16 December 2016 by 3 Comments

Sharing Xmas – A Letter and a Poem to Friends

That time of the year is arriving with its powerful message of love, giving and seeking peace. It is difficult to believe there are those who would ridicule such intent.

  A Letter to Friends

That time of the year is arriving with its powerful message of love, giving and seeking peace. It is difficult to believe there are those who would ridicule such intent.

I recall being on operations in the Malayan Jungle during the Festive Season. Just a very small group of us, several days march from the nearest human habitation which was a small cluster of grass huts occupied by the Sakai ( very primitive and friendly people complete with blow pipes and poisoned darts for hunting game.)

On Xmas Eve we received a radio message that the battalion’s Priest was arriving by helicopter to spend Xmas lunch with us.  We were of course delighted for the opportunity to have visitors from the outside world sharing a tin of meat and biscuits.

However a Priest in our midst smacked of religious rituals.  With two exceptions (both devout Catholics) our small band had already demonstrated reluctance to religion.  In Australia on many occasions at church parades, those of us who did not wish to attend Church service were left in the freezing cold and taken for a long run while our Christian mates worshipped in warm and comfortable surrounds.

We realised it would be perhaps uncomfortable for our pious mates to be the only ones taking Mass while the rest of us looked on as curious spectators so it was decided we would all attend the service and as the Preacher would say  “So it came to be”

Our two mates were happy, the Priest had a new story to tell of converting well known heathens in the middle of the Malayan Jungle and the heathens felt contented because they had been considerate enough to please everyone.

That night regardless of our short comings in regards religious instruction; we too had our dreams of our families far away and imagined them as they would be, together, happy and sharing gifts with each other on such a special day which reminded all of us of the importance of such precious values.

Many years later, those of us still standing reflect with fondness on the day we took communion…

What am I saying? Perhaps even if there is doubt, there’s no reason to ridicule Christianity and every reason to share with those that do. Besides, the thought of Christmas gives every soldier the chance for the sweetest dreams of home that can never be stolen.

Well, that is what I and my heathen mates reckon…

My best wishes to you and your family for a merry Xmas and Happy New Year

Luv ya all

George M

 

The Poem  

Dreams of Home on Xmas Day

Today’s military is no different to those who came before

Always the thoughts of loved ones when away on distant shores 

More so when sleigh bells are tinkling and Xmas trees alight

Love, happiness and peace on earth is the plea in early day’s light

 

Be they on the ground, at sea or in the air, there are dreams to be

Images of happy children finding gifts and shouting with glee

So much joy in the home, all are together, except one 

Who smiles from the wall and is far away until duty done

 

The thought of not being with loved ones stirs a heavy heart

Lunch on the beach and rafferty rules cricket is about to start  

Or perhaps at home with a table laden with meats and tart

Warriors also dream of going home and never more to part

 

To be there in fading light, dancing shadows ever so near

Safe, secure and no more the sense of danger and fear

At night in bed with comforting sounds of rain on a roof above

Reaching over to embrace a loved one and whisper your love

 

Such dreams are no different from the past that many of us knew

Who once wore the proud cloth and swore to serve a nation true

Today another generation is absent on this special day too 

To protect a precious way of life that belongs to me and you

 

So let make a vow that whatever the reason; no matter the threat

We stand together and our beautiful way of life we protect

To march forward united as one for what we know is right

For future generations where there are Xmas trees, tinsel and lights

George Mansford © December 2016

 

Filed Under: Activities, Home
10 December 2016 by Leave a Comment

Health – Do you know the signs of heat stress?

Hot weather can take a serious toll on our health.

Heat-related illnesses range from mild conditions such as heat rash or cramps, through to heat stroke, which can be fatal.

The effects of heat stress cascade, it’s important to know what the early signs look like.

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6 December 2016 by Leave a Comment

AWM – eMemorial -Whats on in December

This is a monthly e Newsletter from the AWM and a valuable source of information of events at the AWM

Articles include:

The longest war

The longest war, an exhibition of a series of portraits depicting the impact of war on the family of Australian servicemen and servicewomen, is now on display at the Memorial.

Painted by Australian official war artist Ben Quilty, these portraits focus on the partners, children, and parents of Australian soldiers who served in Afghanistan. While family members have always played a vital role in Australian military history, their stories are often little known.

The Memorial commissioned Quilty to create portraits of people whose loved ones either were killed or suffered the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of their service in Afghanistan. The aim of the paintings is to raise awareness of the experiences of families in the aftermath of war, while acknowledging the unique and inspirational role they play.

