Butterworth’s Unique Place in Australian Military History

Butterworth Air Base throughout the 1970s and 1980s has a unique place in Australian military history. In 1971 Australia assumed the primary role for the air defence of Malaysia and Singapore, maintaining a Mirage presence at Butterworth until 1989. Throughout that time Malaysia was involved in its Second Emergency against the armed terrorists of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) and its splinter groups. Aircraft of the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) based at Butterworth were engaged on military operations against communist forces active in the area. While Australia was not directly involved in the war its presence at Butterworth provided the hosts valuable support and Australian Defence personnel - and their families  -  incurred danger from the hostile forces of the enemy.

The 1967 British decision to withdraw military forces from Malaysia and Singapore in the early 1970s was of considerable concern to these nations as they were heavily dependent on Britain for security. In response the Five Power Defence Arrangements  (FPDA) were agreed to by Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore. These nations committed to consult on the arrangements required in the event of externally organised or supported armed threats against Malaysia or Singapore. Under this arrangement Australia committed two Mirage fighter squadrons to Butterworth as the mainstay of an Integrated Air Defence System  (IADS) under the command of an Australian Air Vice Marshal. The squadrons were jointly responsible for permanently maintaining six fighters in Singapore.  The IADS, headquartered at Butterworth, began operating in September 1971. At this time Malaysia and Singapore were unable to supply personnel to staff all positions allocated to them.

At the end of the First Emergency the remnants of the Malayan Communist Terrorist Organisation took refuge in the border region of Southern Thailand. Here they rebuilt and prepared for another assault. On 1 June 1968 they announced their intention to relaunch their armed struggle against Malaysia and Singapore. The ambush  of a Malaysian Security Force patrol in the border region of Kroh-Bentong on 17 June in which 17 Security Force members were killed marks the beginning of the 21 year Communist Insurgency War, or Second Emergency.

On 1 April 1971 responsibility for Butterworth Base security, including control of entry, transferred from the RAF Regiment to the Malaysian Special Security Police (SSP). This created concern in the upper echelons of the RAAF and Department of Defence. Concerns included the competency of the SSP and Malaysia’s failure to guarantee they would not be withdrawn in part or in toto to respond to civil matters in other places. Although Australia did not foresee at this time a large scale attack on Butterworth the possibility of limited attack or acts of sabotage by CTs (Communist Terrorists) or members of sympathetic dissident groups could not be dismissed. While it was believed the RAAF had the capacity to deal with likely forms of attack a prolonged situation would impact its ability to achieve its primary objective. Another concern was the lack of a coordinated defense plan for the Base.

A review recommended that an infantry company from the ANZUK Forces in Singapore be permanently deployed to Butterworth and placed under the control of the RAAF Officer Commanding (OC). It also recommended the development of a shared defense plan for internal security under the command the RAAF OC - the OC RMAF Butterworth being the ranking officer present. Implementation of the recommendations required Malaysian approval.

Sir Arthur Tange, Secretary, Department of Defence, understood these arrangements were in place when he wrote to the Secretary,  Department of Air, on 2 March 1972, to confirm his understanding in preparation for an upcoming meeting with the Minister for Defence regarding Butterworth security. This communication also reveals the true  nature of the army company’s deployment was kept secret. ‘In addition, Malaysian reluctance having been overcome, the ANZUK company will now provide one infantry company on rotation through Butterworth on a full-time basis, ostensibly for training, flag-flying and change of scene. The presence of this company will provide the Commander with a ready-reaction force   which he can use inter alia to supplement the elements available to him under the joint Malaysian - RAAF Plan, but short of an actual overt breach of security the Commander cannot use these troops for guard or other security duties.’

On 11 January 1973, the Australian Defence Committee considered security requirements at Butterworth following the withdrawal of the Australian battalion from Singapore. It recommended the deployment of an infantry company on three monthly rotation from Australia. The Committee stated: ‘This could be presented publicly as being for training purposes.’ This secrecy is reflected in a memo from Wing Commander Brough, Senior Ground Defence Officer (SRGD), of 11 October 1974, ‘ARA INFANTRY CO AT BUT’. Brough reported a conversation with a Major Le Roy regarding the Army role at the Base. Until July 1974 the army believed their primary role was training but since then understood it was security. ‘But for political reasons it was not possible to state this is low security classification documents.’

