Radschool Association Newsletter

Radschool Association Newsletter - Vol 10

Next reunion - 27 April 2003

10 April 2002

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David Muir-McCarey at Amberley Airmans Mess

A completely bemused Dave Muir-McCarey (right) after being served in the Airmans’ Mess at Amberley, March 2001-and all for about $4.00. Geoff Mayhew centre trying to decide whether to have the chicken paella or the bacon and mushroom risotto while John Broughton (left) is thinking, "Now if I ran bus loads of pensioners through here, charged them all $15.00 a head for all they could eat, I’d make a bloody fortune….."

Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog.

One of our recent competitions caused a few to get stuck in with a vengeance. Seems not too many agreed with our date for the change over from the old to the new Alfa Bravo Charlie stuff, and didn’t waste any time letting us know. We reckoned it was in 1966, but nearly everyone reckoned it was heaps before that.

We had a letter from Don Newmann who now lives west of Brisbane and who was on 10Sigs course at Ballarat early in 1954, and he reckons it was in before that and he’s still got his Radschool notebooks to prove it. We got our information from the RAAF’s Power Studies Centre book titled "The RAAF in the War in Vietnam" which on page 21 quotes a Major General John Hartley (Army though) who said that while he was at Holsworthy in 1966 in training prior to heading off to Vietnam, "The phonetic code for radio procedure changed, probably for the first time in about 50 years to Alfa Bravo Charlie". Fact of the matter is, we really don’t have a bloody clue, but Bob Bocos won’t give the bottle of bubbly back, so it looks like the result will have to stand and the change over date will have to remain one of life’s little mysteries.

Don also said that from Feb 1969 to Feb 1970 he was in Phan Rang with 2Sqn as an Intelligence Officer where he and two other blokes spent their time in a concrete bunker. He said he and his mates worked a roster where they spent 12 hours on and 24 hours off and they only saw daylight every 3 days.

Bob Bocos, Gill Lunn and Keith Fletcher sharing a coldie at the reunion dinner.

Fred Young, Bob Maney and Geoff Mayhew at the reunion dinner. These 3 blokes were on 21 Appy and hadn’t see each other since graduation in 1969.

The Aussie's "home" in Phan Rang in the late 60's

John Elliot, one time RAAF Telstech, hard at it in Phan Rang back in 69-70. Note the mandatory National R100 "short-wave" receiver on the wall, ideal for keeping up with the news from Radio Aust..

How would you like to ask an Admiral if he was a dill!!! - Boy!

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