DUTY CALLS

7 August 2023

PREAMBLE

Many years ago, Winston Churchill, the then Prime Minister of the British Isles, said, “Hence, we will not say that Greeks fight like heroes, but that heroes fight like Greeks" Winston Churchills statement could well apply to all those Australians who have worn the uniform of Australia and taken up arms against an aggressor.

As an Australian of Greek heritage, it was important to me to demonstrate that those of us who embraced Australia and its values, did so by putting our life on the line. What more could be asked of us but to enlist in the armed forces and contribute to the security of the nation that had become our home.

My ancestors all wore the uniform of their birth and they too up arms against nations that invaded and occupied their homeland. Why should I and others like me be any different.

MEMORIES

I remember a time back in 6 RAR when our much beloved and revered Commanding Officer Tony (The Hat) Hammett spoke to us about his vision for the Battalion.

"The best form of entertainment I can provide is training and more training as I intend to leave this battalion in the best possible position for battle"

To a young bloke like myself, training in the jungle was something I always looked forward to. It may have been tough but we revelled in it and we felt we were contributing and doing our bit for Australia. 

As time moved on I, like my brothers found that the more training we did, the highly skilled we became and without blinking an eyelid we knew how each of our brothers in our section would react.

TRAINING 

Realistic training was the key to entertainment of a soldier. To assist the "Boss" (CO) was that wise, crafty, wiley and very knowledgable "Warrie" George Mansford.  I first met George ("Warrie") back in 1RAR where we experienced his devilish military craft on Basch, Byrne and Berry exercises. 

These training exercises were just merely preparing us for the humungous real life jungle  training experience a bloke was going to get if they had to go to battle. 
 (That story - Treble Change can be be located at: 

 https://abalinx.com/blog/a-jurassic-journey-into-the-wilds-of-papua-new-guinea/)

On reflection, Treble Change was the most toughest and arduous training we had ever undertaken. Battle hardened veterans of at least three wars admitted to us young blokes that it was the toughest they had ever endured. The 1 RAR website has the training classified as "Treble Charge" which is totally incorrect despite attempts to change it to its correct name.

Many years later when we visited the mentor of our youth; "Warrie" George Mansford in Cairns; he admitted that he and the CO LtCol "Blue" Hodgkinson and the legendary RSM - Jack Currie had to devise a training programme to test our skills.  

This was done because they knew we would not be returning  back to Vietnam as a Battalion. Only a few from our Battalion got a guernsy to go as guards to the Australian Embassy in Saigon.  Two mates I enlisted with got a guernsy to Vietnam and I was gutted so I tried even harder.

Others such like myself were selected for Singapore/Malaya where our jungle skills and battle craft were again tested. Yes our new brothers in 6 RAR wanted to see for themselves if we were up to the standard expected. We were indeed.

SECOND MALAYSIAN EMERGENCY

It was the luck of the draw, a guernsy to Vietnam or Singapore/Malaya. The funny part of it all was that those who were selected for Singapore/Malaya were originally posted to go to the Battalion programmed to go to Vietnam. I still have a copy of that posting order with all of our names on it.

Those of us who were deployed to Malayasia in the Seventies during the Second Malaysian Emergency did so in the knowledge we were going to War. A war that Malaysia and New Zealand recognised and acknowledged, but by our own nation we called home - Australia. 

As veterans of that period we are now struggling to be acknowledged and recognised as such. The Second Malaysian Emergency was a war like no other and difficult to understand. Our role was to patrol, guard the assets at Butterworth in Penang, Malaysia and to repel and take evasive action if the need arose. 

When those times did come, we as Australians, who were highly trained rose to the occasion. Today, some fifty years later we who are left are still seeking to be acknowledged that the Second Malaysian Emergency was an active zone. 

For the sake of insurance organisations, it was not declared a war as such and to this day has been  categorised other than a hostile environment.  (Shame on the Department of Defence). We expected better.

Later other chaps got the opportunity to serve overseas without seeing action or firing a shot in anger. Some would go on peace keeping postings in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Balkans or train with other nations. 

Not all were recognized as being on active service despite the difficulties and challenges they faced. However, I never heard them bitch or moan to their brothers in arms. They did what they were supposed to do and just got on with the job.

As history is the recorder of such poltical trivia, we all know the story that the Labor Government winning the election in early December 1972, a time when many National Servicemen just packed their bags and left.

It would take days to track them down so that they can sign the appropriate documentation and separate legally from the Australian Defence Force. 

