The Trade by Rudyard Kipling - Royal Australian Navy

Submarine Trainee’s...
there for those in need
by SMN Goff
CPO
Trevor
Syme (HMAS
Stirling Base
Coordinator for
Malibu School) placed
a call out for volunteers
to come and assist in
the redevelopment of Malibu
School. Malibu is a special
needs school in Rockingham for
children from 4 to 19 years old.
The school has been HMAS Stirling’s
official charity for over 30 years.
SMSQ trainee’s heard the call and
wanted to help out, so they decided to
volunteer for the tasks that CPO Syme
had to offer. Some of the money used for
the development of the school was raised
by the Gibb River Challenge which was
THE TRADE
EDITION 2, 2012 2
sponsored by various small company’s and
individuals. Five Submariners participated
in the Gibb river challenge and
managed to raise $10,000 for
Malibu school.
The School had several things that
they required, a new under cover
patio area, refurbished entrance foyer
and development of the school Veggie
gardens. On the Monday the volunteers
got to work ripping up approximately five
hundred square meters of paving bricks
and a few tree’s to make way for the new
concrete paved area. Also the school’s
Administration office was looking a little
old and out dated, so the volunteers got
to work repainting the Administration foyer
areas.
Once the removal of all the bricks was
complete the Rockingham and Kwinana
trade people came in to lend a hand. The
first item on the trade people’s agenda was
a new undercover area which took less
than two days to erect. By the time the
structure was completed, the painting of
the admin office was complete, so next up
was the concreting. The concreters got to
work screening the dirt while the volunteers
assisted in levelling and soil redistribution.
Once levelled they framed up and installed
reinforcing steels. The final job for the
trade people was to lay the concrete,
although they had some issues with getting
there hands on a concreting pump, so
the volunteers jumped to it again. With
wheelbarrows in hand they lugged barrows
full of concrete to the points they where
needed and then back to the truck to refill.
With the concrete laid the volunteers got to
work on the new veggie patches, mulching
old garden beds and moving limestone
blocks for edging around the playground.
Ultimately the school has been left with a
new undercover paved area, the playground
has been edged, they have a new veggie
patch, the administration building has been
re-painted and the garden beds have been
mulched. A project estimated to cost
$96,000 only costed $34,000 thanks to the
efforts of volunteers and the generosity of
the various local trades.
Teddy Sheean words by Greg Wells
Teddy Sheean was a young man, from Tassie he came
He was gunna fight for King and country, like so many his age
He left his home and family, joined the Navy he did
The enemy was advancing, Young Teddy was gonna do his bit..
He was only seventeen...
On the Armidale he learnt his trade, he was gunners loading man
For one so young he worked hard, seemed to know what was at hand
When that fateful day came upon them, Jap bombers filled the sky
That new corvette the Armidale, didn’t stand a chance that day
Didn’t stand a chance...
LIFESTYLE
Torpedoes hit em on the port side, the ship it started to lean
Captain Richards ordered to abandon ship; sailors were jumpin into the waves
Those zeros started shootin our men, as they were drownin in the sea
Teddy didn’t take too kindly to that, strapped himself to the gunners’ seat
He gave it back too em!
The ship was going down fast, but Teddy didn’t leave his post
The image of this young fightin man engraved in the hearts of his mates
He was shot and wounded goin down in the Timor Sea,
He’ll always be remembered and one day he’ll get his VC
Give him his VC!
That was nearly seventy years ago, since Teddy’s heroic deeds
His old crew members are fading fast, taken by the tyranny of years
To them it was just like yesterday, that battle in the waves
For memories don’t fade too fast, when men give their lives to save
Men like Teddy Sheean....
Men like Teddy Sheean....
2
THE TRADE
EDITION 2, 2012