The spirit of mateship ISSUE NO 40, MARCH 2016 OAM AWARD … · 2016-11-16 · 1941: March 11 — US President Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Bill. 1942: March 8 — Japanese oc-cupy

ISSUE NO 40, MARCH 2016

SALUTE The spirit of mateship

Magazine of Tiaro RSL Sub-branch Inc

INSIDE

THIS ISSUE

Meet some of our

Chinese Anzacs.............P2

Tribute to Army

doc, Digger James........P5

All roads

lead to where?...............P4

Wannabe veteran loses

court appeal..................P7

Santa beats up Bauple

on a Honda trike........P10

Don Jones’

Welfare column..........P12

State Branch’s

$614 donation

S tate Branch’s Finance Manager,

Leanne Clements, has approved

a welfare payment to Tiaro Sub-branch of

$614.49 from the 2014 Welfare Grants Fund.

Leanne had advised the Sub-branch in

October that the 2014 Welfare Grants had

not been fully expended and she suggested

we forward our detailed welfare expenditure

accounts for assessment.

This was done.

In December she advised that State

had reimbursed our Anzac Day costs and the

cost of maintaining the mobility scooter.

This followed the $2070 BAM grant

for repainting the hall ceiling.

Our thanks to Leanne for her assis-

tance in boosting Sub-branch funds.

OAM AWARD TO DON JONES

T he President and Welfare

Officer of the Tiaro RSL

Sub-branch, Don Jones, was awarded

the Order of Australia Medal (OAM)

in the Australia Day Honours List for

his services to the veteran community.

And in typical Don Jones’ fash-

ion, instead of celebrating the award

with a beer or two, Don spent Australia

Day helping to sell meat tray raffle

tickets at the Carriers Arms Hotel to

raise funds for more welfare work.

Don was the Pensions, Advo-

cacy and Welfare Officer to the Wide

Bay-Burnett District RSL Branch for

many years before coming to Tiaro.

He became President of the

Tiaro RSL Sub-branch last year and

quickly put veterans’ welfare at the top

of his priority list.

ABOVE: Don and his wife, Valerie, at the Carriers Arms Hotel, on Aus-tralia Day, which they spent with other Sub-branch members selling raffle tickets.

The world’s oldest profession according to anthropologists is the witch doctor. PAGE 2

We had more than 200 Chinese Anzacs

M ost amateur historians

know the story of Gal-

lipoli’s famed sniper, Tpr Billy Sing

of the 5th Light Horse. Billy Sing was

part Chinese, unusual in the Army at

that time.

He was credited with despatch-

ing more than 200 enemy soldiers.

But how many know of the

four Langtip brothers — Ernest, Les-

lie, Bertie and Henry?

Or the Kong Meng brothers,

George and Herbert.

The four Lantip brothers rode

together during the Battle of Beer-

sheba in October 1917 — the last

great Australian cavalry charge.

All four brothers survived the

war.

The stories of these and many

more of the gallant 200 Chinese dig-

gers is told in a magazine, Chinese

Anzacs, published by the Department

of Veterans’ Affairs.

The magazine also tells the

damming tales of those willing souls

of Chinese parents — most born and

bred in Australia — who were turned

down by recruiting staff mostly on the

grounds that they “were not substan-

tially of European origin”.

Many simply chose another

recruiting office and successfully

enlisted.

One such recruit who beat the

enlistment system was Benjamin Moy

Ling, who was granted special per-

mission to enlist by Brig-Gen Robert

Williams, and went on to serve in the

latter stages on the Western Front.

Another Chinese Anzac was

Hunter Poon who was wounded while

fighting near Ypres. He recovered

and after the war played cricket for

Queensland.

But so very little has been writ-

ten about these WW1 Anzacs.

