Australian Army Hat

TOUKLEY RSL SUB BRANCH

Newsletter

Issue 50 – August 2019

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From the President:

Our big news this month is that work commenced on the Stage 3 upgrading and restoration works at the Memorial Gardens on Wednesday 10 July 2019. It is pleasing to see this work finally happening and the new cenotaph taking shape, with the bronze statues now back in their rightful place. The contractors are working long days while the weather is good, and are making good headway. Once the new cenotaph is finished, then work will begin on the new granite pathways, fencing at the front, on Main Road and the new hedge garden on the southern side of the Memorial Gardens, parallel to the bus shelter. I have been advised by Central Coast Memorials, who are carrying out the work that, in total, twenty tonnes of granite will be used for the new cenotaph and walkways. When all the work is complete, the new eternal flame will be installed, and become operational on Remembrance Day 2019 when it will be turned on during the Dedication Service. This will be a special day for the Sub Branch, culminating in the completion of all upgrading works and dedication of the new cenotaph. I will keep you updated with progress both at the General Meetings and through the Newsletters. In total, there are 580 plots in the Memorial Gardens and, at the present time, 166 are vacant. If you are a full member of Toukley RSL Sub Branch and, upon your departure, you wish for your ashes to be interred in these gardens, please fill in and return Form F04 Consent for Ashes to be interred at the Toukley RSL Sub Branch Cenotaph, which is available from the Sub Branch Office. It is also essential to make your wishes known to family or next-of-kin. Our annual Christmas in July function was held on Sunday 28 July 2019 and was a very successful day. Eighty six Sub Branch members, partners and invited

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guests enjoyed a day of camaraderie, fun, a three course lunch and entertainment and a monster raffle. If you had a good time, make a note in your diaries for our Christmas Party which will be held on Sunday 15 December 2019. It promises to be an excellent day! Diggers’ Inn is now being used by the Veterans Motorcycle Group, the Central Coast Veterans and Pensions and Welfare. We are currently working out a roster of when each Group will be in attendance, and will advise you when this has been finalised. The next Sub Branch Annual General Meeting will be held in February 2020 – just six short months away - onSunday, 9 February 2020 at 10.00am. At this AGM, you will be voting for a new Committee to take you through until the AGM in 2023 – a three year term. This matter was raised and discussed at the last Committee Meeting, with the purpose of forming a 2020 Anzac Day Planning Committee. Seven of the current Committee advised of their intentions of not nominating for the Committee at the next AGM, leaving three who, at this stage, would like to either nominate or are undecided. To ensure continuity of your Sub Branch, we need interested members to serve on the next Committee. If we don’t get the numbers, your Sub Branch will either fold or amalgamate with another Sub Branch, so please give this matter some thought and, if you think you can make a contribution, speak to one of the Committee. We are happy to answer any questions. Details and dates for nominations will be advised at a later date. Planning for Anzac Day 2020 commences in October, and an Anzac Day Committee will need to be formed prior to then, to ensure another successful day. We need your help. Bob Wilson President

You are not obligated to win. You’re obligated to keep trying to do the best you can every day.

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NEW SUB BRANCH MEMBERS

Welcome to the following new Sub Branch Members:

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VALE

Colin CARVILLE – 27 June 2019 Lest We Forget

INTERMENT OF ASHES AT THE CENOTAPH MEMORIAL GARDENS

Graham Crawley – Date TBA Alfred Sidney TURNER – Date TBA

Paul Francis LEWIS – Date TBA Lest We Forget

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Sub Branch General Meetings are held on the first Monday of each month, At 10.00am, upstairs in Club Toukley RSL, with the exception of January.

All Members are invited to attend.

Monday 11 November 2019 – 10.40am

Remembrance Day & Dedication Services

Sunday 15 December 2019 – 11.00am-4.00pm

Christmas Party

Sunday 9 February 2020 – 10.00am Annual General Meeting Election of Committee for 3-year term

Saturday 25 April 2020 – 5.20am Anzac Day

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Keeping your Sub Branch Details Up to Date

If you have recently moved, or your details have changed, please let the Sub Branch Office know so that we can update your address and contact details. This information is required so that we can send any correspondence and membership renewals to the correct address. Also, if you know of a member who has moved, either to another area or to an Aged Care Facility, please notify the Sub Branch Office.

