View/Download 4/19th PWLH Plumes 2015 Mar

Official Newsletter of the 4th/19th Prince of Wales’s Light Horse Regiment Association Inc.
Editor: plumes.newsletter@gmail.com March 2015 4th/19th PWLH, Simpson Barracks, WATSONIA VIC
Patron:
MAJGEN. (Rtd) the Honourable Mr Justice Greg Garde AO RFD
President:
Dr. David Holloway
9645 3136
Vice President:
Daryl Pinner OAM
9359 4520
Secretary:
SGT Lindsay Burke
4384 25502
Treasurer:
Roy Arnott FCPA
9442 5205
Membership:
Godfrey Camenzuli
(03) 9354 9251
Hon. Chaplain:
CAPT. Ron Rosinsky
0425 803 862
The New Year is well and truly upon us. 2015 promises to be a very special year, above
all commemorating that landing on Gallipoli shores 100 years ago in April. None of
those who were there survive today, but we will be bombarded with their stories, myths
and legends; of all that they did or might have done. My historian’s senses suggest that
you be wary of what you see and read. Not everyone was a hero, brave beyond
compare nor could shoot the eye out of a needle at 1000 yards; but at the same time,
be grateful for the deeds of those men, our volunteer predecessors of the Great War
who, in the majority, met an obligation to defend what they believed to be right. I, like
many of you, are richer for having known a number of them. As we look back and ponder, it is
right that we also look forward, to the soldiers of today and the deeds of the men and women of our Regiment
now and in the future. This issue of Plumes will allow you to do that and I commend it to you.
In our immediate future Anzac Day looms large and I encourage as many of you as are able, to march. Exact
details of timings and assembly points will be in both Mufti and the daily press. With the changes this year,
particularly to do with First World War descendants, we are little affected. We gather around our usual spot in
Collins Street and kick off at about 1045, all being well. Lunch will be at the Rising Sun Hotel, corner Eastern
Road and Raglan Street, South Melbourne, afterwards. The other significant event for the year will be the
presentation of our new Guidon. Unfortunately postponed from the hoped for March date, it will occur later in the
year and all will be advised in time to make suitable arrangements. Former CO, John Boyce’s article about the
guidon in this issue is well worth your consideration. As the year progresses we will have other events to recall,
the awful Charge at the Nek by the 8th Light Horse for example, whilst there will also be the laying up of our
present guidon. Both that ceremony and the presentation of its successor will see our new CO, LieutenantColonel John Molnar, at the head of his regiment. Colonel John was dined-in by a gathering of his predecessors
at General Garde’s residence in late February. There, amidst a most enjoyable and memorable evening, he was
regaled with the collective wisdom of more than a dozen former Commanding Officers and was later presented
with the CO’s sabre. Whilst he succeeds an impressive array of past COs, there is no doubt that he has the
enthusiasm and capability to do so successfully. He is certainly wished well in his endeavours.
Might I close with my usual plea for your input and ideas, and to encourage younger personnel, either current or
past members of our great Regiment, to join us and to ensure the continuation of our great unit association.
Ich dien
David Holloway
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March 2015
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An armoured gem from when Paris was liberated 70 years ago
During the struggle for Paris in August 1944, a German
Panther tank down at the Place de la Concorde fired at
Free French armour poised distantly up on the hill near
the Arc de Triomphe. One French tank gunner remembered from his schooldays
that the Avenue des Champs-Elysées is exactly 1800 metres long, so he
adjusted his sights accordingly and scored a first-round hit!
Antony Beevor ‘D-Day’ pp 506 -508 (Penguin 2007)
th
th
By LTCOL John Boyce (Ret). (Past CO 4 /19 PWLH and a former Tp Ldr in 8/13 VMR)
Our regiment 4/19 PWLH is to be presented
with a new guidon in 2015. From all the earlier
guidons of our predecessor regiments for both
PWLH and VMR, there have been selected 21
Battle Honours. Actually, 25 other honours to
which we were entitled had to be omitted in
the process, in order to comply with the limit!
The guidon has been “in the works” since a
unit submission to Chief of Army back in 2005
and his authorisation in 2006 for production.
The careful final selection of Battle and
Theatre honours was recommended by a
virtual committee comprising regimental staff, unit historians and Association representatives,
and our HOC, before submission for final approval. The current RSM, WO1 Russell Earl, says
in this process it was important to “balance both sides of the family” (i.e. PWLH and VMR) and
to consider all eras. Original unit colour patches are also shown.