COMMITTEE

President: Don Jones, OAM 0429 352 898, 0429 352 898 Secretary: Pete Kelly, 4129 6270 Vice-Pres: Ian Roberts, 4129 2151 Treasurer: Bill Todd, 0481 351 583 Asst Secretary: Judith Reid, 4129 2151 Welfare Officer: Don Jones, OAM, 0429 352 898 Pensions Officer: Don Jones, OAM, 4129 6523 or 0429 352 898 Newsletter: Pete Kelly, 4129 6270 PLEASE NOTE: The RSL Sub-branch phone num-ber is now 4129 2214. The Sub-branch meetings are held on the last Mon-day of the month, starting at 11am in the Sub-branch hall.

NOTE: The opinions ex-pressed in SALUTE are not necessarily those of the Sub-branch executive, nor do they reflect RSL policy or views. The contents of this newsletter reflects only the opinion of the author of the article.

ABOVE RIGHT: Leslie was just one of 19 Chinese Anzacs who were awarded bravery medals during the War. His Citation reads:

“During the advance on Kaukab on 30th September 1918, this NCO gave valuable assistance in the capture of a field gun and showed great initiative and courage. He forced the Turkish drivers to take their own gun towards our lines un-der heavy fire and when a party of the enemy endeavoured to retake the gun he took up a position near the gun from which he drove back the party.”

ABOVE: The DCM Les-lie Langtip won in WW1.

PAGE 3 When you look at someone you hate, your pupils dilate.

T he 50-year-old wran-

gle over awards for

some of the Long Tan Battle

diggers is again under review. It

will come under scrutiny by an

independent Defence honours

tribunal to be held in Maroochy-

dore this month. The tribunal

will consider honours, including

a posthumous VC for WO2 Jack

Kirby, who was awarded a DCM

for his gallantry during the bat-

tle, and medals for 12 other sol-

diers. The review comes as a

result of an application by Harry

Smith who commanded D Coy,

6RAR at Long Tan.

Another review of

Long Tan awards

Massive bridge and ferry system due here this year

A ustralia has purchased

a massive portable

bridge system from the U.S.

The $28-million military

bridge system, called the Improved

Ribbon Bridge (IRB) can operate as a

multi-bay ferry as well as a floating

bridge and can carry wheeled and

tracked vehicles, including the

Army’s Abrams tank.

Delivery is expected later this

year and Australia is the fourth nation

to order the Improved Ribbon Bridge,

pictured above, which is already in

service with the armed forces of the

US, Germany and Sweden.

The bridge comes in sections

which are launched into the water,

they then unfold and are linked to-

gether to provide the bridge platform.

The sections are carried by

special vehicles which launch them ,

as part of the overall system.

Seeking folk we can assist

A s we have entered the

year in a very favourable

financial position, it is of great impor-

tance to acknowledge that we are a

charitable organisation and we need

to spend a majority percentage of our

money on those in need.

The executive committee has

identified a couple of likely areas in

which we can assist.

However, members must real-

ise that it is YOUR money which is

being spent and we would like to hear

from anyone who believes they may

know of a person, persons or organi-

sation which would benefit from our

support.

Veterans, their families and

youth are areas we should be primar-

ily targeting.

If anyone can identify such a

worthy cause — preferably in our

district — please let the secretary

know so that we can investigate the

needs of the charitable target.

If you can identify a genuine

need outside of our target area, also

please let the secretary know as we

may be still able to help.

Ben’s professional team of butchers provide a wide range of freshly-cut meats, sausages,

mince, small goods and a variety of marinated meat and poultry products. They can offer tips on how to best prepare and cook the products they sell.

Prices are competitive, the service is friendly and the products they sell are the freshest.

When you look at someone you love, your pupils also dilate.

STATION BUTCHERY ‘Quality is our business’

PAGE 4

LOCATED IN STATION SQUARE SHOPPING CENTRE

NEAR THE ENTRANCE TO COLES SUPERMARKET

Discuss your needs with the owner Ben Goldenstein

He will ensure you receive only top products at the best possible price

Support the butcher who supports the Sub-branch

All roads lead to Damascus? This one to Grant’s place

H ow many people do you

know who have a roadside

sign erected, which informs the travel-

ling public that so-and-so lives here?

