the Editor

Australian CommandoAssociation (NSW) Inc



From the Prolific Pen of Harry BellDear Editors,

Well, here I am sitting on my bed in AnthemNursing Home. I came into hospital on 31/5 for hipsurgery and hope to be home soon. I can’t offer a fulllength story but will try to do better next time when Ihave access to my library.

TedMacMillan (2/9) has survived repair of a herniawhich he has been wearing for a while waiting for hiscardiologist to give the green light.

Defence has resumed the publication of unitnames with their death notices and Reveille mentionsthe following: NX145462 R Foster (2/5), NX108777CJ Monty (2/3), NX77745 K G Wilson (2/2). Keith’stank is given as Gnr - I’ll try to check when I get home.MV Flower of 3 Cav Regt is listed as is NX11703 LloydHendry (2/9). I have been in touch with Lloyd’s son Ianand will write a decent obituary for next edition.

Reg Davis (Davis RTR) 2/9 is back in St GeorgeHospital with acute fluid retention which may relate toheart or liver or kidleys. (Well I said “kidleys”, diddleI?) He is decidedly unwell but the nearest he gets tocursing is “Golly golly golly!”. We are already makingplans for next Anzac Day.

Barry Grant tells me that Ian Hampel (2/4) is backin Timor Leste, courtesy Commando Association.Bravo. I hope Ian will write a full report.

Barry you may have noticed errors in last night’semail. Lloyd Hendry’s number was of course NX notNc.

All good things to you.Thats all for now.

Harry

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Further to Harry's spiel, I visited Regin St George Hospital.

He is in good spirits and waspleased to see me.

If the current treatment is not helpfulhe may be transferred to the St. George Private.

Barry G


One evening, shortly after the honeymoon,Tom was working on his Harley motorcycle in thegarage. His wife was standing there by the benchwatching him.

After a long period of silence she finally said:"Honey, I've just been thinking, now that we’remarried, maybe it's time you quit spending somuch of your time out here in your garage.

You probably should consider selling yourHarley and all that welding equipment; they takeup so much of your time.

And that gun collection and fishing gear, theyjust take up so much space.

And you know the sailboat is such an ongoingexpense; and you hardly use it.

I also think you should lose all those stupidmodel airplanes and your home brewingequipment.

And what’s the use of that vintage hot rodsports car?”

Tom got a horrified look on his face.She noticed and said, "Darling, what's wrong?" He replied, "There for a minute, you were

starting to sound like my ex-wife." "Ex-wife!?" she shouted, "YOU NEVER TOLD

ME YOU WERE MARRIED BEFORE!"Tom replied, “I wasn't..."

ACA NSW members on Timor AwakeningIvan Kelly, David Lynch and Bill Merchant re -

presented ACANSW on the Timor Awakening tripearlier this year.

They were very impressed with the reception andfriendliness of the Timorese people.

Their tour took them from Dili to Betano where theremains of the HMAS Voyager can be seen from thebeach.

It was here that they inserted the 2nd/4thIndependent Company, but the ship became beachedand they had to leave behind the 2nd/2nd Companythat they were due to replace.

Next month, September, another 3 members of theAssociation are travelling to Dili on yet another TimorAwakening adventure.



John Addison 2 Commando Company Douglas Allen 2 Commando CompanyJack Tredrea SRD (Z Special Unit)Bruce Horsfield OAM 1 Commando CompanyJim Geedrick AIFJack Mackay OAM Z Special Unit

VALE

John Addison Douglas Allen Jack Tredrea Bruce Horsfield OAM Jim Geedrick Jack MAckay OAM

Investiture of OAM for Bruce HorsfieldRecently 40 people

gathered in Kirribilli toobserve Bruce gettinghis OAM. Due to illhealth he was unable togo to GovernmentHouse.

The State Governor,General Hurley AC DSCRet'd and his wifeattended to make thepresentation.

Also in attendancew a s t h e f o r m e rGovernor General ofAustralia Major GeneralMike Jeffery AC AO(Mil) CVO MC Ret'dand his wife.

We are very proudof Bruce, notably hehas produced videohistories of Long Tanand the History of theSAS.

In Bruce's early days he was a pioneer in civilian HALO parachuting, the stories of that issue raises the hair on theback of your neck.



Commando who led a platoon of headhunters inBorneo, but did not get the message that the war hadended in August 1945.

Jack Tredrea was part of the elite Z Special unitduring the Second World War

Emperor Hirohito had announced Japan’s surrenderin mid-August 1945 and the Second World War wasofficially finished, but no one had told an Australiancommando who was leading a platoon of headhuntersagainst Japanese forces in the Borneo jungle.

Warrant Officer II Jack Tredrea fought on, con -tinuing to harass and ambush the enemy with rifle fire,grenades, parangs and a silent assault by poison dartpropelled from a blowpipe.

Come the third week of October, and unaware thathis radio had come to grief in a river, the Alliedauthorities put a stop to it. Major Tom Harrisson, aBritish officer commanding the Special OperationsExecutive campaign in Borneo, sent a runner with awritten order: “The war is over, Tredrea, get out thebest way you can.”

Tredrea paid off his fighters and travelled home byriverboat and aircraft, reverting to his peacetime, andpeaceful, calling as a tailor of suits for the goodburghers of Adelaide.

Jonathan “Jack” Tredrea was born in 1920 inAdelaide and left school the day he turned 14 to workas a messenger boy for the bespoke tailor. He showedsome promise as an Australian rules footballer, playingfor the South Adelaide club, building muscle andstamina by cycling round the suburbs with deliveries.

Volunteering for military service, Tredrea servedinitially as a medic in the Australian 6th Cavalry FieldAmbulance. This equipped him with skills that, a fewyears later, would make him a revered figure amongthe Kelabit people of Borneo.

Seeking adventure, he answered a notice calling forvolunteers to serve in a “special unit”. The seniorofficer who interviewed him had been a customer ofthe tailor’s, and Tredrea was soon dispatched to FraserIsland, off the Queensland coast, for training thatchanged him from a cutter of cloth to a cutter ofthroats.

Tredrea found that he had volunteered for the elite,top-secret Z Special unit. There followed a year ofintensive instruction in weaponry, unarmed combat,languages, surveillance, sabotage, living off the landand jumping out of aircraft. His assignment, at the endof that year, was Borneo. A sea approach was toohazardous, so in late March 1945 two B-24 Liberatorstook off with a payload of eight Z Special paratroopers.

Tredrea’s task was to recruit sympathetic inhabitantsand lead them, as a trained guerrilla force, against theoccupying Japanese. He jumped out of the aircraft witha sub-machinegun, six grenades, medical supplies anda cyanide pill, which was to be swallowed in the event

of capture and interrogation by the Japanese.His medical expertise brought him immediate

success. A village head man asked Tredrea to treat anold friend afflicted by a large lump in the groin. In theabsence of any anaesthetic, Tredrea ordered two mento hold his patient down, lanced the growth, removedwhat he described later as “masses of pus” and packedthe wound with sulfa powder.

The old man made a spectacular recovery andTredrea, his reputation established, soon had hisguerrilla recruits. “They were incredibly brave, but theycould give your position away because they were soimpulsive,” he recalled in 2014. “You had to controlthem, or they’d go on the attack with their parangs andtheir blowpipes. They really were headhunters.”

Describing a typical ambush of a Japanese patrol,he added: “By the use of blowpipes, we used toquietly pick off the Japs from the rear of line. ‘Pfft!’ ”

Back in Australia after the war Tredrea was awardedthe Military Medal for “remarkable energy, un selfish -ness and devotion to duty”. Meanwhile, in 1943 he hadmarried Edith Anna Bongiorno. Their first daughter,Leonie Pinkerton, became a bookkeeper and died ofcancer in 1997 aged 53. Their second daughter,Lynnette Behn, worked as a taxation consultant andsurvives him. Edith died in 2006.

Both daughters had some taste of the commandolife. Their father introduced them to the art of theblowpipe, although without the poison. He also placedmattresses by the back veranda and trained them toleap off the roof, landing with a paratrooper’s roll.

Between 1993 and 2017 Tredrea made seven tripsback to the Borneo highland territory in what is nowSarawak, Malaysia. On one visit he was reunited withthree women who, as teenagers 70 years earlier, hadserved as porters in his jungle campaign. He gave themsilver necklaces bearing the Z Special emblem. His giftfor the wider Kelabit community was 45 sets of replicamedals to honour those who had served under hiscommand and had continued fighting for two monthsafter it was all supposed to be over.

Jack Tredrea, tailor and commando, was born onMay 15, 1920. He died from kidney failure on July 17,2018, aged 98

JACK TREDREA OBITUARY



Jim Geedrick was an extraordinaryAustralian soldier

When severely wounded by mortar fire during anarmoured assault in Vietnam in August 1968, AustralianArmy adviser Jim Geedrick thought his soldiering dayswere finished.

He had earlier been photographed at Gio Linh onAnzac Day proudly displaying an Australian flag, inwhat would become one of the most iconic images ofthe war.

Now fighting for his life, the veteran of everycampaign since World War II found himself medicallyevacuated home.

Six months later, however, he would return to GioLinh to complete his unfinished tour.

For Geedrick, getting wounded was just part of ajob he had been doing for three decades seeingcombat in all Australian military conflicts from WorldWar II through to Vietnam.

Last month an illness managed what scores ofAustralia’s enemies could not: Geedrick died on July 22in Rockhampton, at peace at the age of 94.

His death saw the passing of an extraordinarysoldier whose career is unlikely to be matched bytoday’s soldiers.

Although described as indigenous, Geedrick wasborn into a large family of Ceylonese descent in coastalYeppoon, central Queensland in 1924.

In March 1943, Geedrick enlisted in the AIF as aninfantryman, where his natural skills and personalitymarked him out as a potential leader.

By the time Geedrick retired 30 years later he hadreceived every campaign and service medal thenavailable in the Australian Defence Force. For hisVietnam service he also received US and Vietnamesegallantry awards.

In Borneo at the end of WWII, lance corporalGeedrick enlisted in the regular army and was sent tothe British Commonwealth Occupation Forces inJapan.

There he met and married his first wife, Shizue, whohad survived the Hiroshima atomic bomb blast. Shelater died from when in her 60s from cancer her familybelieves was caused by being exposed to indirectradiation from the atomic blast.

In 1951 the now sergeant Geedrick joined his oldbattalion, 3RAR in Korea, fighting in the significantbattles at Kapyong and later Maryang San.

Geedrick served with 3RAR d u r i n g t h eM a l a y a n Emergency, then later during Confrontationwith Indonesia, returning to Borneo where he had beenduring WWII.

On May 21, 1968 now Warrant Officer Class IIGeedrick joined the Australian Army Training TeamVietnam.

Former WOI Neil “Lofty” Eiby who served withGeedrick in Malaya and during Confrontation

described him as “a greatsoldier and a wonderfulman.”

“Because he was JimGeedrick he seemed to beable to get away withsaying and doing thingsother people might nothave,” Mr Eiby recalled.

“He was blunt but he was fair and above all he washumorous.”

Geedrick’s final army posting was as RSM of theAustralian Army cadet battalion based in Rock hamp -ton, a perfect segue for his later career as schoolsergeant at Rockhampton Grammar School, where heserved from 1973 until 1997.

He remarried Jurin who was from Thailand and thepair shared 25 years of marriage. He is survived by Jurinand his three children from his first marriage, Gene, Kimand Sheree.

A spokesman for Rockhampton Grammar said theschool had planned a dinner this weekend to honourhis 25-years service to the school.

“We knew he had been ill recently and weren’t surewhether he could attend,” the spokesman said.

“He was a great mentor to generations of studentsat our school.”

VALE

It is with a very heavy heart that I inform you ofthe passing of AB Jack Mackay OAM of Z SpecialUnit on Saturday, 11 August 2018.

Jack served as part of the build up and trainingfor Operation Jaywick, however he became ill andwas not able to join the Operation



As a former Army commando, media academic anddocumentary maker, Bruce Horsfield was ideallypositioned to package the rich history of the AustralianSpecial Air Service Regiment.

Bruce’s early interest in the military saw him join theAustralian Cadet Corps before moving onto theUniversity of NSW Regiment and really getting seriousby qualifying as a member of I Commando Companyin Sydney.

Bruce quickly found his niche in the Green Berets,completing the unit’s exacting SCUBA diving course,submarine-kayak raids course and basic parachutecourse at RAAF Williamtown – simultaneouslyqualifying as trained teacher and going on to earn aBachelor of Arts from New England University, Masterof Arts from Sydney University and Doctor ofPhilosophy from the University of Exeter, where hecompleted a thesis on children’s television dramaresearched at BBCTV in London.

If all that was not enough, he used any spare timeto hone his parachuting skills, quickly progressing thebasic military course to excursions into thetroposphere that saw him take out the Australian HighAltitude Free Fall Record of 25,000 feet, SouthernHemisphere High Altitude Free Fall Record of 31,000feet and make the NSW Parachute team for the 1963Australian Free Fall Championships.

Some 340 jumps later - including two withoutreserve parachute, night free falls, water jumps andtwo main chute failures that caused him to have todeploy his reserve - Bruce decided to switch to fieldhockey, where he went on to represent Queensland inthe 1996 Australian Veterans’ Championships.

Bruce’s interest in television came with his move tothe University of Southern Queensland as Professor ofMedia Studies, where he saw an opportunity to drawon his military experience to shoot a documentary onthe most famous Australian incident in the VietnamWar, the Battle of Long Tan. His 54-minute tribute tothat epic fight, Long Tan – the True Story, went on tobecome a Vietnam War classic and “one of the fivebest Australian documentaries” put to air by SBSInternational.

Long Tan has since been broadcast three times bySBSTV, twice by ABCTV, eight times on AustralianHistory Channel, twice on Canadian History Channeland was purchased by Australia Television for its Pan-Pacific cable and re-broadcast networks. Distributedby Film Australia and Siren Visual, the documentarycontinues to sell in video stories and is available inuniversities and libraries through Australia and abroad.

