Hon. Secretary’s Report – Late 2007 – February 2008

I am writing firstly to apologise to one and all, I thought I had written a report pre-Christmas but now I find to my dismay that I hadn’t. Just to keep you in the picture from my perspective, the dissertation that I am writing is a fairly complex task which takes up at least six to eight hours a day on a good day, much more when I hit problems which require confirmation and valid references. In this regard, many thanks to Frank Simmonds, Malcolm Baird, ‘Peter’ Peek, John Foster, Peter Blenkinsopp, Laurie Pegler ‘Blue’ Cardwell and John Atkins for the help provided thus far. And, for those of you out there that read this and feel neglected, don’t despair, your turn will come.

Anyone who has undertaken a complex task at TAFE or Tertiary level will understand fully the complexities of such a project. This is not made easier with people wanting information to assist them in their enquiries who are not members of the Association.

There have been two incidents recently in which my time was spent on matters that were ultimately time wasting exercises. To explain further, I have in the recent past had an enquiry from a person purporting to be a former member of the ship’s company of HMAS Sydney, claiming to have been onboard during the first voyage in May of 1965. Copies of his service documents were provided to me to verify this service, however, being the ever cautious person that I am I checked the dates and times as provided by this man. Yes, he had served on Sydney, undertaking RANR annual continuous training (ACT), which he then claimed was extended from the original 13 days to 73 days, which, if these times were correct, would have expired five days out-at-sea in transit to Vietnam. Needless to say, upon informing this person of this shortfall in times, and advising him that if they were incorrect, that Navy was the only department that had the authority to change the information contained in his service documents, I received no response.

At this juncture I would be prepared to suggest that the hand written 13 had been altered to read 73. From this it would appear that we have got our own form of ‘Wannabees’ which sickens me somewhat, especially after all the effort we had to go through in the past just to get recognition in the first place. I’m sure the Newsletter Editor would appreciate speaking to this person and others like him, if he ever surfaces again.

The second of these came from the female partner of a person who claims to have witnessed an accident on the flight deck of Sydney where a member of the ship’s company was doing handstands and fell down one of the lift wells and died as a result. The partner, in her wisdom, did not give me the name of the person making the enquiry, so I naturally thought that the surname given was the name of the sailor. This name did not appear on any of the crew lists or on the Nominal Roll of Vietnam Veterans, so I requested clarification. Behold another surname appeared, which was that of a former member of the RAN. When I finally found out when this incident was supposed to have happened, the ship was in Sydney. Therefore the person concerned would not have been entitled to claim for Repatriation Benefits, but may have been entitled to claim through Military Compensation and Rehab Services (MCRS). This person then asked for help to locate witnesses to this incident, and when he was given the detailed particulars of the ship’s doctor at the time, who I felt would have been deeply involved, I received no reply at all. Nor did I get a positive response to the suggestion that the person concerned might like join the Association before any further information or help was offered. I wonder why?

Moral to the story, the hard won recognition and benefits gained by a few are now enjoyed by the many that are entitled to them. To preserve the integrity of this Association and like minded organisations, I am always on my guard when I receive enquiries such as the ones above. I think the above two cases illustrate my thoughts on this matter quite clearly.

On a lighter note, had a marvellous Christmas break with the family and received quite a few cards from former shipmates. Thanks to all who took the time to pen a few words - encouragement is such a marvellous concept, and it’s a pity that it’s not used often enough. Having said this, I also note with some concern that the Patron has not communicated his views on our progress, and things concerning Veterans in general, for some considerable time now. I hope first and foremost that he is well, and if all is how it should be, that he finds time amongst his very busy schedule to ‘countenance, protect and give influential support’ to our Association in the not to distant future.

Sincere Regards to all

Dr. John R Carroll
09th February 2008