Email to:Just A Little Anzac Day Note
May I introduce you to handsome RAAF Navigator (Serviceman no 412859) Hec Ross of Leeton? (on right).
I carry this pic on my person and turn it over when I get nervy. You see on the back of the photo Navigator Hec is doing his coordinates, working out where the bloody hell he and his bomber mates are. So, when I get frazzled I think:
If Hec could keep his mind on the job in woeful circumstances I surely can work my piddly problems out.
So here’s to Hec who could NEVER guts the thought of marching on April 25th.
I’ve got a little box with a few Hec ‘war things’ in it.
A letter from the Air Department (Jan 21st, 1949) tells Hec that his service medals have arrived. One, for just being there (War Medal) and the other, for just being in the Pacific (The Pacific Star). I’ve also got bits and pieces off his uniform: beautiful studs, nifty stripes (not too many mind!) and a mother-of-pearl heart with a bird on it.
I know next to nought about Hec’s War.
He didn’t talk about it but occasionally, after drinks had been taken, he’d have a little sing about it.
Now, the starting of the *Vultee is a most peculiar art…….off you go Hec….finally working up to a big finish….)
Early in the morning when the dew is on the grass, you will see the Vultee men all sitting on their arse……
(* Vultee Vengeance dive bomber)
Other snippets:
**** Hec ran a book on the Melbourne Cup. In a gesture of unbridled patriotism, he and his pilot took a dive bomber up to get good radio reception for the race. It is acknowledged that his promotional opportunities were strictly limited after this episode.
**** Because of something which happened in The War, Hec was deaf in one ear. But Gwennie, always a great supporter of equal opportunities, made sure he NEVER felt disabled. YOU CAN HEAR ME WHEN YOU WANT TO. YES YOU CAN HEC, YES YOU CAN!!!
**** Hec drank a fair bit of beer before The War – and he quickly resumed his normal routine after it.
**** Did the War make Hec nervy? I think so. He got himself SO worked up – particularly during the footy season, Lent and whenever anyone dared mention Billy or Sonia McMahon.
Forgot to tell you. While Hec didn’t march, he did take it upon himself to run the best Anzac Day two-up school in the Riverina…..
Always a pleasure to hear from you….
*This is Leeton’s War Monument (cr: Mattinbgn) which has been noted by contributors to this post.
And…..Leeton Anzac Day 2009 slideshow (courtesy of The Irrigator)
http://www.irrigator.com.au/slideshowplayer.aspx?id=6205
Just click on the ‘comment’ thingo and follow the simple instructions. The place to write your gems is at the bottom of the last published comment. *A little bit of counsel for people new to this caper. Your email (just called ‘mail’ in this case) address does NOT come up on site. And just ignore the ‘website’ space – not necessary!
Tags: pL
Prawn Cutlet Award
April 24th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
My dad sounds a lot like Hec.
One day, a bloke said to him:
You only went to the war to get your teeth fixed.
Answer: Well, they didn’t do a very good job…..
April 25th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Dear KJ,
I’ve just been with my students and staff as part of the town’s ANZAC Service.
The kids sang beautifully bringing tears to the eyes of many.
Your memories of Hec are beautiful.
Wonder what he’d think of how coordinates are known these days.
Something tells me you are not the mathematician he was.
Perhaps KJ, you should carry your own GPS and valium for those ‘nervy’ situations.
Dear Megsy,
I’m flat out determining where I am at any given moment WITHOUT adding prescription calmatives to the equation. KJ.
April 25th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
The children are singing,
The bells are ringing….
And they’re dying,
All along the road to Balikapan.
April 25th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
I have just returned from the Anzac Day march in Leeton.
Like in Megsy’s town, there were lots of school children marching.
However, there were far fewer old diggers riding in the Lions train….. soon there will be none.
Your memories of Hec were spot on.
Hello Country Gal,
Great to have a correspondent on the ground in Leeton. When I was a kid, there were MORE veterans marching down Pine Avenue than onlookers.
You might be interested to know that there was a great old Land Army gal, Shirley Williams, on Radio National earlier today. Shirley was talking about coming to Leeton to do the hard yakka in the orchards.
The women were housed in the Cannery Dormitories and the main pavilion at the Showgrounds. Pretty basic. Shirley is campaigning to have the Land Army officially recognised as the ‘fourth force’.
April 25th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Didn’t watch the Anzac Day march on television.
Dad’s not there.
April 25th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Hello again,
A few years back schools were asked to participate in an initiative called the ‘Register of War Memorials NSW’.
Requests of schools are wide and varied and usually ridiculous time wasters.
I went along with this one.
So, off to the local park and armed with a camera, willing students who could spell and a sense of civic duty…..
We wrote a full description of our memorial and listed the names of the fallen.
KJ, Leeton’s Postcode is 2705.
The listing for that is WHITTON.
Alas, I can’t view the memorial that Hec DIDN’T march too.
Dear Megsy,
Unbelievable! This is a unforgiveable bureaucratic cock-up….
I have put up a pic of the right 2705’s Monument.