Bruce’s work on Long Tan and a social impact studyhe carried out in the Pacific Islands for UNESCOcombined to see him awarded a University Medal fromthe University of Southern Queensland.

Long Tan also led to Bruce accepting an invitationto tackle a documentary on Australia’s Force of firstchoice, the Perth-based Special Air Service Regiment,which he spent 18 years piecing together with thesupport and guidance of former Governor-General,Major General Mike Jeffery, AC, AO (Mil), CVO, MC,who served as a CO of SASR, Director of SpecialForces and Honorary Colonel of the SAS Regiment.

A 10-part series tracing the formation anddevelopment of the SAS up to, for security reasons,the early stages of the Afghanistan War and thesecond Iraqi War, The Australian SAS – the UntoldHistory was officially launched at Government Housein Canberra by the Governor-General, General SirPeter Cosgrove AK MC (Retd), in September 2016before a large gathering of the nation’s leading militarypersonnel including MAJGEN Jeffery and the thenChief of the Defence Force Air Chief Marshal Sir AllanGrant "Angus" Houston, AK, AC, AFC.

SAS the Untold History relates the unit’s 50 yearhistory from a beginning marred by scepticism andrejection to world-wide recognition as a highlysophisticated reconnaissance, strike, recovery andcounter-terrorist force. The series include an extendedinterview with the current US Secretary of Defense,retired four star General James N Mattis, about theimportant role SASR played in Afghanistan. Earlycopies of the documentary have earned high praiseand approval from the Special Forces fraternity andbeen acquired by major institutions across Australiaand internationally. An abridged version has also runon The History Channel.

Bruce was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in2018 by the Governor of New South Wales GEN DavidHurley for his service to military history, academicachievement and sport parachuting. Supporting GENHurley at the private investiture was MAJGEN Jeffery,Bruce’s long-time mentor.

For his service to the Regiment he was alsoadmitted to the Australian Special Air ServiceAssociation as an Associate Member.

PROFESSOR BRUCE HORSFIELD OAM

Photo shows Bruce when filming Long Tan: the True Story inVietnam 1992.



I thought we should share this account of early High Altitude parachuting with you.

Most readers would not have known that this type of activity in Australia was virtually unknown until some

unsung heroes from an Army Reserve Special Forces Unit took the “big step” (literally).

HALO PARACHUTING IN AUSTRALIA “THE EARLY DAYS”Nostalgia from Bruce Horsfield

I read with interest and nostalgia an item in a Strike

Swiftly sometime ago, on Brian Murphy’s high altitudelow opening (HALO) free fall parachuting record back inthe 60’s. Brian’s achievement caught my imagination atthe time and I thought that your readers might like tohear about some other early HALO endeavours by amember of 1 Commando Company. In setting down myown HALO experiences as I recall them, warts-and-all, Ioften shudder at some of the vivid images that comesharply into focus in my memory, stern reminders of theproblems and dangers we were up against and thelimitations of our approach. Certainly, we were reallyestablishing civilian HALO parachuting in Australia andthere were critical times when our ignorance caught upwith us. But we were lucky, we were young and some -what brash, and we had some successes. And now, ofcourse, with the wisdom of hindsight and middle age,we’d probably not take as many risks as we did in ourthree attempts on HALO altitude records.

“High altitude” is an imprecise term but my memoryhas it that “HALO” jumping is free falling from over20,000 feet - that height above which the free fallparachutist is required both to use the inboard aircraftoxygen supply and to carry a separate portable oxygensupply in free fall.

* * * * * * * Early 1958, at age 17, I was the sole volunteer in D

Company, University of NSW Regiment - the scruffy,university student conscript CMF unit that was theNewcastle part of UNSWR. I had never heard of 1Commando Company but after a chance meeting atHolsworthy with the unassuming and very professionalBrian Murphy I was delighted in September ‘58 to passthe medical for 1 Commando Company, transfer from DCompany and get my black beret. On the Taronga Zoobus to Georges Heights on the first Tuesday paradenight I met Corporal Mike Wells. Later Mike showed mesome photos of the free falling that he, Brian Murphy,Barry Evers, Red Harrison and others were pioneering(and, painfully, without canopy deployment sleeves!) atCamden, south west of Sydney. This really looked likeabsolute lunacy to me at the time, and I mentally

dismissed parachuting as unnecessarily dangerous anddefinitely to be avoided. Worse, during my Green Berettraining I was dismayed to learn that the Para course wasthe only compulsory course in the unit. I seriouslythought that I would quietly resign from 1 CommandoCompany. But as many of us who have been through theunit have no doubt found, with its effective training andgreat esprit de corps, I gradually started to warm to theidea of parachuting. I had always been air minded andloved heights and would have enlisted as a pilot in theFleet Air Arm in 1957 had my father allowed me. Theolder hands in 1 Cdo wearing their Para wings cer tainlyseemed no worse for the experience (read: if they canget their wings then so can I!)

So, in April 1960 I grasped the nettle and did my firstfrightening static line jump from 1200 feet with SydneySkydivers at Camden using a 28-foot British X-type ex-Army static line parachute. The jump platform was alumbering but adequate De Havilland Dragon twin-engine biplane. By the time I did the Para course atRAAF Williamtown in November 1960 I had alreadycompleted eight static line jumps and two “jump andpulls” i.e. with ripcord deployment from 2,500 feet.Barry Clissold had also started jumping at about thattime and we were the only “experienced” jumpers onour Para course, smugly watching 20 others fearful andutterly miserable first jumpers on the first long, longsortie until we started to catch the jitters from themanyway. Gradually I got hooked on free falling andbought my own ex-USAF main parachute and reserve,so that a few of us could go up country on weekendsand make a plane load to get higher altitude jumps.

At Camden in 1960 a free fall of 5-10 seconds wasregarded as pretty sophisticated stuff. While we werevery keen, none of us demonstrated much skill in orknowledge about free falling. The near blind led theblind. True skill in free fall - and high altitude air spaceso close to Sydney - were both very scarce. Sadly, wewere restricted at Camden to 3,500 feet above terrainby Air Traffic Control at Mascot. Of course, skydivers cannever get enough altitude and non-bivouac week endswould often see a few of us in Goulburn or Bathurst for



higher altitudes. By 1962 we were profi cient atstabilising and turning in longer free falls of 7,000–8,000feet above terrain. We knew little of HALO jumping (Idon’t think the term had been invented) and we werestill a bit timid about altitudes above 10,000- 12,000feet. HALO jumps from the troposphere (alti tudes up to37,000 feet) and the stratosphere (above 37,000 feet)were remote, fantasies to ponder over a beer. No onethat we knew had experienced free falls from either ofthose levels. Anyway, what would be the requirementsfor oxygen? We understood that in-board oxygen wasrequired above 10,000 feet AMSL by the thenDepartment of Civil Aviation and there were stories thata personal oxygen supply in free fall was alsocompulsory above 20,000 feet AMSL. But where couldthe small personal bottles and oxygen masks to carry infree fall be obtained? Who had that sort of gear?Moreover, suitable aircraft that could make it to higheraltitudes were expensive and hard to find. But all thiswas more in the realm of pub talk, for at this time wewere mostly preoccupied with mastering stability andlinking up with each other in free fall, and trying to steerour canopies to land dead centre on the DZ marker.

But because of our love of free falling the mystiqueof high altitude parachuting – prolonging the free fallpart of the jump - persisted with many of us. Were therereal dangers in a long free fall, we wondered? Could youlose control, and go into an accelerating flat spin thatwould cause blackout, as we read had happened in theUSA? That is, my generation of jumpers in the early ‘60’sthought mainly of the free fall part of the jump, and notbeing skiers or climbers asked few if any questionsabout the environment of the troposphere. Not havingever been seriously exposed to the frigidity of highaltitude, we had no sense of the hazards of hypo - thermia, exposure, sub-zero temperatures, frost bite,frozen altimeters, and the decline in mental per -formance, judgement and gross and fine motor skillsresulting from hypoxia. (We didn’t of course know thatwe would soon get first hand experience of these thingsthe hard way!) To us HALO was all just a fantasy fuelledby a frustrating mixture of timidity, ignorance, curiosityand a desire for adventure. Obviously, by this stage I’dcome a long way since my dread of the basic Paracourse. One detail we weren’t worried about thoughwas the chance of missing the drop zone on a HALOsortie. Just getting to the ground in one piece would donicely. Anyway, the spotting on our sorties was oftenlousy in the early 60’s and we all knew what it was like tolug our gear a long way back to the strip after a poorspot!

But skydivers elsewhere, free of the altituderestrictions of Camden, pushed ahead. Suddenly,drama tically, higher leaps started happening around us.Laurie Trotter, an early ‘civvie’ skydiver, set an Australianaltitude record with a 60 second delay from 12,000 feet.At Camden our parochial little group of skydivers weregrudgingly impressed. Then, to our surprise and delight,Brian Murphy made a successful attempt on Trotter’sAustralian high altitude free fall record using a Cessna

210. Brian’s free fall from 17,000 feet - astonishing at thetime - broke not only Trotter’s 12,000 feet Australianrecord but also our own psychological and physicalresistance to the HALO environment above 12,000 feet.Then a NZ skydiving team using a supercharged AeroCommander 680F attained a remarkable 27,000 feet - awondrous, absolutely mind-blowing excursion into theupper troposphere even by today’s standards. And, forwhat it was worth, it was a Southern Hemisphere highaltitude free fall record. They exited at 27,000 feet andpulled ripcords at 2,000 feet. To most of us at Camdenthat sort of operation and altitude seemed out of ourleague. I remember wondering at the time just how sucha jump could be possible.

However, times and people change and in 1965 Idecided to give it a go. We - Robin Godwin, a civviemate, and I - would attack the Kiwi’s Southern Hemi -sphere HALO record of 27,000 feet. Brian Murphyunselfishly lent us each a portable oxygen cylinder (DeHavilland Vampire jet fighter ejection seat cylinders,each with a 7 minute constant flow supply), which wasrequired for jumping above 20,000 feet AMSL by theAustralian Parachute Federation. Brian had acquiredthese little bottles for his own HALO record attempts(deferred indefinitely following a knee injury whileparachuting). We were lucky to get cost - free an AeroCommander 680F, in a sponsorship deal with the thenAvis Rent-a-Plane. The Avis pilot, Captain Peter Ahrens,assured us that the 680F could beat the Kiwi’s 27,000feet. At this stage I had done 147 jumps, mostly freefalls, the highest being a 45 second delayed openingfrom 9,500 feet without oxygen equipment.

Our plan was to free fall from the Aero Commander’sabsolute ceiling – we had no idea what this would be -to 2000 feet, open parachutes, and land in LakeIllawarra where boats of the Kanahooka Motor BoatClub would retrieve us. Along with us on the sortie as“drifter” (a term used to refer to a device for gaugingthe wind strength and direction after take off but also tojustify a free jump) was my younger brother - anotherRobin, aged 18 - who was doing his 45th jump. (Soonafter, in January 1966 during the Vietnam War, Robin“celebrated” being conscripted by doing 40 jumps inone day onto Aero Pelican strip, Newcastle. Rob hasvery good legs!) As our drifter, Robin was to free-fallfrom about 16,000 feet to 2000 feet and land in the lake,exiting the aircraft as it climbed to whatever altitude thepilot could attain. The Aero Commander had its own in-board passenger oxygen console for our use on theclimb and we would carry the little 7-minute ejectionseat oxygen cylinders tied to our reserve chute bungies.These would be connected to our $5 Army DisposalStore WWII “12 O’clock High” oxygen masks – oldish,but in mint condition, like the candy striped USAFmilitary surplus parachutes that we used. We wouldchange over from the aircraft oxygen console to ourportable cylinders on the dropping run, just prior to exit.The air space clearance to all altitudes from Air TrafficControl Mascot was for Sunday 14 February 1965 fromfirst light to 0700 hours. Piece of cake!



We spent an uncomfortable night before the drop onthe floor at the Albion Park Aero Club. Next morning,mindful of Brian Murphy’s report of the deep cold hehad experienced on his own record jump, we ate ahearty meal of steak and eggs thinking it would keepour bodies warm on the sortie. It was a meal we wereshortly to regret having eaten. Then, to make it easier toget from our aircraft seats to the rear doorway for exit,we reversed the Aero Commander’s seats on their floormountings so that all of us, except the pilot, CaptainPeter Ahrens, faced the rear door, which we removed forour exit under the port wing. This also meant that all ofus - pilot included - had our backs to the 680F’s oxygenconsole, into which we were all plugged. Several dayspreviously we had sought to familiarise ourselves withthe aircraft oxygen console and low-pressure con -necting lines and fittings but unfortunately - andominously - we couldn’t organise it with Avis staff. So, aswe geared up next to the aircraft for our SouthernHemisphere HALO Record bid, we were full of steak andeggs, rash optimism and the confidence of youth. Notonly were we totally unfamiliar with the vital oxygensystem on the Aero Commander but we had alsoingeniously managed to arrange the seats so that allfour of us, pilot included, were sitting with our backs tothe all - important oxygen console. Moreover, neither ofus had used Brian’s Vampire ejection seat bottles before,even in a rehearsal, since once the lanyard was yankedthe flow could not be turned off, requiring a time-consuming service by Hawker de Havilland at Banks -town. Youthful impatience resisted such extravagantwaste of time!

However, the morning was clear and calm and so wegeared up in parachutes, life jackets, oxygen cylinders,balaclavas, gloves and ski masks and heaved ourselveson board the Aero Commander. The aircraft’s take-offgave us our first discomforting surprise, for to us thespeed and rate of climb of the supercharged Aero Com -mander were simply incredible, and to me as jump -master/dispatcher quite disorienting. Accustomed tounder powered Austers, the old De Havilland Dragonand the odd struggling Cessna, where there was ampletime in the slow climb to altitude to think about thejump ahead, we were riding in a rocket by comparison.This resulted in less time to adjust mentally to the newenvironment of high altitude – a feeling of being“rushed” and of not being in complete control of oursortie.

