Around the Water Cart.

The contents of the former Swan Hill (Victoria) Military Museum went under the hammer on 11 and 12 March. Uniforms, swords and fighting knives were the most sought-after items in the 2,000 lots offered at auction by Albury Antiques and Collectables. A WW1 slouch hat fetched $750 and an Australian officer's uniform of the same age achieved $2,050. All items were sold other than the armoured vehicles, which are expected to be the subject of further negotiations. (Newsletter No 2/2000, Albury-Wodonga Branch.)

Pipe Major WO2 Alastair Cox of the Royal Victoria Regiment Pipes and Drums has advised Joe that the Pipes and Drums have been invited to perform at the Edinburgh Tattoo in August. All members are volunteers and will be contributing to their own airfares, but they require funding to refurbish both their uniforms and equipment and pay for insurance, a total cost of $40,000. All donations over $2 are tax deductible and cheques should be made payable to the Honorary Treasurer, Royal Victoria Regiment Pipes and Drums Assoc Inc, PO Box 233 South Melbourne 3205. The RVR Pipes and Drums is an Army Reserve unit, which was founded in 1899 and served with infantry regiments in both the 1st and 2nd AIF.

The Museums Australia National Conference will be held in Canberra on 23-25 April 2001. A special forum to be held on Anzac Day will focus on the significance of military history within the Australian museum collections. More info at: http://www.museumaustralia.org.au

Among the valuable things turned up in the Great Search for memorabilia for possible use in the TV series Australians at War (`Water Cart', December 1999) is a BBC recording of an interview with four crew members of a Sunderland, `N for Nuts', in 1943. The crew were members of 461 Squadron, known as the Anzac Squadron, and were interviewed following an action over the Bay of Biscay on 2 June 1943 in which their aircraft was attacked by eight German JU-88s. Items are still being sought (for study and filming only and return to owner). Contact Department of Veterans' Affairs Documentary Project Team on 13 3254 for the cost of a local call. (Vetaffairs, Journal of the Department of Veterans' Affairs, March 2000).

A privately published book which provides valuable information about the living conditions and training of members of the AIF in WWI, particularly the 6th Battalion, is Thoughts of a Soldier in two World Wars and Peace by Consett Carre Riddell, DSO. Published in 1999 by his son, it includes his father's letters, photographs, diagrams and drawings from WW1 and some lectures and speeches Lt Col Riddell gave during WW2. Privately published by Dr John Carre Riddell in Melbourne. (Newsletter, May 2000, Royal Historical Society of Victoria).

Interested in a full list of the Field Marshals of the British Army from January 1736 (George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney, KT)) to 15 March 1994 (Sir Peter Inge, Baron Inge, GCB)? There is one in an article by our member Ralph Sutton, LVO in Despatches, Journal of the Military Historical Society of NSW, January-March 2000. In March 1995, the British Ministry of Defence decided that the `five star' rank of field marshal and its equivalent in the other services would be suspended. The current British CDF, General Sir Charles Guthrie, GCB LVO OBE ADC was not promoted on being appointed. Sir Thomas Blamey GBE KCB CMG DSO (1 January 1950) was our only Field Marshal. His Imperial Majesty Hirohito, Emperor of Japan, KG GCB GCVO (26 June 1928) was stripped of his field marshal rank when Japan entered WW2.

Judith Pugsley of 22 Kathleen Parade, Picnic Point, NSW, 2213 is trying to locate the WWI medals of her grandfather: 4810A Richard Joseph Plum (Vetaffairs, March 2000).

Albury-Wodonga Branch member Bob Matejcic has delivered to a Branch meeting his review of The Silent Men by Peter Dornan. This book deals with the experiences of 7 Section, 9 Platoon, 2/14th Battalion, said to be the most highly decorated section in British Commonwealth history: one VC, one DCM and four MM. Training at Puckapunyal, fighting the Vichy French in Syria and Lebanon and later the Japanese on the Kokoda Track, and at Gona, are all covered. The title refers to the fact that the soldiers did not talk about their experiences (even to family) until 1955. At $25 and with a foreword by Sir Roden Cutler, VC, the book received Bob's recommendation. (Newsletter No 1/2000, Albury-Wodonga Branch).

