Jan-Feb, Mar-Apr, May-Jun 1965 - Navy League of Australia

Spain. This consisted of friedrice with prawns, chicken andother delicacies mixed in. Afterdinner I sat in the dining roomwith Jim Hasick chatting aboutthings in general. Jim would beremaining on the island for thenext twelve months. I returnedto the cabin where Tom discoveredthat he had ruined thirtyof his forty slides by incorrectlyusing his light meter.By Friday. 11 th December,our lips were really windburnedand Dr. Frank Soucck broughtus some ointment. Again we wereto go to Half-moon Bay. but becausethe ship was going to unloadsupplies at Heard Point, weremained on board and went toGreen Gorge. This was becausethe sea was too rough at HeardPoint and the supplies were unloadedby pontoon, a method bywhich the stores are loaded onto the large pontoon and it. withmen and supplies aboard, istowed ashore by the ships motorboat.This adventure proved veryinterestingas everything seemedto go wrong. While unloadingthe ship one box of lemon juicewas dropped into the sea. Thiswas retrieved by the motor boat.Dr. Law was dragged over thestern of the pontoon by a ropewhich tangled around his legs.His camera which he was carrying,was ruined by the salt water.Bruce Elwood. the O.I.C. forthe next twelve months was assignedtwo jobs—on the pontoonand in the row boat. When heleft his position on the pontoonto go into the rowboat the anchoron the pontoon draggedand it went on to the rocks, deflatingone of the sections of thepontoon.Once finished (at 1630) we returnedto Buckles Bay at 1900when we went ashore to unloadthe DUKWs for half an hourbefore dinner. After this I wentto the cabin and fell asleep immediately.IIFinally, on Saturday. 12thDecember, we went to HasselboroughBay with Ena Thomasto sec the Wandering Albatross.We only sighted one which wetrapped and photographed. Dr.C'arrick photographed it andread the band on its leg whileProfessor Falls took a \oundtrack of it. As this bird can onlytake olf into the wind, it wasquite easy to catch. On our returnwe again encountered thefeather bed and 1 rode a coupleof seals.We returned just in time forthe lunch DUKW. and afterlunch Tom and I stayed aboardto help Dr. Soucck while theother four went ashore to cleanup. After our work was completed.Tom and I watched thepersonal gear being unloadedinto the DUKWs. after which Iwent to the cabin and rested.The clean-up party returnedaboard at 1500 in readiness forthe changeover party which tookplace that night. At 1800 theship's passengers had a lightsnack and went ashore at 1945for the party at which "a goodtime was had by all".At 0230 on Sunday, 13th December,the party finally terminatedand those going home returnedto the ship. While waitingfor the crew to hoist the DUKWswe were allowed to drive themand at 0430 the ship departedwith the DUKWs and passengerssafely stowed aboard.Waking up thinking that I wasin good time for breakfast, Ifound it was 1130 and MacquarieIsland was far behind.After "breakfast-lunch" we slept,then sang with George Haigue,the cook for the previous twelvemonths.On the morning of Monday,14th December, we found thatduring the night the heavy rollon the ship had knocked overthe chair in our cabin. Afterbreakfast at 0800, Tom, Graham,Pete and I helped FrankSoucck tidy the hold after whichwe sang with Ena in the cabinuntil lunch. I remained in thecabin and read until dinner at1X00.Tuesday and Wednesday. 15thand 16th. we followed the usualship routine and recorded interviewsof AN.A.RE. memberson Macquaric Kland lor the pastyear.On Thursday. 17th December,we woke up to a welcome sightof the Australian coastline andthe heads of Port Philip Baywhich the ••hip entered at 0645,after picking up its pilot. Pete,who li\es in Melbourne, pointedout the various places aroundthe Bay. After breakfast at 0800we watched the Customs Officercome aboard and the changeoverof pilots.The ship berthed at No. 6North Wharf at 1045 and I immediatelyhooked mv return tcSydney on the 1400 flight. WhenPete and his parents left the shipI went to the airport and waitedfor my flight.But for men such as Dr. Lawthese trips would not be possible.Their interest in Australia'syouth builds the leaders ofthe country in years to come andwith the other five chaps whoaccompanied me. 1 would liketo thank Dr. Law and A.N.A.-R.E. for the privilege of allowingme to gain such valuable informationand experience on>uch a voyage to MacquaricIsland.Thank you.NAVY LEAGUEBALLFriday, 22nd October, 1965PRINCESTicket Secretaries: Mrs. H. B virgin,Phone: 35-1687, and Mrs. Hinchlifle1THE NAVYGLOUCESTER CUP PRESENTED1 (H.R.H. The Duke of Gloucester presents his Cup to Captain D. W. Leach atAdmiralty House, Sydney.NAVY'S TOP SHIPTiie Navy's top efficiencytrophy, the Gloucester Cup. hasbeen awarded to the DaringClass destroyer, H.M.A.S. VEN­DETTA, as the best all-roundship in the Australian Fleet. Itwas the first time that VEN­DETTA had won the trophy.The Cup has been awardedeach year since it was presentedIO the R.A.N, by the Duke ofGloucester in 1946. Points arewarded for general efficiency,-leanliness, seamanship and aariety of specialist skills, rangngfrom gunnery to engineering.The role of the ship, her age.quipment and complement areil-.ii taken into account.The Duke of Gloucester hasMAY - JUNE, 1965sent his congratulations to VEN­DETTA, which is a destroyer of3.500 tons. Commissioned in1958. she has a complement ofsome 330 officers and men, andis currently under the commandof Commander D. W. Leach.For most of 1964, during whichher performance won her thetrophy, she was commanded byCaptain A. A. Willis. She spentmuch of the year on duty inSouth East Asian waters withthe British CommonwealthStrategic Reserve.VENDETTA takes the GloucesterCup from H.M.A.S.VAMPIRE, which has held thetrophy on three separate occasions.TIGER SKIN FOR NAVYA band of the Royal AustralianNavy now has a ceremonialdrum apron made from the skinof a Malaysian tiger.The tiger skin was officiallypresented to the R.A.N, at aceremony in Sydney in February.The skin, made into a drumapron, was handed to the FlagOfficer-in-Charge, East AustraliaArea, Rear Admiral O. H. Bacher,by the Malaysian HighCommissioner. Tun Lim Yew-Hock.The High Commissioner hasdescribed the gift as a token ofthe strong and enduring ties thatbind Australia and Malaysia togetherin the Commonwealth.The tiger skin drum apronwill be used by the Navy's EastAustralia Area Band on ailceremonial occasions.11