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Letters
Tony Ward, fellow RANC Hello Mac, For some reason or other I woke up this morning thinking about the College. Perhaps it was because it is Armistice Day or Veteran's Day as they now prefer to call it. At any rate I switched on my Web TV and did an MSN search for the RAN and then RANC. What I found of course, was your wonderful log. I was in the 1939 Entry and remember many of the names in your year but unfortunately, not yours ! I think my memory has something to do Cadet Captains. I left the College in August of 1941 due to sight problems. My marks would not support an Engineering career and I refused one as a Paymaster. Funnily enough I finished up as a career banker in the States. My best friend then was Ian Burnside and we have kept in touch over the years..we used to call him "Chinky" . I shall ring him later today and tell him of my discovery on the web. Only 13 of us left out ot the original 21 and losing Ken Shands was hard, I had stayed with him and Annabelle on my last visit in in 1994. Hope we can do an 80th birthday celebration, as you chaps did, in 2005. I'm sure you know or know of others in the 39 entry. I wonder if you knew Phil Stevenson (not sure which year) who is a 2nd cousin of mine. I regret to say I don't know whether or not he is still with us. He used to spend some time in Colorado as I remember. My wife and I reside in Flagstaff, Arizona and have for the past 12 years. Enough... my purpose was to congratulate you on your website. I shall be checking it regularly. Cheers, PS I was sorry to to read of Lorimer's passing. I do remember him.
How nice to hear from you, Ahoy is an amalgam of all my writing, and my friend Terry Kearns in Atlanta, Georgia putting it all together in the form that goes out to all who may find our site on the Web. We are always pleased to receive a comment such as yours, thank you. I recall Ian Burnside, who is now living in Canberra, his elder brother Colin is an old friend of mine, and he is on Sydney's North shore at Gordon, although I have not visited him and June for some time, I am unsure if Colin is still around, as he was not all that well. Phil Stephenson was in the 1935 entry thus being a year ahead of my Jervis Year. Do try and get your year together for an 80th. birthday bash, ours was quite memorable, and quite an achievement, at that time, to still have 9 of our original 12 who went off to sea in August of 1939, just prior to WW2. We had lost Jack Lester in Perth, and Rupert Treloar who went missing overboard from one of the N Class in the Indian Ocean, and post war Bob Scrivenor killed in a car crash. Time seems to pass just so fast as one gets older, I made a comment at John Lorimer's service recently, as he was our oldest member , and I am next, I trust we don't fall over in order of age!! I do enjoy my work with Terry on Ahoy, and am pleased you took the trouble to contact me, Are you aware of the new $9 Million Australian War Memorial for WW1 and WW2 veterans, at Hyde Park corner in London? It was dedicated yesterday, the 11th. of november by our PM John Howard and HM the Queen, take a look at it on the internet, it appears to be quite stunning., with some 24,000 place names from whence Australians enlisted for the two World Wars, and overlaid with a number of place names where we all fought. Water cascades down the face of the green Australian granite that was used in its construction. Rear Admiral Guy Griffiths was there and recited the ode, he was in the 1937 entry at RANC. Thanks again, and with best regards from Oz to you both in Arizona, I will be pleased to hear from you at anytime. Mac. Gregory. |