C Vernon of Paynesville, Victoria, telephone [phone] seeks information on the history of 107 Howitzer Battery, 7th Field Artillery Brigade in WWI. His father, Charles Vernon, served with the 107th from May 1916 to May 1920. (Vetaffairs, March 2000). (If any member has a copy of John Burridge's 1980 reprint of the history of 7th FAB, you might like to help Mr Vernon: Joe.)

A new book in the Australian Army History Series is The Other Enemy by Glen Wahlert. Subtitled `Australian Soldiers and the Military Police', it covers the history of the provosts from the origins of the Provost Marshal in the colony of New South Wales, through the formation of the Anzac Provost Corps in 1916 and up to the end of WW2. Hard cover, 256pp, $39.95 retail. (Newsletter of the Queensland Branch, January-February 2000.)

Mr Gilbert Bell of Sunshine, Victoria has been given a large mounted photograph of 20 men captioned `E Coy VMR serving in South Africa 1899-1900'. If any member knows any of the men or is interested in having the photograph, contact Mr Bell on 03 9311 4103. The names listed are Privates Killen, Hennessy, Crosbie, Kitson, McCauley, Morley, Lydiard, Clements, Williams, Pinder, Veall, McFarlane, Wallace, Mallett and Rennie. Also L/Sgt V J Hennessy, Bugler Pleasants, Chaplain (Major) Wray, Corporals Savage and Morrison. (Vetaffairs, March 2000).

Our recent East Timor involvement has caused the media to recall the operations of the 2/2nd Independent Company, 2/40th Battalion and 2/4th Pioneer Battalion during WW2. Not much has been said about the other two services in Timor. HMAS Voyager was lost on the south coast of Timor on 23 September 1942 while carrying out resupply missions. Her crew were rescued by HMAS Warrnambool and HMAS Kalgoorlie without loss of a man. When en route to Timor to repatriate 2/2nd Independent Company, HMAS Armidale was attacked by Japanese aircraft and sunk with heavy loss of life. RAAF Hudsons on Nos 2 and 13 Squadrons did much to sustain the operations of the Timor force, supplemented later in 1942 by No 31 Beaufighter Squadron. Nos 2 and 13 Squadrons' work in the critical period between April and August 1942 was recognised by the award to each squadron of the United States Presidential Unit Citation. (Newsletter of the Queensland Branch, January-February 2000.)

Circle the wagons! An enquirer, who is familiar with the Australian GS wagon MKX, first trialled by the Australian Army in 1910, is seeking a description, specification or detailed drawing of another four-wheeled wagon, also described as GS and appearing in many War Memorial photographs (eg, AWM HO 2683). This wagon is quite different from the MKX. It has long, continuous single-piece standards that are not vertical but curve outwards to support both the angled sides of the wagon and the raves (No. Not the things you get on Friday nights. These are the rails above the sides of the wagon. Joe.). The raves are not demountable as in the MKX. Would any member able to help with detail of this wagon contact R F Hadlow of Kingston, ACT, telephone [phone]. (Vetaffairs, March 2000).

At the end of WW1, Australian Flying Corps (AFC) members in the United Kingdom departed for home in HMAT Kaisar-I-Hind on 6 May 1919 and 1 Squadron AFC left Port Said for Sydney and other ports on board HMAT Port Sydney on 5 March 1919. An interesting short history of the AFC from 1912 and of the AFC elements in the UK between 1916 and 1919 is `Australian Flying Corps Leaves the United Kingdom' by Gerald Weingarth. The first part of this long article is in Despatch, the journal of the Military Historical Society of New South Wales, January-March 2000).

