COMMITTEE

Dear Dig,

Babies seem to be one of the most important topics in this little news-sheet and, as far as we can ascertain, they will continue to be so for a long time yet. We have hazy recollections of grim faced doctors warning us of the dangers of a continuous rice diet, which (so they said) would almost certainly bring many to a state of permanent sterility. Something apparently went wrong with their calculations for, as far as we can see, the families of our Unit are as large, if not a trifle larger, than those of the average folk. We received three letters in the one day from members who have three, four and five children so far and each month we report new babies to proud parents. You will have to bear with us as we are severely censured by the parents if we fail to give them a mention,

First on our list this month is Derek Smith, ex A. Coy., who writes that we forgot to mention the birth of his second baby last year. He particularly wants this arrival mentioned as he tells us that he has another baby due in a few months, to make his little family up to three. Derek is still playing soccer football and last year his team won the Southern Districts Soccer Championship, a notable feat as his team played an English team in the semi-finals. English teams are apparently fairly good.

Ross Madden, also ex A. Coy., is very pleased with his wife at the moment as she presented him with his third daughter recently. Ross, as you might remember, has been living in Armidale far some years now where he earns his living as a painter.

Russ Mackie of Clunes, via Lismore, is a dairy farmer, who like most farmers of our acquaintance, is earning a decent living. Russ settled at Clunes after the war and by a lot of hard work, some good luck and by the encouragement of his good wife, he now owns his own  property and considers himself a very happy man. Russ has four children, two boys, John and Stephen ages six and seven years, and two girls, Kathryn and Judith aged three years and nine months. It’s nice to hear from a happy man and Russ is certainly that; his life is a quiet one and his pleasures are a little fishing and surfing when he is not playing with the children. These country boys certainly know how to get the best from life.

Ossie Jackson lives quite near Russ Mackie and his wife is taken up with his busy little shop and his domestic life, which is a happy one.

Harry Teasdale also lives quite near and he, like Russ, has settled on a dairy farm and is doing well. Harry is married, of course.

Jerry Myers lives at Box Hill about 4 miles from Clunes. Jerry works for the Tick Board and this is very important work for the farmers. Jerry is a married man and has a family.

Ron Montford, who is married with two children, is working on a construction job at the G.P.O, at Lismore.

Les Southwell of Canberra was very busy for a few months helping to prepare the gardens of Canberra for the Royal Visit. Les works the gardens permanently at Canberra and likes the open air life very much.

Although our members who live on the Far North Coast are unable to attend all our Reunions in Sydney, they have a very good substitute each year at the Eighth Div. Reunion, which is now held annually at Lismore. This year the Reunion was held in February and Alex Olley writes that approximately 20 of our own chaps were there. Others write each year of this enjoyable get together and for this Association it is always a successful function as one of our chaps usually takes it upon himself to collect subscriptions and entrance fees from our chaps who are present.

Stan Lugton and his wife have been blessed with a new baby daughter recently and both mother and baby are doing well. We are indebted to Monty Montgomery for the information.

Jack Brooks of Goulburn has left his job as shift worker on the Railway there after some very bad bouts of bronchitis, which has become a chronic ailment with him. Jack recently sighted Bluey Todd, ex A. Coy. and Bluey is unchanged after all these years. Mac McAndrew is also living in the district where he is working on a station. Mac has settled down and likes the district.

During the recent visit of Her Majesty and His Royal Highness to this State.  The C.O. had the honour of being presented to the Royal Couple at a small function at Government House. Her Majesty chatted with the Brig. for about three minutes on Malaya and Singapore and surprised him with her knowledge of the war there.

Last month a very unfortunate incident occurred in which two of our most respected members were concerned and we will give you the facts so that you may be on your guard in case the same trick is ever played upon you. No names, no pack drill, of course. One Monday morning one of our chaps, who is in business, received a telephone call purporting to be from one other of our chaps, the message being that the caller was held up almost outside a garage or tyre dealer place some miles away, with a flat tyre on his big heavy duty truck. The tyre dealer just happened to have the required tyre in stock but would not accept a cheque, requiring the full ₤26 in cash. The sixty four dollar question was "Did the first member have the cash handy and would he hand it to a messenger if he were sent to receive it?" The answer was  “yes" and, in the course of half an hour, a messenger arrived at the first member's shop and was given the cash. The money, of course would be repaid the next day after the borrower had been able to cash a cheque. After two days with no cash forthcoming the lender rang for the address of the alleged borrower and went out to find the reason for the delay. The delay was soon obvious as the alleged borrower didn't own a truck, had not even seen the lender for many years, and knew nothing of the business at all. The loss of the cash must have been hard to take, although the lender realised the position immediately and wrote off the debt to a nasty experience. The attitude of the alleged borrower was entirely different, however, as you can imagine and both he and his wife were upset to a degree which would be stupid if it were not so natural. Both he and his wife have settled down now but he is anxious that the trick is not repeated particularly as his name could be used again. The trick is not a new one and we can point to one of our own members (who is serving a long sentence at the moment) who defrauded people daily, mainly on the ex-serviceman racket, for a living. It would be impossible to deduce how many people he did defraud. Anyway, the warning is there and it is this. If you are requested for the loan of cash from an alleged member of the Unit and you do not know of him, then tell him to contact Sammy Hall, and if he is genuine and is in distress, then we will help him. Do NOT, however, allow your good nature to be imposed upon because, it might put a sour taste in your mouth which could prevent you from helping a genuine case at a later time.

ANZAC DAY  This year the March will be on the Sunday afternoon, 25th April, at 2.30 p.m. The assembly point will be approximately the same as last year and you are requested to be present, if you can, to ensure a good attendance. Remember that you are privileged to join in this March and, for your company during it, you will have thousands from every walk of life and every calling who once shared common ideals. There are hundreds of thousands who are not eligible to join this throng, don't stand on the sidewalks with these people, join in the March from the beginning. There is no necessity to tell you chaps, of course, that the March is a commemorative one and is not a circus as some people, not in our Unit, think. Turn up in strength and make it a good March. The banner will be carried by Jock McLean. The dress will be decorations and medals, properly mounted, in accordance with the resolution passed last year at the Annual General Meeting.

9TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING.  The Annual General Meeting will be held at No. 5 Hamilton Street on Friday night, 23rd April, at 8 p.m. After the business of the meeting has been concluded, refreshments will be provided and a jolly time should be had by those present. We urge you to make every effort to attend this Annual Meeting. The night should be a convenient one for those who are travelling to Sydney for the Anzac Day March.

Cheerio, 

STAN ARNEIL.

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