On the new guidon there are 7 general campaign and theatre honours covering long operational
deployments and 14 specific battle ones. These were earned during such conflicts as the Boer
War (by VMR), during WW1 at Gallipoli (by 4 LHR, 8 LHR & 13 LHR), in the Middle East (by 4
LHR & 8 LHR) and on the Western front (by 4 LHR & 13 LHR), then during WW2 in New Guinea
and Bougainville (by 2/4th Aust Armd Regt and 2/8 Aust Armd Regt). Omitted from the new
guidon are 2 general and 2 specific honours earned at Gallipoli (Anzac, Defence of Anzac,
Suvla, Sari Bair), 7 in the WW1 Middle Eastern theatre (Rumani, Maghdaba-Rafah, Megiddo, El
Mughar, Nebi Samwil, Jordan Es Salt, Sharon), 13 for the Western Front (Somme 1916,
Pozieres, Bapaume 1917, Arras 1917, Messines 1917, Broodseinde, Passchaendale 1917, Lys,
Kemmel, Tardenois, Marne 1918, Somme 1918, Albert 1918), and 1 on Bougainville in WW2
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(Hongorai River). No doubt, there will be much discussion about which of those “could have got
a guernsey” – some strong contenders would have been Rumani (where the Turkish thrust to
the Suez Canal was beaten off and pursued in 1916), the daring Jordan Es Salt raid (in 1918)
and the Marne 1918 (at last, an open-country advance on horseback in France, after the last
desperate German offensive had failed). Where are the earlier guidons now?
Those of the 4th, 8th, 13th, 17th, 19th, 20th LH Regiments were formally laid up in the crypt below
the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne after a regimental parade in August 2005. Visitors
can view them The US Brigadier loved listing our unit name at its full length, on what was
otherwise for him a rather bland US orbat!). Further note: Why no specific battle honours from
the 2/8th Aust Armd Regt? It did not receive actual battle honours in WW2, although it did deploy
operationally to the New Guinea theatre in 1943 to provide protection for airfields at Port
Moresby, Buna and Milne Bay. Later it was disbanded in mid-1944, with members transferring
to reinforce the 41st, 42nd and 43rd Aust Landing Craft Coys that operated in New Britain and
Bougainville in 1944-45 (see the 2/8th history ‘Armour to Anchors’).
Unprecedented attack on disabled veterans’ pensions continues
The New Year brings a continuation of the government’s unprecedented attack on the pensions and benefits of
disabled veterans and war widows. It wants the Senate to agree to the following measures.
· The downgrading of the indexation of the Service, TPI, other veterans’ disability and War Widows pensions
as well as the Income Support Supplement and the equivalent MRCA payments.
This may not be noticed at first because the initial reduction will be small, but over time it compounds and
progressively makes a greater and greater difference. Mark Riley on 7 News reported on 11 April 2014 that by
2020 the Service Pension would be round $100 a fortnight less than had no downgrading of indexation taken
place. The Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association (CPSA) estimate is much higher than that.
·
Ceasing for three years any indexation catch ups of income means test free areas.
This will hit Part Service Pensioners such as those whose also receiving a Military Superannuation Pension (eg
DFRDB/DFRB/MSBS).
Part Service Pensioners are allowed a small means test free amount before their Service Pension begins to
lose 50cents for every dollar of their income. That means test free amount is indexed so that it catches up with
increases in the cost of living (inflation).
The government intends to cease this indexation so that, in real terms, Part Service Pensioners’ pensions will
be reduced.
· Part Service Pensioners will also be hit by the government’s intention to cease indexation of the maximum
amount of income allowable before the pensioner becomes ineligible for any amount of Service Pension.
It means that Part Service Pensioners are to be squeezed at both ends.
· Part Service Pensioners will be hit yet again by the government’s intention to reduce deeming thresholds
then cease their indexation for three years.
This will effectively reduce the real value of pensions.
The government wants these changes to take effect in 2017, which is soon after the next Federal election.
The combination of these changes would, as the years pass, drag disabled veteran and war widow pensioners
further and further behind community income standards.
And that’s not all.
· Gold Card holders presently receiving the much needed $886 Seniors’ Supplement will be stripped of it.
· The three months' backdating of disability pensions will be scrapped.
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March 2015
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This is a mean one because the backdating recognises the unique nature of military service and the
medical expenses that accumulate prior to a claim being lodged. Should the government get its way, it
would be a considerable loss to disabled veterans.
These unprecedented attacks on veterans’ and war widows’ benefits are spread amongst three bills the
government will bring before the Senate for a vote early this year. Their spread between three bills is
presumably a ploy to hide their combined effect, to sneak them through in diluted form.
Those three bills are:
·
Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (2014 Budget Measures No. 5) Bill 2014.
·
Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Seniors Supplement Cessation) Bill 2014.