Annual General Meeting & Election of Officers Important Information

Please be advised that the 2020 AGM will be held on Sunday 9 February at 10.00am. At this year’s AGM all Executive and Committee positions will be declared vacant, the current members having served their full term. New elections will be held for all positions. At the July 2019 Committee meeting held on Monday 15 July the President, for the purpose of succession planning, asked for a non-binding show of hands as to which Committee members plan to put forth their nominations for a position on the Committee in 2020. All of the executives and most of the committee men indicated that they would not be standing for re-election. Most felt that it is time to pass that baton on to some new blood. So, it’s time for all members to caucus with their comrades and come up with some members who are willing to accept nominations for the various positions of President, Vice Presidents (2), Treasurer, Secretary and Committeemen. All of the current members of the Committee have indicated that they plan to remain in the Sub Branch and are willing to assist the new Committee to ensure a smooth transition.

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Puzzle Corner

Trivia

1 How many women have walked on the moon? 2 Which band had a hit with the song Rock Around the Clock? 3 What three colours appear on the Italian flag? 4 What is a baby pigeon called? 5 What is the capital of Qatar? 6 What is the name of Barney Rubble’s wife? 7 Is cyan a shade of blue, red or yellow? 8 What is the currency used in Switzerland? 9 Which is the largest State in the United States of America? 10 What were the Hawaiian Islands originally known as?

How Many?

Suits in a deck of cards?

20 percent of 200

Bones in the human foot Black chess pieces

Legs on an insect

Answer Total

Life doesn’t get better by chance – it gets better by change

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Just Plain, Neat Information

Glass takes one million years to decompose, which means it never wears out and can be recycled an infinite amount of times! Gold is the only metal that doesn't rust, even if it's buried in the ground for thousands of years. Your tongue is the only muscle in your body that is attached at only one end. If you stop getting thirsty, you need to drink more water. When a human body is dehydrated, its thirst mechanism shuts off. Zero is the only number that cannot be represented by Roman numerals. Kites were used in the American Civil War to deliver letters and newspapers. The song Auld Lang Syne is sung at the stroke of midnight in almost every English-speaking country in the world to bring in the New Year. Drinking water after eating reduces the acid in your mouth by 61 percent. Drinking a glass of water before you eat may help digestion and curb appetite. Peanut oil is used for cooking in submarines because it doesn't smoke unless it's heated above 450F. The roar that we hear when we place a seashell next to our ear is not the ocean, but rather the sound of blood surging through the veins in the ear. Nine out of every 10 living things live in the ocean. The banana cannot reproduce itself. It can be propagated only by the hand of man. Airports at higher altitudes require a longer airstrip due to lower air density.

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The University of Alaska spans four time zones. The tooth is the only part of the human body that cannot heal itself. In ancient Greece, tossing an apple to a girl was a traditional proposal of marriage. Catching it meant she accepted. Warner Communications paid 28 million for the copyright to the song Happy Birthday, which was written in 1935! Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair. A comet's tail always points away from the sun. The Swine Flu vaccine in 1976 caused more death and illness than the disease it was intended to prevent. Caffeine increases the power of aspirin and other painkillers. That is why it is found in some medicines. The military salute is a motion that evolved from medieval times, when knights in armour raised their visors to reveal their identity. If you get into the bottom of a well or a tall chimney and look up, you can see stars, even in the middle of the day. When a person dies, hearing is the last sense to go. The first sense lost is sight. In ancient times strangers shook hands to show that they were unarmed. Strawberries and cashews are the only fruits whose seeds grow on the outside. Avocados have the highest calories of any fruit at 167 calories per hundred grams. The moon moves about two inches away from the Earth each year. The Earth gets 100 tons heavier every day due to falling space dust.

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Due to earth's gravity it is impossible for mountains to be higher than 15,000 metres. Mickey Mouse is known as "Topolino" in Italy. Soldiers do not march in step when going across bridges because they could set up a vibration which could be sufficient to knock the bridge down. Everything weighs one percent less at the equator. For every extra kilogram carried on a space flight, 530 kg of excess fuel are needed at lift-off. The letter J does not appear anywhere on the periodic table of the elements.