Maybe they are famous, or hold-

ers of extremely high office.

Perhaps even a pop star.

But in this case, how about a

quiet, law-abiding bloke who is fed up

to the back teeth with motorists ignor-

ing the “road closed” sign and becom-

ing stuck when they find a disused

bridge blocking their way, and the road

is so narrow, turning a vehicle around

requires more skill than many of the

drivers possess.

So Grant Chasling (inset), a

member of our Sub-branch, whose

home is the only one on the closed sec-

tion of road at Antigua, erected the sign,

at right.

Has it worked?

“No,” said Grant.

Seems that if a motorist is will-

ing to ignore a “road closed” sign,

they’ll equally ignore a sign that says

the road only leads to a bloke’s house.

RIGHT: The sign at the start of the road —

but very few take

any notice of it, says

Grant, pictured above.

The average person’s skin weighs twice as much as their brain. PAGE 5

T he death of Major Gen-

eral William 'Digger'

James, AC, AO (Mil), MC, MBE, on

October 22 last year did not receive

the coverage it truly deserved.

Digger James died aged 85 and

he packed at least two lifetimes into

those years.

A veteran of the Korean and

Vietnam wars, he was awarded the

Military Cross when he was a junior

officer with the 1st Battalion, The

Royal Australian Regiment, on the

chilly night of November 7, 1952.

During a night-time patrol, one

of his men stepped on a mine and the

shrapnel took down four soldiers,

including Lieutenant James, who lost

his left foot.

Disregarding his own serious

injury, he observed his primary duty

to look after his men first, and after

securing perimeters, he organised the

evacuation of them all, before, at his

insistence, he was rescued last, more

than three hours after the detonation.

The citation for his award read:

"The example set by Lieu-

tenant James and his leadership,

devotion to duty, self-sacrifice and

extreme fortitude when in great

personal distress was an inspira-

tion to members of his battalion."

Digger James resigned from

the Army in 1957 to study medicine at

Sydney University. He rejoined after

graduating and was commissioned as

a medical officer in 1964.

In Vietnam he was the OC of

8th Field Ambulance and the Senior

Medical Officer of the 1st Task Force.

From 1975-81 he was the Di-

rector of Army Medical Services.

RSL NATIONAL PRESIDENT

In retirement, he became chair-

man of the Australian War Memorial

and was the National President of the

RSL from 1993-97.

His name will live on, and

something else besides ...

For if you look closely at the

face of the mounted Digger at the

memorial in Canberra to the Austra-

lian Light Horse at Beersheba, it is the

face of Digger James.

When the sculptor was fash-

ioning his figures, who better to

model it on than "Digger", whose

craggy Australian face showed cour-

age and self-sacrifice, all in one?

Digger James: A salute to a truly great soldier

This month in history

MARCH

1941: March 11 — US President

Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease

Bill.

1942: March 8 — Japanese oc-

cupy Lae and Salamaua and land

in Rangoon.

1942: March 17 — General

Douglas MacArthur arrives in

Australia.

1953: March 6 — Soviet leader

Joseph Stalin dies.

1963: March 12 — Robert Men-

zies, Australia’s Prime Minister

is knighted by the Queen.

1966: March — Australia in-

crease its forces in SVN from a

battalion group to a Task Force

with two infantry battalions.

1972: March — North Vietnam-

ese troops invade South Vietnam

across the demilitarised zone.

1973: March — Last of the US

military forces leave SVN.

ABOVE: Digger James received a military funeral

PAGE 6 If a chameleon loses a fight, it turns grey. If it wins it turns green.

Henry Todd was a dinkum Anzac hero

H enry Todd was an An-

zac and was the uncle

of Tiaro RSL Sub-branch treasurer,

Bill Todd.

Henry was a “Jock” — a

Scotsman — born in the Glasgow

suburb of Govan on August 10, 1894.

