Volume 24 Number 3

August 2012

What's in this Issue

(Click on link to read article - Press `Home` key to return to here)

Presidents Report	CO's Report
Walcot St Depot - New Start	QUR Dining-In Night
2011 AGM Speech by Brian Smith	Correspondence from Members
2012 AGM Details	QUR Graduates July 2012
Milne Bay 70th Anniversary Celebration	Why are Medals Worn on the Left Side
Things to Think About	Quotes
War Quotes	Functions in 2012
Membership Dues	QURA Office Bearers

 

 

President's Report

 

Since the last newsletter the Association has not had much activity but in the near future many significant activities will occur.

 

Firstly the Annual General Meeting and Dinner will be held at the United Services Club on Friday 7 September 2012 at 1900 for 1930 hours. The night is a very relaxed dinner during which the necessary activity for the conduct of an Annual General Meeting occurs. At the end of the dinner we look forward to a brief update of the status of the Regiment given by the Commanding Officer. Following this Colonel Brian Cox, 11 Bde HQ, will present a brief update of QUR in the bigger picture. The cost of the dinner is $80. If you wish to attend please go to the notice about the dinner in this newsletter and email Peter Morton your attendance. Payment can be made by electronic means or payment is accepted on the night. As usual the old executive management committee will stand down from their positions and a new committee will be formed (President, Vice President, Secretary/Treasurer, Membership Secretary/Website Manager, History Manager, Newsletter Editor, Committee members.) Should you be prepared to be available for any of the positions please let me know and I will make the necessary arrangements for your nomination to be go forth.

 

On Saturday 28 July 2012 an All Ranks Unit Dine In Night to celebrate the return of the Unit to the depot at Walcott Street, St Lucia was conducted.

 

On 10 August the Association will present prizes for military excellence to the recent graduates from the RMC course. Photos from the RMC Graduation are included in this newsletter.  When one looks at history, QUR graduates have gained the honour of the highest marks in the courses in more than their share of times. It proves what we all know of the quality of the candidates and the excellent training and administrating given by the Regiment.

 

As QURA ages it is worthwhile to consider the future. Obviously each year an Annual General Meeting must be held. QURA also supports the unit wherever possible mainly in terms of funding prizes. The social activities are the “Back to the Regiment” barbeque, the Dinner with the conduct of the AGM, and the Xmas social drinks in the City.  For the older members of QURA the unit and its activities have changed so much. The soldiers who now serve in the Regiment have a different viewpoint of their association with unit life. Soldiers pass through the unit more quickly and as most of the training of the graduates is not served physically within the unit but at RMC and other places. It is understandable that those who now serve in QUR for a period of time might not have the same sense of closeness as the more elderly QURA members. As we age I would ask QURA members to consider how we should manage our Association. It is my intention to ask members attending the AGM to discuss this matter giving the new executive management committee some guidance. If members cannot attend the AGM I would invite members to email or ring me to express your views prior to the 7 Sept AGM so I can reflect your views to the members attending the AGM.

 

I realize it may sound like a broken record but I remind members that the Association is actively collecting any history, photos, training and administrative documents etc from the past to add to the historical collection. Should you have anything which might be suitable QURA would appreciate it if you would make available the items so copies can be made. If you wish to keep the items they will be returned to you.

 

I look forward to catching up with you at the AGM/Dinner on Friday the 7^th September at the United Service Club.

 

 

 

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Walcott St Depot - A New Start 

 

The QUR depot at 24 Walcott St has now been refurbished following the January 2011 flood.  The following pictures were received in an email from Trevor Luttrell. 

 

Peter,

I have just emailed you photos of the depot. (17 photos) Basically the depot has been renewed - the lower level only.

The last photo is the mat at the front door.

The layout of offices etc is the same.

There is a photo of a flat screen TV on the wall in the offr mess.

There is a colours cabinet in the officers mess.  Both messes already have leather mess furniture - All of the mess furniture was destroyed/ thrown out.

The demountables outside are replaced by a single building housing a recruit office, toilet and a small "presentation room" for recruits to see films of QUR etc.

Note the new coloured badge on the outside wall above the main entry.

