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

108 Battery Reunion could contact Ray Watt on 0414 420 917 or Bob Poletti on 0407 924 533. Dates are 26 March to 29 March 2020. From Garry Jones on 17 July G’day mate. Dawn and I along with Ruby the pooch have just returned from a great trip north in the van. We caught up with relatives at Glass House Mountains for a few days, then onwards to Coral Cove to meet up with Ian Prewitt and Tracy. Mate, what a lovely place and what fantastic hosts. Ian showed us all around the place, including the obligatory tour of their very good and pretty tough golf course. I must add both are playing pretty good golf as well. You really must get up there mate. Prew and I had one or two lemonades as well and re organised history and a few old stories. We then headed to Harvey Bay and met up with Chris and Tina Reid and Pam Hardie where we had a lovely dinner with all at Chris and Tina’s place. Chris showed of his cooking skills with a magnificent seafood spread. It was just wonderful to catch up and made our travels so memorable. So spent more time around the sunshine coast and headed back across the DMZ before state of origin 3, which, by the way Mr PREW owes me a photo in a Blue jumper. Safe Travels to all. Regards, Garf. From Ben Lans on 20 October Hi Everybody. I have published a memoir of my Army time… a lighthearted read of my travels and adventures. It’s a personal story, a bit about active service in Vietnam, postings to Singapore in the ‘Raj’ days and London at the end of the Cold War, all told with a bit of humour in an easy to read style. It also includes accounts of my ‘adventure training’ on some of Australia’s wild rivers such as the Franklin in Tassie, a first descent of the Herbert River, and the Mitchell River in North Queensland. Give it a go, it’s available online at https://echobooks.com.au/biography/heads-up- gentlemen/ I really hope you enjoy reading the book as much as I enjoyed writing it. Let me know! (I’m sure you will!)……. Ben Book Reviews Brother Rats by Lance Grimstone. Lance has very cleverly woven several fictional characters with factual events. While the story is loosely based on a true life story, the central characters are the Samuels brothers, Ted, Jack and Tom who are fictious. Lance has put real life into the characters, and I found it easy to relate to them all. From North Africa during WWII, where all three brothers were involved the book follows their exploits through hospitals, prisoner of war camps, and Italy and finally back to Australia to prepare to fight another closer enemy. The book is a very easy read with many events and places so close to reality that you feel part of it. A Rain of Ruin by Lance Grimstone. The Samuels brothers are back in Australia and Lance’s second book follows the exploits of the three brothers. Japan is at Australia’s doorstep. Life in wartime Brisbane is hectic but cleverly portrayed by Lance. The buildings used by various components of both Australian and American Forces, come to life with such accuracy. Many veterans will relate to the issues faced by Veterans and it is obvious that some things never change after involvement in conflicts. We also follow Ted Samuels to Japan after events in Hiroshima.