Ong Weichong presents three phases of the rebellion: 1968-1973, 'characterised by the infiltration and movement of CPM groups into Peninsular Malaysia ; 1974; 1975-1989, describing 1974 as 'a watershed year'. This followed a split in communist ranks that saw the emergence of three factions. Ong says 1974 'was marked by spectacular acts of revolutionary violence as each CPM faction vied for the legitimacy and leadership of the communist movement in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore'.

The fall of Saigon and Phnom Penh to Chinese supported communists in 1975 convinced the Malayan communists of the rightness of their strategy of 'using the countryside to encircle the cities ...' 1975 also raised their hopes of support from their comrades in the region - support that did not eventuate.

In 1975 CTs bombed the National Monument in Kuala Lumpur.

The Sydney Morning Herald, Sept. 12,1975, in an article ‘Malaysian towns under attack,’ reported an outbreak of urban terrorism in Malaysia. In the previous week two policemen had been killed and another 52 wounded by a grenade attack on the paramilitary police headquarters by two CTs. Malaysia’s national monument, which was close to the National Parliament, had been bombed eight days before. The article said, ‘Several Government departments, security-force camps and essential services like power stations and water works in towns throughout West Malaysia have been placed under heavy guard.’

Six months later, on March 2, 1976, the same paper carried an article ‘A hair-raising drive to Penang.’ Although a report of a taxi journey from Singapore to Penang the author commented on the insurgency. ‘Occasional Army and police roadblocks remind you that you are in a country which has a serious communist insurgency problem. Every police station is surrounded by a tall wire fence. In some areas the police rarely emerge from behind their stockade at night.’

Butterworth was not isolated from what was taking place in the rest of Peninsular Malaysia. According to an official history of the conflict published by the Malaysian Army, the communist’s 8th Assault Unit began moving into the South Kedah region near Kulim in early 1969 and remained active there until it was forced out by security forces in 1978. The following incidents in the Butterworth area were reported in different editions of the Straits Times. In March 1971  the railway bridge spanning Sungei Jarak, three kilometres from the village of Tasek Glugor in Northern Province Wellesley was dynamited by CTs. The following month two bombs exploded in Penang, communist flags were found on the Island and Province Wellesley, and suspects arrested. In May four CTs were killed and another four wounded by  security forces near Kulim, approximately 19 kilometers from Butterworth. Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak named Penang as one of five states where the communist threat was ‘very real’ in June 1971.

Documents held in the National Australian Archives give evidence to the security situation at  Butterworth in 1975. On 3 April 1975 the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) Air Marshal (AM) J.A. Rowland advised the Minister that rocket attacks had occurred at a Malaysian air base near Kuala Lumpur and a military installation on Penang a few days earlier. The RMAF had advised of possible threats to Butterworth and had plans to disperse their aircraft to other bases. Increased security measures included limited dispersal of aircraft.  'The period of tension ... [was] expected to last until at least 22 April and probably for a further month.' A SiteRep for Butterworth and North Peninsular Malaysia dated 2 August advised of communist activity in the area. 'Increased security consisting of 5 standing patrols of half section strength deployed during hours of darkness, one section picket of aircraft lines and AirMov area and normal ready reaction section will continue until at least 8 August.'

Intelligence was received in September 1975 that the communist underground organisation had been instructed ‘to carry out rocket attacks against air bases, especially during the months of September and October.’ Butterworth and Alor Star - RAAF members also being at Alor Star - were two of the three major airbases considered likely targets - the other being at Kuala Lumpur. A fourth was considered too remote from CT strongholds. A rocket attack against the 6th Malaysian Infantry Brigade headquarters at nearby Sungai Patani on 24th September added to the concern.

On 7 October the CAS again wrote to the Minister regarding concerns of possible rocket attacks and the possibility the CTs had acquired mortars, together with identified weaknesses in Base security measures, left Butterworth vulnerable. He asked the Minister to request the Malaysian Prime Minister at an upcoming meeting to allocate at least one battalion to the immediate Butterworth area to improve defence measures. A week later the Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshall McNamara informed the DJS: ‘Arrangements in place for families and the security of personnel on the Base are satisfactory.  At this time no defensive works for the protection of personnel is considered necessary, but planning has taken into account the requirement for blast shelters should the situation deteriorate further. The requirement for blast protection of aircraft against ground burst weapons and small arms fire together with aircraft dispersal is currently under review.’