All offices downstairs are controlled by push button (dial numbers) security locks.

They are still awaiting the installation of the computers etc before move in.

The messes have a wooden etched sign above the entrances. A photo of the SGT mess sign is in one of the photos.

The markers on the stairwell showing the level of 1974 floods has been painted over so no sign of the level for 1974 or the recent floods.

Note the striking blue floor.

Trevor

 

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QUR Graduates July 2012  

Six cadets from QUR graduated at the Royal Military College, Duntroon on 21 July 2012.  As always, the Graduation Ball was a sparkling affair.  Ceremonies were attended by the Commanding Officer LTCOL Mark Armstrong and the Honorary Colonel MAJGEN John Pearn.  Sgt Elona Drain, as always, lended such loyal and dedicated volunteer service to "Her Cadets" on this very special occasion.

 

	Front (from left) MAJGEN John Pearn, Lt Scott Barber, Sgt Elona Drain, LTCOL Mark Armstrong Rear (from left) Lt Wade Higgins, Lt Scott Kelly, Lt Monica Sell, Lt Jayden Windsor and Lt Peter Gauvin
At the Officers Mess of the Royal Military College, Duntroon (from left) Lt Peter Gauvin, Lt Jayden Windsor, MAJGEN John Pearn, Lt Monica Sell and Lt Scott Barber

 

 

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QUR Dining-In Night - 28 July 2012  

To celebrate the impending move back into the Walcott St depot, QUR held an all ranks Dining-In night on 28th July at Cromwell College.  The following photo collage has been provided by John Pearn.

 

	QUR CO LTCOL Mark Armstrong and QUR Honorary Colonel MAJGEN John Pearn

 

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QURA AGM - 7 Sept 2012

 

The Annual General Meeting for the QUR Association will be held at the United Service Club, Wickham Terrace, Brisbane on the evening of Friday 7 September 2012 at 1900 for 1930 hours.   

 

If you know of any former members of QUR that have been part of QURA or might like to join, please invite them along to the Dinner/AGM.

 

The cost for the evening will be $80 - Includes pre-dinner drinks with a 3 course meal with wine and port.

 

The guest speaker will be COL Brian Cox, 11Bde HQ, who will present a brief update on QUR and the bigger picture. 

 

RSVP 4 Sep 10

EMAIL reply to the membership Registrar (Peter Morton ).

Name: ________________________________________________________________
 

• I will be attending the Association’s Annual General Meeting Dinner to be held at the United Service Club, Wickham Terrace, Brisbane on the evening of Friday 7 September 2012 at 1900 for 1930 hours.

I understand that from 4 September 2012 should I later find that I cannot attend, I will be liable to pay for the function.

•  I regret that I am unable to attend.  Please tender my apology.
   

For members with internet banking, a payment of $80.00 may be made direct to the QURA Bank Account.

Details are BSB 064 129, Account 0090 4500, Account Name QUR Association Inc. 

Please ensure your name is supplied in the payment details.

 

If you wish to pay by cash or cheque, please pay on the night.
 

 

 

NOW IS YOUR CHANCE!!

ADD A BIT OF NEW BLOOD TO OUR AGEING EXECUTIVE,
NOMINATE TO BE A PART OF THE QURA MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

 

Fill out the Committee Nomination form (Click here) and email to Peter Morton

 

 

 

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Firstly some AGM one liners ( not recorded at the AGM/Dinner for QURA )

 

Tonight, it is my task to speak to you, and your task to listen. I just hope we finish at the same time.

He’s not the right person to make a speech. Last time he managed to screw up the Minutes Silence.

I will conclude now as there is only five minutes left and I like to leave time for applause.

He is a man who is going places, and frankly, the sooner the better.

I am not going to bore you with a lot of old jokes, so I will introduce you to a man who can do that much better than I can.

If you were listening last week you will have noticed our deliberate mistake. And here he is again.

There are many people who believe an orator is an unpopular wind instrument.

We stand up to be seen, speak up to be heard, and shut up to be appreciated.

The man who rises to the occasion should also know when to sit down.

There is no point in speaking unless you can improve on silence.

