Story 14 - Sage of a Sig
By George Parker, 110 Signals Squadron (SVN 1968-69)
George Parker turning a WS62 Radio Set
On the 1st November 2003 I
attended the “2003 OLDS and BOLDS Night” at Watsonia Barracks
Sergeant’s Mess. I had retired on the 30th June 1980,
after 21 years service and returned home to Queensland. This night
was the first Corps reunion that I had attended since my discharge
in 1980, except for the 40th Anniversary of the Logistics Support
Force Signal Squadron (LSF Sig Sqn) 3rd Lines of Communications
Regiment (3 L of C Sig Regt) held at the mess in 1999, which was a
totally different type of reunion. The numbers were disappointing,
but the company was great, and many thanks Jimmy Rouse and his
staff!
Royal Australia Corps of Signals Sergeant's Mess
Simpson Barracks, Watsonia
After I returned to my mother-in-law’s
home at Mornington from the OLDS and BOLDS night, all my thoughts of
how mellow these gray-haired men and become, and all those other
memories of young and mean men, who got into more trouble than Ned
Kelly. In the days between 1960 to 1964 they weren’t so mellow then,
particularly when they all participated in “carrying the mail or
Moriarty” in the Mactier Club in those early days of 3 L of C.
Through those hard times and frivolity, the history of the Corps and
mateship was formed. Much of the comradeship was formed on those
nights in the Corporal’s and diggers clubs, and the sergeant’s and
officer’s mess at Balcombe, Watsonia and Vietnam, including the many
exercises, such as Grand Slam, Icebreaker, Barrawinga and the never
ending Kangaroos as the years passed by. Two great units formed all
of this, and I assume that will continue on for many years after,
forming great memories of other units to come. (Note 2015: As I look
back now, and read the modern stories of units that stemmed from LSF
Sig Sqn and 1 Sig Regt that were formed in 1959, I can see the
comrade still exists!)
As I flipped through the photographic
history book that Jimmy Rouse had put together and the Signalman,
Autumn/Winter 2003 edition, many memories began to flow back. It
became a real test trying to put names to the many familiar faces in
the photographs of the history book and after reading the Signalman
I admired the professional, content and layout of the magazine. All
I can say is, “Well done Podgy Rogers (Mess Historian), and the
staff of the Signalman!”
After reading the Signalman and read
some of the history of specific units, such as 145 Sig Sqn, which
was originally formed from one of the greatest units that the Corps
had ever raised up, the LSF Sig Sqn of 3 L of C Sig Regt. The LSF
Sig Sqn was the Regular element of the Citizen Military Force
signals unit, 3 L of C Regt, which was raised in 1959, and formerly
the 3rd Army Signal Regiment, which was raised in 1954.
Photo (Left): Operator
Wireless and Line (OWL) in early 1960s
Photo (Right): OWL Training early 1960s
Part of our basic operators course of
1960, the 6/60 OWL and OK course were the first operators posted to
the LSF Sig Sqn, my course. We were then followed by the 7/60 OWL
and OK course. The OWL and OK course were the forerunner of the OKR
trade. When our course marched into the newly formed LSF Sig Sqn,
the squadron consisted of approximately 15 men. As the squadron
increased in numbers of ARA, it then became part of the “Ambrose
Force” of the Pentropic Division and from this squadron came many
great men of the Corps and units (145 Sig Sqn and 110 SIG SQN), who
were either disliked or liked by our competitor 1 Sig Regt (103 Sig
Sqn and 104 Sig Sqn). I personally held a high regard of many who
served in these units with, whether they encouraged or discouraged
or disparaged you. Those encouragers of 1960 to 1964 who come to
mind were Lt. Bruce Evans, W02 Leslie Johnson (RIP), WO2 Marcus
Irvine (RIP), Staff Sgt Rock-spider McHugh (RIP), Sgt Bert McSweeney
(RIP), Sgt Charlie Hughes, Cpl Fred Gunning, Cpl Luke Cherry (RIP),
Cpl Rex Wiggins, Cpl Andy Milton (Dvr)(RIP), Sig Mick O’Donnell
(RIP), Sig Alfie Donnison (RIP), Sig Barry (Yarrab) Barclay, Sig
Chris Morrow as the list goes on, and I do apologise to those who
names that have faded from memory. Sgt Block Howe does come to mind,
as he was a terror amongst most operators and loved marching us up
and down the street at Westgarth, entertaining the local residents
with the vulgarity of a Linie Sgt.
SIGCEN on back of a
Studebaker (1961)
LSF Sig Sqn members
playing cards in Patttern 37 webbing.
I marched into Balcombe in October 1959
and arrived in time for my initiation into the Corps, by spending
most of my time Dixie-bashing in the Officer’s kitchen, and
stewarding in the Officer’s Mess during the Corps Conference in
November 1959. I shared many duties with one of our “colourful”
characters and great man, Alan (Cutty) Cutmore (RIP), who was posted
to 3 Battle Group Signals Troop with Doc Orchard and Tanker Hawkins.