Subjects Leesa Kwok, Elvi Wood, and Elle-Lou Diddams each had enormous pain and sorrow thrust upon them through their loved ones’ service in the Australian Defence Force. Quilty says he wanted to emphasise the ongoing battles that these women, and many others like them, continue to experience in what he calls Australia’s “longest war”.

The longest war will be on display at the Memorial until May 2017

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5 December 2016 by 1 Comment

MEDIA RELEASE – ROUNDTABLE TO DISCUSS SUICIDE PREVENTION IN TOWNSVILLE

Health  Minister Ley and DVA Minister Tehan will hold a roundtable discussion on suicide with representatives from defence and ESOs, health service providers and community groups in Townsville on Wednesday.

Minister for Health and Aged Care, Sussan Ley and Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel, Dan Tehan will visit Townsville later this week to discuss the incidence of suicide among current and former members of the ADF and hear ideas that will help shape a new landmark suicide prevention trial in the region.

Representatives from defence and veterans’ associations, health service providers and local community groups will be attending Wednesday’s roundtable discussion.

Announced in September, the Turnbull Government is working with local and regional stakeholders to establish a Suicide Prevention Trial Site in Townsville. The Townsville trial will be led by the North Queensland Primary Health Network. As part of its work, the trial will focus on veterans’ mental health.

This is one of 12 innovative, front-line trials in our fight against suicide which will improve understanding of the challenges and work to develop best-practice services which we can apply nationwide.

The Turnbull Government is committed to supporting the mental health of all Australians.

The suicide prevention trial in Townsville is part of a $34 million commitment to fund and evaluate 12 suicide prevention trial sites nationally.

Minister for Health Sussan Ley said consultation and collaboration will be critical to the success of the trial in Townsville. “The involvement of veterans’ organisations, local service providers, and health professth the local community and servicionals is essential if we are going to tackle the incidence of suicide amongst current and former members of the ADF,” Minister Ley said.

“That’s why we’ll be talking directly with service providers to understand what’s currently working on the ground in garrison communities, like Townsville, and to seek their advice in designing and planning the trial.”

Minister Tehan said the suicide prevention trial site was another important initiative in the Government’s campaign to address suicide.
“The veterans’ focus of the Townsville trial site will be vitally important in helping to improve our understanding of the challenges and helping us to develop best practices which can be rolled out nationally,” Minister Tehan said.
“The Government is committed to addressing the incidence of suicide in our community and this year we have introduced several suicide prevention initiatives for our serving and ex-serving population.
“Free mental health treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and substance abuse disorders is available now to anyone who has served for one day in the ADF.”

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2 December 2016 by Leave a Comment

From Deployment to Employment – Agriculture jobs for Australia’s veterans

With the support of our agriculture industry, Agri Labour Australia is helping ex-Defence personnel transition back to civilian life via gainful employment on the land.

You may have seen the Agri Veterans Facebook page and wondered what it’s all about. Launched in late 2015, this new initiative from Agri Labour Australia assists our brave ex-Defence Force members who are interested in pursuing a new career in the agriculture industry. We know it will do a lot of good and clearly Australia agrees – our Agri Veterans FB page reached 2000 followers last month.

Why vets? Why now?

We championed the idea because we know that after serving in the military, the transition back to civilian life can be difficult. Especially when figuring out your next move and re-training, particularly when you may have been injured or your injuries are of the emotional variety. We wanted to help veterans find stable, rewarding roles that suit their current headspace, skills and abilities.

On the other side of the coin, Agri Labour Australia is all too familiar with the labour shortfall in certain Australian agriculture sectors. Often there simply aren’t enough workers.

Then we heard about a similar program in the US that’s garnered a huge amount of support. Immediately we knew it would have the same affect in Australia. We see it as a true win-win:

  1. We help ex-Defence personnel transition back to civilian life and open up new employment possibilities for them.
  2. We introduce a new workforce to our farmers who are desperate for hard-working, disciplined and reliable people.

What jobs are on offer?

Agriculture is a diverse industry that has evolved into a technologically advanced, multi-disciplinary field. Job opportunities are varied and vast, ranging from:

Semi-skilled farm labour
For example, planting and picking, packing and processing produce or attending to livestock.

Skilled roles
Positions involving machinery operation, equipment maintenance, irrigation, logistics and transport, warehousing and trade qualified roles.

Technical roles
Positions related to science and engineering, environmental management, data and communications, agronomy and grain trading, to name a few.

Administrative roles
Managerial and supervisory, legal and finance, administrative and stock control positions.

Why it’s a perfect fit

In our view, the agricultural and Defence Force skill sets are complementary. Military training is ideal for work on the land, where you have to be up early, have good attention to detail and be good with your hands.

