Page 15

Your say!!

We received many emails concerning the aborted reunion - here are just a few: 

G'day Trevor, I believe that the reunion is off, mate that's a big disappointment, especially for you, after

all the effort you have put in. I have already booked my holidays so I am coming up anyway, maybe I'll

see you on the Monday or something. Kind regards Phil Holden.

*******

Sorry to hear about the re-union, this is not a criticism nor may it apply to other folks but I was going to attend until I heard it was to be fancy dress. This may have had no bearing on what stopped others, just my own opinion. Cheers & best wishes Ross.

*******

G'day Trevor, I hope to call you this week, but if I don't make contact I would like to explain that I have been really looking forward to this reunion since the last one a couple of years ago and our march through Brisbane. Unfortunately, of all times, I have to return to the US in a few days for a three week visit and will therefore miss the reunion. According to you email to me a few days ago, this reunion has been cancelled, what a pity.

I do have a short article about Ballarat Radschool that I will write and e mail to you sometime in May. I won't have time to see you before I fly back to the US in a few days, but I would like to meet up with you some time after my return for a cup of coffee or a few beers. Cheers...........John Harris.

*******

Hello - My name is Richard (Dick) Harcourt, and I was in the RAF and I served at RAAF Butterworth Base Radio in the 1960's and saw some photos on the Radschool Newsletters. I sent you some of mine but I haven't seen them published yet. (Sorry Dick - please send them again - tb). I now belong to the RAF Butterworth and Penang Association which is going strong in the UK, in fact as people are retiring and finding more time our numbers are growing. This is our web site.  Our Oldest members served at RAF Butterworth in 1945.

I'm in the process of scanning some 3,000 negatives and transparencies from my time at Butterworth and will be putting them on a website in the near future which may interest your readers. Have been back to Butterworth and Penang a number of times and was kindly looked after by the RAAF lads who were running the old transmitter site at Butterworth. They tried to get me onto the main base but the day I went across was AOC's Inspection or the RMAF equivalent, so missed out.

Anyway hope all goes well and will keep my eye on the URL. Cheers and Beers from cold miserable Nottinghamshire

*******

Trevor, I no longer need a hard copy of the newsletter as I can pick it up off the web. I am now living in China, after being made redundant and finding that despite what the PM would like, no employer really wants to employ someone with grey hair. Here at least my maturity is appreciated, Margaret and I get paid for just 20 hours work a week and we get free accommodation, it costs us nothing to live, and we aren't running down our super. We teach English to kids who really don't want to learn but I can't blame them as this is one of the poorest areas in China, so English is not a priority when you're destined to join your family growing rice, but whilst the Government has set an agenda that all kids will learn English, we are happy to follow with their ideas.

We are two of only 6 white faces (all teachers) in a poor rural town of 800,000 and to give you an idea, the first and only auto washing machines in town were bought for us teachers, we cannot even buy a knife fork and spoon here and the nearest large town is only 150km away but takes 8 hours by bus. But it is great fun here, with friendly people, the food is terrific and cheap, $2 buys a two course meal (for two) with a bottle of beer, and we are feted by all and sundry as the foreign experts! And we are building up fabulous thigh muscles thanks to the squatters. Anyway, this is my new email address as there is no postal service that is of any use to us, because the Post Office here cannot read English so we can't post anything out, and for the same reason anyone trying to post anything in without an address label written in Chinese characters is wasting their time. Thank God we have the internet. Our son and heir got married the day before we left so we handed him over to his bride, gave him the keys to the house to look after until we get home...when ever...and we can now do what we want and it's great. Geoff and Margaret Mayhew.

*******

Ray Green, who provided us with the above photos of Butterworth, is trying to maintain a list of all those that served at 1 Caru, 2 Caru, 3 Caru and 114 Mcru as well as the Aussies who were on Western Hill. So far they have around 500 names, but a lot of the Techs are missing. Their web site is http://www.angelfire.com/rings/caru/ - if you are an ex-CARU bod, please log on and bung your name on their roll. Ray says the next major reunion for CARU bods will be held in Darwin, in September 2009.

A man rang the surgery and spoke frantically into the phone: "My wife is pregnant and her contractions are only two minutes apart, what should I do". "Is this her first child?" the doctor asked. "No!" the man shouted, "This is her husband!"

Two blokes are drinking in a bar.  One says, "Did you know that lions have sex 10 to 15 times a night?"  "Damn!" says his mate. "I just joined Rotary."

 Back     Forward