·
Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (2014 Budget Measures No. 4) Bill 2014.
The question is: ‘Why is the government attacking disabled veterans and war widows?’ Haven’t
they already sacrificed enough?
We know Labor Senators and Senator Jacqui Lambie will vote against the bills and we understand the
Australian Greens Senators will also vote against them.. But this will not be enough to defeat them. The
votes of Senators from the minor parties and of Independent Senators will decide Here is a list of the
Senators whose votes will be critical.
If you would like to help having the nasty bills voted down, you could send this e-mail or one of your own to
any of your local Federal MPs.
A VIETNAM TALE, (True Story).
In 1967 I was serving with the Australian Army in South Vietnam
as a combat infantry adviser to the South Vietnamese Armed Forces.
At the time of this incident, I was living with the Vietnamese in a small
fort located in the village of Long Dien as a member of a five-man
United States Army Special Forces team.
It so happened that my identical twin brother, Richard, had
arrived in Vietnam a few days before. He knew where I was and
CAPT. Clarry Rule
took the opportunity to jump off a tank passing through the village
Duc My 1966
to see me; we had not seen each other since I had left Australia
for Vietnam 15 months before. Seeing my close-cropped haircut,
he decided to have the same. I gave him my .45 pistol for personal protection and sent him
across the road from the fort’s heavily defended main gate to the Hot Toc (barber), telling him to
be really alert for Viet Cong guerillas and to pay no more than 70 piastres.The local rate was
15p, but we were all wealthy long noses and could pay, pay, pay. He came back some time
later with his head shorn and told me a puzzling tale. He said “The barber sat me on a raised
chair, put a sheet around my neck and circled me about four times, muttering and poking my
head with one bony hand and waving his hand clippers with the other. He said ‘Choi Hoi’ a lot
(this means ‘What’s going on, here?’) and tapped himself on the head many times, muttering
‘Toi Dinky Dow (meaning ‘I’m crazy’). He then spoke to two men waiting in the room and kept
pointing at my head. They came over and peered at me from close quarters. It made me
nervous. I said ‘Get on with it!’ He knew my meaning and got to work. But he muttered the
whole time under his breath.
What do you think that was about?” I said,” He shaved my head two days ago….”
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March 2015
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Regimental
Cuff Links and Tie Bars
solid silver, $80 each or
$150 the set. Contact
The Unit History Room
Bien Hoa, August 1965:
311496 Corporal (Cpl), Kevin
Thomas Alexander, of Inala, Qld, A
member of 4th /19th Prince of Wales’s
Light Horse Regiment,
(1 TP A Sqn), deployed as an
Armoured Personnel Carrier Troop.
Cpl Alexander is the crew
commander of an M113A1 Armoured
Personnel Carrier (APC) and his
vehicle is supporting members of 1st
Battalion, The Royal Australian
Regiment (1RAR).
Cpl Alexander served with the 4th /19th Prince of Wales’s Light Horse
Regiment’s 1 Troop (Trp) A Squadron, from May 1965 to June 1965, 1
APC Trp from July 1965 to April 1966, and 1 APC Squadron (Sqn)
from April 1966 to May 1966. He is resting his arm on a .50 calibre M2
(HB) Browning heavy machine gun (HMG) which has a protective
shield fitted. Another M113A1 APC is visible in the background.
(Copyright AWM).
Also pictured TPR Pat Rattley
(AWM CUN/66/0477/VN
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March 2015
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Then and NOW
Kev Alexander on the left,
Ron Jose on the right.
Both ex 1 Troop A Sqn.
Back together again after 50 years.
Not Curly, Larry and Mo, actually
Roy Gillam,
Lee Townsend and
Mooka Harbour
also 50 years on.
Grateful thanks to Steve Bird again for this great stuff.
The Anzac day arrangements are, we assemble in the usual spot or thereabouts
and step off at about 1045 so are little impacted by the WW1 descendants who
march later. Lunch is at the Rising Sun; please make an effort to join us there.
The venue really does go to some effort to make us welcome.
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March 2015
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The Great Lao-
Tzu once said:
“It is only when you see a mosquito landing on your testicles that you
realise there is always a way to solve problems without using violence”.
Now for something current
From the future of our Regiment.
Cav at its best!
Serving members of the Regiment on active service as Transit security element (TSE)
rotation 74 in Op resolute. 4th /19th PWLH Regiment personnel, with 1 Member of 1st /15th
RNSWL.