As we climbed steeply over Lake Illawarra, what hadbegun as clear sunny sky suddenly started to clag rightin underneath us. A sea drift of thick, opaque cloudbegan rapidly to obscure the ground and lake. In notime we were at 18,000 feet and I dispatched brotherRobin, who enjoyed a very long free fall to the lakethrough the last, fast-disappearing small hole remainingin the cloud cover. Pulling at 2,000 feet, he laterreported a very pleasant and satisfying free fall. As the680F shot on up into the troposphere the completecloud cover settled in well below us - but how far below,we could not tell merely by looking down at it. We had

no DZ controller with ground to air radio and even ifwe’d had ground control there was little they could havedone to guide an aircraft that they could barely hear andcouldn’t see. In fact, by 19,000 feet we had absolutelyno specific idea of where we were, and I couldn’t do myusual visual spotting for the exit point because therewere no landmarks visible. A moody dawn sky above thecloud added to the sense of strangeness and uneasinessof it all and we had no plan of action for finding a lostDZ. Navigation for the dropping run and exit pointtherefore devolved entirely on the radio navigation skillsof our pilot, Peter Ahrens, who seemed to have caughtthe spirit of our record attempt. No one, including thepilot, thought of calling it off because of the total cloudcover. It had taken much organisation, time and effort toget this far, and we were determined not to abort thesortie if we could avoid it.

Then as we approached 25,000 feet I started to dozeoff to sleep, rationalising to myself that the previous fewdays jump preparations and the rough night’s sleep hadbeen a little fatiguing and that a cat nap before thedropping run would surely do me the world of good. Ofcourse, as a new chum I had no idea that I was driftinginto the cosy seductiveness and fatuous serenity ofhypoxia. This disaster struck very quietly. Unnoticed byus, behind our backs all three oxygen lines - pilot’sincluded - had simply dropped out of the oxygenconsole to the floor under their own meagre weightbecause of slack bayonet fittings. We did not know wewere breathing only the thin inadequate atmosphere.So, there we were, hurtling upwards, dead to the worldin a deep hypoxic slumber. In his sleep Robin vomitedup his steak and eggs into his oxygen mask and all overhis reserve ‘chute, clothing, his seat and the carpetedaircraft floor.

Suddenly I woke up, nauseous and very groggy.Where the hell was I? What was going on? As I struggledto gain some awareness I realised that the aircraft was ina steep dive. Fortunately for us all, Peter Ahrens, anexperienced pilot, had detected early the symptoms ofhypoxia in himself and was descending as quickly as hecould to a safe altitude. I was light-headed, sick andweary, but felt even worse when I realised that ourprecious record attempt was RS. But then Robin wokeup and I thought fast. (The inflated arrogance, mindlessurgency and insatiable appetite of youth!) I reassuredthe pilot confidently that we were ok to jump, but at firstPeter didn’t want to know. Although I felt dreadful, I wasinsistent, making me speak briskly and moving pur -posefully to show him how wonderfully recovered andnormal I really was. It was a shameless con. I shudder tothink of how we must have looked and sounded. ButPeter, sizing us up, finally agreed to give it another go,and called up Air Traffic Control Mascot for an extensionof time. I refitted our oxygen leads and held them intheir sockets, and the pilot pulled the aircraft’s noseback up. We managed to get to 25,200 feet before ourextra time ran out. Peter then signalled us to jump. Wechanged over from the aircraft bottle to our 7-minute



supply portable bottles and crawled into the opendoorway.

Poking my head through the doorway I looked downon a vast white floor of thick cloud thousands of feetbelow us. Where, under all that cloud, was our LakeIllawarra drop zone? Far to what was probably the westof us a mountain peak nosing up through the cloud maypossibly have been near Burragorang, but as far as myaddled judgement was concerned it could have beenany feature at all. Peter was working overtime crankingthe RDF handle above his head trying to fix our positionwithin a triangle formed by three terrestrial non-directional radio navigation beacons (NDB’s). He keptnodding vigorously to us that we could jump, butlooking down on to the complete cloud cover Ihesitated in the doorway. I wondered sluggishly if fixingone’s position by triangulating NDB’s was accurateenough for us, as only one NDB could be lined up at atime, and with the great speed of the Aero Commanderit seemed that a large margin of error was likely. It didn’toccur to either of us or to the pilot to abort the sortiebut because there is only a thin strip of land betweenLake Illawarra and the ocean I was afraid that we mighteven be out over the Tasman Sea. If we jumped perhapsno one would see us and we might be lost out to sea.Peter continued to put the Aero Commander into a fast,steeply banking orbit - clearly, he thought that we wereover the drop zone. I wasn’t as confident as he – I hadbeen on sorties where the pilot had insisted on doingthe spotting and it was always very inaccurate. It alsocrossed my still sluggish mind that we didn’t knowwhether the base of the cloud cover was right down toground level or was at our parachute opening height of2,000 feet, or was higher, or lower. But finding the DZwas our absolute priority and accuracy now dependedentirely on the pilot’s navigational skills. As we banked ina continuing 360-degree circle I kept gesticulating tohim, “Where are we? Can we go?” But with our sevenminute portable bottles starting to run low, pinpointaccuracy became an academic question and despitefeeling very vulnerable and disoriented, our dwindlingoxygen supply forced the decision. I dived through theterrific slipstream of the port engine into the vast void ofspace and sky, Robin Godwin following immediately.

As I stabilised in free fall, the sun peeked over thehorizon of the cloud floor far below and my ambertinted ski goggles treated me to an enthralling,spectacular display of colour as the eastern sky and theentire terrain of cloud turned rich pink, orange andcrimson. Instinctively I did a 90-degree turn and facedthe rising sun. (At this stage I had been studying thetranscendental nature poetry of the Lake Poets such asWordsworth and Coleridge for my BA degree and, highon a blend of their pantheistic Naturfilosofie and thedrunkenness of hypoxia, I found this solitary splendourof crimson cloud at high altitude total, spiritual andcalming. In a crazy, irrational way my orientation to earthand sky inverted, as it were, so that the sky above meseemed solid and the ground below distant, ephemeraland unimportant. The Lake Poets would have

approved!) But this transcendental “high” was suddenlyinterrupted, for as I reached terminal velocity in free fallmy 12 O’clock High oxygen mask was blasted off myface and I was forced reluctantly out of my reverie andback to my immediate problems. Holding my oxygenmask firmly on my face with one hand while strugglingto maintain free fall stability with the other, I started towonder how much height I had left, since, still under theinfluence of the solar psychedelics and still not mentally100%, I hadn’t noticed whether my 10,000 feet altimeterhad wound past zero once or twice. So with the softsurface of the cloud cover below now starting to rush atme, I grappled with my frenzied oxygen mask and withthe problem of whether I was at 18,000 feet or 8,000feet. Dawn suddenly turned to dusk as I plunged intothe grey-white gloom of the cloud mass, but my mentalclock told me that my altimeter needle had in factwound past zero twice. I took a punt and pulled at whatI hoped was 2,500 feet, and not 12,500 feet, still in thecloud. As I floated down out of the cloud base I saw theground and could see that I was at 1,800 feet - notabove Lake Illawarra or the Tasman Sea, but above theland strip between the lake and the Tasman. RobinGodwin landed nearby. That was good enough. “A bigthanks to our able pilot, Peter Ahrens”. Spotting withNDB’s is a fine thing, and to be highly recommended!Who wanted water landing anyway?

On the ground I still felt sick from the hypoxia and abit dazed and weary from the whole experience, but Iwas glad to be in one piece. It turned out that RobinGodwin had waited until clearing the cloud beforepulling his ripcord and I must ask him one day how heknew that the cloud base wasn’t at ground level.Perhaps he was keeping close tabs on his altimeter as hefell. Afterwards we enjoyed a day or two of media hype,but we had had a taste of HALO and promptly startedplanning to better both our Australian record of 25,000feet and the Southern Hemisphere Record of 27,000feet of the New Zealand team. We were feeling quitepleased with ourselves, for our sortie could easily havebeen a disastrous and embarrassing failure (puristswould say that it was anyway!). True, if we hadn’tblacked out we could have possibly made 30,000 feet orbetter in the time available. But we had gained someinvaluable experience with oxygen and with operationalplanning. We hadn’t been cold at all at 25,000 feet or atany time on the flight, even with the door removed.Perhaps we were too hypoxic to notice, but I don’t thinkso. I thought at the time that perhaps we stayed warmbecause the aircraft climbed so quickly that we didn’thave time to lose much body heat. But we were soon todiscover the hard way that the time of year affectstemperatures “upstairs” a great deal.

Now, how were we going to beat the Kiwi’s 27,000feet record? Finding a suitable jump aircraft was no easymatter. The Avis Aero Commander was no longeravailable to us as Avis went out of the rent-a-planebusiness soon after (but not because of!) our jump. Aftera very long and frustrating search we managed to findanother sponsor when WD and HO Wills agreed to pay



for the Aero Commander 680F of King Ranch Australia.The pilot, John Laffin, assured us that his 680F had anabsolute ceiling of over 30,000 feet. So, on 12September 1965 the two Robins and I flew up to Cowrafor the record attempt - but without the steak and eggsbreakfast this time. To avoid the pleasures of hypoxia wedid good aircraft oxygen and equipment checks beforetaking off. At 22,000 feet, I despatched brother Rob(with 53 jumps still regarded as too inexperienced forthe higher altitude “men’s” stuff) and we continued toclimb towards the 680F’s maximum ceiling.

But before long the plummeting temperature in theaircraft became excruciating. The cold was absolutelyappalling. The frigid blast from the port propeller wasrammed in through the open doorway, icing into opacityour goggles and altimeters, reducing us to sluggish -ness, numbing our hands and fingers and giving ourclothing, faces and parachute rigs a heavy coating offrost. I had never experienced anything like this in myentire life. Pilot John was obviously suffering greatly tooand a more wretched trio I couldn’t imagine. Hypo -thermia was rapidly debilitating us. However, despitethe terrible wind chill factor and deep cold, we never -theless continued the climb. After all, that’s why we werethere!

But it wasn’t to be. At 27,000 feet - equal to theheight of the New Zealand altitude record - the oil in theport engine thickened from the cold and the pilot had tofeather its three bladed propellers. I can’t recall it clearlybut my logbook states that for some reason my mateRobin blacked out at about this stage and that he didn’tregain consciousness until a lower altitude was reached.On only one engine the Aero Commander droppedrapidly and by the time we changed over from aircraftoxygen to our portable cylinders and exited we weredown to 18,000 feet - ironically, an exit height lowerthan brother Robin’s 22,000 feet only a short whilebefore.

I shall never forget the frigid misery of the free fallthat followed. Already hypothermic, I found the cold infree fall unbearable, piercing my thick layers of clothing,gloves, balaclava and helmet. My skull chilled and I feltthat my brain was freezing - I might as well have beenfree falling stark naked. To try to avoid the awful cold Irolled onto my back into the “dead horse” position, sothat the main parachute pack might provide a shieldfrom the painfully cold blast of free fall. But to no avail.I was chilled to the marrow. I perhaps should haveopened my parachute high to end the pain, but notknowing the wind strengths and directions at allaltitudes and not knowing where I might drift off to, itreally wasn’t an option. Mercifully the opening height of2,000 feet finally arrived, and, my fingers being in -operable, I pulled the ripcord with my thumb.

What a forgettable sortie! With a glum sense ofanticlimax, we packed up and flew back to Sydney. Wehad not beaten the Kiwis’ Southern Hemisphere or evenour own Lake Illawarra Australian record. To be fair, wehad had no warning during the Lake Illawarra recordattempt of the perils and difficulties of extreme cold at

high altitude, and so had not really given it any seriousthought on this second attempt.

But we weren’t yet ready to call it a day, and despitethe awful obstacle of hypothermia we still wanted tobeat the Kiwis - if possible, without the problems ofoxygen and cold, which had detracted from our earlierefforts at Lake Illawarra and Cowra. WD and HO Willswere a bit put off by our Cowra failure but sportinglyrallied to meet the costs of a Fokker F27 Mark 1Friendship turbo prop airliner from the then East WestAirlines. An airliner, no less! Yes, thanks! We invitedKenny Bath, an instructor at Sydney Skydivers, to join usfor this third attempt on the Southern Hemisphere HighAltitude Record. We told Ken about our loss of 10,000feet of hard earned altitude at Cowra because of theslow changeover from aircraft to personal oxygen. Heturned up with male and female couplings for each ofus, which, he said, would enable us to do a quickerswitch over from the aircraft oxygen, supply to our littlepersonal bottles so that any loss of precious oxygen oraltitude would be negligible. I was so reassured by thiscunning display of engineering initiative that I didn’teven try out the couplings, but left Kenny to fit a pair toeach of our personal cylinder oxygen lines. It all seemedso simple.