We lost many fine soldiers when they left and very soon our ranks thinned to the point where instead of nine battalions we were reduced to six battalions.

1 RAR, 2/4 RAR, 3 RAR, 5/7 RAR, 6 RAR and 8/9 RAR.  We were not happy chappies I can tell you. It got worse later when Fraser blocked supply and Whitlam was dismissed by the Governor General Kerr.  

We did not know if we were going to be paid, training programmes reduced, families wondering how they were going to survive, there was no ammunition for live firing, petrol was to be rationed and there was certainly very upset and confused soldiers and of course their families.

Still our "DUTY FIRST" attitude kicked in and we just soldiered on as if nothing had happened. No one went AWOL, discipline was fine and we went about our responsibilities as normal until the political issues were resolved.

It has been alleged that certain elements of the Australian Defence Force had contemplated taking the "law" into their own hands regarding the government over its political difficulties.

It was not long after these alleged activities occurred that each battalion found itself with new members. (Readers can draw their own conclusions who these elite soldiers were.) These members were highly skilled and battle tested soldiers who had guernsys of Borneo and Vietnam. 

We in the battalions therefore benefited from their experience and as such honed and enhanced our own individual battle craft, military knowledge and survival skills. Many of these men have since passed away but their legend still lives on.

All these blokes who had been given gurneys to serve overseas and experience a two way range always passed on their military experiences onto us young blokes.  Not once did they put us down, intimidate us or tell tall "warrie" stories to big note themselves.

Everyone of them would advise us that they were hard on us because they did not want us to make the errors of the past or make wrong decisions that would bring about the demise of a brother.

Yes our Non Commissioned Officers and Warrant Officers were tough on us, but we knew why they were hard on us and the more we trained the better soldiers we became.

Best, Jock (  ), Hollingdrake, Barlow, Islaub, Hardless, Guest, Grabowski, Spain, Stammers, Eiby, Wasiu, Husband, Ellis, Mott, Grant-Smith, Tolley, Patrick, Aitkenhead, Robinson, Daniels, Greaves, Bascai, Rosemond, Anderson, Thomas, Buttigieg, Adams, Chislett, Phillips, Crummy, Morgan, Dalton-(USA Ranger), Currie, French,, Roberts, Tremble, Chandler, Pollock, Richardson, Strong, Franks, Goodwin,  Todd, and many, many others of the same ilk.

Proud to have served with each and everyone of them. I would not have survived if it was not for the likes of them. They made us feel special and as such its incumbent upon me not to let them down, long after I shed the uniform of Australia. 

What we did get from the "old timers" at times, was "Get a bit of time up". However this was in response to some bloke who was playing up or made out that he knew better.

When serving with 1 RAR and 6 RAR,  I met some brilliant soldiers who did not earn a guernsy overseas and yet I would have them in my fighting pit and go to war with them any day.  Many of the National Servicemen along with their Regular Army mates did not get the opportunity to deploy during their service, yet they were just as brilliant operatives as those that deployed overseas.

In 1 RAR there were blokes like Norris, Pratt, Stephens, Bryson, Leeder, Marshall, Pring, Payne, Youll, Arena,  McCausland, Gleason, O'Leary, Hume, Green, Olsen, Connelly, Dyce, Bishop, Tucker, Bere, Andrews, Bolitho and others too numerous to name; all of whom were brilliant soldiers in their own right.

In 6 RAR, there were the likes of Blossom, Eather, Pike, People's, Florence, Black, Fitton, Fallow, Sentence, McIver, Hume, Cahill, Barber, Luik, Piggot, Whitrod, Fogarty, Kelleher, Barrett, Tyler, Kinsella, George, Armstrong, Bruno, Caruana, Balsarini, Fox, Chandler and a host of other far too numerous to remember. Men who were magnificent soldiers who were the epitome of the original ANZACS.

Then there were other blokes who took it to heart when they saw their mates get a guernsy and they did not. After all they had done the same time and training. But they were below the age allowed to go overseas. Sadly they died early in life.

My Reservists mates are numerous as the stars and I owe much to them throughout my military career. Far more than people can imagine. They have in recent years proven on many occasions the equal of their Regular Army colleagues and as the ARA cadre we depended on them as they did on us.

As for the officers, I have paid tribute to them elsewhere in other stories. I have been very, very fortunate to have served with the best of the best. However despite a few officers being named, this article is mainly my tribute to the Other Ranks and I have added but a few that trained alongside us and shared the life of a soldier.

CIVILIAN LIFE

Later in life when I found the courage to separate from myself from my family of brothers and sisters I entered a world where the values of "Duty First" did not exist. 