The best way to stay awake during an after dinner speech is to give it.

The speaker asked the MC if he had put enough fire into the speech.

    “Better if you put more speech into the fire”, he replied.

 

 

The LEGION - Myth and Reality

After Dinner Speech by Brian Smith

As this is the last QURA Newsletter prior to the 2012 AGM in September,  the 2011 After Dinner Speech by Brian Smith is reproduced here to give readers an idea of the quality one could expect from the 2012 AGM guest speaker,

 

Preamble

I would like to thank Trevor and Peter for inviting me to say a few words about my time in the French Foreign Legion. I would also like to thank my brother Laurie, who obviously twisted the arms of a few friends. Thank you all…

 

 

 

 

The French Foreign Legion, myth and reality

‘Beau Geste’ is the myth of the French Foreign Legion, what is the reality?…

The Legion is different.

As an adolescent PC Wren’s, "Beau Geste’, gave me the image of a soldier in a big dark blue coat, white kepi and sun flap, marching in the blazing sun…one of the 20^th century’s visual clichés, which symbolized, ‘a form of soldiering completely separated from the values and concerns of civilian life…voluntary endurance of harsh discipline, physical hardship and danger, far from home and for little reward.’

 

I don’t think that the Legion is an elite force in the sense that Special Forces such as the SAS or American Navy SEALs are…’trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform’

The Legion does however, have a long history at the sharp end of France’s military ventures, particularly her colonial wars in North Africa. Over the last 180 years it has earned a reputation as an extraordinarily effective and dependable fighting unit. A long history of commanders, both French and foreign, speak of its discipline and coolness under fire, particularly ‘in extremis’. What is behind this reputation?

My experience suggests several things which epitomise the Legion, and provide a basis for its effectiveness:

1. Discipline is everything – I was alerted to this on my first day as a legionnaire. We had arrived from the four corners of the earth, via a protracted and detailed selection process, at ‘la Citadelle de Corte’ in Corsica, to undertake our basic training. The last item of our equipment to be issued was our rifle, the MAS 49/56. We have just been told that from now on, this was our most precious possession, to be treated with more care and attention than anything, including ourselves. The sergeant was calling out names and throwing a rifle to the legionnaire recruit who answered. Our shiny new platoon commander was standing to one side watching…crash…a rifle falls to the ground…everyone stops, frozen, wondering what will happen. The sergeant looks towards the platoon commander, who slowly turns and looks away. The sergeant then walks towards the recruit who stands like a statue. The sergeant slowly bends down and picks up the weapon and with a lightning movement slams the butt into the stomach of the recruit, who doubles up on the ground, groaning. The sergeant then returns to doling out the rifles as though nothing had happened. I don’t think that anyone dropped a weapon for the remaining four months of recruit training.

2. Death in battle is a noble end - The Legion has created a culture which glorifies endurance and sacrifice. Whenever it marches anywhere, the Legion sings. It sings songs that are about hardship and dying gloriously in battle for the Legion. As a legionnaire you become conditioned to accepting that you should not necessarily expect to survive your engagement.

   The Legion’s holy day, Camerone, the 30^th April, much too close to the hangover from Anzac day for comfort, is enthusiastically celebrated by legionnaires and ex-legionnaires throughout the world. Like Anzac Day, it records and remembers a glorious defeat, where the 45 legionnaires who survived a first attack in the open, defended a stable yard at Camaron against 2000 Mexicans throughout a furnace-hot day with no water. They rejected two calls to lay down their arms and thus save their lives. By late afternoon only five were left on their feet. They decided to die fighting, and firing their last round at point-blank range, the five charged the enemy with fixed bayonets. The Mexican Colonel Cambas, out of respect for their courage, prevented his men from massacring the last three.

