Radschool Association Newsletter

Radschool Association Newsletter - Vol 10

Next reunion - 27 April 2003

10 April 2002

Page 13

Totters.

Not so long ago we were on the Pacific Highway between Brisbane and Sydney, and we stopped at a little town called Uranga which is about 30 klms south of Coffs Harbour. For those that haven’t driven the coastal route for some time, it’s now time to give it a go as there has been a heap of work done on the road, and the Brisbane/Sydney coastal trip is now fast and enjoyable. The worst stretch is between Murwillumbah and Brunswick Heads, a stretch of about 30 klms, but once you get to Bruns it’s a good run, with heaps of passing lanes, divided roads, and a divided highway now from Taree right down to Sydney.

Anyway, when ever you go through Uranga, make sure you’ve got a few minutes to spare and stop at the fruit shop next to the Mobil servo on the right hand side going south because it’s owned by one time radtech Dave Tottenham. Totters, as he was known, did a stint in Vung Tau in 1969/70, then jagged a posting to Radschool as an instructor. Down there they found he really couldn’t do much so they gave him a commission, and posted him to ARDU where by the simple process of keeping out of trouble he eventually made Sqn Ldr. He was posted to AWA to oversee the manufacture of the sonobuoys, but as Totters puts it, "they knew what they were doing, so I left them to get on with it". (Trained by Nick Carter-obviously…). We wanted to know if he still had the bug eyed Sprite with the EH Holden motor, but he said that died ages ago.

Totters in Vung Tau, 1969.

Totters studied farming stuff during his last years as a RAAF Sir, and when he got out bought a farm in the Bellingen area of NSW (behind Coffs). Initially the farm grew bananas, and he kept at it for a few seasons, but as he says, there are just too many people growing bananas these days, and there is no money left in it. Some time ago he switched to avocados, which he says are a lot easier to grow, not as demanding to harvest and much easier to pack and transport and more importantly, you make more money out of them. He’s been there now for 6 years, and when we last spoke he had plans to put the business on the market as he reckoned it was time to take things a bit easier. He plans to keep the farm, jam in a manager, and head off overseas for a while to "bum" around the UK for a bit.

We believe he’s still there at present, so next time you’re on the highway, drop in and say g’day.

Official wine taster for the 2001 reunion dinner, Graeme Benthien, shown here sampling one of the red’s...."mmmmm - Good stuffff...."

"I'm always amazed to hear about people being so badly mutilated that they have to be identified by their dental records. What I can't understand is, if they don't know who you are, how do they know who your dentist was?"

Wayne Smith, Fred Young, Dave Muir-McCarey, Geoff Renshaw, Terry Houston and Col Aston at the reunion dinner.

Two blokes playing golf were at the 8th tee when a funeral went by on the road beside the course. One bloke who was just about to tee off stopped, removed his cap, and stood to attention while the hearse went by. The other bloke looked and said to his mate, "Mate! - That was the most reverent thing I’ve ever seen". The first bloke said "Yeah-but she was a good wife for 35 years, it was the least I could do".

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