By the time he was 15, Henry

was on the high seas, headed for Aus-

tralia with parents, James and Isabella

Todd, aboard the migrant ship, Wha-

katane, named after a New Zealand

town in the Bay of Plenty.

The voyage out to Australia

must have been quite an ordeal as the

Whakatane drew a great deal of criti-

cism during its voyages for the lack of

food on board — unless you had a

sizeable wallet — and the general

conditions aboard her.

SETTLED IN BRISBANE

But the Todd family survived

and settled in to a modest home in

Harriet Street in the West End of Bris-

bane.

Henry was good with his hands

and became a boat builder, working

for an uncle — Jock Campbell — in

the West End.

For some reason Henry heard

the call of the bugle and joined the 8th

Infantry Brigade in 1913 as a cadet.

In January 1915 he enlisted in

the AIF.

Within three months he had

two stripes on his uniform. On May

25, 1915 he arrived in Gallipoli as

1701 Cpl Todd of the 9th Battalion,

Australian Infantry.

Henry took part in the Battles

of Lone Pine, Quinn’s Ridge, the Nek

and many other battles against the

Turks.

His leadership skills saw him

sew on the third stripe on December

4, 1915 — the same day he was

evacuated from Gallipoli.

His next port of call was Lem-

nos and a month later he was again

watching the waters of the Mediterra-

nean splash by as he headed for Alex-

andria in Egypt.

After a month there he was

again on the seas, this time the desti-

nation was France.

During the Battle for Pozieres,

he was shot in the leg and spent al-

most two months recovering in a Ca-

nadian military hospital.

By February 1917 Sgt Todd

was dodging bullets and shrapnel in

the battles of Ligny-Thilloy.

On March 1917 he was pro-

moted to WO2 and made the Com-

pany Sergeant Major.

During the next hectic few

months WO2 Todd saw plenty of ac-

tion in the Battles of Langicourt,

Bullecourt, and Ypres.

His service records state he

was captured at Broodsinde Ridge,

but he was later involved in other bat-

tles. It can only be assumed that he

escaped from the clutches of the Hun.

Shortly before Christmas 1917

he was recommended for the award of

the Medaille Militaire for outstanding

leadership. He was killed before it

was awarded.

TIME, LUCK RAN OUT

Time and luck was running out

for Henry.

He was awarded the Distin-

guished Conduct Medal in June 1918

and two months later was fighting in

the battle for the Somme.

During the fighting Henry was

shot in the head and died on August

11 — the day after his 24th birthday.

He is buried in Grave 4, Sec-

tion A8 in the Daours War Cemetery

in France.

Henry Todd,

uncle of treasurer Bill Todd, was just 23 when he was

promoted to Com-pany Sergeant Ma-jor. He was 24 when he was awarded the Distinguished Con-

duct Medal. Two months

later he was wounded and died within three days.

PAGE 7 When medieval witches were burned, their families had to pay for the firewood.

13 years ago Australians went to war in Iraq

T he second Gulf War com-

menced on March 19,

2003, when the US-sponsored

“Coalition of the Willing”, compris-

ing the US, Britain and Australia,

went in search of Saddam Hussein’s

weapons of mass destruction, believed

to be hidden in Iraq.

No such weapons were found

but the regime’s links with terror

groups such as al Qaeda convinced

the allies they were doing the right

thing, even though not supported by

the UN.

In Australia there was debate

on whether or not putting Australian

boots on the ground was a sensible

move, but the troops went and Austra-

lians wished them a safe return home.

On the high seas, Australian

Capt. Peter Jones commanded coali-

tion naval operations in the northern

Persian Gulf.

In one notable success, a coali-

tion team based in HMAS Kanimbla

seized three tugs and a barge which

were preparing to lay mines to attack

coalition shipping.

The SAS were employed in

direct combat roles, with elements of

1 Sqn SAS entering Iraq on March 18.

It is possible these Diggers

fired the first shots of the war.

In western Iraq the SAS lo-

cated and destroyed launch sites for

Scud missiles, and on April 16 they

captured the huge Al Asad air base

west of Baghdad.