Anecdotal evidence indicates revetments were constructed in early 1976. An October 1976 document confirms recent action had ‘been taken to construct revetments …’

Families were also at risk. A Families Protection Plan, dated 8 May 1972 states 'There is a threat of racial communal disturbances to families resident in Base Married Quarters, housing estates and hirings in Butterworth and Penang.'  This threat was reiterated in the 1975 JIO [Joint Intelligence Organisation] Australia document ‘The Security of Air Base Butterworth’. To quote” ‘There is always a risk of racial communal disturbances that could affect families resident in Base married quarters, housing estates, and hirings in Butterworth and Pinang.’

Dependents were also vulnerable to enemy action. JIO stated ‘the use of booby-traps and minor acts of sabotage by subversive groups are relatively common throughout Peninsular Malaysia and pose a distinct threat both to the Base and Australian personnel and their dependents.’ RAAF married quarters adjacent to the Base were considered possible targets. In April 1971, as reported in the Straits Times of 25 April, the six year old daughter of a British serviceman stationed in Singapore was killed by a communist booby trap placed in a children's playground.

Australia was not directly involved in the fight against Malaysia’s enemy and it is clear from the evidence that that is how both countries wanted it. That however does not diminish the importance of the Australian presence at Butterworth. In the lead up to a review of that presence due ‘by the end of 1976’ Group Captain J.R. MacNeil, Defense Advisor, Kuala Lumpur, considered it likely Malaysia would want to retain the Australian presence for different reasons, one being its assistance with running the Base. Wing Commander MacNeil explained:

It [the RAAF] assists the RMAF in running the largest of the four RMAF bases in West Malaysia … Because of its location and size Butterworth is very important to Malaysia in its efforts to contain CPM [Communist Party of Malaya] forces, and withdrawal of the RAAF, or any significant reduction in its size, would markedly reduce the effectiveness of the base and/or require large diversions of RMAF effort to Butterworth from other bases. The general level of achievement of the RMAF would drop if there was any large reduction in RAAF strength at Butterworth.

Currently little evidence beyond 1978 has been accessed. While Malaysia was responsible for security outside the wire, there was no guarantee the presence of combat troops if required for defence of the base. Although the OC RMAF Butterworth was the ranking officer, the Shared Defence Plan which applied inside the wire was under the control of the OC RAAF. The only specialised Ground Defence Force guaranteed to be available if and when required was the Australian Infantry Company.

While each nation was responsible for the defence of its own personnel and equipment there were shared assets vital to the operations of both air forces. Australian security personnel and the Infantry Company had a role in protecting these from the CTs and their sympathisers. The evidence from various reports and the CO Base Squadron Butterworth’s Monthly Reports shows increased security at different times to cover possible ground threats to the Base.

The RAAF presence at Butterworth during what Ong Weichong and Kumar Ramakrishna have described as 'a serious security threat'  was to act as a deterrent to external aggression against Malaysia and Singapore. While the Australian role was not concerned with internal security matters Australian personnel and their dependents were exposed to the real risk of attack from CTs and their sympathisers. Australia had the lead role in the internal defense arrangements of Butterworth Air Base, arrangements agreed to by both nations to protect both Australian and Malaysian personnel and assets against Malaysia’s armed enemy active in the immediate area. These facts make Butterworth unique in Australian military history.

Service at Butterworth during the Insurgency War is recognised by the Australian Government as peacetime.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Headquarters RAAF Butterworth. Families Protection Plan, dated 8 May 1972

Joint Intelligence Organisation (Australia). ‘The security of Air Base Butterworth.’ October 1975.

Mohamed Ghazemy Mahmud (Translator), The Malaysian Army’s Battle Against Communist Insurgency 1968-1989, Army Headquarters, Ministry of Defence, Wisma Pertahanan, Jalan Padang Tembak, 50634 Kuala Lumpur, First Printing and originally published in 2001 in the Malay language as ‘Tentera Darat Manentang Insurgensi Komunis 1968-1989.

Ong Weichong. ‘Securing the Population from Insurgency and Subversion in the Second Emergency (1968-1981).’ Submitted to the University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by  Research in History, August 2010.