And after five days of 20 hour shift (0600-0200hrs), Dixie-bashing
and stewarding, Cutty and I were getting bored with Army life.
On this 5th day, life began to change, as at the entrance of the Officers Mess kitchen there was a beer keg, which had been sitting there for days, we walked past it day after day, and thinking it was an empty keg. Then this morning, at 0200 hours, while leaving the kitchen, and we both had had enough, and I kicked the keg in frustration. The look on our face when we realised that the keg was full and a new lease of life came over us, we looked at each other and within a blink of an eyelid, not a word was spoken, we rolled the keg on its side, out of the door, and down the hill into a creek at the bottom of the hill on the Mt Martha/Balcombe Road.
Officers Mess,
Balcombe
For many years I heard this story being
told by many, many various versions, but not quite the real story or
the simplicity of how it was acquired. The rest of the real story
and the after-events of the consumption of the contents of that keg
are still locked away in the secrets of Corps history. I can still
remember Capt Ned Kelly (RIP) and Lt Barry Hubble in fits of
laughter as the story unfolded before them during the hearing of the
charge. I believe that they were more concerned about the lost keg
tap, which belonged to the Corporals Mess at the Apprentice School,
than the empty keg and its contents.
I browsed through the photo album of
the closing down of the School of Signals Sergeant’s Mess (early
70’s) with many thoughts of many stories that could be told of many
colourful characters that were captured in those photos. Many of the
unmentionables of the Corps, such as Linesmen, Technicians, and
Operators were members of another great unit, such as 1 Signal
Regiment and the dreaded Dixie Lee.
I read Ken Mackenzie’s and Stuart
Dossetor’s stories in the 2003 Signalman with interest, and
remembered many incidents of Army life with these two remarkable
gentlemen, but more so with many of the OLDS and BOLDS in the photo
prior to their entrance into the Army. A few stories follow, but no
names attached.
In the early days of LSF SIG SQN many
were posted or shadow posted into the unit under a trade of
“POTENTIAL whatever”. We had a POTENTIAL Switchboard Operator/Driver
Electrician/OWL or whatever trade they could fit him on our
establishment, and during a hectic time on ICEBREAKER, he was
training as a switchboard operator, and had lines connected in all
directions and he was becoming extremely frustrated, so he pulled
all the plugs out and said, “Okay, Start again you b------s!” The
brigadier was one of the users at the time! Many years later this
tall, respected and funny man from West Australia became a
Supervisor Comcen (SCC).
We had a driver who at that time had a
large family, and everybody use to give him a hard time about the
size of his family. One day a bloke asked him, “Hey Ron, how do you
keep your kids occupied?” And in a blink of an eyelid, he said, “O,
I just throw a handful of hundreds-and-thousands in the woodheap!”
Finally in early-1961, our unit
received brand new equipment, such as Studebakers (with 130 miles on
the clock), Harley Davidson motorbikes and 303’s (still packed in
grease), TG7B’s, and radio equipment.
Photo (Left): Studebaker 5x6
Photo (Right): 303 Rifle
One of the technicians spent hours
installing the new radio equipment (TX and RX) into special frames
on the back of a Studebaker. They were stacked three frames wide and
six-foot high (1.8m). After completing the installation, he was so
proud of his handiwork that he stepped back to admire it from a
distance, when a driver came out of the transport office, jumped
into the Studebaker and drove it forward. You wouldn’t guess what
happened, the technician forgot to fix the equipment frames to the
floor of the Studebaker, and a pile of brand new equipment lay at
his feet totally wrecked.
We had a driver electrician who hated
to wear his slouch hat, and he was always in trouble with our SSM
(Mick Attrill). He was addicted to developing shortcuts in anything
he did and loved charging large banks batteries, such as 24
batteries at a time. He would empty the electrolyte out of all
batteries after each exercise and refill them with new electrolyte.
One day as he was wandering around amongst his family of sizzling
and bubbling batteries, checking their specific gravity with great
delight, when he was in the middle of pack he bumped one of the
leads, then there was a click, then a spark, then a stupid look on
his face like the coyote in the Road Runner, and then a flash. He
completely disappeared in a cloud of vapour and acid, and a pile of
debris lay scattered around him, and his trouser legs began to
slowly disintegrate and fall upon the floor.
He developed another shortcut for
refuelling our large KVA while still running. He would stand on the
top of the KVA, above the fuel tank, and dribble the fuel into the
tank from fuel cans. One day, he was standing on top of a large KVA,
when the SSM came along and caught him without his slouch hat on. He
immediately placed his slouch hat on his head, and continued
refuelling the KVA. As he was dribbling the fuel into the tank,
there was a splash, then a gulp with a coyote look, then a flash,
and then a roaring flame. He was completely engulfed and all you
could see was his posterior sticking out of a ball of flame. He was
lucky that day as he was wearing his slouch hat at the time, and
after that incident he always wore his well burnt slouch hat.