Off-shore, RAN clearance di-

vers worked in muddy waters, often

with zero visibility, and they located a

sunken minelayer with live sea mines

on board.

The clearance divers also

worked ashore checking booby traps

and helping British commandos clear

unexploded mortar rounds and rocket-

propelled grenades.

Our involvement ended on July

31, 2009.

More than 20,000 ADF per-

sonnel saw active service in Iraq as

part of Operation Catalyst.

A total of 40 Australians were

killed during the campaign, including

Cpl Cameron Baird, who was

awarded the Victoria Cross and the

Medal of Gallantry.

Australian wounded totalled

262 — 259 soldiers, two sailors and

one airman.

ABOVE: A foot patrol takes to the high ground on a rough track above a village.

ABOVE: Naval gunfire pounds an Iraqi target.

RIGHT: Austra-lian soldiers on

patrol in the Iraqi desert.

PAGE 8 A hibernating bear can go as long as six months without a bathroom break.

Looking to expand a hobby? Looking to learn carpentry or steelwork? Look no further. The Shed is looking for members.

Fees are just $25 a year and you will have access to machine-handling training, be fully

insured while on the premises and be part of a talented and friendly social group.

PHONE: 4129 2069AND TALK TO DENIS ABOUT JOINING, OR CALL IN AT 14

FORESTRY ROAD, BAUPLE, AND SEE FOR YOURSELF.

The Bauple Community Shed is one of the best in Queensland — in fact it is two sheds and has thou-sands of dollars worth of trade tools and equipment. Even if you have never held a plane, saw or welding torch in your life, the instructors at the Shed are waiting to show you how to become a competent do-it-yourselfer. Make your own furniture or toys, repair your car trailer or even make an exotic letterbox — the possi-bilities are endless at the Shed.

Laughs and thanks at annual lunch

The Christmas lunch was a great event with all the usual

festive fare, drinks and a few “Thank You’s”. Lillian Coyne and Don Jones cut the cake, and later in the day Cherie Chasling raised the tone — and quite a few laughs — with a witty ditty she had penned. A total of 28 members, partners and their guests attended the lunch.

STATE TAKES OVER PHONE

AND INTERNET SERVICES

T he Sub-branch’s Telstra and

internet accounts have been

taken over by the RSL State Branch.

The takeover occurred on New

Year’s Eve when State-appointed techni-

cians spent several hours at the hall, in-

stalling an extra line and revising the

systems.

It is expected that the takeover

could save the Sub-branch around $1,500

a year.

PAGE 9 Weight control. If you weigh 70kg on Earth, you’d weigh about 12kg on the moon.

Wannabe veteran loses appeal bid

I n what has to be one of the

most blatant cases of a

“wannabe hero” falsely claiming to be

a returned veteran and wearing more

medals than a North Korean general,

fake Vietnam veteran John Anthony

Hines had his bid to appeal his con-

viction tossed out of the Court of Ap-

peal last month.

Among the ridiculous claims

which brought this clown undone,

Hines told anyone foolish enough to

listen that he had secretly surveilled

former prime minister Harold Holt

and served in a so-called “deep-cover

special forces black ops unit” in Viet-

nam.

He claimed the super-secret

unit was called Military Assessment

Service Keep (MASK), and he had

carried out secret missions in Viet-

nam, Borneo, Mozambique, Cambo-

dia, Nigeria and Thailand.

The Chief of the Defence

Force had written to Hines asserting

that the Australian Defence Force

never had such a unit.

During the 2013 hearing in the

Brisbane Magistrates Court, it was

revealed that Hines’ total military

service was a spell in the Citizens

Military Force (now the Army Re-

serve) from 1963 to 1967 and did not

include any active service.

After his arrest following the

2012 Anzac Day march, Hines told

police he had served from 1966 to

1982 and had five or six missions in

Vietnam in 1968, 1969 and the early

1970.