April 25th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
The Leeton War Memorial is HUGE. It stands at the intersection of Wade and Pine Avenues and Chelmsford Place – in a Walter Burley Griffin ‘moment’ of perfect alignment.
As a child I would march along the main street, Pine Avenue, in time with the diggers.
It was all a huge affair.
Country Gal has my envy as I too wish I was in Leeton today – and most other days.
Perhaps I’m going a little over the top in my final comments. Sorry.
April 25th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
Two-up on the deck after march and prayers and wreath laying.
Bletchley Park survivors arrived, many in wheelchairs, but their drinking arms are fine.
Brekky has a slouch hat on his head.
If any mug spectator says aussie, aussie, aussie oy,oy,oy I’ll shoot ‘em and plead absinthe.
O’Toole says it was all Marvellous, Simply Bloody Marvellous.
Hang on.
MAN OVERBOARD!
TGM, NO heroics please. Absinthe and lifesaving duties are NOT a good combo.
‘aussie, aussie oy, oy, oy’ – my LEAST favourite five words. Thick, I reckon, THICK.
I did an early shift today. Walked through the CBD while the march was still going.
Not many but some sporadic outbreaks from the ‘oy, oy’ set.
What did they think we beat the Germans at – Soccer?
April 26th, 2009 at 10:16 am
Quite right, Ex-L.
The Leeton War Memorial is one of the marvels of the town, and must be in the upper echelon of country town war memorials in the whole wide brown.
That whole precinct from the Burley Griffin Water Towers and Historic Hydro Hotel at the top of the hill down to the Roxy Theatre and War Memorial at the bottom…..and along to gorgeous Mountford Park is a thing of wonder. Gulp. Sob.
I marched in the parade a couple of times myself in the mid-to-late 70s.
I found it hard to bring a sense of pride to the surface when my entire psyche was overwhelmed with apprehension about getting out of step.
Dear Roma Street,
I can only concur. The streetscape you refer to is surely one of most elegant in regional Australia.
Now, please excuse me – but I’m about to go crazy and cliched:
It is still my boulevard of dreams!
*Wasn’t it awful when they plonked that shockin’ cheap dome thingo in the middle of Chelmsford Place as a Tourist Info Centre.
Gone baby gone (thank Gawd!) KJ.
April 26th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Have come downstairs as an act of courage.
Am sitting in the backyard among the rubble.
Where’s my VC?
Whatdaya want?….a VC. KJ.
April 26th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
I have been feeling patriotic this weekend.
I have come up with a one-pronged recovery plan for consideration by The Rev Kev.
My plan is built on the fundamental of the choko vine.
We can re-open the Leeton cannery – Australia lives again!
Chokos will be on every shelf in every home. The much maligned choko, which is part of our heritage, will reclaim its place as an essential nutrient.
It was chokoes that fuelled the flame of the bronze Anzacs. Stiffened their spines, put fire in their blood against the Hun and Turk.
I can see Australia criss-crossed by choko vines and no country shithouse will be without one under your expert political guidance.
Make no mistake, the choko recovery will lead us forward, onward and onward.
Thank you for your attention The Rev Kev.
April 27th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Yes indeed, KJ, the igloo. Not just a cheap-arse pre-fab fibreglass dome but a cheap-arse pre-fab fibreglass dome in club colours.
As an aesthete I was offended by the shape of the thing. And as a Yanco-Wamoon supporter I was offended by the colour scheme. Up The Village!
Dear Roma Street, so you objected to the dome being in the Leeton Greenies (league) colours? I’ll be quite honest with ya. If the offending dome had been in the old Leeton REDDIES Aussie Rules colours, I think I might have declared it a masterpiece of regional design. KJ.
April 27th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Chokoes!
Tasteless.
Boring.
Sugar-Free.
Any diabetic can tell you countless ways to prepare them.
Can them.
Everything you say about chokoes could also be said for broccoli flowers. And they’re $25 a kilo. KJ
April 27th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
KJ – I can’t go along with you there. In as much as I had a local allegiance in Aussie Rules, it was to the Whitton Tigers because there is a past (junior) almost-premiership player in my immediate family.
The compromise colours for the merged team are an abomination. How can a self-respecting Redlegs or Tigers barracker front up and cheer on an Adelaide Crows jumper?
Roma Street,
I sat looking at the screen for ages before I could bring myself to reply. My fingers are shaky on the keyboard.
LET IT BE SAID:
The merging of arch rivals, the Whitton Tigers and the Leeton Redlegs, will go down as the cruellest act in regional Australia’s sporting history. KJ.
April 28th, 2009 at 7:23 am
KJ,
I am late to hit the blog about a reverent day…..or it once was.
I attended a Dawn Service and put a little cross in the Field of Remembrance. It may as well have had Hec’s name on it.
No crass oy, oy, oys EVER please.
April 28th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
Sorry to upset you KJ.
The merger didn’t exactly fill me with joy either but, in this day and age, I guess these things have to happen, unless we want our local footy teams to consist of old men and semi-grown boys.
I think merged footy teams should alternate their old stripes week by week, instead of coming up with new ones.
May 12th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Of course when I grew up KJ, we had it tough.
We used to dream of Chokos. Luxury. Sheer bloody luxury.