   

3. ‘Marche ou creve’ (march or expire) is a Legion motto. Even today, the Legion celebrates its ability to regularly and consistently cover astonishing distances on foot. When motorised transport was introduced into the Legion in Morocco in the 1930’s, vehicles were unable to replicate the 47 km per day routine which units of the Legion had consistently achieved for 50 years. In my experience a march of 200 km in mountainous terrain over three days and two nights was not considered unusual or exceptional. During my tour of duty as a peacekeeper in what is now Djibouti, we regularly patrolled on foot for weeks at a time in one of the driest deserts on earth, the Denakil, being resupplied by air drop. On one occasion the air drop couldn’t find us…we had been one full day with no water at all, when finally the ‘resup’ arrived…the only liquid supplied in the drop was bottled soft drink. I still remember as, like many others, I tilted my head back, opened my gullet, and pored the whole large bottle of sugary whatever down my throat in one go. Our platoon commander was yelling, ‘slowly, slowly. You will kill yourselves if you drink too quickly.’ No one cared. I still remember that as the most enjoyable drink I have ever had in my life.

4. Physically and mentally tough - There is a continual emphasis in the Legion on physical and mental toughness. I was shocked, having been trained as an instructor in the Army Reserve, when, in inclement weather, the sergeant or corporal instructor would position himself comfortably under cover or in the shade while the legionnaires being instructed stood in the rain or sun. It took me quite a while to realise that this was deliberate. It was meant to reinforce to the legionnaire that sun, rain and cold were irrelevant, because legionnaires were different. It is quite remarkable how quickly comfort becomes something totally unexpected and discomfort becomes the norm. The legionnaire takes pride, almost pleasure, in distaining comfort. The notable exception to this was our daily ration of half a litre of wine (cognac in the field) and a packet of ‘Gauloises’.

5. A good shot - The marksman is honoured in the Legion. A large part of the training effort, both in basic training and in the regiment, is concentrated on producing competence with platoon weapons in the field. Ammunition for range practice was always abundant and range days were one of our most frequent training activities. There were constant inter-platoon competitions in both shooting and knowledge of platoon weapons. It was always expected that you could assemble/ disassemble your weapon blindfolded within a specified time. A dirty weapon was an immediate stay in the cooler with a grossly dirty weapon earning a week. The easiest path to a permanent job in the cookhouse was to be a lousy shot.

    

6. ‘Tu es légionnaire, démerde toi’ (you are a legionnaire, just do it) – This is hard to explain but essentially it means that excuses are never accepted. If you are ordered to do something, you do it, no matter how impossible. This encourages, even mandates, a ‘can do’ approach and has created a culture of creativity which produces a soldier who will achieve his objective no matter what. My little Irish mate, Sean, epitomised this Legion virtue when we were on patrol in the desert. I was there when his sergeant told him to find a cold beer, a seemingly laughable request,…’Mais Sergent…Tu m’emerde. Tu es légionnaire, démerde toi’ (‘But Sergeant’…He replied,’ Don’t shit me…You are a legionnaire, just do it’). To this day I don’t know how Sean did it…he would never tell me, but he did it and in the Legion that was all that counted…like producing a rabbit out of the hat, he produced a cold beer, in the middle of a boiling hot nowhere...

Another example…I think that our issue boots had been in storage since WWI. They seemed to be made out of brown plastic. We were given one day to turn them into the black supple boots that we would wear almost 24/7 from that day on. It was the first time that I heard the expression, ‘Vous êtes légionnaires, demerdez vous’. One of the old hands, who had reenlisted, showed us how to soften them by peeing in them and leaving them overnight. He also scrounged some raven oil and buckets of black shoe polish. The result was the best boots I have ever owned.

I think that the quality of training in the Legion was, in many areas, below that of the Australian Army. But, the Legion focussed on, and succeeded in, producing a soldier who was highly disciplined, physically fit, mentally hard, an excellent shot and who was constantly improvising. He also accepted (and was constantly reminded) that his death was a very real possibility as a result of his joining the Legion.

The Australian soldier, on the other hand, has the advantage of working from a big picture, and is motivated by understanding the strategic and tactical perspective of what he is doing and why.

 

Why does anyone join the Legion?

Let me tell you about a couple of ex-legionnaires from Brisbane, whom some of you may have known.

Stan Malec.

Imagine that you are in Paris writing your PhD thesis in 1940 when the German Army invades France. A friend requests that you take his two children to his villa in Brittany to get them out of Paris.