More importantly, in agriculture, as in the military, attitude is everything. If you come to work with the right attitude, anything is possible. Healing is possible. A whole new life could open up.

Understanding where they’ve come from

With many friends and loved ones who’ve been on the frontline, Agri Labour Australia is well aware that many ex-Defence personnel are nursing injuries – both physical and mental.

Central to the Agri Veterans program is understanding and compassion. Wherever possible, we will assist – whether that means helping our vet’s up-skill or just being there to talk through future career possibilities.

Again, we’re blown away by how much support this program has received because we’re so passionate about it. The feedback from veterans, our clients and the general public has been truly humbling. Let’s grow it together.

If you’d like to be a part of the Agri Veterans Program, contact 1300241823. To keep up to date with progress, Like our Facebook page.

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30 November 2016 by Leave a Comment

FIRST COMPREHENSIVE PICTURE OF DEFENCE SUICIDES TO EMERGE

The most comprehensive picture of the incidence of suicide among defence personnel will be released on Wednesday, but mental health advocates are already calling for funding for better research.

By Jackson Gothe-Snape
29 NOV 2016

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The first-ever comprehensive statistics on the incidence of suicide among former defence force personnel will be published this week, following research that required approval by an ethics committee.

But the release is prompting renewed calls for better understanding of mental health in Australia’s armed forces.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) will release estimates of suicide in current and former Australian Defence Force personnel for the past 15 years on Wednesday, using data combined from the Defence personnel database and National Death Index records.

The new information is expected to show the suicide rate among former defence personnel to be significantly higher than the rate in the broader community.

Amanda Rishworth, Labor’s veterans’ affairs spokeswoman and a former psychologist, said this type of information has not been used before and she expects “a good estimate about what the true picture is in terms of suicides, both in Defence and for veterans.”

The first-ever comprehensive statistics on the incidence of suicide among former defence force personnel will be published this week, following research that required approval by an ethics committee.

But the release is prompting renewed calls for better understanding of mental health in Australia’s armed forces.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) will release estimates of suicide in current and former Australian Defence Force personnel for the past 15 years on Wednesday, using data combined from the Defence personnel database and National Death Index records.

The new information is expected to show the suicide rate among former defence personnel to be significantly higher than the rate in the broader community.

Amanda Rishworth, Labor’s veterans’ affairs spokeswoman and a former psychologist, said this type of information has not been used before and she expects “a good estimate about what the true picture is in terms of suicides, both in Defence and for veterans.”

Currently, the Department of Defence has information on active personnel who have committed suicide, and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) records when claims of suicides are made by family members, but there is no system for tracking suicides among veterans who don’t make a claim.

The DVA acknowledges the lack of reliable statistics, which prompted the funding of this new study from AIHW.

Karen Court from Overwatch, a not-for-profit that assists former ADF members at risk or in crisis, fears Wednesday’s estimates will again undercount the true rate of suicide.

“The dataset is incomplete and fails to include Vietnam veterans as well as contemporary veterans from both peacekeeping missions in Rwanda and Somalia and the Gulf War,” she said.

“These cohorts have had a significant amount of suicide from within their ranks.”

She also argues that volunteer efforts to track suicides in the community, such as the Australian Veterans Suicide Register, should be given more support.

“Rather than ‘reinventing the wheel’ it would seem logical that the bodies responsible for undertaking these studies request assistance from those undertaking the work in the community already as we have much we could teach them,” she said.

Ms Rishworth is proposing the government funds a national dataset covering veterans and serving personnel to provide the definitive record of defence force mental health.

“What suicide is, is the very awful end to complex mental health problems that haven’t been addressed, and haven’t been prevented,” she said.

“Early intervention is really critical to that and getting a picture of what is happening out there and looking at what we can do better is essential.”

Geoff Neideck, head of the AIHW’s Data Strategies and IT Group, said it was necessary to use “data linkage” to produce the research, a process that involves matching individuals from a block of records with individuals from another.

“The AIHW linked the Department of Defence’s Personnel Database (PMKeyS) with the National Death Index,” he said.

“All data linkage activities require AIHW ethics approvals before they can proceed,” he said.

One-hundred-and-eighteen serving personnel died by suicide between 2000 and September 2016, according to ADF.

The DVA advised a Senate committee that care should be taken in attributing some deaths as suicide without a coroner’s finding, such as drug overdoses, single vehicle car accidents, falls or drowning, which could be accidental or intentional.

Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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Filed Under: Current Operations, Home
23 November 2016 by 1 Comment

HAPPY 68th BIRTHDAY – THE ROYAL AUSTRALIAN REGIMENT

To all current and past serving men of The Regiment and their families, greetings on our Birthday: 68 years youngimages-55

download-23

 

 

 

Filed Under: History, Home
22 November 2016 by Leave a Comment

Memories- Faith -Love

For   Rene and Wilson

Each dawn I reach out from restless sleep to hold her close to me

All I touch is a cold silent empty space and I wonder why it had to be

How is it possible the Planet still spins with such energy and life

When she is no longer part of it; my dearest, dearest wife

 

Now there’s a smothering silence with flitting shadows on the walls

Broken at times with low echoes of her sweet laughter and fond calls

I still see her at the table as we planned with yesterday’s dreams

Seeking our tomorrows together and learning from where we’d been

 

Such a wonderful comforting sight after returning from distant places

The sudden joy of finding her waving mid a cheering sea of faces

Together, hugging, laughing and loving once again

Long before those flitting shadows on the walls and deep biting pain

 

Some said time will heal all after several seasons

There were others who tried to help, offering other reasons

Yet for me when night arrives, I am still restless and blind

The house is silent, empty and my sweetheart I cannot find

 

There was of course the most fortunate part of my life

When she agreed to become my wife

How lucky could a soldier bloke be?

For each glorious hour we had together, my precious girl and me

 

I see her in the garden, by the front gate or walking down the street

The beautiful memories flood me day after day, yet we never meet

There will be a time when I turn a special corner I know not where

I will find her smiling, waving and waiting for me there.

 

George with his daughter Sharon

george-mansford-1

Filed Under: George Mansford, Home
18 November 2016 by Leave a Comment

Senate Inquiry – Veterans’ Suicide – Public Hearings

Public hearings have commenced.

You can watch them live here

You can read the transcripts here

Filed Under: Home
17 November 2016 by 1 Comment

Opinion – For some war is still in the head

As The Townsville Bulletin remarked recently, 61,530 Australians died in World War I.

None of them was just a mere statistic.

Every single one had a name and left someone to mourn their loss, to try to pick up the pieces, though never completely.

On July 19-20, 1916 at Fromelles the 5th Australian Division suffered 5533 casualties of whom almost 2000 were killed in action.

Of these 1299 were declared missing and 400 prisoners of war.

Most came from Brigadier Pompey Elliott’s 15th Brigade.

It was Australia’s worst night ever.

Australia’s total war dead numbers 102, 824 including 39,654 in WWII, 340 in Korea, 521 in Vietnam and 42 in Afghanistan.

Then there is HMAS Sydney lost 75 years ago this week on November 14, 1941.

On May 24, 1941 when the Royal Navy battle cruiser HMS Hood was sunk in the Denmark Strait only three of its 1418 crew survived.

On that late afternoon in November 1941 HMAS Sydney encountered a mysterious ship off Geraldton Western Australia which identified itself as the Dutch merchantman Straat Malakka.

It was actually the German raider HSK Kormoran which had cut a destructive swathe across the Pacific.

With a crew of 397 Kormoran adopted several disguises to hide its true identity from unsuspecting merchantmen which it then captured and sank.

Until it encountered the Sydney fully manned to its war establishment of 645, including RAAF aircrew for its Walrus seaplane and some civilian canteen staff.

From about 5.00 pm at a range of 1000m the two ships engaged in the formal posturing of naval identification until about 5.30 pm when the German captain realising the game was up dropped his camouflage and opened fire on Sydney.

The two ships exchanged intense fire for the next five minutes but by 6.00 pm all fire ceased and both mortally wounded vessels, now 10,000m apart entered their death throes.

By the time Sydney finally sank around 10.00 pm when its bow separated no one knows what its crew had endured, whether they realised their fate nor how they reacted.

For several decades the only clues to Sydney’s fate were a lifebelt and two damaged Carly life floats.

Kormoran’s 317 survivors as PoW provided some narrative of the battle but it wasn’t until the two wrecks were discovered in 2007 naval historians were able to establish Sydney’s final moments.

In a few hours Sydney suffered more KIA than either Korea or Vietnam and almost 10 times those in Afghanistan.

More tellingly, so far this year 41 identified veterans have committed suicide.

That’s one short of 42, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’s magical answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything.

Except no one knows what the question was.

Of all numbers the most telling is just one.

Every life lost in war or as a consequence of military service represents one individual whose death affects many.

Each suicide is one too many but the answer let alone the question remain elusive.

Finding both is essential to preventing more.

Ross Eastgate
Townsville Bulletin
17 November 2016

Filed Under: History, Home