State Sections

President

Mrs Jan McFawn

93 Waroona Street

Youngtown TAS 7249

Email ijmacca@intas.net.au

Phone 03 6334 6813

Secretary

Mr Mike Turner

8 Bryan Street

Invermay TAS 7248

Email tas.devil@southcom.com.au

Phone 03 6331 5591

Sub Section Postal Address

c/- Sub Section Secretary

LAUNCESTON SOUTH SUB SECTION NEWSLETTER # 23 (October 2007)

Editor : Mike Turner

From the President

This year is going quickly and so far we have had a trip to Cradle Mountain Lodge for lunch and into Sheffield and Railton.

The next trip was to Legerwood where we stopped, looked, photographed & videoed the carved trees. For those who haven't seen them they are well worth seeing. The Pine trees were planted in memory of the local men who went off to the War, and as time went on the trees grew and started to die. But instead of cutting them down, they all have been carved and a plaque at the foot of each tree telling you the stories of the families. Then we went onto Branxholm Imperial Hotel for a pleasant lunch. The Juke box provided the music for all our dancers. Another highlight on the way was our Refreshment stop at the Scottsdale Park, even the Ducks joined us. Have a look at our Navy Log book where you will see the photos.

We have quite a bit on for the rest of the year, but we will endeavour to have another Bus trip before the end of the year.

We have had a guest speaker (Mr. Miller) who spoke on aviation

As we had our annual dinner last year combined with the State Conference, we have given our dinner a miss this year and decided to do the Tamar River Cruise on the Tamar Odyssey. The cruise will be on the 25^th August from 11am until 3pm Saturday afternoon. Three-course hot buffet lunch will be provided. As we have the boat to ourselves we have also been given a discount .Our Captain for the day will be Ian Baxter. The cost of the cruise is $40.00 a head for members and $50.00 a head for non-members. Numbers are limited so please pay at the August meeting. The cost of the cruise will be supplemented from our Can Collection and our Raffle. The raffle will be drawn at our August meeting. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people who donated to the Raffle.

On 8^th May a Dedication service for Navy Personal was conducted by National Vice President Scotty McNeil, when a Navy plaque was unveiled at the Cenotaph and blessed by Father Michael Delaney. Following on was the 65^th Anniversary of the Battle of Coral Sea. The address was given by Vice Admiral Ian MacDougall, and Maya Dietz represented the Consulate General of the United States. It was also nice to see Commodore Baird and his wife Phillipa attend.

On Friday 11^th May Charmaine and I attended the RSL Congress dinner, which was held in Launceston at the Grand Chancellor Hotel. I met the Minister Bruce Bilson and the new Veteran Affairs Deputy Commissioner Elizabeth Quinn. It gave me a chance to discuss a few issues that needed to be addressed.

And as you all know Charmaine and I attended the naming of the NUSHIP LAUNCESTON in Fremantle, it was also attended by MHR for Bass Michael Ferguson, the Mayor of Launceston Ivan Dean and his wife Ann and Neal Holdsworth (Ex crew member HMAS Launceston I) from Bruny Island. Mrs Elizabeth Koch youngest daughter of Colin Billett, ex crew member of HMAS Launceston I, named the ship LAUNCESTON. We were delighted to be part of this ceremony.

The commissioning of the Launceston will be held in Launceston or Beauty Point on Saturday 22^nd September. There will be the Reception at the Town Hall on Thursday 20^th night and the crew will be coming up to the RSL that night about 8pm. It would be nice if our members could go along and meet them that night .On Friday the crew have to rehearse for the ceremony with a Navy band and the Captain has invited our members to come along. We will be providing a Sausage Sizzle (just Sausages between Bread). So if you are interested in going to Beauty Point or Launceston wharf (where ever it may be) please let us know and we will organise a bus. There will be no alcohol as the crew will be on duty. They will show you over the ship throughout the day. Saturday will be the commissioning and Sunday Peoples Day. Then Monday it will leave.

State Conference will be held in Ulverstone 19^th, 20^th& 21^st of October,

I would like welcome our new members It is nice to see some of the younger members of the ex naval community coming along.

Thank you Bernard and Liz for organising the Melbourne Cup once again, and it is sold out. For those who aren't aware of this Bernard and Liz run this sweep each year. It costs $50.00 and can be paid monthly. First Prize is $700, Second Prize$200 and Third Prize$100. Last horse home pays $56, and every one receives two trifecta quick picks.

Once again I thank our committee -your support is greatly appreciated. I trust that 2007 will be a year of peace and happiness for all and I am confident that the sub section will continue to grow

"Each for All - All for Each"

Moss Lowe, President

From the Pension's Desk

It has been a busy time in our pension office as Brian Warren has been on the mainland touring.

