Whose Name We Share

71 2015 This year saw the 103 rd Battery undergo a series of individual training courses and filling external support requests. The highlight of the year for the battery is the attachment of His Royal Highness Prince Harry to the Bty for Ex Thunder Observer at Kangaroo Flats. They didn’t stop there, however, for they continued their trend for innovative and exciting training with Exercise Vigilant Scimitar with the 1 st Aviation Regiment. This exercise in particular saw the conduct of airmobile training across the Northern Territory, including sending guns to Mount Bundy and observers to support Tiger ARH to Delamere Air Weapons Range. The tempo died down slowly with excercises in May and August at Mount Bundey and finally there was an exercise in Cultana in October – all of which were concerned with low-level training. The lowest point for the Battery in 2015 was the shocking death of Captain Matthew Manning, a Forward Observer and JTAC in what was a horrific accident. The Battery offered its officers, many of whom close friends, to support the Manning family at his funeral on the Gold Coast. More than 400 people packed Mary Immaculate Church in Ashmore on the Gold Coast for his funeral. His photo still hangs on the wall of Battery Headquarters to this day. Figure 33 Captain Matthew Manning in full Mess Dress. Battery Collection.