Ong Weichong and Kumar Ramakrishna. ‘The “forgotten” insurgency that failed’, in ‘The Malaysian Insider’, 15 October 2013

Straits Times, The. ‘Bomb victim dies.’ 25 April 1970

Straits Times, The. articles accessed at http://newspapers.nl.sg/Default.aspx

Straits Times, The. ‘Reds blow up bridge in north Malaysia.’ 9 March 1971

Straits Times, The. ‘Two bomb blasts in Penang: Red flags found on buildings.’ 24 April 1971.

Straits Times, The.’Security forces kill 4 reds.’ 16 May 1971.

Straits Times, The. ‘Peril in five states: Red threat very real, says Tun.’ 29 June 1971

Sydney Morning Herald, The. ‘Malaysian towns under attack: for the communist guerillas a change of tactics’. 12 September 1975

Sydney Morning Herald, The. ‘A hair-raising drive to Penang.’ 2 March 1976

Thayer. Carlyle A. ‘The Five Power Defence Arrangements: The Quiet Achiever’. ‘Security Challenges’, Volume 3, Number 1. February 2007.

National Australian Archives

NAA: A703, 564/8/28 Part 3, RAAF Butterworth – Ground defence plans

NAA: A703, 564/8/28 Part 8, RAAF Butterworth – Ground defence plans

NAA: A703, 566/2/148 Part 5, Formation, organisation and movement – HQ RAAF Butterworth

NAA: A1838, 696/6/4/5Pt 3 - Butterworth Base General

NAA: A9435, 75 - Commanding Officers’ reports - Monthly reports unit sheets (A50) - Base Squadron, Butterworth, 1948-1988

The Hitchhikers

Those of us who joined the RAAF as apprentices were meant to be at least 15 years of age and younger than 17 at the time of enlistment. There were a few on my intake that had not reached 15 and possibly one who had passed 17. We were too young to drive and on $12 a week in 1967 we didn’t earn a great deal. Poverty is the word that comes to mind.

After the first six weeks during which we were confined to Base we were allowed out Friday after work, Saturday and Sunday with strict 2300 hours curfews on each night. It is about 10 kilometres from the Base to the centre of Wagga Wagga and I can’t recall any public transport, although there may have been. So the only option we had was to walk from our barracks, down the main drag and out onto the highway and stand there with our thumbs held out pointing in the direction of Wagga Wagga.

Generally we had little trouble getting a lift. There were plenty of older RAAFies on the Base, including trainees and staff, who were happy enough to give us a lift and, of course, the obliging passing motorist. I remember the time a couple of us were picked up inside the Base by a Sergeant General Fitter Instructor. As he turned left onto the highway after leaving the Base with quite a lean on his car he informed us that he had been a racing driver. In fact, if he were to be believed, he had lived a varied life - so many years doing one thing and so many more something else. One of our number worked out he must have been at least 120.

The most memorable hitchhiking experience I have probably came in the first half of our second year. My room mate Shorty and I decided to make the trip to Canberra. While we could have worn civies by this time we decided to wear our uniforms - long-sleeve drabs (khaki) with tie. This was our summer dress and we reasoned the uniform would help not only reassure the prospective lift of our good character but also elicit a degree of generosity from the passing motorists.

No doubt we left reasonably early. The distance from Wagga Wagga to Canberra is around 160 kilometres and we planned to return that evening. Our trip to the National Capital must have been uneventful as I can’t remember it. We enjoyed the day and late afternoon we decided to head for home. And this is the memorable bit.

We stood on the side of the road waiting for a kindly passing motorist. To say traffic was light was an understatement - it was almost non-existent. But finally our patience was rewarded. It wasn’t long however before our driver announced he was heading in a different direction than we were and so he left us on the side of the road. We waited and waited and not a car passed. At long last there was hope. It was the same gentleman. Again, we travelled further towards our destination but it was not long until he again announced he would have to leave us. Once more we waited, not even the sound of a car and the sun moving even lower on the horizon. Our friend eventually returned, only to repeat the exercise a little further down the road.

And there we stood, the shadows growing increasingly longer, no sound of any human activity and the evening growing colder. Summer uniforms didn’t come with jumpers, coats or any other garment to keep the wearer warm. We were looking at a long, cold, lonely night without food or water, not to mention the inevitable disciplinary action that awaited us when - assuming we survived the ordeal - we returned to Base for breaking curfew.