East West Airlines shrewdly moved our third recordattempt to Grafton in northern NSW for two reasons: a)it was a sea level drop zone, providing “free” altitudecompared with higher inland drop zones such as Cowra,and b) there was turbine fuel for refuelling. The Fokker’sabsolute ceiling would be greater with a partial fuelload. Our inboard aircraft oxygen consisted initially ofthe pressurised interior of the Fokker, then medicaloxygen cylinders from CIG strapped to the seat next toeach of us for when the aircraft depressurised above20,000 feet. The spotting at high altitude was the job ofthe pilot, Captain Jim Swan, who would fly on a headingat whatever altitude he could attain straight down theGrafton runway and signal us when to jump. Knowingthat the oxygen changeover on the dropping run wasmore important than where we would land I had noproblem with this plan. (After the jump, we foundourselves only a forgivable kilometre from the strip.) Onthe dropping run we would therefore have ample timefor an unhurried changeover from aircraft to personaloxygen systems. On the climb, although depressurised,we would keep the Fokker’s sliding rear passenger doorclosed so that the cabin heaters could warm up theinterior. This proved to be very successful in keeping uswarm before and thus during the free fall. However, afterthe deep cold of the Cowra jump, I had readily acceptedBrian Murphy’s kind offer of his padded USAF aircrewquilted nylon inner suit for the jump (where did he getthat, I wondered). Again, because of the previous effectof deep cold on my fingers, I swapped my leathergloves for large leather motorcycle gauntlets, whichwere mitten-like, without individual fingers – my thumbwould have to pull the ripcord. Ken Bath and RobinGodwin had white cotton overalls on and warm clothingand balaclavas. In the quilted USAF suit I looked and felt



like something from outer space, especially as it was toobig for me. I had no opportunity to try the suit out in freefall before the big day – if I’d tried it out in free fall Iwouldn’t have worn it on the record bid. In view of ouroxygen problems on the previous HALO sorties thequestion of whether we should fit barostats (automaticparachute opening devices - “AOD’s”) to our reserve‘chutes came up, but most AOD’s were poorly regardedat the time as on several trials they had pulled theripcord D Ring of the reserve chute after the parachutisthad landed! So we didn’t take the idea of AOD’sseriously for HALO jumping.

To add to the sense of occasion, I invited 30skydivers at ten dollars a head to come along with us fora rare cheap leap from 10,000 feet from a FokkerFriendship, the money to go the Royal North ShoreHospital Paraplegic Unit. (There was some grumblingfrom the fraternity about both the money and myrestricting their altitude to only 10,000 feet, but I feltthat if we went higher for the 30 fun jumpers, therewouldn’t be enough time to fully oxygenate the three ofus between their exit altitude of 10,000 feet and ourproposed exit altitude at whatever the aeroplane couldattain. It was simply a matter of priorities.) Two weeksbefore the jump I asked my older brother David, whohad served as an IO in UNSWR, to fly with East WestAirlines to a recce of the Grafton drop zone on ourbehalf and bring back a good field sketch of theenvirons – terrain, trees, natural and built hazards etc.What could go wrong when everything was so wellplanned?

So, on a calm and sunny 24th of October 1965, weall flew from Sydney to Grafton, geared up and took off.I insisted on personally despatching each of the threesticks of ten skydivers on three runs at 11,000 feet. TheFokker’s sliding rear door and the handy airhostess’phone to the pilot made my jumpmaster’s job a dream.No NDB’s needed here! I was in form on the day and allthree sticks landed very near the white cross on theairfield. I enjoyed that very much (“First stick, stand up!”sort of thing). Then I closed the door, returned to myseat, went on to the CIG oxygen and the aircraft re-pressurised. After we passed through 20,000 feet wedepressurised and awaited the climb to the Fokker’sabsolute ceiling and the pilot’s signal - relayed to us byRon Walesby, the Manager of East West Airlines, whichwe were soon to commence the dropping run. After thehypothermia of Cowra the Fokker was cosy and warm,and the big medical oxygen cylinders with their clearlycalibrated flow meters roped to the seats next to usworked well. At 31,000 feet, with the Fokker’s rate ofclimb right down, Ron signalled to us that we were onthe dropping run - time for us to change over to our littlecylinders, get quickly down to the back door, slide itopen, and jump. Nothing to it. However, my motorcyclegauntlets did not permit a quick, nimble-fingeredoxygen changeover using Kenny Bath’s male and femalefittings. So, to conserve my seven-minute personalsupply I removed my gauntlets, activated my portable

bang-seat bottle, and disconnected my 12 O’clock Highmask from aircraft supply and plugged into the low-pressure line from Murphy’s portable bottle. As the malefitting snapped home, I felt an unexpected whoosh ofair in my oxygen mask. But I could not pause toinvestigate this oddity, because Ron was motioning tous to be on our way to the rear doorway. I put on mygauntlets, stood up, plodded down the aisle of theFokker to the back door and pulled it open. As I did so,I heard a loud sharp bang, like a double bunger,followed by another sharp bang. Puzzled, I waited at theopen doorway, but neither Ken nor Robin joined me.Then Kenny came down the aircraft to the doorway withthe shredded end of his portable bottle’s low-pressureline in his mouth. This was probably not what one hopesto see on a well-organised HALO jump. But, recognisingthere was nothing that could be done; I held my oxygenmask firmly to my face and stepped out of the door intospace, Kenny following. Robin Godwin did not join us atthe doorway before we jumped.

We worked out later what had gone wrong. Wehadn’t known that the male and female fittings Kennyhad obtained for us had a one-way non-return valve thatwouldn’t open until the fitting was actually snappedhome. Kenny had made no mention of the one-wayvalves – maybe he did not know about them either. Theportable bottles, once activated, had simply built uppressure behind the one-way valve until the linesexploded. With the whoosh into my mask I had escapedby only a few seconds a similar explosion, because, ofthe three of us, I was the only one who had happenedto remove his gloves to affect a quick oxygenchangeover. Kenny was lucky in that his line explodednear his mask and was still long enough to simply put inhis mouth. Robin Godwin was not so fortunate: his lineexploded near his personal bottle lashed to his reserveparachute and so it wasn’t long enough to reach hismouth unless he wanted to unhook his reserve ‘chuteand free fall with it under his arm! At 31,000 feet, withthe aircraft depressurised and his free fall personaloxygen supply unusable, Robin looked down the fulllength of the Fokker to see Kenny and myself departingthrough the open doorway. Deciding that it was toogood a picnic to miss, Robin got up, oxygen or nooxygen, charged down the aircraft and out into space.He reported no ill effects or hypoxia from this, and wethought it must be good value to be well oxygenated athigh altitude if you can manage it.

My own free fall of 29,000 feet was a mess. The 12O’clock High mask was again ripped away from my faceby the blast of the free fall. But my quilted nylon jumpsuit, while warm enough, had such a low coefficient offriction with the air that I found it virtually impossible tostabilise in free fall. I skidded and skated all over the skylike a beginner on a skating rink. Worse, the suit was fartoo big for me, and unimpeded by the three-pointparachute harness the inner suit billowed, concealingmy ripcord handle, which totally disappeared into thebillowing folds of the inner suit. I spent almost the entire



free fall alternatively looking for the bloody ripcord,wrestling the oxygen mask back onto my face andcarefully counting the needle of my 10,000 feetaltimeter three times past zero. Interestingly, although itwas still only spring and the pilot recorded an outside airtemperature of minus 67 degrees Fahrenheit at our exitheight of 31,000 feet, I had no sensation of coldwhatsoever on this sortie and neither did the others.Being warm in the Fokker on the climb had presumablydone the trick. I was also interested to learn from afriend who was a Professor of Physics at UNSW thatterminal velocity in free fall from that altitude in thethinner air was probably about 340kph (or, in myslippery nylon tent, probably 400kph!), and that theduration of the fall was over two minutes.

So, third time lucky. We had the title. The mediacame to the party, WD and HO Wills threw us a bigreception and presented us each with a nice trophy,suitably inscribed, and all the cigarettes we couldsmoke! Our jump had finally beaten the New Zealandersand our record stood for something like six or sevenyears at least, when I think a Victorian team achievedabout 32,000 feet using a Beechcraft King Air. We werelater somewhat galled to learn that at Grafton our pilotcould have possibly got the Fokker even higher. But asits rate of climb on the dropping run was only 40 feetper minute (very low indeed) it was not clear what extraaltitude could really have been achieved on that sortie,short of removing all the seats and stripping the aircraftof everything removable. Had I known in advance,

though, I would have taken my spanner with me andassisted in stripping the Fokker.

There was a worthy outcome to our oxygenproblems: later the Australian Parachute Federationarranged for its members to accompany QANTAStrainee pilots in the high altitude simulator decom -pression tank at RAAF Richmond, which I did. Althoughit came after the event, the RAAF tank was a valuableexperience of medically controlled hypoxia that I couldheartily recommend to my fellow skydivers. The mainmessage about hypoxia was that you could feel normaland confident but at the same time have seriouslyimpaired judgement and cognition.

Although I subsequently tried hard to break ouraltitude record with a night free fall from 38,000 - 40,000feet, we couldn’t find an affordable, adequate aeroplaneand Grafton was in fact the last of our HALO jumps. Wehad learnt a lot about oxygen and its portability, aboutcombating extreme cold, about the psychology ofperforming arduous physical and mental tasks, and - thehard way - about sound planning and rehearsal,especially with new equipment. The dollar cost of theaircraft is probably still a major factor – if you can affordthe right aeroplane then you will be spared theproblems of hypothermia and hypoxia.

Now, I wonder what a 747 costs per hour…?For the record this is impossible due to the door

opening mechanism on a Boeing 747. Editor(Cpl) Bruce Horsfield

1 Commando Coy, 1958-1962



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Regimental Executive Officer Major Lee Mountford,President of the Commando Association Barry Grant,members of the Association, distinguished guests,fellow Commandos and Commando supporters, ladiesand gentlemen, girls and boys, good morning andthank you for the invitation to address your service thismorning.

I have chosen as my theme for today – Anzac Day –a day for reflection. What I would like to do in myaddress is to briefly describe some of the issues that I,as a professional soldier of 35 years and a formerCommando, think we as Australians should reflect on,on Anzac Day 2018.

Firstly it is important that we reflect on the originalAnzacs, those men who 103 years ago this morning, aspart of the 1st Anzac Corps made their gallant landingat Anzac Cove. Much has been written about theconduct of the campaign and the legends and mythsthat have arisen from it, but to me as a former soldierthey set a standard for bravery, dedication and sacrificefor following generations of Australian service per son -nel to aspire to, and if possible emulate.

On Anzac Day we should reflect on the fact that thelanding at Gallipoli was the coming of age of a youngcountry. In 1915 the young nation Australia was only 14years old as a federation and for the first time, ratherthan representing one of six separate colonies, anAustralian force was formed and had gone to war,albeit supporting mother England. For a lot of theseyoung Australians it certainly was also a coming of ageas for most it was their first time overseas and they leftAustralia with a strong spirit of adventure and very littleunderstanding of the challenges of fighting a war. Theirlearning curve was going to be very steep but theycertainly did us proud.

On Anzac Day we should also reflect that over ourhistory our nation has been involved in many conflictssince that first landing at Gallipoli and in all of themAustralian men and women have made the supremesacrifice – in World Wars One and Two, the KoreanWar, the Malayan Emergency, confrontation withIndonesia, Vietnam, the war I served in, and then in socalled peacekeeping operations in the Middle East, inCambodia, Somalia, Rwanda, Bougainville, East Timor,the Solomon Islands and then conflict operations inIraq and Afghanistan, the war that a lot of you servedin. We must on Anzac Day remember that there are

some 102,000 Australians who as a result of war andconflict will never come home.

As we are gathered here today at the CommandoMemorial it is important that we, who are part ofAustralia’s modern day Commandos, reflect on theoriginal Australian Commandos, who during theSecond World War bravely volunteered to be part of anew group of independent companies formed to con -duct special Commando type operations. For beingpart of a special group they were given a special unitbadge, a double diamond that today forms thebacking for our own unit insignia. As with all of ourSecond World War soldiers their ranks are thinning butwe must remember how bravely our first Commandosfought, normally against considerably stronger forces,in PNG and its islands, on East Timor where they arestill fondly remembered for their resistance to theJapanese occupying force, and on Borneo towards theend of that War. They obviously left a lasting impres -sion with the powers that be because, in 1955 some 10years after the end of World War 2 the Army was beingreorganised and the Australian Government decidedwe needed some Commandos as part of the new orderof battle. 1st and 2nd Commando Companies wereformed and the Commando component of our Armyhas been steadily growing in numbers ever since.

Those of us who are or have been members ofSpecial Operations Command should reflect of the factthat 75 years ago this coming October, Australialaunched its first offensive special operations raid,Operation Jaywick, when a group of specially selectedand highly trained Defence Force members (notdesignated Commandos in those days) launched anattack on the Japanese shipping in Singapore Harbour.Travelling in the mother ship the Krait and then fol -boats, the kleppers predecessor, the team were able tosink 7 major Japanese ships using limpet mines. Anamazing feat. Unfortunately the follow-on operation,Operation Rimau, was not so successful, but highlytrained Special Forces had shown the Australianpowers that be what they could achieve.

On Anzac Day 2018 we must also reflect that evenwithout a deployment to a war, our country has nearly1,700 of its Defence Force personnel from all threeservices deployed overseas helping to make our worldand particularly our region a more secure place; in theMiddle East, South Sudan, Egypt, Israel/Lebanon,

ADDRESS

COMMANDO MEMORIAL SERVICE 2018



South West Pacific, South China Sea, Southern IndianOcean, Iraq, Afghanistan, and on border protection.On this day we should remember the commitment thatall these personnel are making to world peace, andpray for their safe return when their tours are com -pleted.

For those of us who are, or like me, have beensoldiers, we should reflect that 100 years ago nextmonth Australia’s finest soldier, Lt Gen John Monashwas given command of the Australian Corps, the firstAustralian to hold that appointment. From that positionhe was able to use his leadership qualities and superiorplanning ability to formulate plans for the Battles ofHamel in July 1918 and Amiens in August that yearwhich had such an effect on the German Army that byNovember they had had enough and an armistice wassigned ending the War. I believe that General Monashhas not been given sufficient recognition by ourcountry for all he achieved and I do believe that a post -humous promotion to Field Marshal, as has been

recently proposed, could balance the books, at least alittle.

Ladies and gentlemen, what I have aimed to do thismorning is to give you some food for thought on whatwe should all reflect on, on Anzac Day 2018, principally,however, on our special day we must remember the102,000 australians who will never come home. We,the living, owe them a great debt and on Anzac Day wemust keep them foremost in our thoughts.