There was an operator, detachment
commander, who just received a brand new land rover, with brand new
C11/R210, teleprinter equipment and a small generator power supply
for the teleprinter. The power supply generator was stored under the
front of the Land Rover for protection from the elements. To charge
the batteries for the radio sets you would run the Land Rover engine
until the batteries were fully charged. Land Rovers had a distinct
habit of pre-ignition, and when the operator, detachment commander,
turned the Land Rover engine OFF, the engine kept on running on
pre-ignition and wouldn’t stop. So the operator, detachment
commander, slammed the Land Rover into first gear and let the clutch
out, believing that the engine would stop. The handbrake wasn’t ON,
and the Land Rover kangaroo-hopped forward, over the generator power
supply and spitting it out from the rear end of the Land Rover in a
mangled mess. Guess what the 2IC said and thought of that operator,
detachment commander?
When I think back over my time in the
Corps there were a number of other events that could be
mentioned-in-dispatches of 3 L of C. A radio detachment of
able-bodied and honourable men, my lips are sealed, were sent to
Tasmania and were escorted out of the state within a few days of
arriving by the Military Police, and told to never return. It
appears that these unsavoury signalmen desecrated the MP’s mascot, a
goat by the name of “Chauncey”. They painted the goat in Collingwood
colours and removed its beard. There is a poem written of this
historical event, and only a few would understand the prose of the
poem.
LSF Sig Sqn, 3 L of C Sig Regt
SIGCEN
at Iron Knob on Operation Blowdown
during simulated effects of a
nuclear weapon on tropocal rainforest.
There was also an incident were two
visiting ladies were celebrating pre-exercise drinks with the
members of LSF Sig Sqn, in the accommodation block. The pre-drinks
went on into the early hours of the morning, and at 0500hrs, our
Troop Commander (Lt Bruce Evans) arrived, as the departure time had
been changed to 0600hrs for Sydney (Good Friday 1961) to attend many
exercises prior to “Exercise Icebreaker”. The blokes grabbed the
women and stuffed them into a wardrobe, which was then locked…. (Say
no more!). (Our unit’s commitment to field exercises where intense,
exercising nine months of the year and in this case we left at 0600
on Good Friday morning (April), and we returned to Melbourne on
Melbourne Cup day of 1961.) Fortunately, when the convoy stopped at
Albury on our way to Sydney, a frantic phone call was made to two
members of our unit who had remained behind, and the ladies were
released from the wardrobe, many hours later. (On our return from
Icebreaker, we listened to the Melbourne Cup outside of Wangaratta.)
In those early days of the Pentropic
Division scenario we had to dig our detachment (land rover and
equipment), down below ground level and our accommodation under 26
inches of cover of logs and dirt, to protect us from an atomic
blast. Anyway, we were digging in our land rover and the digging by
hand was slow and hard, when one of our detachment members
recognised his brother-in-law, an Engineer, driving a backhoe. The
backhoe did a great job and was digging the last scoop when it hit a
water main; you can guess the rest---back to the pick and shovels
and we dug another hole nearby.
These are some of my fond memories of
the LSF SIG SQN, 3 L of C Sig Regt, and there are many more stories
that could be told!
On the 11th March 1965, 2
Sig Regt was formed and replaced 3 L of C Regt with the structure of
two ARA and one CMF Signal Squadron's. The new Regt remained
at Ivanhoe and Westgarth until the new compound was built and
completed at Watsonia about 1967.
Between 1965 and 1966, 2 Sig Regt prepared 709 and 527 Signal Troops
for service in South Vietnam and provided valuable service in Saigon
and Bien Hoa. In 1966, 527 and 709 Sig Tp were incorporated
into the “145 Signal Squadron (145 Sig Sqn)”, which was replaced by
“110 Signal Squadron (110 Sig Sqn) early in 1967.
145 Sig Sqn returned to 2
Sig Regt and was used as a training unit for replacements to 110 Sig
Sqn, instead of a complete replacement of unit. They provided
a flow of individual replacements to 110 Sig Sqn beginning in 1968.
110 Sig Sqn was operational and provided the rear HF link to
Australian, tape relay centres and
communication centres at Vung Tau and Saigon, a small communication security
(COMSEC) detachment at Nui Dat and provided “Deployment Troop” for HQ TF rear
link, during operations with 104 Sig Sqn.
In February 1972, with the withdrawal from Vietnam, the “Australian
Advisory Assistance Group - Vietnam Signal Detachment” was formed
and remained behind in Saigon until late 1972 before returning to
Australia.
Photo: 2 Sig Regt Elements,
South Vietnam
In 1972, the CMF was restructured and
the “Army Reserve Squadron” was disbanded and 2 Sig Regt became
fully manned with ARA.
2 Sig Regt was disbanded in 1993.