At last it came, the sound of an approaching vehicle. Spirits rose. Believe it or not, we were picked up again by the same gent and we made it home before lights out. Now I can’t remember if our friendly chauffeur took us the rest of the way or not. But as I reflect on the story I can’t help but wonder if he was not a responsible person who went out of his way after the third time to make sure two boys made it home safely. Whatever the case may be, there are two old blokes many years later who will be forever thankful for that man’s good will.

Swede

I have fond memories of Swede Jensen. We roomed together for the two and a half years we spent at Wagga, first in 2 Flight Initial Training Squadron (ITS) and then for two years as members of 21 A Engine Fitter Flight. We were the only ones from 2 Flt that became sumpys.

Our first weekend at Wagga was spent in the mess scrubbing pots and pans. That was the lot of first year apprentices - rostered for mess duty on the weekends. Throughout the week this was cared for by Thicks - a term of endearment for adult trainees. I remember remarking to Swede something to the effect ‘Look at us, joined the air force to see the world and here we are doing pots and pans’.

Our ITS accommodation block was next to the railway line that ran through the base, one side of the line being used largely for living quarters and the other work. One day we placed coins on the line and lay in the drain under the track outside our block and waited for the Tumbarumba Express to pass and see what it would do to the coins. Then there was the day we were making ashtrays with oxy-acetylene welders. We sat on stools at welding tables that were probably about eighteen inches round. Suddenly there was a yell and Swede was jumping around the workshop with a hole burnt neatly in the leg of his overalls. ‘How’d you do that?’ we asked. Long before Channel nine claimed credit for the idea, Swede gave an instant replay, much to our amusement.

We shared a love of shooting and were able to secure our weapons in our room well enough to survive a number of raids by the Spits (Service Police). I did eventually get caught, but that was because I left my rifle under the seat of a mate’s car where it was found by the Spits snooping around in the car park. It had slipped out from where I had placed it and subsequently I did ten or fourteen days CB. To the best of my knowledge Swede never got caught.

We had one memorable camping trip up near Tumbarumba with Don Banks and Shorty Parsons - the other blokes we roomed with as sumpys. I had a small tent - two or three person - and the idea was to park the car, carry our stuff across the river and set up camp. We planned to use the tent to store our supplies while we slept under the stars. However, the stars refused to shine that night. The four of us ended up trying to sleep in the tent with all our gear. I still remember the rock in my back. Fortunately the next day was fine and we were able to dry our stuff and shoot a few bunnies as well.

After we left Wagga our paths didn’t cross again until I was posted to Headquarters Support Command in 1980. We worked on the same floor for a while as technical spares assessors. I can’t remember when we parted again but I have only met him once since, at that was at a reunion in 2005. Then he was living in North Queensland and as a son of the Atherton Tablelands he must have been living close to home. I hope to see him again one day maybe at at another reunion. Whether I do or not, one thing is certain. Swede Jensen is one bloke I will remember so long as I have the capacity to do so.

The Story Behind Butterworth's Revetments

Butterworth was the best experience of my 20 years with the RAAF. I was fortunate enough to have two postings to 75 Squadron, the first from September 1971 to March 1974, and the second July 1977 returning to Australia in January 1980. The one noticeable difference when I returned in 1977 was the revetments on the flight line. It is only in recent years that I have discovered why they were there.

Sourced from Air Base Butterwoth Face Book Page
Copyright unknown

Following their defeat in the 1950s the Malayan Communists retreated to Southern Thailand. Here, in relative safety, they rebuilt and in July 1968 launched what is now known as the Communist Insurgency War 1868-1989, or Second Malaysian Emergency. Two of my earliest memories of 1971 were a warning about booby traps and being told the RMAF were dropping bombs on the communists somewhere out there in the jungle.