Lest we forget. Thank you for your attention.

BRIG Philip McNamara CSC ESM OAMHon Colonel 2nd Commando Regt

EX COMMANDO SACRIFICES HIMSELF FOR YOUNG PARACHUTISTA Miranda skydiving instructor, who wrapped

himself around a boy to shield him from the full impactas they plunged to the ground during a freak accidenthas been honoured for his bravery.

Antonio (Tony) Rokov 44, a former member of the2nd Commando Regiment at Holsworthy, died in thetandem diving accident in November 2015, but 14-year-old Elijah Arranz survived.

Elijah with severe traumatic brain injury but, withtremendous determination, has learnt to walk and eatagain, is in year 11 at a Canberra college and his goalis to run the Boston Marathon one day. Mr. Rokov wasposthumously awarded the Star of Courage, thesecond highest level of the Australian Bravery Awards,announced recently.

Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove approved thedecorations.

"On 21 November 2015, the late Mr. AntonioRokov shielded a young person during a skydivingaccident near Goulburn in NSW", the award citationsaid.

"Mr. Rokov, an experienced skydiving instructor, hasmeticulously prepared his equipment prior toundertaking a tandem skydive near Goulburn Airport.

The weather was calm with wind speeds ofapproximately 11 km/h coming from the South.

"Mr. Rokov then briefed a 14-year-old boy whowould be undertaking the tandem skydive with himand provided reassurance to the boy's anxious family inthe process.

"After a normal takeoff and jump from the plane,the pair descended.

"When they were approximately 20 meters from theground, a freak gust of wind caused their parachute tocollapse and violently fold in half.

"Mr. Rokov and the boy quickly began to plummetduring which time the boy was flipped horizontally.

"As they approached the ground, Mr. Rokov twistedhis body under the boy and took the full force of theimpact.

"First Aid was administered straight away to bothMr. Rokov and the boy until emergency services arrivedon the scene."

"Sadly, Mr. Rokov died as a result of his injuries hesustained. The boy, though, survived the fall."

"By his actions, Mr. Rokov displayed conspicuouscourage."

Mr. Rokov's widow Samantha Rokov told ABC News"we would rather have our husband, father, son back,but to be remembered, that means a lot to us".

"Every single day we're proud of him, that will neverfade."

The couple met when they were teenagers andhave 3 children.

Article courtesy St. George and Sutherland ShireLeader and Murray Trembath.

Pic courtesy ABC News



Celebrating its 40th year, DisabledWintersport Australia (DWA) is thrilled andvery proud to announce Joany Badenhorst asits National Ambassador!!

Long time DWA member and volunteer,Joany is Co-Captain of the 2018 AustralianWinter Paralympic Team.

Currently ranked number one in theWorld in Boarder-cross LL-2 Joany wasAustralia’s only female Snowboarder at the2018 Winter Paralympics!

On accepting her appointment fromDWA President Paul Lamb, Joany said:

“DWA has been a massive part of mysnowboard journey and I’m so supportive ofwhat they do. It’s a goal of mine to becomemore involved as a volunteer and on snow.”

Australian Paralympic Chef de MissionNick Dean said: “Joany is a wonderful rolemodel for young women everywhere and afine example of what commitment anddetermination can achieve. I congratulateDWA on 40 years promoting the advance -ment of participation by people with adisability in wintersport both in Australia andoverseas.”

DWA and members wish Joany everysuccess and luck at 2018 Peongchang WinterParalympics which begins on March 9th.

Rick Coate CEO

Disabled Wintersport Australia

Established in 1978 as the AustralianDisabled Skiers Federation, we are nowknown as Disabled Wintersport Australia(DWA). The organisation assists thousands ofindividuals with disabilities to participate in

winter sports annually. From its programssome of the world’s finest alpine skiers haveemerged recording victories at the highestlevel of international com pe tition. Theorganisation's members range fromrecreational skiers to Australia’s WinterParalympians.

Mission “To promote and foster theadvancement of participation by people witha disability in wintersport both in Australiaand overseas.”

Vision “The equality of opportunity forpeople with disabilities to participate at alllevels in the winter sport of their choice.”

For more information on Joany please see: https://www.joanybadenhorst.com/

DWA Promotional Film; Finding Freedom onthe Snow Linkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RAtuFI59sM

All Media and Corporate Enquiries to CEORick Coate [email protected]

Commandos who turned up for the last Reserve Forces Day Parade



It would have been good to have had another dayto go for the summit again but our tight trekkingprogram did not allow this time. It is all about karma

and maybe Buddha has something else in mind for us.Were we unlucky? Probably yes as from a climbingperspective it would have been better if we had

THE HAPPY WANDERER“I love the smell of (burning) Juniper in the morning”

By Jim Truscott

I love to go a-wandering, along the mountain track, and as I go, I love to sing, my knapsack on myback. Val-deri, Val-dera, Val-deri, Val-dera-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. Val-deri, Val-dera. My knapsack on my back.A climber’s lament sung to the tune of I want to be a Khumbu Ranger and live a life of mountain danger!

Huddled together in the pre-dawn with two Sherpas at 6,200 metres and braced against 45 knot winds, Davidand I made the decision to turn back at the traverse below the summit. For years I had wanted to do somethingdangerous in the mountains with my son. The Sherpas advised that it would be another three hours to reach thesummit, and in the journey from mediocrity to self-fulfilment we had achieved enough pain and frissons ofexcitement even if Buddha has set enlightenment at the highest level. We were both suffering from heaving chestsyndrome to the cadence of ‘I must, I must, increase my bust’ and two days later we both still experienced overexertion of our diaphragm muscles.



allowed two days at our High Camp but such is thechallenge of combining climbing and trekking into atight schedule. In hindsight and given the snow con -ditions we probably could have started in daylight afterthe wind had dropped. Maybe we should havechecked the weather forecast ourselves.

It all began a year before when Lisa (D3) asked meto go to the Himalayas. So one in, all in, and the oncein a lifetime family expedition began to take shape.Months of physical preparation commenced, althoughour local Reabold Hill fell well short of what was tocome. With only one month to go I experienced an ’ahfuck moment’ at a body pump session in the gym whenI re-ripped my hiatus hernia and my nagging jumpersleft knee was not getting any better. My kingdom forsome pain free knees! Woe was me, so I stocked up onpain killers for an SAS candy fuelled ascent if necessary,but it was not to be. Success in the Himalayas is hardwon. My first Himalayan expedition 37 years ago toGanesh IV in Nepal had ended in tragedy when ourhigh camp including me was swept away by an ava -lanche and I did not summit. On my second Himalayanexpedition to Broad Peak in Pakistan, 33 years ago, Iturned back just short of 8,000 metres due to intensecold and I did not summit. On my third Himalayanexpedition 31 years ago to Everest I reached the SouthCol at 8,000 metres but a subsequent window ofopportunity was negated by jet stream winds. From ourhigh point on Mera Peak we could see the summit ofEverest and the same strong jet stream winds blowinginto China. On my fourth Himalayan expedition 25years ago I was lucky to claim the first Australian ascentof Nanda Devi East in India.

I had not heard of Mera Peak before but itsexcellent views of six of the fourteen 8,000 metremountains and straight forward climbing made it anobvious choice. My four children are not diehardclimbers like myself and the instructions from my wifeColette were “not to kill the children.” Walking the

Kokoda Track the year before was tough but thereneeded to be some perception of danger as well. Weneeded a tiger for breakfast. It had been 30 years sinceI had been to the Himalayas and boy was I out of datewith the abundance of lodges on the walk in. There isno requirement for Tilman ‘memorable bathes’ any -more as most lodges have hot showers! Tillman andShipton would both roll in their graves as the Internetof Everything has replaced planning on the back of apostcard. Indeed Tilman’s programmed no-speakingdays on expeditions have been replaced by socialmedia surfing at lodges. There are now a plethora ofpeople climbing and trekking in the Himalayas with 28lodges and 500 guest beds in Lukla alone! We weretold that there is a veritable Conga line (highway ofzonkey, donkey, cow, yak and human shit) on the trackbetween Lukla and Everest base camp. There is acommercial proposition to limit the number of visitorsin each valley and for the government to set higherrates by a multitude of trekking companies.

After the mandatory steaks at Yak-Donalds and avisit to funeral pyres and temples in Kathmandu, weflew to Lukla, the mountain airstrip and entry point toSherpa country. We were reminded that it was nakbutter and not yak butter! The walk in to Mera Peakmakes the trek to Everest base camp and parts of theBaltoro Glacier in Pakistan look like a doddle. Wecelebrated a Puja (religious ceremony) with a Lama in arock cave on the way in to bless the journey and paidhis fees for enlightenment. At least he has not beenreplaced by social media. Climate change has had itsimpact over the last 30 years that our Sirdar has beenworking in the Inkhu Khola Valley and there are massiveice-free, rock walls awaiting rock climbers and probablylots of bolts.

In the end all of our faces were hurting from thewind and our various bodies were suffering from snot-icles, farting and the risk of follow through, vomiting,blood in snot, rapid onset of headaches, tight chests,vertigo, exertion, cracked lips, restless sleep, weirddreams etc etc. These signs and symptoms werediffused and offset by vista, vista and more vista, DalBhat, bamboo forests, cheery Sherpani’s (good karma),Sherpa tea, Sherpa stew, masala tea, bonhomie,noodles with egg, the crunch-crunch of crampons, thepoke-poke of climbing sticks, Tibetan bread, wifiequipped mountain huts (called lodges), and bymeeting half of Europe on the track etc etc.

We were ably supported by Cho La Adventures. Mylasting image is of the Cho La cook from High Camprunning down a snow slope with a thermos of hot teafor us plodders! It is not in our Australian culture forpeople to eat separately but we came to accept theirways. Mingmar our Sirdar was physically strong and heand his son Phuri had much good humour to put upwith us. They would say “good work”, “enjoy”, “readynow”, “almost there“, “maybe/maybe not”, “20minutes”, “close now, “why not” “Nepali flat”, don’tworry; chicken curry” and “Dal Bhat power, trek for 24

The WA Family expedition at our High Camp at5800 metres with jet stream wind blowing off the

summits of Everest and Lhotse (4th highest). Makalu (5th highest) and Cho Oyu (6th highest) also in view.



hours.” The owner, Nima Lama is a Nepali businessmanwith noble ideas to improve the lot of porters tobecome trek assistants or better. His ‘people-watching’skills enabled him to adroitly identify the personalitiesof my four children. All progeny have explored a littlemore about their mind and body. David is a betterfather than I, and he was good to his sisters. Jessica(D1) showed strong minded Irish tendencies. Sarah(D2) is cautious like her mother and she had to confronther flying demons. Lisa (D3) is a mountain goat andHeath increased his confidence. Mountaineering is90% mental and the other half is physical. Hencemission (very much) accomplished.

The walkout over a high-pass directly back to Luklaand requiring instep crampons was challenging to saythe least but the wait at Lukla airport for a scheduledflight out was a drag until a helicopter became neces -sary to fly back to Kathmandu in order to catch ourinternational flight. Sitting beside the Lukla airstrip wasakin to all those wasted years of parachuting at dropzones or biding your time in War Zone D. Listening toLukla airport was like being on the USS Carl Vinson inthe Gulf but with Nepali navy pilots. The airport wascrazier than Mumbai; wonderfully chaotic as threeplanes must fly together in two 3-plane sorties for airseparation safety in the mountain clouds. By chance Ispoke briefly with the legendary Reinhold Messner inthe lounge at Katmandu airport. He was the first man

to climb Everest without oxygen in 1978 and it was afitting, rohmro (great) and symbolic end to our trip. Imust get on with my plan to climb a mountain everyyear until the day I die; live, climb, repeat. Om manipadme hum.

Four Rules for Khumbu Rangers• Don’t get sick• Climb to climb again another day• Climb with Social Media (suck it up Tilman)• Additional maxim. If you are cold put a hat on.Jim Truscott is a climber who pretended to be in the

army for 26 years. He has gone on multiple expeditionsin the jungles, seas, oceans and mountains of theworld. You could hear the sighs of relief in CanberraHeadquarters when he left the green machine. David,Jessica, Sarah and Lisa Truscott were all army brats andthey used to run amok at Fort Gellibrand and in Camp -bell Barracks. David Truscott is now a part time Q’y in6 Squadron.

Commando News Edition 13 2018_Layout 1 21/08/2018 7:15 pm Page 27


Chief of Army bans soldiers from wearing'arrogant' death symbols

ABC North Qld

By David Chen

Australia's Chief of Army, Lieutenant GeneralAngus Campbell, has issued a directive that prohibitsthe wearing of 'death' symbols. Lieutenant GeneralCampbell said the practice was arrogant, ill-considered and that it eroded the ethos of the Army.The directive was circulated as an internal minute onApril 17, and later posted to unofficial social mediapages for commentary.

Several symbols were specifically prohibitedbecause of their violent, murderous and vigilantesymbolism including the Grim Reaper, the Skull andCrossbones, Spartans, and the Phantom or Punisher.

Lieutenant General Campbell, who this week wasnamed as the next Chief of the Defence, stated in hisorder that he had come across the symbols worn aspatches or badges while visiting army units inAustralia and overseas. He reiterated that suchsymbols were at odds with Army values whileacknowledging this was not the intention of thosewho wore them.

"Such symbology is never presented as ill-intentioned and plays too much of modern popularculture," Lieutenant General Campbell said. "But it isalways ill-considered and implicitly encourages theinculcation of an arrogant hubris and generaldisregard for the most serious responsibility of ourprofession; the legitimate and discriminate take of life."As soldiers our purpose is to serve the state,employing violence with humility always andcompassion wherever possible. This symbology towhich I refer erodes this ethos of service."