He said his medals had been

presented to him in ”secret ceremo-

nies.”

Hines was photographed fol-

lowing the 2012 Anzac Day march in

Brisbane with his twin brother,

George, who had also taken part in the

march and who was also decked out

in a pseudo uniform dripping with

medals he had purchased and to which

he had no entitlement.

When experienced military

members closely inspected the photos

of the two men, they were unable to

identify several of the medal ribbons

and also noted that John Hines was

wearing an aiguillette which is nor-

mally worn by generals and aide-de-

camps.

In August 2013 John Hines

was convicted of falsely posing as a

returned soldier and wearing service

decorations he was not awarded.

The Court of Appeal dismissed

Hines’ appeal because he had not filed

any evidence to prove he was a mem-

ber of an elite army unit.

Hines had been attempting to

overturn a District Court decision

handed down on November 28, 2014.

BELOW: The Hines twins strut their fake medals in Brisbane in 2012.

LEFT: Wannabe hero John Anthony Hines in a photo taken after he marched with SASR soldiers in the 2012 Anzac Day parade in Brisbane. Experts were unable to identify several of the medal ribbons he was wearing. When wear-ing medals, medal ribbons are not worn other than unit awards.

Despite being found guilty of impersonat-

ing a returned sol-dier in 2013, John

Hines went seeking a publisher for a book he has penned on his non-existent

“secret agent service life.” He then

launched a bid to ap-peal his conviction.

The finest meats and small goods on the Fraser Coast are here in Tiaro

Tiaro Meats and Bacon is a proud supporter of the RSL

Fran and Nathan and their team guarantee their meats and products are always of the highest quality, which has made

Tiaro Meats and Bacon famous throughout the Fraser Coast and Queen-sland.

* Bulk orders

* Meat trays

* Retail and wholesale

* Hams, bacon, locally-made

small goods and sausages

Phone your order on 4129 2173

PAGE 10 According to sleep researchers, only about 5% of people dream in colour.

Red-clad clowns stood in for Santa

T here was some-

thing a trifle

dodgy about this Santa and his

burly elf helper when they

lobbed into Bauple just before

Christmas.

For a start, Donner,

Blitzen, Dasher and the other

reindeer had been given the

flick for a Honda trike with a

great deal more than reindeer

power.

And what happened to

Santa’s traditional white eye-

brows?

Closer inspection re-

vealed this Santa was a stand-

in — Bill Todd no less, and

that glaring elf was none other

than Merv McInnes who

claimed he was unable to

round up Santa’s team of rein-

deer, so opted for his trusty

trike.

The pair toured the

township, handing out lollies

during one of Bauple’s popu-

lar market days.

It’s not the first time

the dynamic duo have relieved

Santa of his local duties.

Even some of the little

ones responded with: “Thank

you Mr Todd,” when receiving

their lollies.

Even Merv’s glare

failed to deter the local young-

sters.

DISTRICT PRESIDENT DISMISSED FROM OFFICE

P resident of the Wide Bay

Burnett District RSL

Branch, Bill Taylor, was voted out of

office at a Special General Meeting

held in Gayndah on December 12.

The dismissal followed a motion

by Gayndah RSL Sub-branch that:

“Mr William Taylor, President

of Wide Bay and Burnett District

Branch, be removed from office pursu-

ant to Rule 24.3(a) of the District Con-

stitution for conduct unbecoming of the

position for which he was elected and

voting on this motion is to be by secret

ballot.”

An attempt had been made by

Gayndah Sub-branch to remove Mr

Taylor at the District General Meeting

held in Cooroy in mid-November, but

was told it had to be put to a Special

General Meeting on direction from

State Branch.

Gayndah claimed “lack of trans-

parency and disregard for members’

decisions” as the basis of its motion.

Mr Taylor unsuccessfully de-

fended his actions. The motion to dis-

miss him was passed by more than two-

thirds of the delegates in attendance.