With four young sons to raise alone, I wondered how we we would survive.  Still, the Duty First and never give up attitude kicked in and we moved with some degree of confidence.

I found that society on the outside was a different world, a world where we ex-service personnel felt unwanted and ostracised. Civilians lacking understanding of service personnel knowledge and skills would shun us or belittle our service as not being relevant in the world of work.. 

I would even go as far as to state that they feared ex-service personnel based on their own misconceptions and negative attitudes towards anyone military. Many seeking employment would attempt to hide their military service in order to get a job.

It would take some time for us to regain our equilibrium and find our true calling post military service. However over time life on the outside became much easier once we found the right balance. Not an easy transition for some especially if they did not have an established network of friends and family to call upon.

VETERANS ATTACKED

There was only one case of a civilian who should have known better. A highly educated bloke who never wore the Australian uniform accused me of saying I had gone to Vietnam. When I reacted angrily to such untruths this fool changed his story and said that I had said I had gone to Iraq which I was too old for such service.

He later apologised for his actions when faced with defamation action. Why this incident was worse is because, I had never met him in my life and it was plastered all over social media. He and I are now friends after some time of reflection on his part.

This was a once off attack deliberately planned with two others who had a grudge and used him to defame me. Not one of them had served the nation. All three unfortunately had the same ancestral background as myself.

MEDIA JUDGE JURY & EXECUTIONER

We have in recent years been subjected to reading about our soldiers being investigated, judged and humiliated by a hungry news media. If allegations are made. Then those allegations should be submitted to the proper authorities, the Department of Defence, not for the news media to decide the outcomes.

Although I just couldn't care less what they said as it demonstrated to me at least that they had personal issues of self and grandstanding in front of others.

On the other hand, I must add that some (not many) ex-service personnel having lost their military status tended to put down or diminish the military career of another ex-service members merely by pointing to the absence of a guernsy on a two way range.

In most cases it would happen at functions, RSLs' ex military gatherings, work and of course the many watering holes that men would go seeking solace from the stresses of the day.

I found this type of behaviour worse by the civilian population who did not know any better. I have met a few blokes who would size you up and make judgements on how many overseas guernsys you had by the medals you wore. All mine are locked away in my safe at home). I am not interested in judged by medals alone. I know full well value and contribution to the nation

To those who judged us, It mattered little to them how much service you had or where you had served and what role you served. All that they cared about was whether you had a guernsy or not. This was a pity when you have served the nation and ready to put ones life on the line.

I would laughed at some blokes who questioned me,  whether I had gone to war. When I answered in the negative they would say that you don't know what its like to be a "real" soldier. Another example is of Wannabe individuals we met from time to time.

Well my response to such blokes was: "You did the same training, served in virtually similar units, travelled throughout Australia, wore the same uniform, lucky to get a guernsy overseas, did your job like we were all trained to, came back safely and you got your medals. What's your problem?"

WANNABE HEROES

I write about Wannabe heroes, because they must be exposed for who they are. At the time of writing  there is one fool, an alleged war correspendent who did go to Somalia, Rwanda and other hostile environments with our infantry battalions. To his credit, he did contribute to photographing our soldiers for military magazines and news media, which no one can take that away from him.

BUT, then made a huge error of judgement by big noting himself how he wonderful he was and for being deployed. Furthermore, he would rubbish Aussies that were not able or not selected for deployment to hostile environments. 

When questioned about his military service, he became coy, defensive and then aggressive as well as abusive. He would display photos of himself in military attire with weapons and of well known military personnel. Last of all when cornered, he would write that he could not state anything else on the grounds that his lips were sealed.

ERRORS OF JUDGEMENT

As far as I was concerned, those blokes who used their military guernsys as a means of raising their stature to demonstrate how good they were, failed in my eyes. An ANZAC warrior brother did not go on about his guernsy or how good he was. No a good warrior will shun the limelight preferring to remain anonymous and return to normal society. Fortunately they were in the minority and I lost respect for them forever more.

For those of us who did not get a guernsy on a "two way range", well we had other military experiences and challenges. We continued to train the next generation of ANZAC warriors. 

COLD WAR & A NEW GENERATION

I always take heart in the knowledge that it was my generation that won the Cold War and my generation responsible for training the generations succeeded us.  They all went on making us proud serving the nation where ever they were deployed. Whether it was within Australia or abroad, it mattered little, for they did us proud.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/661094067688525/permalink/1610604339404155/?mibextid=2JQ9oc

A number of our mates were fortunate to re-enlist, rise up through the ranks and onto officer status with a guernsy to exotic places. A couple earned their guernsey via the Army Reserve which was truly an achievement given their age.