Standing left to right
SGT BOLGER,
LCPL MOORE
(1st /15th RNSWL.),
CPL HOPPE,
LCPL JENSON,
CPL MANN,
TPR BERALDO,
SGT DWYRE,
Kneeling left to right,
CAPT BILLINGHAM,
TPR ROUGH,
TPR LOCKHART,
TPR TAIT,
TPR GIFFORD,
MUSN KUMAR,
CPL MCDONALD, TPR LEUNG. (Grateful thanks to Dustin Hoppe for the information).
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March 2015
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We also had troops supporting B Sqn 1AR
during Exercise ‘Paratus Crawl’
Cavalry Scouts from the Victorian
based 4th/19th Prince of Wales’s
Light Horse Regiment are at
Cultana Field Training Area
supporting B Squadron, 1st
Armoured Regiment during
Exercise Paratus Crawl.
Pictured from left to right (back
row) are: Trooper Luke green,
Trooper Stephen Turley, Trooper
Robert Sperti, Trooper Luke
Gregory
Left to right (front row): Trooper Warren Evans, Corporal Stuart Couch, Trooper Sam Philpott
and Lance Corporal Thomas Wallace. (Poached from 1Bde Facebook)
Frank McSweeney
Those who attended Frank's wake at Watsonia RSL were Roy Arnott,
Graeme Perkins, Daryl Pinner, Stan Rydell, David Holloway, Jim de
Francesco, John Hopkins, Tommy Murphy and Graeme Douglas, each of
whom received a farewell postcard that included Frank's words "Don't cry,
carry me in your memories and have a beer for me 'cause I've gone
fishin."
RIP
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March 2015
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Defence Reserves Association
Victorian Branch
President: Brigadier Peter Alkemade, RFD
The President and Victorian Committee members
request the pleasure of your company at the
Reservists’ Reunion Lunch
to be held in the
Pavilion Room, Level 2, RACV Club, 501 Bourke Street, Melbourne
on Wednesday, 3rd June 2015
12 noon for 12.30pm
Dress: Jacket and Tie
Medals and Decorations (preferred)
RSVP: Wednesday 27th May 2015
Guests most welcome
Originally celebrating Victoria’s Third Division 1916 – 1991, this luncheon continues to be a unique opportunity for past and
present Reservists to keep in touch with old friends. Pre-luncheon drinks (at own cost) will be available from 12.00 noon in
the second floor ante-room, with the function commencing at 12.30 pm in the adjacent Pavilion Dining Room. Two course
fixed menu lunch: Entrée; alternating Mains; with table wines (limited); soft drink. If more drinks are required at a table,
purchase is at own cost. Parking is available beneath the RACV building until the car park is full.
Please detach and return with payment by either cheque or EFT by Wednesday, 27th May, 2015
Addressed to – “Reservists’ Luncheon,” 36 Wimbledon Avenue, Macedon, Vic., 3440.
Please enclose your email address legibly for acknowledgement.
Places may be reserved via email: wimblea@bigpond.com More information is available by phone: 5426 3130,
(COL Graham Farley, OAM RFD ED, luncheon administration officer)
Surname: …………………........................................First name: ……………………………… Rank ……………….
Address:…...............................................……….......Post Code: .........…….Corps/Regiment: ............…………….
Email: (print clearly!)…..............................................................…….............Contact phone:….......................…. ....
.Cost: $70 per head – DRA members; $77 per head – non-DRA members; $10 RACV late fee. Cheque/EFT
Seating limited to 130 (13 tables of 10)
(cross out one)
Cheques or money orders to be made payable to: DRA VICTORIA
Payment may be made by EFT. Defence Reserves Association (VIC); Bank Westpac,
90 Collins Street, Melbourne. Account No 258967; BSB 033-157. Please include Payee’s full name
Please advise any special dietary requirements ………………………………………………………………….
Seating: Please advise with whom you wish to be seated and I will do my best to accommodate you.
Use over page if needed
Table seating for 10 people is available for reservation. Table captain/unit/corps: David Holloway, PWLH/RAAC
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March 2015
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Due to the changes in Reserve Forces Service over recent
years, there is an issue of superannuation for reserve
soldiers that has clearly not been appropriately
addressed.
Accordingly I would like some feed-back, suggestions
opinions and/or any ideas on how to frame our
argument or at least begin the discussion that needs to
be had on this issue. Also any other issue our members
want raised by our Association.
Ich Dien
Lindsay Burke
Secretary / Public Officer
All Correspondence to,
The Secretary
4th/19th Prince of Wales’s Light Horse Regiment Association Inc.
Bougainville Lines, Simpson Barracks
Macleod Vic 3085 Australia
Phone: (03) 8481 7879 (Mon and Thu only from 0800 to 1200 h)
Mobile: 0459 827 588 Personal Mobile: 0438 452 502
Email: 419associationsecretary@gmail.com
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