On the 18 June 1940 you happen to be sitting in the local pub with a Belgian journalist, who was on the run, listening to a clandestine BBC broadcast…you hear General De Gaulle declare that although France had lost the battle the war was yet to be fought. He appeals for volunteers. Between the two of you, you hire a fishing boat and set sail for England. You arrive shortly after (via Jersey and Southhampton) in Aldershot to join the 13^th Demi-Brigade of the French Foreign Legion.

This is the story of my mate, Stan.

Stan’s courage was recognised in his being awarded three Croix de Guerre, one from each of the theatres in which he fought; Eritrea, Bir Hacheim in North Africa, and Monte Cassino in Italy. Eventually he was honoured with the Legion d’Honneur. Stan died a couple of years ago in Brisbane.

Neville Clewley.

Imagine again that you are a 25 year old Queenslander in 1974. You have had a pretty tough upbringing… which included three years in the infamous Nudgee Orphanage …You put yourself through Senior by correspondence. You spend three years in the CMF (not QUR) and decided that you liked the Army. Then, out of the blue, thanks to a fortune of $2600 left to you by a father whom you haven’t seen since childhood, you find yourself at the Gare du Nord in Paris staring at a poster, "Voir la vie autrement, Engagez-vous à la Légion étrangère"(See a different side of life…Join the Foreign Legion). You are running out of money, need a job, and think, "Why not?" One of the (pretty) girls in the typing pool at the Commissariat de Police speaks English and tries to talk you out of such a rash action…"We could arrange a work permit for you…you could have a lot of fun here in Paris." Nev’s resolve, however, would not be turned by a pretty face…

Neville and I were in the 2eme REP, the Second Foreign Parachute Regiment, together. We were the only two Australians then serving in the REP…and possibly in the whole of the Legion.

I remember Nev as the unofficial leader of the English-speaking group in the Foyer or Canteen. Entrée into the group for the evening was one case of beer…the cases of beer would be stacked up on one of the rough tables of the Foyer and covered with the Union Jack. The convivial group would then slowly drink its way through the stack….

Neville participated in the last-ever airborne jump into action by any regiment of any army, anywhere since WWII. Nev parachuted under fire into the town of Kolwezi in Zaire on 19^th May 1978 thereby helping to save the lives of 2,200 Europeans and 3,000 Africans held prisoner by Congolese rebels. Neville died earlier this year in Brisbane.

Brian.

I have already told my story, and it is published on the QURA website among the 2007 newsletters for all to read, so I won’t retell it here…suffice to say that when the French General commanding the Légion Etrangère was being interviewed on TV in the 1990’s he said, ‘the ladies, ah, the ladies, they are our best recruiting agents…’

 

 

Sean.

My son, Sean, when he was in his early twenties and about to set off on his round the world backpacking adventure, said, ‘What would you think Dad, if I joined the Legion?’ I said, ‘Sean, no one joins the Legion unless they have nowhere else to go, and I hope that you never get to that point.’

 

The Legion’s tradition of singing while marching is a fundamental bonding force.

This video clip of legionnaires marching and singing is not of very good quality but it is the only one that I have found that approximates the feeling experienced by the legionnaire.

One of the strong unifying things about the Legion is its singing, and particularly its singing while marching to its very slow rhythm of 88 beats to the minute, much slower than any other army...

Legion marching songs, which I still love singing…the butt of many jokes in my family…still send shivers down my spine. It is very interesting to note that 88 beats to the minute is approximately the heartbeat of a lightly exercising human heart, or of a soldier marching slowly. Perhaps the strong psychological effect of this singing while marching is because the legionnaire is singing and marching to his own heartbeat…and as the heartbeats of a group tend to synchronise, the entire section, platoon or company is marching to its common heartbeat…

 

Conclusion.

Well, what about the myth versus the reality. I recently re-read, ‘Beau Geste’…I was surprised to discover that, after discounting the rather feeble plot, the depiction of life in the Legion was very similar to what I experienced. The blue coat and white sun flap had disappeared; the discipline was less harsh, but the basic character of the Legion had remained the same…the reality of the Legion has remained true to itself…

Thank you.

 

Brian Smith, Sunshine Coast, 9 September 2011.