In the directive, Army officers were ordered to takeimmediate action to remove any formal or informalsymbols from within their command. LieutenantGeneral Campbell acknowledged the decision wouldupset a minority of soldiers.

"I appreciate that without explanation some willrile at this direction, so please ensure my reasoning isexplained but be clear that I am adamant that this isright for the Army." "I wish to reiterate that the use ofsymbology/iconography is uncommon within Army.The overwhelming majority of force elements are verymuch on the right path," he said.

When approached by the ABC the Department ofDefence issued the fol -lowing short statement: TheChief of Army issued aninternal minute to allCommanders on 17 April,2018 to reinforce that allsymbols, emblems andiconography used across theorganisation must align withthe Army values of courage,initiative, respect and team -work. Death symbol ogydemonstrates a general dis -regard for the most seriousresponsibility of the Army'sprofession; the legitimateand discriminate taking oflife.

A member of Iraq's elite Special Forces wears a skull maskin the fight against the Islamic State in 2016.

(AP: Khalid Mohammed ~ Courtesy ABC North Qld)



In late 2017 my partner Drew Gordon and I under -took a very special journey to a remote area of Nepalto experience an extraordinary welcome and celeb -ration.

In 2009 the beloved eldest son of Bruce & GailParker and brother to Amy & Dan passed away un -expectedly in Kathmandu after having just summitedMakalu. At 8500m, Makalu is considered far moredifficult than Everest, a mountain Mick was determinedto conquer after a previous disaster a few years prior.Michael was a climber and adventurer who managed tosummit five of the Himalayas’ 8,000m peaks andattempt eight others, including Everest from the north.This was even more remarkable given that he climbedwithout oxygen.

Drew and I knew Michael personally with fondmemories as a trek companion on the Kokoda Track aswell as a periodic running companion around the hillsof Warrandyte. Mick was a little quirky and always didthings in his own quiet way.

Before Mick passed away he had indicated that hewould like to give back to the people of Nepal withwhom he had such a bond. He dreamed aboutsupporting schoolchildren whose remoteness andfamily circumstances prevented them from gaining aneducation.

And so the Michael Parker Foundation (MPF) wasformed by his mother and father – Gail & Bruce as wellas his younger siblings Dan & Amy to honour the life ofMick and to provide disadvantaged Nepalese childrenwith educational opportunities.

In 2015 with the generous assistance of WorldExpeditions Foundation (WEF), a landmark project wasproposed.

The Kshamawati Higher Secondary School islocated some 150km north east of Kathmandu in thebeautiful Kalinchok hills. It has about 420 students andwas founded in 1947. The local Kshamawati village

consists of 85% Thamis peoplewho are a highly marginalisedethnic group. With 90% of thiscom munity living below thepoverty line and 78% of the people illiterate it seemedthat a residential hostel attached to the school wouldbe ideal to assist needy students to concentrate ontheir education with the attention and guidance ofteachers.

The proposed hostel was to be a 2-storey stonebuilding with a girls’ wing on one side, a boys’ wing onthe other and a service and study area in the middle.Each wing would have 10 dormitories over 2 floors andwould accommodate up to 240 students. The servicesection in the middle will have a kitchen and dininghall. The building would have biomass toilets and solarwater heaters. The building would be built locally usingbrick, stone, mud mortar and local timber with earth -quake resistant technology.

In 2015, Rob Prior, one of the six Trustees of theMPF, travelled to Nepal to assist in the initial buildingof the hostel. Shortly after his visit, Nepal experiencedan earthquake which was particularly devastating to thepeople of the area in which the hostel is being built.Although the hostel foundations were not badlyaffected, the school and neighbouring village wasimpacted upon. As the hostel is being built by localcraftsmen, the earthquake had a major impact on theprogress of the building.

Some two-and-a-half years after the earthquake,Drew and I were given the opportunity to represent theMPF and to visit the Michael Parker Hostel.

The hostel building is being coordinated andsupervised by a very impressive alumni group con -sisting of an architect, past students and principals aswell as leading Nepalese business people with diverseinternational experience and education.

After travelling 150km for 8 hours in a 4-wheel drive

Michael Parker FoundationKshamawati Hostel Project, Nepal

Students assembled for the opening of theMichael Parker Hostel

Girls’ Hostel building in progress



on very challenging roads from Kathmandu, then a 1kmwalk to the Kshamawati Hostel, we understood theremoteness of the hostel. We also understood howdifficult it could be for children to get to schoolregularly.

On our arrival at the school we were totally over -whelmed by the greeting offered by students, theAlumni and officials. We were given a very ceremo -nious welcome with speeches, dancing and the officialcutting of the opening ribbon.

We were given a guided tour of the hostel and werevery pleased to see the ongoing progress. Bunkroomswere completed and were about to be furnished withbeds and lockers with a goal to have initial femalestudents accommodated early in 2018.

Since our visit, the Chairman of the Kshamawati

Michael Parker Foundation Alumni has informed usthat the hostel is now housing 33 female students on atrial basis for 3 months. This will give the girls theopportunity to concentrate on their studies for theirupcoming exams. A teacher has been assigned as aWarden and an all-important experienced cook hasbeen engaged to look after the girls.

Work is progressing on the boys’ wing and they willbe occupying their accommodation in the near future.

We were very excited to be present for the openingof this important project and know that Michael in hisown quiet way would have been thrilled that his legacylives on.

For information on how to donate to the MPF or topurchase a copy of Spirit High - the Michael ParkerStory, go to www.michaelparkerfoundation.org.au

Official opening and dedication to Michael Parker The first group of students to be accommodated in theHostel

ODE TO THE FIRST JUMPAn oldie but a goodie from PTS Nowra when I did my course.

"Check equipment" the dispatcher criesAnd the Lord's prayer is lost in "Centre pack ties"The static line is held is held in one clammy handAnd your gear is held on by one "lackey band"

Your mouth is dry and you need to throw upBut your helmets on and your mouth is clamped

shut."Actions Stations" the cry is clearBut right - left - right won't hide your fear.

Oh God be a palAnd save me from a total "mal"But before there is time to ponderThe orders there, "stand in the door!"

From all sides there comes advice"feet together or pay the price"The green light is on, the word is GO!Hand quits static line and "oh no no no"

You're falling now and you start to screamAs you're whirled around in the old slip stream.With your eyes tight shut and head down and prayAnd a voice that's yours squeaks "Canopy OK"

But the rigging lines, oh God what to do?Is it the kicking method or stirring for you?You've forgotten observation so steering nextSo it's three big pulls and time for a rest

No fool you must pull downIt's only 50 feet from you to the groundFront side or back, it depends on the swayKnees and feet together, elbows in is the way

The ground rushes, it's a sicken sightYou decide to do a back left and do a side rightYou lie there and think you are deadWhen a voice hollers out "what's your name

dickhead".


At some point in their career, all ADF members willleave the military and transition to civilian life. It’s asignificant decision that can involve your family.Planning early will make sure you’re informed andready to enter the next phase of your life.

You must complete your transition with ADFTransition Support Services so you understand theprocess, your administrative requirements, and thesupport available to you. We encouage you to involveyour family throughout your transition experience.

Transition support networkTransitioning to civilian life is a shared responsibility.

When you decide to leave the ADF you should engagewith your family, your Unit, and ADF Transition SupportServices.

Your Unit can speak to you about the transitionprocess and connect you with your local ADF TransitionCentre. Your Centre will introduce you to a TransitionSupport Officer who will help you and your familythrough the transition process and:

• provide you with an individual transition plan• offer career coaching during your transition and

up to 12 months afterwards• help you meet your administrative requirements• help you leave with all documentation like

service, medical, and training records• facilitate connections to Defence and govern -

ment support services

ADF Transition SeminarYou and your family can attend an ADF Transition

Serminar at any time during your ADF career to helpyou prepare for your transition. Seminars are held

nationally throughout the year. You’ll receiveinformation from Defence and other organisaitons ontopics like finance and superannuation, health,relocating, employment, and ex-service organisationsupport.

ADF Member and Family Transition GuideThe ADF Member and Family Transition Guide – A

Practical Manual to Transitioning contains detailedinformation on the transition process for ADFmembers. The Guidce includes information on supportservices and administrative reuqirement. It includeschecklists to help you navigate transition process.

Leaving the ADF




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BOOK REVIEW

Leadership Secrets of theAustralian Army

Brigadier Nicholas Jans (Retired) OAMAllen & Unwin, Crows Nest, 2018

Reviewed by Jim Truscott

I was drawn by the catchy title as I have spenteighteen years as a consultant providing leadershipmentoring and management advice to multinationaland national corporations in 41 countries, precededby twenty-six years as a strategic group manager andleader of operational teams in high-risk internationalengagements. Having held six command appoint -ments in operational Army units I was to find that thetitle is a misnomer as there is really nothing secretiveabout leadership in the military or business.

Written in a similar vein to Donald Krause’s Sun TzuThe Art of War for Executives (1996) and as well asStanley Bing’s Sun Tzu Was a Sissy, The Real Art ofWar (2006) it caused me to reflect on my ownleadership and management experiences in businessand in the military. The book is as much aboutfollowership as it is leadership and the text remindedme very much of my own leadership training atDuntroon in the mid-1970s by bemedalled instructors.

Nick Jans coins the Captain-Coach model which isauthoritative, but affiliative and egalitarian as the basisof the Army’s success with leadership as the catalyst.He author further uses the Mission-Team-Me constructto describe an underpinning ethos in the militarysimilar to the perhaps more simplistic ‘individualneeds, groups needs and goal’ model inculcated inmy cohort in the mid-1970s. Did these new words justrepeat the older ethos in another way? There wasreally nothing new (to me) but the thesis is presentedin a much more practical way as it is full of con -tempora neous gems much better than a blandleadership pamphlet.

The basis of the ‘secrets’ is the central theme andseparate chapters on each of the 3-Rs of representing,relating and running the team and their apparentliking to success in business through many examplesof people who have worked in both spheres.Representing is just leading by example, doing theright thing, giving direction and meaning, andmanage ment by walking around. Relating issupportive people management, knowing yourtroops, subor dinates to you but no less important,coaching and counselling, being firm and fair but notfriendly. Running the team is to be good at the basics,delegation and sensible autonomy, mission command

and post mortems. Essentially ethos, professionalpractice and teamwork underpin the describedleader ship code of practice.

I was challenged by the author’s statement that noteverything that the military does has a civilian parallelbut that there are more similarities than realized. Thereality is that it is easier to motivate and organize inthe military than it is in business as there is a basis oftrust in the military. In business, trust only exists withinthe confines of a contract and even then it is acompletely different battlefield as loyalty does notexist in business other than to one’s self. Leadership isonly a necessity in business in crisis situations wherethere is uncertainty and risk (of failure) in abundanceotherwise leadership in normal business is more akinto guerrilla warfare where there are constantly shiftingallegiances. Furthermore business is a war where yousleep with the enemy every day. The (business) wargoes on and on and on and there is nothing you cando to stop it except fight in it until either you or it isdone. Business is not like war in this one criticalaspect. Unlike military operations there is no end tobusiness. People die, only to pop up again in anotherlocation. You win on Friday and then you loose onMonday.

All of that said it is an easy to read leadershipdescanter for anyone seeking to take charge be theya digger spokesperson or a doyen in business.Leaders and followers will find this book equally ofvalue as the author rightly says, the more you knowabout it, the better you will go.



Human beings are equipped with innate responsesystems optimised to support and maximise the capacity ofindividuals to respond effectively when faced with extremethreat, danger and moral burden. The work of special forcesservice members will result in these processes being placedunder enormous challenge and stress at times. It appears tobe a normal human response following exposure to anespecially traumatic or troubling incident that an individualwill experience heighted emotional reactivity and a range ofintrusive reminders of the incident. These processes may wellbe critical in assisting humans to down-regulate the stressresponse system and allow a return to functioning after sucha critical incident. Training, institutional support and eventpreparation can support the capacity of individuals to enduresuch incidents and to operate effectively under high stressand threat environments.

It is when these such post-incident reactions endure andfail to settle or subside over a reasonable amount of timeleading to reduced functioning that a traumatic stress injurymay have occurred. Loss of functioning associated with atraumatic stress injury may be most apparent in life outside ofthe service environment where the stress-response reactionsare more clearly incosistent with everyday life activities. Whilesuch injuries may recover without specialist treatment,evidence suggests that a substantial proportion of suchinjuries will endure for prolonged periods of time depletingan individual’s resources and capacities leading to disability.

Research suggests 3 important facts about such con -ditions:(1) there is no absolute immunity from acquiring a traumatic

stress injury including amongst highly trained, capableindividuals;

(2) the risk of acquiring such an injury increases with thenumber of exposures, severity and intensity of traumaticincidents;

(3) there are treatments that have demonstrated a capacityto reduce the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorderand restore functional capacity. If you, or those close to you, believe you have sustained

a traumatic stress injury that is not resolving as you wouldlike, it may be time to reach out for assessment and treat -ment.

There are a number specialist hospitals and clinics inAustralia that specialize in working with currently and ex-serving defence personal who have experienced traumaticstress injuries (see list of services at http://phoenix -australia.org/recovery/veterans-ptsd-programs/). St John ofGod Richmond Hospital has been a leading treatment facilityfor service-related PTSD for more than 20 years. We can helplink you to doctors and clinicians able to work with you tounderstand the nature of your injury and to work with you todevelop a treatment and recovery plan.

Recognising and acting to repair traumatic stress injuryBy Prof Zachary Steel, St John of God Professorial Chair

for Trauma and Mental Health



A little history most people will never know. Interesting Veterans Statistics off the Vietnam

Memorial Wall in the US.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 thenames are alphabetised. It is hard to believe it is 61years since the first casualty.• The first known casualty was Richard B. Fitzgibbon,

of North Weymouth, Mass. Listed by the U.S.Depart ment of Defense as having been killed onJune 8, 1956. His name is listed on the Wall with thatof his son, Marine Corps LCpl Richard B. FitzgibbonIII, who was killed on Sept. 7, 1965.