A generation whose guernsys included: Iraq, Solomon Islands, Cambodia, East Timor, Somalia, Rwanda, Malaysia, Rhodesia and Afghanistan.  They went on to make us proud.

That includes all the reservists who got a guernsy overseas and did what they were trained to do. No more would others deride the Reservists or look upon them as a "chocos" or part time/weekend warriors. 

They proved yet once again that like the 39th Battalion band of brothers (WW2) that they were worthy of being called ANZAC warriors.

Next time you meet someone who has served the nation, respect and acknowledge their service. There is more to them than meets the eye.

VETERAN SUICIDES

I am always at a loss when I hear, read or advised of another veteran taking their lives. Although I am no stranger to have had mates suicide, I could not fathom what has driven them to take their own lives. We as a society need to re-evaluate our values and see whether the paradigms of a bygone era can be improved to put a stop to suicides.  Let's not put such matters under the carpet hoping no one will notice the bumps in those carpets. 

It is important to note that, we train our men and women for war, yet we fail to retrain, re-educate them to return to society. A society that's alien to them.  I also believe that society needs to be better informed, what to expect of veterans when they separate from the military. Let us hope that the current Royal Commission chaired by Kaldas produces outcomes that will put a stop to veterans suicide.

HANZAC MEMORIAL.

Having reached this far, one can understand now why the Hellenic ANZAC (HANZAC) Memorial was created in my place of birth: Pellana, Laconia, Greece. I did not create it alone, but with hundreds of donations from very dear friends of military and non military status.  I thank them all for their generosity. This memorial has never been about me, but a tribute to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice and to those who trained and mentored us.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/661094067688525/permalink/1579446955853227/?mibextid=2JQ9oc

For those that do not know.  Apart from my family, I have dedicated the remaining years of my life to writing about mates. Not only about those I have served in the military, but as well as those who I have the honour of working with in my civilian capacity. Mates who have touched me deeply as mates only know and can understand. The word mates includes all genders.

Cheerio for now. Stay strong always, never give up, fight the good fight and never have fear as a companion.

TRAINING LOCATIONS DURING SERVICE

We who have served the nation we all call home: Australia have worn its various uniforms with pride. As such our family of brothers and sisters has grown exponentially.   No disrespect to my brothers and sisters.

1.   Rainbow beach FNQLD

2.   Tin Can Bay QLD

3.   Shoal Water Bay FNQLD

4.   Tully FNQLD

5.    Raspberry Creek FNQLD

6.    Northam WA

7.    Puckapunyal VIC

8.    Kapooka NSW

9.    Ingleburne NSW

10.  Wacol QLD

11.  Grampians VIC

12.  High Range FNQLD

13.  Atherton Tablelands FNQLD

14.  Colac  VIC

15.  Lae PNG

16.  Finschshaeven PNG

17.  Paluda MALAYSIA

18.  Kota Bharu MALAYSIA

19.  Penang MALAYSIA

20.  South West Australia WA

21.  Singapore  SINGAPORE

22.  Gippsland  VIC

23.  Winton QLD

34.  Enoggera QLD

35.  Townsville FQLD

37.  Innisfail FQLD

38.  Williamstown VIC

39.  Greenbank QLD

40.  Williamtown NSW

41.  Wales UK

42.  Karakatta  WA

43.  Watsonia VIC

44.  Geelong VIC

45.  Albury  VIC

46.  Canungra QLD

47.  Crete GREECE

48.  Athens GREECE

49.  USA

50.  Lankowie Island MALAYSIA

51.  Hawaii USA

52.  West of Ingleburne  NSW

53.  Katherine NT

54.  Katanning WA

55.  Albany  WA

56.  Collie  WA

57.  Ballarat VIC

58.  Melbourne VIC

59.  Enoggera QLD

60.  Pulada MALAYSIA

61.  Johur Bharu MALAYSIA

62.  Uinted Kingdom

63.  Black Forest VIC

64.  Gippsland VIC

65.  Sydney NSW

NOTE: The original article written on the 7 August 2019 was titled "GUERNSYS DO NOT MAKE HEROES"

Special mention to Tom (Deceased), Ray, Larry,  Clinton, Sandra (Deceased), Chris, and many, many others confronting their challenges. Hang in there, please don't give up for you are not alone.

Peter Adamis

Freelance Journalist