Neil Smith of our Victorian Branch is working on a project to establish a comprehensive list of Australians who served in the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. He says that related records are incomplete and in some cases corrupt. One Naval Brigade man said to have served in the Maori Wars was not even born in 1864. Neil would be grateful for any information from members: Neil Smith fax/tel [phone] or [e-mail] (Despatches, Victorian Branch Newsletter, March 2000).

Noel W Taylor in New Zealand is seeking information on the 2nd Battery, Rhodesian Field Force (RFF) in the Boer War. He says that this battery was formed by soldiers from Australia, New Zealand (the 1st Battery was entirely New Zealanders) and the Imperial Yeomanry; the first BC was Major Paris, Royal Marine Artillery. If anyone can assist, contact him at 49 Wyoming Avenue, Murray's Bay, Auckland, NZ. (Despatch, Journal of the Military Historical Society of New South Wales, January - March 2000).

The correct Internet addresses for web sites about the Boer War (Water Cart, December 1999) are:

Australian War Graves in South Africa 1899-1902: http://www.hagsoc.org.au/sagraves

The Boer War Nominal Roll: http://www.pcug.org.au/~croe/oz_boer.htm (Correction issued by DVA in Vetaffairs, March 2000).

One of the crew of the Enola Gay, Major Thomas Wilson Frerebee, died recently at the age of 81 years. The Enola Gay's pilot, Brigadier-General Paul Tibbets, had hand-picked Ferebee for his crew and called him, `the best bombadier who ever looked through the eyepiece of a Norden bomb site'. Ferebee's death leaves only four surviving members of the crew which dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. They are: Tibbets, navigator Ted Van Kirk, weapons officer Morris Jeppson and radio operator Richard Nelson. (Courier Mail, 18 March 2000)

Some more tidbits from the Victorian Branch Despatches for March 2000:

* HMAS Castlemaine. The corvette/minesweeper, built at Williamstown, Victoria in 1941-42 has been restored as a floating museum at Williamstown. Telephone [phone] for details.

* RAF Station Yatesbury in Wiltshire, England has been purchased by an enthusiast and will again be used a museum and vintage aircraft base.

* A hat similar to our Hats KFF was worn in the Middle East by a British unit known as the Commandero, said to be a `British version of the French Foreign Legion'. (A new one on Joe! Anyone know any more about this unit?: Joe).

* This issue of Despatches contains an extract from a colour feature in The Argus (Melbourne) of 11 April 1942 illustrating badges such as the Reserved Occupations Badge, Female Relatives Badges for WW1 and WW2 and the badge issued to civilian war workers proceeding overseas from Australia in WW1.

* A commemorative medal will be issued in 2000 to recognise those men and women who have achieved in Australian sport, either as athletes or as part of the support base. Designs for the medal and ribbon have been submitted to the Prime Minister for approval.

And finally, for your interest, a few new and old books:

[check] Major and Mrs Holt's Battle Map of Gallipoli. Comprises 1 peninsula map with 3 detailed battlefield maps. Index, war cemeteries and battlefields shown. New. $15.50.

[check] Kokoda to the Sea. F Sublet. A history of the 1942 campaign in Papua. Slouch Hat Publications. 2000. 192pp. Illustrations & maps. HC. $45.00.

[check] The Forty-First. Being a record of the 41st Battalion AIF during the Great War 1914-1918. Reprint. $50.00

[check] Russell's Despatches from the Crimea 1854-1856. Bentley N (Ed) H&W New York 1966. 287pp. Slight tears otherwise good condition. $25.00

[check] Now Thrive the Armourers. Story of action with the Gloucestershire Regiment in Korea November 1950-April 1951. Holles R O George Harrap, London, 1953 (reprint). 176pp, illustrated, HC. $30.00

All the above from K R White Books, Tuggeranong, ACT, telephone [phone].