4 Field Regiment (SVN) 'Old Boys' Newsletter - February 2019 Edition

From Dick Lawler Hi Peter. Many thanks for your update on Arthur. I’m not surprised his office will be full of goodies. I once inherited one of his sets of lesson plans which mentioned some very minute admin details. That was Arthur as I knew him. I look forward to the Old Boys Newsletter as its my only contact with 4 Regt RAA; the only ARA regt I ever had the honour to serve. Best regards. Dick Lawler. ********************************************************************************* Back in November last year I arranged for four copies of ‘Rounds Complete’ to be delivered to Paddy Durnford in Townsville. Paddy is the curator of 4 Regiment museum and one of the key links to past members with the current serving members. ‘Rounds Complete’ was written by Steve Gower who was an FO with 101 Battery in SVN in ’66. Steve was later to become CO of 8/12 Medium Regiment in Holsworthy when I was there as a Sergeant in ’78. He later became Director of the Australian War Memoria in Canberra. The first book has been presented to a member of the Regiment and if information comes to hand in time I will include in this issue, otherwise details next issue. In future, we will try and get one of our ‘Old Boys’ to attend and where possible, do the presentation. Cost of the four books was $125.95 and we have covered this from our working account which as at Oct had $1049.64 credit and our term deposit, rolled over in Oct 2018 has $6031.30. Thanks Gabby Hayes for looking after them both. Gabby puts a bit in himself every now and then to keep the working account current. Don’t forget the Australian Artillery Association dinner on Saturday 24 August 2019 in Caloundra. Visit www.australianartilleryassociation.com for full details and costs of the dinner. When you register, mention you would like to be at the 4 th Field Regt (SVN) Association table(s). There is also a happy hour on Friday the 23 August. I had a couple days down in the Hunter Wine Region in early January with PJ Smith and Reg Shepherd. A great couple of days to solve the problems of the world – or did we add to them? One highlight of the trip was the three of us hitting our drives over the dam on the 7 th at the Hunter Valley Golf & Country Club. We won’t mention the rest of the golf but a great few days with great mates. Re 2020 and possible reunion. No further action at this stage. I appreciate the fact that advanced warning is essential to most but there has been very little support for any form of reunion at this stage. 4 th Regiment will be celebrating their 60 th birthday in May 2020 and would welcome any individuals who would like to attend the various activities. Speaking of reunions, Syd Farrow found in his bottom drawer the information I had sent out re the reunion we had in Townsville back in 1991. He had attended and it was a memorable event. I still have some spare photos of our old boys taken back then. If you want one, let me know. By the way, the total cost per person to attend the six activities back them was $80.00. I doubt we could do it for that these days. Well, that’s all folks. Next edition after ANZAC Day with all your reports on your activities and who you caught up with. Remember also, we don’t send out hard copies any more so I need an email address if anyone wants to receive our newsletters. Best wishes to one and all. Peter Bruce.