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This Month in History (Source: Australian War Memorial)

(These are a few.......)

5 August 1944 – Mass breakout of Japanese prisoners at Cowra prisoner-of-war camp, NSW This was the largest ever mass escape from a prisoner-of-war camp. Some 378 Japanese prisoners succeeded in escaping the camp; of these, 234 were killed and 108 were wounded. Three Australian guards died in the fighting immediately following the escape, and another was killed during attempts to round up escapees in the surrounding countryside. 6 August 1915 – Battle of Lone Pine begins at Gallipoli The Lone Pine operation was planned as a diversion to draw Turkish reserves away from a major British attack to be launched at the northern end of the Australian and New Zealand position on Gallipoli. The Australians suffered more than 2,200 casualties at Lone Pine and the Turks over 5,000. Seven Australians were awarded the Victoria Cross. 6 August 1945 - First atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima

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Hiroshima was chosen as the target for the dropping of the first atomic bomb as, to that point, it had not been subjected to US air raids. It was believed that attacking a hitherto untouched city would demonstrate the awesome power of atomic weapons. The bomb was dropped by a US B29 bomber nicknamed "Enola Gay"; it was estimated to have killed some 140,000 people by August 1946. 18 August 1966 – The Battle of Long Tan, South Vietnam Amid a tropical downpour, 108 men of D Company, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, supported by artillery and a timely resupply by the RAAF, fought off an attack by an enemy force of more than 2,000 in a rubber plantation near the abandoned village of Long Tan. The arrival of Armoured Personnel Carriers carrying reinforcements brought the action to an end. Seventeen Australians were killed, one died of wounds, and 24 were wounded. More than 245 enemy bodies were later counted, but many more had been taken away. 19 August 1915 – Captain Alfred J Shout VC Captain AJ Shout, 1st Battalion, originally from New Zealand, is awarded the Victoria Cross at Lone Pine, Gallipoli. It was a posthumous award. 25 August 1942 – Battle of Milne Bay Begins The fighting at Milne Bay resulted

in the first defeat of the Japanese on land in the Second World War.

26 August 1916 - 6th Australian Brigade attacks Mouquet Farm on the Somme Bouquet Farm, near Pozières, was the focus of nine separate attacks by Australian troops between 8 August and 3 September 1916. Some 11,000 Australians were killed or wounded in the fighting around Mouquet Farm.

If you have an idea which you think could benefit or improve the Sub Branch, please put it in writing or speak to one of our Committee Members.

Remember that we are there to represent the members, so if you have any ideas, then please let us know.

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Photo Gallery

Refurbishment works at the Memorial Gardens commenced 10 July 2019

The new cenotaph taking shape at the end of the first week.

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The front of the new cenotaph with the black granite insert and bronze statues back in place

The back of the new cenotaph with the black granite insert

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The replacement Lone Pine Tree

Christmas in July

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Toukley RSL Sub Branch Bus Trips

Date 2019

Destination Cost of

Entry

Number of Members Attending

August Fri. 16th

Sydney War Memorial Lunch at Kirribilli RSL Club.

Sept. Fri 20th

Henry Kendall Cottage, Gosford. Lunch at Davistown RSL

$4 Cons.

Oct Wed 16th

Wilberforce Pioneer Village. Helen 0438 751775

_

Nov Fri 15th

Dangle a line off Patonga Wharf 9.30 am to 10.30am, and Lunch at Palm Beach RSL (also, tour of ‘Home & Away Site’ Palm Beach) RSL 9974 5566.

Cost of Ferry only

Dec. Fri 13th

Hunter Valley Gardens, Night Visit. ?

If you are interested in any of the tours, or have any queries regarding bus trips,

please contact – Bob Swift, Mobile: 0432 362 475.