Our client numbers have remained fairly steady for the year. Our workload included veteran's from World War 11, Vietnam, Gulf, East Timor, plus a larger influx of War Widows claims. Apart from preparing claims, we have represented veterans at the Veterans' Review Board and AAT with remarkable success.

Although the pension office is only open on a Wednesday, it is not unusual for one hour's office work to generate up to three hours follow up, with research and preparation for VRB and AAT cases which is very time consuming.

We also spend time talking to people giving what advice and information we can and spend a lot of time visiting veteran's in hospital, Nursing Homes or in their own homes.

We presented claims under the Veterans' Entitlement Act 1986, Military Compensation and Rehabilitation, MRCA which came in July 2004 which covers all those who served after that date.

There are changes to staffing in DVA Hobart due to the decreasing amount of claims they are receiving, with some departments within DVA now being controlled from Melbourne.

There are changes to the asset tests which come into affect on 20^th September 2007

The total cut off of pension is $800,000 in assets, but your pension will begin to reduce by $1.50 for every $1000 dollars over $236,500. Assets are Cash holdings, Cars, Boats, Furniture, Jewellery and Real Estate.

The home you live in is not counted as an asset.

Remember, if you or someone you know needs help, give Charmaine a ring to make an appointment.

Moss, Brian & Charmaine

BRING A MATE TO JOIN AND HELP SWELL OUR NUMBERS.

New members joining in August to October pay $17.50 for membership in calendar year 2007. Name tags cost $12.50. If you want one please contact ‘Our Treasure’, Jan McFawn, at a meeting or on 63446813.

Launceston South Sub-Section

The naming ceremony for the Armidale Class patrol boat LAUNCESTON was held at the Austal Ships Pty Ltd facility, Henderson WA on 28^th April 2007. A contingent of five from Launceston enjoyed traditional West Australian hospitality as well as being suitably impressed by the ceremony.

(L to R) LCDR Richard Stevenson (CO NUSHIP LAUNCESTON), Moss Lowe,

Ivan Dean, LEUT Blake Forrester (XO NUSHIP LAUNCESTON)

(L to R) Ivan Dean (Mayor of Launceston), Anne Dean, Moss Lowe (Sub-Section President),

Charmaine Lowe, Michael Ferguson (Federal Member for Bass)

The following article is based on articles in the Fleet Air Arm Association newsletter ‘Slipstream’ provided by Wally Batchelor, together with some Australian War Memorial website data.

Captain Percy Cherry VC, MC

Members Wally and Cliff Batchelor are justifiably very proud of their uncle Percy Herbert Cherry. (Cliff Batchelor and Bill Mulhall are our two members living in New Zealand). Their father came home badly wounded from WW I, then married and had five sons. Four were in the RAN, and the other in the Army.

Captain Cherry landed at Galipoli in September 1915. After being wounded on 1^st December 1915 he recovered in Egypt, and went to France as Commander, C Company, 26^th Battalion. He was posthumously awarded the Military Cross (MC) and Victoria Cross (VC), the VC for ‘most conspicuous bravery, determination and leadership when in command of a company detailed to storm and clear a village’ (Lagnicourt) on 26^th March 1917. Captain Cherry cleared the village of the enemy after all the other officers in his company had been wounded. The MC was for capturing two enemy machine gun posts (one single handedly) and turning the guns on the enemy. He was wounded at 0630, but refused to leave his post where resisted the enemy counter attacks and was killed at 1630.

Cliff, Yvonne and Rose (sister) travelled to France for the dedication of a room in a chateau at Lagnicourt which is now known as the ‘Captain Percy Cherry Room’. The dedication ceremony was quite an affair, and attended by the Baron and local dignitaries. Cliff unveiled a picture of Captain Cherry on a wall in a prominent place in the room.

Not far from the chateaux is a fenced area of ground, untouched since the battle. Inside this area is a mound of earth, also untouched, as the place where Captain Cherry and his men died when a German shell burst in their midst.

Captain Cherry’s medals are on display at the Australian War Memorial (AWM).

Local News

One of our members, Larry (Digger) Digney, is now the National President of the RAN Clearance Diving Association. Onya Larry!

At the Imperial Hotel at Branxholm they are still talking about how the pressing of a jukebox button sent some of our swingin’ ladies back into the sixties with great gusto.

(An unusual country pub- no barfly!)

The long awaited answer for Nuff Nuff Memorial Competition #3: Haysyack Point is on the west bank of the Tamar west of the Maritime College. There was no winner, mainly due to the normal complete absence of entries.

© The Naval Association of Australia