A three-way split in the communist ranks in 1974 resulted in ‘a significant increase in communist armed violence in both Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore’ (Ong, 61). Of this time Cheah Boon Kheng says ‘each faction tried to outdo each other in militancy and violence‘. The period ‘saw the CPM intensify its activities of terrorism and clashes with the security forces. Communist groups attempted to blow up the National Monument in Kuala Lumpur, carried out ambushes of police field forces and succeeded in assassinating the police chief of Perak state and the Inspector-General of Police.’ (p.149)

By the end of 1975 various police and military installations throughout Peninsular Malaysia had been attacked, including one on Penang Island. A rocket attack had damaged a Caribou on the military airbase at Kuala Lumpur. Intelligence warned that the communists had instructed their underground network to launch rocket attacks on airbases during September and October 1975. Butterworth was one of three bases considered most likely at risk.

Reports that the terrorists had acquired mortar capability were of particular concern. It was considered that external security around the Base, a Malaysian responsibility, were far short of that required to act as a deterrent against attack. On 14 October, the DCAS, AM N.P. McNamara advised the DJS ‘The requirement for blast protection of aircraft against ground burst weapons and small arms fire together with aircraft dispersal is currently under review.’ A document dated 22 October 1976 confirmed ‘Action has recently been taken to construct revetments to give some protection to … aircraft at Butterworth against attack’ by ‘light mortars or small rockets.’

The attack never came. However in 1978 or 79 the revetments saved the RAAF from what could have been an embarrassing international incident. Three Squadron were engaged in air to ground gunnery practice. As the pilots were being strapped in for a sortie there was an accidental discharge of a cannon round. A troop assisting the pilot strapped in was injured as the round shot through the ladder and the round embedded in the revetment, thus avoiding injury to nearby Malaysian citizens.

SOURCES

Cheah Boon Kheng. ‘The communist insurgency in Malaysia, 1948-90: contesting the nation-state and social change’. New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies 11, 1 (June 2009), p.149, athttp://www.nzasia.org.nz/downloads/NZJAS-June09/14_Cheah_3.pdf, accessed 12 Sep 2012

National Australian Archives. NAA: A1838, 696/6/4/5 Part 3. Butterworth base - General.

National Australian Archives. NAA: A703, 564/8/28 Part 8. RAAF Butterworth - Ground defence plans.

Ong,Weichong. ‘Malaysia’s defeat of armed communism: the second emergency, 1968-1989. Routledge. 2015

Drongo

Word for the day: 'Drongo'.

In the early 1920's there was a racehorse named Drongo who in 37 starts never had a win. He did however have a number of seconds and thirds in top class races, including the Melbourne Cup. His lineage is traced to a colt Jersey Lily brought to Australia by the actress Lillie Langtry. At one stage in her life she was mistress to Edward, Prince of Wales who later became Edward VII. Edward, it seems, was a bit of a pants man, having a possible 55 mistresses throughout his life. These included the mother of Winston Churchill and the great-grandmother of Camilla Parker Bowles.

Soon after the horse was retired racegoers, it seems, began calling any horse that failed to make the grade a drongo. And so it came to mean anyone who was slow, dim-witted, or hopeless cases.

In the 1940s the word was applied to RAAF recruits.

Fifty Years a Hedgehog

Sixteen seems so long ago, yet that was the age I was 50 years ago when I joined the RAAF on 11 January 1967. I didn’t think it back then but the photos of the time tell it as it was. I was a boy, one of 180 plus aged between 15 and 17 who arrived at the RAAF School of Technical Training east of Wagga Wagga as members of 21 Apprentice Intake (Hedgehogs). I have often wondered about that choice and what my life might have been like if I had made a different one.

Airman Apprentice Marsh, 1967

I was a farm kid. In those days there didn’t seem a great deal of options. Stay on the farm, get a job in the bank, do an apprenticeship. I can’t recall anyone in my extended family who had completed high school, yet alone gone on to higher education. Dad had not gone beyond primary school. So there were not role models to inspire me, nor was the option ever discussed. That was the way it was.

The RAAF had always been a dream - although that dream had to do with flying fighter jets, something I was to later learn I was too tall for. So when Mum came to me with an application form for a RAAF apprenticeship cut from the local paper I jumped at it.

Life was simple back then. Until I did the trip to Sydney for my RAAF medicals and interviews the extent of my travels had been as far north as the Gold Coast, west to Toowoomba and down the New England to Glen Innes and possibly Armidale, and south to Newcastle. Accompanied by Mum I spent a week or so in Sydney staying with Dad’s sister. It was a real adventure, sitting in the front seat on the top deck of the double decker buses seeing something of a city I have since come to love.