• There are three sets of fathers and sons on the Wall.• 39,996 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. I wonder why so many from one school• 8 Women are on the Wall, Nursing the wounded.• 244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor

during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are on the WallBeallsville, Ohio with a population of 475 lost 6 ofher sons.

• West Virginia had the highest casualty rate percapita in the nation.

• There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall.

• The Marines of Morenci - They led some of thescrappiest high school football and basketball teamsthat the little Arizona copper town of Morenci (pop5,058) had ever known and cheered. They enjoyedroaring beer busts. In quieter moments, they rodehorses along the Coronado Trail, stalked deer in theApache National Forest. And in the patrioticcamaraderie typical of Morenci's mining families, thenine graduates of Morenci High enlisted as a groupin the Marine Corps. Their service began onIndependence Day, 1966. Only 3 returned home.

• The Buddies of Midvale - LeRoy Tafoya, JimmyMartinez, Tom Gonzales were all boyhood friendsand lived on three consecutive streets in Midvale,Utah on Fifth, Sixth and Seventh avenues. They livedonly a few yards apart. They played ball at theadjacent sandlot ball field. And they all went toVietnam. In a span of 16 dark days in late 1967, allthree would be killed. LeRoy was killed onWednesday, Nov. 22, the fourth anniversary of JohnF. Kennedy's assassination. Jimmy died less than 24hours later on Thanksgiving Day. Tom was shot deadassaulting the enemy on Dec. 7, Pearl HarborRemembrance Day.

• The most casualty deaths for a single day was onJanuary 31, 1968 ~ 245 deaths.

• The most casualty deaths for a single month wasMay 1968 - 2,415 casualties were incurred.

For most Americans who read this they will only seethe numbers that the Vietnam War created. To those ofus who survived the war, and to the families of thosewho did not, we see the faces, we feel the pain thatthese numbers created. We are, until we too passaway, haunted with these numbers, because they wereour friends, fathers, husbands, wives, sons anddaughters.There are no noble wars, just noblewarriors.

LITTLE KNOWN FACTS ABOUT THE WALL



Australian Defence Force AcademySports and Voluntary Extra Curricular Clubs

ADFA offers a range of sporting and voluntary extra-curricular clubs (VECCS) for cadets, encouraging themto compete against and become involved with local and interstate organisations.

Sporting Clubs and VECCs currently offered at ADFA include:• Adventure Training• Academy Bands• Academy Board Riders• Anglers• Aviation Interest• Australian Football League• Basketball• Catholics and Friends• Cricket• Crossfit• Community Service VECC• Cyber Security• Cycling• Debating• DJ VECC• Fencing• Flying Disc Association• FOCUS• Hockey• LGBTI• Marathon and Distance

Running Club• Maritime Interest

• Military History• Military Shooting VECC• Military Skills• Motorcycle VECC• Navigators• Netball• Performing Arts• Photography• Precision Drill Team• Rowing• Rugby• Rugby League• SAE• Sailing• Small Balls Interest Group• Soccer• Squash• Strength & Conditioning• Swimming• Tae Kwon Do• Tennnis• Touch Football• Triathlon• Unmanned Aerial Vehicles• Volleyball• Water Polo• 4x4 VECC

For more information go towww.defence.gov.au/ADFA/ CadetLife/Sport.asp



The Positive Relationship betweenPhysical Activity and PTSD

Exercise has a positive clinicaleffect on depressive symptoms andmay be as effective as psychologicalor pharmaceutical therapies for someindividuals with PTSD. Rosebaum etal, 2014 suggests Physicalactivity/exercise is a highly effectivemethod in reducing symptoms ofdepression and for peopleexperiencing other mental healthdisorders.

Evidence demonstrates that anappropriate exercise intervention canachieve significant benefits tosymptoms, depression, anxiety andstress, changes in body shape andsedentary time associated withPTSD, and non-significant trends forsleep quality improvement accordingto Rosenbaum, 2013.

The associated symptoms and theimprovements may be related topsychosocial benefits of theintervention, rather than functionalcapacity, but there is also a strongempirical (observational) linkbetween improvements in functionalcapacity and psychological statusaccording to the author, 2016.

People with PTSD are four times aslikely to have type 2 diabetes(Lukaschek et al, 2013) and rates ofoverweight and obesity are as highas 92%. To add to these statistics,suffers of PTSD are shown to beless physically active due to anumber of factors including pain,dysfunctional and general lack ofdesire or both, according Boscarinoet al, 2004.

Adding some form of regularphysical activity can have asignificant effect on a sufferer ofPTSD. It’s important to note, the typeof activity doesn’t matter, whatmatters is that the person is movingand also having fun doing it. If youwould like to become physicallyactive again and help to combatsome of your PTSD relatedsymptoms then please consult yourGP and discuss your options forreferral to another health careprofessional (exercise physiologist orphysiotherapist) for help with yourother associated or co-morbidconditions ie lower back pain,arthritis and or obesity.



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- A Welcome Breakthrough in Upper Limb ProstheticsWhen it comes to multi-articulating upper limbprosthetics, there have been some great achievements,but also mixed results.

The engineering challenges are many, with chief amongstthem being the robustness and therefore the realpracticality and usefulness of the hand for the end user.

About 6 years ago, due to breaking both his wrists in abiking accident, engineer Mathew Jury becameacquainted with what it's like to lose the use of a limb.Thus began an obsession to create a multi-articulatingprosthetic that would dramatically overcome theweaknesses he clearly saw plaguing the current designsolutions on offer.

He recognised that currently available myo-electric handshave two key deficiencies - water resistance androbustness.

Following three years of burning midnight oil and two 3Dprinters later, the real breakthroughs began to emerge.Mathew knew he was on to something very promising.

Mathew gathered a multi-talented team around him, anda growing resource of contractors. With funding forresearch and development TASKA(tm) moved fromprototype to reality. Today the TASKA(tm) team share thesame mission:

"We are all driven by the same thing. Developing aprosthetic hand that is not just a little better, but hugelybetter. For us innovation has never been about creating a

piece of new technology - it is all about delivering real lifepracticality that improves people's lives."

Well known and accomplished Australian OrthopaedicSurgeon, Dr Nick Hartnell, has extensive knowledge inthis area of traumatic injury and he sees enormousadvantages in the TASKA hand.

The precision design and engineering of TASKA(tm) hasmade simple what is not in other models. The controlsystem and the hand mechanism have been made aspractical as possible so you can do more tasks. You canchoose to change grips by hitting a button on the back ofthe prosthetic hand as well as traditional EMG methods.The multi-articulating hand mechanism is flexible yettough in a way that sets it apart. Its open grasp is wide soyou can pick up more objects. Its grip speed is impressive- AND, it's waterproof.

This kind of precision engineering opens the door forpractical people to complete many more tasks inside andoutside.

The TASKA hand stores more than 20 Grip patterns.However, most day-to-day activities can be performedusing just a small set of 3 frequent-use grips:

GENERAL GRASP, FLEXI-TOOL and PINCER PRECISIONGRIP.

Dr Hartnell operates out of Bowral, NSW and can becontacted for further information via email:[email protected]



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1941 - 1946

1955 -

-55 19

Australian Commando AssociationQLD Inc.

www.acaq.org.auPO Box 185, Sherwood QLD 4075

COMMANDO FOR LIFE

President: Nick Hill Secretary: Tony Mills Treasurer: George Mialkowski

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]


Welcome to the latest edition of ourquarterly newsletter, “STRIKE SWIFTLY &WITHOUT WARNING”, the Newsletter of

the Australian Commando Association Queensland. This quarter has seen the Association take a break

over the Xmas and New Year Periods and we had ourAGM & first meeting for 2017 on Sunday 11 Februarywhere we elected a new Executive Committee.Congratulations to all those who were elected or re-elected. We are busily preparing for this year’s eventsand a detailed list is located on page 28. We do hopethat, as many of you are able to attend this year’sevents. The Treasurer and I have sent out renewalnotices for membership. Thus far we only have 36 outof a possible 75 who have paid their dues. If youhaven’t paid your fees for 2018 please do so ASAP.Your membership allows us to assist with events andorganise things for you.

ANZAC Day Dawn services were held across theState and one of our Committee Members, MickSlattery, conducted a Dawn Service on board an oilrigplatform off the North West Shelf of WA. I had theprivilege of laying one of the original QCA wreaths atthe Dawn service in Canungra. There was small turn out

for the ANZAC Day March in Brisbane with a few newfaces as well as 96 yr. old WW2 Commando CecO’Brien who refused to get in a buggy (to the absoluteannoyance to the ANZAC Day organisers), andmarched all the way, well done Cec! After the march aluncheon was held with the RMAQ at the MaritimeMuseum in Southbank. Next year we are looking athaving a luncheon in Southbank after the March. Wewill be starting up our Commando Luncheons againand the first one for 2018 will be on Sunday 27 May inSouthbank, details to follow.

In September we will be conducting CommandosReturn (Timor Awakening) again, which will be a returnto Timor Leste available for those who have served ournation as a Commando or the family member of aCommando who unfortunately is no longer with us.The Expression of Interest will be attached to thisnewsletter as well as the CR18 Brief.

So I hope that you enjoy our 5th Newsletter and asalways you are welcome to submit ads or letters,images etc.

Commando For LifeNick HillPresident

“STRIKE SWIFTLY & WITHOUT WARNING” The Newsletter Of The Australian Commando Association

Queensland

ISSUE 005 MARCH MAY 2018

PRESIDENT – Mr Nick Hill, VICE PRESIDENT – Mr Tony Mills

SECRETARY – Mr Graham Gough, TREASURER – Mr Wayne Douglas, SOCIAL MEMBER – Mr Mark Stanieg,

SOCIAL MEDIA ADMIN – Mr John Roxburgh, COMMITTEE MEMBERS – Mr Keith Buck & Mr Mick Slattery,

DVA ADVOCATE – Mr Paul Copeland, OAM. DVA WELFARE OFFICER – Mr Glenn Cochrane, OAM.

GP – Dr Kieran McCarthy, Psychologist – Ms Megan Fry, PADRE – Padre Michael Polkington

VICE PATRON – Mr Doug Baird, father of the late CPL Cameron Baird, VC. MG. of 2nd Cdo Regt

Web Address – www.commando.org.au Postal Address – PO Box 185 Sherwood, QLD 4075,

Email - [email protected]

PRESIDENT’S WORDCOMMANDO FOR LIFE



IN THIS EDITIONSignificant Commando Dates .................................p.24

First of the First – 1st Independent Company .........p.25

In Focus – SGT Brett Wood MG. DSM2nd Commando Regiment .......................................p.27

Commandos For Life ..............................................p.28

Upcoming ACA Qld Events ....................................p.28

Books Of Interest– The Commandoby Ben McKelvey ....................................................p.29

Commandos Return ................................................p,29

SIGNIFICANT COMMANDO EVENTSMay 1941

No1 Independent Company was raised and trained atWilsons Promontory Victoria, the home and birthplace

of Australian Commando.

17 April 19422/5 Cdo Coy arrives in Port Moresby, New Guniea

during an air raid.

May 19422/6 & 2/7 Cdo Coy’s formed at the Guerrilla Warfare

School, Wilsons Promontory, Victoria.

March 19432/6 Cdo Coy reforms as the 2/6 Cdo Sqn of the2/7 Cdo Regt at the Jungle Warfare School at

Canungra, Qld after returning from New Guniea.

April 19432/4 Cdo Coy reforms as the 2/4 Cdo Sqn at theJungle Warfare School at Canungra, Qld after

returning from Timor.

May 194353 men of 2/3 Cdo Sqn conducts an attack on

Ambush Knoll in New Guniea against the Japaneseand takes the position. The JIA attempts several

counter attacks over several days, but arerepelled each time.

2/5 Cdo Coy reforms as the 2/5 Cdo Sqn of the2/7 Cdo Regt at the Jungle Warfare School at

Canungra, Qld after returning from New Guinea.

2/7 Cdo Coy conducts combat operations inBena Bena, New Guinea as part of Bena Force.

2/4 Cdo Sqn conducts combat operations against theJapanese on Tarakan Island off Borneo.

2/9 Cdo Sqn lands at Dove Bay, Wewak andestablished the beachhead.

13-19 May 19452/10 Cdo Sqn is surrounded by Japanese troops inthe Wewak area and fights off numerous attacks.

06 May 1969WO2 Ray Simpson DCM & Bar awarded the VictoriaCross for Valour in South Vietnam. Ray was attached

to AATTV from 1 Cdo Coy.

Unusual suspects at theANZAC Day March

Brisbane 2018

QCA Wreath at theCanungra District

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The 1st Independent Company was formed inMay/June 1941 and was trained at the No. 7Infantry Training Centre at Tidal River on

Wilsons Promontory in Victoria. Originally the companywas raised to serve in the Middle East although, at thattime there was uncertainty about the role that thecompany would fill there. Indeed, within the AustralianArmy there was a section that saw no need for theindependent companies, believing that they wouldprove to be more of a drain on resources than anythingelse.

StructureWith an authorised strength of 17 officers and 256

other ranks, the 1st Independent Company wascomposed of a company headquarters consisting of 13personnel, three 60-man platoons named A, B and C,each of three 19-man sections numbered in series from1 to 9, plus an engineer section of 21 men, a 34-mansignals section, a medical section of six men and atransport section with four men. A major commandedthe company, with a captain as a second-in-command.A captain also commanded each platoon, while allsections except the medical and lieutenantscommanded transport sections. A captain commandedthe medical section.