Tiaro Foodworks: your one-stop shopping centre A long-time proud supporter of the Tiaro RSL Sub-branch

Tiaro Foodworks is the local shopping hub for a 30km radius. It is a one-stop venue selling a wide selection of groceries, newspapers and magazines, hardware, dairy produce, fresh vegetables and take-away foods. It also has its own well stocked Post Office. Competitive prices, friendly staff and plenty of parking are all part of the Foodworks’ service.

PAGE 11 Why was the shark in Jaws called Bruce? Stephen Spielberg named it after his lawyer.

Second BBQ was another winner

Anzac Day reminder

A nzac Day will

soon be on us

again.

As usual, the service

will commence at 6am and be

followed by a sausage sizzle

and gunfire coffee for mem-

bers and the public.

There will not be a

gunfire breakfast for members

this year.

Those member who

have been nominated at

wreath layers are asked to

pick up their wreaths before

the commencement of the

service.

Wreaths will be avail-

able at the foot of the southern

entrance steps into the hall.

In the week prior to

Anzac Day we will be con-

ducting our usual memorabilia

sale outside the Foodworks

supermarket. We need more

helpers there. PLEASE let the

secretary know if you can

help — PLEASE.

ABOVE: Merv McInnes in his Oz Day get-up. ABOVE RIGHT: Ken Gordon, member f rom Maleny, was the barbecue boss for the day. AT RIGHT: The group of members and guests who attended the Oz Day barbecue at Antigua.

PAGE 12 Ketchup was originally sold as a medicine.

405 Alice Street, Maryborough, Qld, phone (07) 4122 6666 Bar, lounge, restaurant, function room, 38-unit motel accommodation, room

service, free parking, drive-through bottle-shop, courtesy bus, swimming pool, wheelchair friendly, TAB, Keno, pokies. What more could you want? Maryborough’s number one family friendly pub. Why go anywhere else?

Reviewing the past year — a rewarding one

I n this Welfare Column I

look back on what we have

achieved over the past year since I

was privileged to be elected by you as

President.

As most of you would be

aware, I had health problems with the

Big C, but thanks to my doctors it is

now under control — as far as you

can control cancer.

The hospitalisation stole some

of the time I devote to welfare, but as

I was still able to handle a computer, I

managed to keep abreast of the paper-

work aspects while in hospital.

Later I dropped a lawn mower

on myself while unloading it from the

ute, but my wonderful wife stepped in

as chauffer for a couple of months

when I was unable to drive very far.

The Sub-branch has spent

more on welfare this year thanks to

the efforts of the great support group

which sells raffle tickets each Sunday

at the Carriers Arms Hotel.

The stalwart volunteers raised

roughly $12,500, of which $9,500 was

profit. A mighty effort.

We also received four grants

this year — a record I believe. Two

were from our District Branch, one

for a new PA system and the other for

a distressed veteran’s children. The

other grants were from State Branch

— for the repainting of the Sub-

branch hall ceiling and a welfare re-

fund..

We assisted local youth and

community groups to the tune of

$2,160 and spent a further $1,255 on

Anzac Day, Vietnam Veterans’ Day

and Remembrance Day activities for

the public.

According to the Activity Dia-

ries each volunteer keeps, sub-branch

members worked 3,238 hours of vol-

untary service and covered an amaz-

ing 18,365km using their own vehi-

cles on welfare travel in the past year.

Other members who for a vari-

ety of reasons were not able to volun-

teer their time, have made substantial

monetary donations to the Sub-

branch. I thank every member for

their support and look forward to

serving you again in 2016.

DON JONES’ WELFARE COLUMN

Don Jones OAM is the President and Pensions and Advocacy Offi-cer for Tiaro RSL Sub-branch (Inc)

L ong time member Ian

Roberts was voted in

as the new senior vice-president,

at the AGM, and Bill Louvel will

fill the junior vice-president va-

cancy. Auxiliary member Judith

Reid has been appointed to the

new slot of assistant secretary

with the aim of taking over the

secretarial position in 2017.

New vice-presidents,

assistant secretary