The RAAF gave me a life I could never have dreamed of back then. Malaysia, Singapore and the opportunity to visit Thailand in the days before Multiculturalism. Before going overseas I can only recall eating one non-Aussie dish, and that was in Sydney’s Chinatown while waiting for a rail connection between Wagga and South Grafton on leave.Then there were the six weeks in PNG, different altogether than South East Asia. But PNG could not compete with the opportunity to live in and experience a different culture like those five years in Penang.

I was a tall, gangly, uncoordinated kid. How I hated those times when two captains were nominated and told to pick teams. I was always the last picked. In a culture that valued athletic ability I quickly learned my place. I'm sure that early experience affected my confidence and may explain some of my character oddities to this day.

One the other hand I did well scholastically despite being academically lazy. In high school I was always in bed by 10pm while at the same time hearing stories of my peers staying up till midnight or later. Yet Mum - and who can argue with mothers - told me after I joined the RAAF I topped Maclean High School in the 1966 School Certificate. Maths was too much of a challenge. Too often I would go to the answer page of the textbook first during homework. History was a completely different matter. How I devoured history textbooks and whatever else I could find.  My Grandfather subscribed to a popular history periodical of the day - ‘Parade’. I’m sure regular stories of the glorious British Empire along with a regular diet of Biggles books fueled my dreams of air force and flying. I was today what would be called a history nerd.

Needless to say that academic laziness carried on at Wagga. I at times joke that the only exam I studied for in those 2 ½ years I had to resit, but that is pretty close to the truth.

My service records show that the interview team in 1966 considered I didn't have the aptitude for a technical career but they obviously still accepted me. They also noted I was a quiet, shy lad. That quietness continued to be noted throughout my career, being seen as a handicap to promotion. One quote I recall from my time as a corporal went something like ‘Too quiet to give orders, but when he does they are clearly understood’.

Three things stand out from my 20 years service, although two are not service related. I will always be thankful for these for what they have given me post RAAF.

During my second posting to Malaysia I took up Tae Kwon Do and set my heart on achieving a black belt during my time there. A few months in and nothing seemed to go right - back to that gangly uncoordinated kid. I felt frustrated and was close to quitting. Then one night it happened. Everything seemed to click and I never looked back. Many years later I took up karate, quitting before I made it to black belt a second time because the body gave up. I remember one instructor often reminding us  every so often that frustration was important to learning. It meant the mind recognised what we should be doing and so it should be embraced because if we persisted the body would catch up with the brain.

Many years after my Tae Kwon Do experience  I had a similar breakthrough. I was working on my Master’s thesis. I had all these concepts running around in my head - best practice, total quality management, systems management, risk management and more. Then one night it was as if the bells rang out and the lights flashed as it all meshed together. Not mastery in either martial arts or academically, but the point at which you realise you can make it.

The second experience was painful and you may ask why be thankful. It is an experience I wish I had not experienced and that was never experienced by anyone. But, as the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining. That was the breakup of my first marriage and yes, I accept a lot of the responsibility for that. First, it forced me to open up about my feelings. I would have cracked if I had not found someone to share with. Two men in particular I am indebted too. The first was a RAAF Chaplain in Melbourne. The other a mate I worked with at the time and with whom I ran regularly around South Melbourne at lunch time.

At this time I started reading about divorce and realised I wasn't strange. What I was experiencing at the time was typical of the emotional roundabout we all go through during relationship breakdown and loss. This led to further reading in the self-help and personal growth fields. Some were anything but helpful, leading to more painful learning experiences. But others brought rich benefits, more than compensating for the pain of the less-than-helpful.

Finally came my experience as an Instructor in Melbourne. I don't know why, but I put my hand up when I knew there was a vacancy in the Training Cell. It was something I knew I wanted to try.  Not only did I love the job, I know from the feedback I received I excelled at it - and to this day I love public speaking. For the three plus years I was in the role I received my best annual performance assessments. But only a year or two earlier I was assessed as being unsuitable for a training role, again because I was too quiet.

That role was the confidence builder I needed. While I have always been an introvert it brought me out of my shell. I have much to thank the Service for, but it is that one opportunity that stands out for me.