New Ireland & The South PacificIn 1941, as the threat of war with Imperial Japan

loomed, the main body of the company was sent toKavieng, New Ireland, to protect Kavieng airfield whilstother sections were sent to Namatanai on New Ireland,Vila in the New Hebrides, Tulagi on Guadalcanal, Bukaon Bougainville, and Lorengau on Manus Island to actas observers and provided medical treatment to theinhabitants. Commanded by Major James Edmonds-Wilson, in the event of an invasion of New Britain bythe Japanese the 1st Independent Company wasunder orders to resist long enough to destroy keyairfields and other military installations such as fueldumps, before withdrawing south to wage a guerrillawar. They did not have to wait very long, as on 21January 1942, a preparatory bombing raid by aboutsixty Japanese aircraft attacked Kavieng. A number ofaircraft were shot down, however, the company's onlymeans of escape, the schooner Induna Star, was

damaged. Nevertheless, despite the damage the crewmanaged to sail the vessel to Kaut where they startedto repair the damage. As they did so, the commandoswithdrew across the island to Sook, having receivedword that a large Japanese naval force wasapproaching the island.

In the early morning of 22 January 1942, theJapanese landed at Kavieng with between 3,000 and4,000 troops. As the lead Japanese troops reachedKavieng airfield, fighting broke out as the small forcethat had remained at the airfield blew up the supplydump and other facilities. Fighting their way out, thecommandos withdrew towards the main force at Sook,although a number of men were captured in theprocess. Once the company had regrouped at Sook,on 28 January they withdrew further south to Kaut,where they helped with the repair of the Induna Star,before setting out along the east coast of the island.They reached Kalili Harbour on 31 January but afterlearning that the fighting on New Britain was over andthat the Japanese had occupied Rabaul, it was decidedto sail for Port Moresby.

Montevideo MaruOn 2 February the schooner was sighted by a

Japanese plane, which subsequently attacked, causingconsiderable damage to the vessel as well asdestroying one of its lifeboats and causing a number ofcasualties. The Induna Star began taking on water andas a result the men were forced to surrender. Underescort by a Japanese aircraft and then later a destroyer,they were instructed to sail to Rabaul where theybecame prisoners of war. After a few months atRabaul, the officers were separated from their NCOsand men. The officers were transported to Japan wherethey remained in captivity for the rest of the war, whilstthe NCOs and men, along with other members of LarkForce that had been captured and a number ofcivilians, where put on to the Japanese passenger shipMontevideo Maru for transportation. Traveling un -escorted, the Montevideo Maru sailed from Rabaul on22 June. On 1st July 1942, the ship was sighted by anAmerican submarine, the USS Sturgeon, off the coastof the Luzon, Philippines. The USS Sturgeon torpedoedand sunk the Montevideo Maru, without realising it wasa prisoner of war vessel. Only a handful of the

THE FIRST OF THE FIRST

1ST Independent Company



Japanese crew were rescued, with none of thebetween 1,050 and 1,053 prisoners aboard surviving asthey were still locked below deck. All 133 men from the1st Independent Company who were aboard theMontevideo Maru were either killed or drowned.

New Guinea Meanwhile, the sections of the company that had

not been with the main group at Kavieng managed toavoid capture by the Japanese. Working with the coastwatchers, they reported Japanese movements andcarried out demolitions until they were later evacuatedor escaped from the islands between April and May1942. A reinforcement platoon had been trained inAustralia while the company was deployed and aftercompleting its training sailed on the Macdui, arriving atPort Moresby on 10 March 1942.Following their arrival, the platoon wasdesignated the Independent Platoon PortMoresby and initially used for localdefence purposes. It was later re-designated as Detachment 1 IndependentCompany. In April 1942, under thecommand of Captain Roy Howard, it wasmoved to Kudjeru, in New Guinea, toguard against possible Japanese move -

ment south of Wau along the Bulldog Track. In theprocess they became the first Australian Army unit tocross the Owen Stanley Range. In June, a sectionfought alongside the 2/5th Independent Company aspart of Kanga Force where they participated in a majorraid on the Japanese at Salamaua. Eventually, however,as a result of the losses suffered during the 1942campaigns it was decided that the company would bedisbanded and as the survivors were transferred toother commando units – with the majority of those inPort Moresby being transferred to the 2/5th – the 1st

Independent Company was never raised again. Throughout the course of the unit's existence, it

suffered 142 men killed in action or died whileprisoners of war. One member of the company wasawarded the Military Cross.

Australian POWs in Shikoku, Japan 1942-45, including members of 1st Independent Company



Sergeant Brett Wood MG, DSM was born inFerntree Gully, Victoria in 1978. He joined theArmy in 1996 and after recruit and initial

employment training (IET) he was posted to the 6th

Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (6 RAR) inBrisbane. In 1998 then PTE Wood successfully under -took Commando Selection and Training and aftercompleting the Commando reinforcement cycle hewas posted to the then 4th Battalion, The Royal Aust -ralian Regiment (Commando) (4 Cdo) in November ofthat same year.

Brett had significant operational experience, his firstdeployment was on Operation Bel Isi II to Bougainvillein 2000. In 2001 he deployed to East Timor onOperation Tanager with Bravo Commando Company(BCC) and in 2003 to Iraq on Operation Falconer againwith BCC as part of the Special Operations Task Force(SOTF). After his return from Iraq he successfullycompleted the Advanced Close Quarter Battle (ACQB)Course for service with Tactical Assault Group - East(TAG-E) and was deployed during OperationScrummage (Rugby World Cup 2003).

In 2006 Sergeant Wood deployed to Afghanistan aspart of the Special Operations Task Group (SOTG)Rotation III (Rot III) with Delta Commando Company(DCC). During this deployment he was awarded TheMedal for Gallantry (MG) (Australia’s third highestaward for valour), for leadership in action as a TeamCommander during this tour. He was also awarded theUnit Citation For Gallantry (UCG) as a member ofSOTG Rot I, II and III.

He rotated back on to TAG-E in 2007 as a SGT andbecame the Emergency Action (EA) Commander forLand Assault Platoon. During this rotation he deployedon Operation Deluge (APEC Summit) in Sydney andwas awarded the Special Operations Commander –Australia, Commendation for service with TAG-E. In2008 he became instrumental in the raising of theArmed Response Protection Team (ARPT) capabilitywith in 4 Cdo and during that time deployed severaltimes to Iraq & Afghanistan to provide security to VIPs,dignitaries and members of Parliament.

In 2009 he again deployed to Afghanistan on Rot Xthis time with Charlie Commando Company (CCC) as aSGT Section Commander and again on Rot XV in 2011as a Platoon SGT with CCC. It was during thisdeployment during a Counter Narcotic Operation insupport of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)in Kesh Mesh Khan, Helmand Province, Brett wastragically killed in action as a result of stepping on anImprovised Explosive Device (IED) whilst chasing upTaliban Insurgents on 23 May 2011. Brett’s death shookthe Regiment to its core as he was considered to be

one of the mostprofessional andone of the bestCommando SGTs inthe Regiment. Brettwas buried atRookwood MilitaryCemetery in Sydneyon the 3rd of June2011 with fullmilitary honours. At the service at St. AndrewsCathedral in Sydney, Brett was Posthumously awardedthe US Military’s Meritorious Service Medal on behalf ofthe Commander of US Forces in Afghanistan, GeneralDavid Petraeus.

In 2012 Brett was (Posthumously) awarded theDistinguished Service Medal (DSM) for leadership inAction.

SGT Wood has been awarded the followingdecorations;• Medal for Gallantry • Distinguished Service Medal• Australian Active Service Medal 1975- with clasps:

East Timor, International Coalition Against Terrorism(ICAT) and Iraq 2003

• Afghanistan Campaign Medal• Iraq Campaign Medal• Australian Service Medal 1975- with clasps:

Bougainville, Counter Terrorism/Special Recovery• Defence Long Service Medal• Australian Defence Medal• United Nations Transitional Authority - East Timor

Medal• NATO ISAF Medal; • US Meritorious Service Medal • Unit Citation for Gallantry• Meritorious Unit Citation• Special Operations Command Australia

Commendation• Infantry Combat Badge.• Citation For The Medal For Gallantry

To be awarded the medal for gallantry -Corporal Brett Mathew Wood

For gallantry and leadership in action as aCommando Team Commander, of the SpecialOperations Task Group – Task Force 637, whilstdeployed on Operation SLIPPER Rotation ThreeAfghanistan, May – September 2006.

Corporal Brett Mathew Wood enlisted in theAustralian Regular Army on the 13th of February 1996and was allocated to the 6th Battalion, the RoyalAustralian Regiment. He later successfully completedCommando training and was posted to the 4th

IN FOCUS SERGEANT BRETT MATHEW WOOD MG. DSM.

2nd Commando Regiment


Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (Commando)in 1998. Corporal Wood’s operational experienceincludes deployments on Operations BEL ISI,TANAGER, FALCONER and SLIPPER.

On the 17th of July2006 during OperationPERTH, the CommandoPlatoon was tasked toconduct the clearanceof an Anti CoalitionMilitia sanctuary in theChora Valley, OruzganProvince, Afghanistan.The Platoon waspartnered in support ofan Infantry Company of the United States Army 10th

Mountain Division. At approximately 1 pm the InfantryCompany came under heavy rocket propelled grenadeand small arms fire on multiple flanks resulting in sixwounded and one soldier killed in action, effectivelyhalting their advance. Through thick vegetation, facinglarge numbers of dispersed Anti Coalition Militia andunder heavy fire, the Commando Platoon commencedmanoeuvring to provide assistance to the elementwhich was pinned down. During this move theCommando Platoon received a volley of four rocketswhich impacted in the centre of the platoon’s positionresulting in six Australian soldiers wounded in action, aloss to the platoon by one third of its force. Unknownto the Commander at the time, Corporal Wood hadalso been wounded in the foot by fragmentation fromthe rocket propelled grenade barrage.

In order to regain the initiative, Corporal Wood’steam was tasked by the Commando Platoon Com -mander to assault forward and clear a group of com -pounds from which they were receiving Anti CoalitionMilitia fire. Under these daunting conditions CorporalWood commenced this task without hesita tion,completing a rapid and aggressive clearance ofnumerous threat compounds. Once achieved, both theUnited States and Australian elements were free tocontinue with the battle providing the necessary timeto effect the back loading of the wounded byhelicopter to the Forward Operating Base.

Throughout the afternoon, numerous and relentlessprobing attacks by a determined opponent followed.Corporal Wood displayed extraordinary leadership andcourage, inspiring his team and the remainder of theCommando platoon to repel the continued attacks. Hethen successfully led a marksmanship team to infiltratethe Anti Coalition Militia held territory killing seven AntiCoalition Militia. Only after the engagement had beencompleted and the threat to the platoon subsided didCorporal Wood inform his Commander of the frag -mentation wound that he had sustained during theoriginal contact earlier that day. Corporal Wood wasthen evacuated to the Casualty Collection Point wherehe was provided with medical treatment and laterextracted.

Corporal Wood’s actionson the 17th of July 2006, as aCommando Team Com -mander during OperationPERTH, were testament tohis leadership, fortitude andsense of duty to his teamand the platoon. His deter -mination to con tinue to leadhis team during the battle inextremely hazardous circumstances despite beingwounded ensured that the Commando Platoonregained the initiative and contributed significantly to adecisive victory. His gallantry and leadership in theface of the enemy has been of the highest order and inkeeping with the finest traditions of Special OperationsCommand Australia, the Australian Army and theAustralian Defence Force.

COMMANDOS FOR LIFE

30 March 1966PTE Phillip Stewart, 1st Cdo Coy,

Died In Training, Gan Gan, NSW Australia

27 April 2008LCPL Jason Marks, Delta Cdo Coy 4th Cdo Bn,Killed In Action, Urazghan Province Afghanistan

23 May 2011SGT Brett Wood MG. DSM. Charlie Cdo Coy

2nd Cdo Regt,Killed In Action, Helmand Province Afghanistan

Commando For LifeLest We Forget

UPCOMING ACA QLD EVENTS

09 – 19 September 18 - Commandos Return, Timor Leste.

COMMANDO FOR LIFE

COMMANDO FOR LIFE

COMMANDO FOR LIFE

The Medal for Gallantry (MG) Australia’s third highest award for Gallantry




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The Commando The Life and Death of CPL Cameron Baird VC. MG.

By Ben McKelvey

Corporal Baird was a modern-day warrior who seta standard that every soldier aspires to achieve.' -

GENERAL DAVID HURLEY

On 22 June 2013, Corporal Cameron Baird was a 2nd

Commando Regiment Special Forces soldier when heled his platoon into a known Taliban stronghold toback-up another Australian unit under heavy fire. In thepronged firefight, Cameron was mortally wounded.

In 2014, Cameron's bravery and courage under firesaw him posthumously awarded the 100th VictoriaCross, our highest award possible for bravery in thepresence of the enemy. Cameron Baird died how helived - at the front, giving it his all, without anyindecision. He will forever be remembered by hismates and the soldiers he served with in the 2nd

Commando Regiment.THE COMMANDO reveals Cameron's life, from

young boy and aspiring AFL player, who only missedout on being drafted because of injury, to exemplarysoldier and leader. Cameron's story and that of 4RARand 2nd Commando personifies the courage andcharacter of the men and women who go to war andwill show us the good man we have lost.

Commandos Return09 -19 September 2018

Commandos Return is on again for 2018 between9 - 19 September. If you are a financial member of anyAustralian Commando Association, or a family memberof a Commando killed in action your eligible to attend.See the flyer for more information and to register yourinterest.

Commandos Return is an immersion programtaking in holistic healing of the mind body and soul aswell as immersing you into the experience of theTimorese people, landscape and its culture. You willalso experience the major battle sights of theAustralian Commandos of WW2, see and hear of the24-year conflict and eventual independence of theIndonesian occupation and to see where the Post WW2Commandos served from 1999 - 2010.

BOOKS OF INTEREST


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australian commando assn inc. · 8 commando news~ edition 13 i 2018 commando who led a platoon of...

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