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A story from one of our members :

In WW2 my father-in-law was one of the guards on a Japanese POW convoy

heading from Sydney to Cowra. These convoys travelled at night in vehicles that

had no coverings but had barbed wire caging. After crossing the Blue Mountains

the convoy pulled over for a “pit stop”. With a couple of mates my father-in-law

lit up their fags and huddled against the side of the truck to try and avoid the

cold. Suddenly one of his mates held out his hand and said it was starting to

rain. They looked up at the star filled sky and realised that some of the prisoners

were urinating on them. Back in the cabs the drivers were instructed to pull into

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the fire station as Blayney. The firies then, very thoroughly, with their hoses,

saturated the prisoners. The vehicles were then driven, at speed, to the Cowra

camp with the very wet and unhappy passengers hanging on for dear life.

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LITTLE KNOWN TIDBIT OF NAVAL HISTORY.

The U.S.S. Constitution (Old Ironsides), as a combat vessel, carried 48,600

gallons of fresh water for her crew of 475 officers and men.

This was sufficient to last six months of sustained operations at sea. She carried

no evaporators (i.e. Freshwater distillers). However, let it be noted that

according to her ship's log, "On July 27, 1798, the U.S.S. Constitution sailed from

Boston with a full complement of 475 officers and men, 48,600 gallons of fresh

water, 7,400 cannon shot, 11,600 pounds of black powder and 79,400 gallons of

rum."

Her mission: "To destroy and harass English shipping." Making Jamaica on 6

October, she took on eight hundred twenty-six pounds of flour and 68,300

gallons of rum.

Then she headed for the Azores, arriving there on 12 November. She

provisioned with 550 pounds of beef and 64,300 gallons of Portuguese wine.

On 18 November, she set sail for England. In the ensuing days, she defeated five

British men-of-war and captured and scuttled 12 English merchant ships,

salvaging only the rum aboard each.

By 26 January, her powder and shot were exhausted. Nevertheless, although

unarmed she made a night raid up the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. Her landing

party captured a whiskey distillery and transferred 40,000 gallons of single malt

Scotch aboard by dawn. Then she headed home.

The U.S.S. Constitution arrived in Boston on 20 February 1799, with no cannon

shot, no food, no powder, no rum, no wine, no whiskey, and 38,600 gallons of

water.

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Recipe of the Month

Satay Chicken

This recipe has been passed down from a Chef and always receives rave reviews.

2 x double chicken breasts (cut into strips) ½ cup crunchy peanut butter 1 tin of coconut cream ½ cup sweet chilli sauce 1 large onion ¼ cup tomato sauce ½ teaspoon crushed garlic 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder 2 tablespoons crushed salted nuts 1 red chilli (optional) Pan grill the chicken ¾ cook and set aside. Fry the onion, add the peanut butter, soy sauce, sweet chilli, garlic, coconut cream and tomato sauce. Simmer for 10-15 minutes until smooth. Add the chicken and five spice powder. Optional – add sliced capsicum and carrots cut unto batons for extra colour and flavour. Cook another ten minutes. Serve on a bed of jasmine rice. Sprinkle with peanuts.

This recipe freezes well.

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A Muslim was sitting next to Paddy on a plane.

Paddy ordered a whisky.

The stewardess asked the Muslim if he'd like a drink.

He replied in disgust "I'd rather be raped by a dozen whores than let liquor touch my lips!"

Paddy handed his drink back and said

"Me too, I didn't know we had a choice!"

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Puzzle Corner Answers

Trivia Answers

1 - None 2 - Bill Haley and the Comets 3 - Red, white and green 4 - Squab 5 - Doha

6 - Betty 7 - Blue 8 - Swiss Franc 9 - Alaska 10 – Sandwich Islands

How Many?

Suits in a deck of cards 4

20 percent of 200 40

Bones in the human foot 26

Black chess pieces 16

Legs on an insect 6

Answer Total 92

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TOUKLEY RSL SUB BRANCH Patron: President: Vice Presidents: Secretary: Treasurer: Committee: Telephone: Fax: Pensions & Welfare: (Located at Diggers’ Inn) Trustees: Newsletter Co-ordinator: Phone: Email:

Karen McNamara Bob Wilson Tom Hobbs George Meier Graham Tredinnick Milton Porter Ray Sutton Bob Swift Allan Love Ian Collier Brian Murphy 4396.4855 4396.9310 4396.8807 Bob Wilson, George Meier, Milton Porter Ian Collier 0412.265.623 ianpamcoll@aapt.net.au