I left the RAAF in January 1987. The following year I enrolled in a Graduate Diploma of Health Education,  as stated above. One of our first assignments was an essay on teaching methods. I regurgitated all I could remember from my RAAF Instructional Technique course. The lecturer's comments went something like ‘I would liked to have seen the references for that’. He was so kind. Fortunately the grade was pass/fail, as it was for the entire course, so I was not embarrassed with a 50% pass.

Following discharge in 1987

The following year I commenced employment with the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. For the first two years I was a full time student completing an Associate Diploma of Occupational Health and Safety at the Phillip Institute of Technology. For the first year I was enrolled in two institutions while I completed my Grad Dip.

Eventually I was to complete a Master’s degree in OHS plus a Graduate Certificate in Compliance. I was no longer academically lazy. As I struggled with putting words together the lesson learned years earlier from Tae Kwon Do constantly came to mind. I loved the challenge. Not so much the hard slog, but the satisfaction of completing an essay, along with all those annoying references, and the feeling ‘Did I do that?’ And while I may boast, my academic record for all tasks assessed other than pass/fail carries a Distinction average.

Master of OHS, Newcastle 2004

To this day I love researching things that interest me. When veterans were fighting Government over detrimental changes to our superannuation system I spent many hours searching Hansard and going through different reports on military and public service superannuation. While we had a partial win there remains unfinished business. For the last few years I have spent even more time scanning files available from National Archives, newspapers, books, academic papers and more covering the Australian presence at Butterworth in the 1970s and 80s. Our Defence department maintains this was normal peacetime service, yet all the evidence shows otherwise. Between 1968 and 1989 Malaysian security forces were engaged in a war against communist insurgents, a war known as the Second Malaysian Emergency,  a war our Government refuses to acknowledge because of the implications to our veterans’ entitlements system.

I can spend hours on Google researching different topics of interest. And I also enjoy writing about the things I research, as well as other things. Then there is the Bible, and the time I have spent searching through different themes. This leads to further research because the Bible often makes a lot more sense when the historical context in which it was written is understood.

Over recent years I often reflect on that decision 50 years ago and wonder what might have been if I had made a different one. There is no way that can be answered with any certainty of course. I agree with the assessment that I did not have the aptitude for a technical trade. I believe I could have enjoyed life as a professor of history, locked away in the dusty archives of a university library. Or theology, but not as a Church pastor dealing with the problems of parishioners and local Church politics. Or maybe sociology, psychology, comparative religions or philosophy, the world of people, how they think and behave, of belief systems and ideas. Yes, I could see myself enjoying a career in one of these fields.

So what of those 20 years service? It is a lived experience that I would not have known if I had not enlisted. So I can only comment on what it gave me.

First there was and is the camaraderie. For those 30 months at Wagga we ate, worked, played and slept together. In many ways it was just an extended family with all the bonding that comes with family. And little changed when we were posted to our first units and again lived in barracks.  As we married our families were in many ways a continuation of barracks life. Then I can relate it back to the rural community I grew up in. Neighbors, many part of my extended family, who knew survival depended on working together at different times through the year and of supporting one another in the bad times.

There was that basic military training that not only instilled discipline. By the time I graduated from Wagga as an 18 year old I knew more about responsibility, accountability and teamwork than I have seen demonstrated by much older senior managers I have come across in civilian life. Parade time of 0800 hours meant being there 5 minutes early, not strolling in 20 or 30 minutes later. And no one would finish work and leave someone else to clean up afterwards - a continuing frustration in later employment.

Then there was the opportunity to experience different cultures in a time when Multiculturalism was unheard of. In the 1970s travel within Australia was expensive enough. For many overseas travel would be undreamed of.

With Mum, 2015

I live with the pride of giving 20 years of service to my country, long service in anyone's language. And those 5 years in Malaysia were far more than an overseas holiday at taxpayers’ expense. Australia’s commitment was to provide security and assurance of our interest to an unstable environment during the Cold War years. Our presence gave invaluable indirect aid to Malaysia in particular, and no doubt Singapore, in their battle against the communists. I know I was part of something significant.

Could anything else have given me all of that? Some of it perhaps, but not the sum total. Of course I would know nothing of that if I had not lived it. But having lived it I can't imagine a career that would give so much. Knowing what I know now, if I were 16 today and given the same opportunity I would grab it with both hands.