Radschool Association Newsletter

Radschool Association Newsletter - Vol 6

31 Aug 2000

Page 5

Another photo from Doug Pankhurst's collection. (left to right) Ray Morris, Nigel Stevenson, Roger Durbridge, Geoff Gleeson, Ian MacArthur and Brian Napper, all 20 Appy blokes, shown here en Camp at Ocean Grove in 1966

Ocean Grove

Each year, the Radschool Appies would spend their Easter holidays at the small Victorian beachside resort of Ocean Grove which is situated on Bass Strait, on the western side of the entrance to Port Phillip Bay. Normally they would spend the day at RMIT, but as it was closed for the break, the RAAF would "treat" the brats to a few days "at the beach".

Some of 20 Apprentice Course at Ocean Grove in 1966

To get to Ocean Grove from Laverton, you travel down Geelong Rd, through Geelong, and then out towards Barwon Heads-about 1½ hours on the bus. Each year the 1st and 2nd year Appys would load into chartered buses and travel down to the Ocean Grove camping ground under the watchful eye of 1 officer and a bunch of DI’s. A PTI was also on the bus as it was his job to keep the lads occupied, and to ensure they were ready for the sack at the end of the day.

They pitched their own tents (remember this photo from Vol5), all right dressed of course, and set about deciding who was going to sleep where. The tents were the old ex-WWII variety, slept 2 blokes, were as hot as blazes, but at least they didn’t leak. The officer and the DI’s had their tents set up a small distance from the lads, but there was always one DI rostered on to make sure none of the lads slipped away on an anatomy fact finding mission. The camp lasted for about 5 days, with most days being occupied with a mix of lectures on a variety of topics such as general service knowledge, first aid, fire fighting, etc, etc, and organised sport.

A man walks into a psychiatrist's office wearing only underwear made of Cling Wrap.
The psychiatrist says, "Well, I can clearly see you're nuts."

Cooks from the Airman’s Mess accompanied the troops, and they set up a small field kitchen in the centre of the camp and fed the lads 3 squares a day-much to the envy of the other campers. Even so, the blokes with a few bob would slip off to the local take away for fish and chips, though all things considered, the food served up in camp was pretty good.

The second year Appys usually had a lot of fun at the expense of the first year lads. There was a section known as "Frog’s Leap" which was a gap in the sand dunes with a 20ft drop in between. The senior blokes would line up their younger mates and "run" them through Frog’s Leap. Quite a few didn’t make the other side and ended up with a face full of sand. At other times they would swim the younger blokes out along the sub-marine cable which was supposed to hold Tassie in place. If you’ve got memories of Ocean Grove-we’d love to hear from you.

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