Services – Army Cadets

2015 was a very exciting year for The Southport School Army Cadet Unit, and one of special significance in the year of the centenary of the ANZAC’s Gallipoli Campaign. The TSSACU, tracing its roots back to 1906, boasts a current strength of 310 cadets and 16 staff. In 2015 the Unit was led by Cadet Under Officer Liam Cass, supported by Cadet Warrant Officer Class One Cameron Kroon.

Among the highlights of this memorable year were the inaugural Gallipoli Tour (to Turkey, France and England), the annual Cadet Camp at Hidden Creek and the annual Senior Graduation Parade and Dining-In Night.

CONAN BLAND

Director of Cadets

GALLIPOLI TOUR The Cadet tour overseas in the September holidays is worthy of detailed description here, so let me quote the report I wrote upon our return when my senses were filled with the wonder of our shared experiences.

“…The sweet smell of apple tea wafted through the streets, mixed with the occasional wisp of hookah smoke as it danced it way past our walking group. We had arrived in Istanbul on the first day of our Gallipoli Tour. Expertly led by our charismatic guide Gokhan, 27 students, 17 parents and three TSS staff weaved their way through the busy footpaths, pausing occasionally as Gokhan highlighted points of interest.

Turkish delight of every colour and consistency, halva and other impossibly attractive sweets graced shopfronts, enticing the senses. Beautifully detailed mosaics adorning ancient buildings, Roman pillars and Egyptian obelisks seemed strangely to blend with a modern and vibrant city. We explored the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia, Hippodrome, Topkapi Place and Roman Cistern, with many of the boys simply overwhelmed by the rich and complex history.

Arriving in Canakkale, the tour explored the ancient city of Troy, navigating through the many layers that revealed 2000 years of occupation of the southwest corner of the Dardanelles. Several cities were built in succession and our guide pointed out areas that seemed to form part of Homer’s descriptions.

The day we approached Gallipoli the weather was overcast with rain threatening. The tour guide left the group free time to explore ANZAC Cove as we pleased, respecting the desire of each individual to wander and search for their own meaning in quiet contemplation. Many of the group dipped their feet in the water among the large, smooth stones and stared back up towards the craggy ridges, trying to imagine the impossibly difficult task our forefathers faced in storming that beachhead. We explored the complex series of battlefields throughout the day as the weather slowly broke and the skies saddened. No-one seemed to mind too much, with the weather acting as a catalyst for stirring feelings and evoking imagery.

One of the main objectives of the tour was to visit the resting places of some of the 52 Old Boys who died in WWI. At Gallipoli we paid our respects to the graves of Hugh Quinn, Mervyn Collings, Rupert Goodchild and John Gordon Hides. The tour party encircled the grave as each Old Boy was honoured by a student with a short speech describing their time at TSS, their home and their short but meaningful life.

Following our pilgrimage to Gallipoli, we flew to Paris where we had a couple of days to explore before starting our Western Front Tour. Quintessentially French photos were taken in front of and atop the Eiffel Tower, pastries eagerly consumed and coffees sipped. The Louvre provided the most important stop for many on the Tour. There was, of course, a rush to find a spot amid the crowds in which to gaze upon the monumentally popular Mona Lisa and other masterpieces spread throughout the enormous complex.

Our Western Front Tour began as we picked up our passionate and eccentric tour guide Chris Barker. The man is a living history advocate and therefore has a penchant for wearing the traditional WWI ‘Tommy’ uniform. He has an exceptional knowledge of the local area and a narrative that commanded the attention of students and adults alike. Chris even brought original relics from WWI, which appealed to the learning styles of boys by letting them see and touch items used by soldiers in the trenches.

We spent some time exploring the French Coast along Arromanches-les-Bains before boarding the ferry for the City of Portsmouth in the UK. The following day we entered the Portsmouth Naval Dockyards and visited a number of fascinating exhibits. Lord Nelson’s HMS Victory – made famous by the decisive Battle of Trafalgar – was particularly well-preserved, as was the last surviving Gallipoli warship, M33. The timbers of the Tudor naval ship of King Henry VIII, the Mary Rose, have been painstakingly restored and

surrounded by an exceptional series of artefacts recovered from the wreck.

We left in the early afternoon for London, with the group very excited to receive much needed free time to explore the huge city. We separated into smaller groups for ease of transport, utilising the tube and hop-on-hop off bus services, all of which lived up to their reputation for on-time efficiency. Some of the places we visited included: the British Museum, London Bridge, Tower of London, Imperial War Museum, London Eye, Buckingham Palace and, of course, Big Ben. TSS Tour and Rugby hats could be seen all over London, smugly snapping selfies in front of prominent landmarks to share with envious friends and parents back home.

The last full day had the Gallipoli Tour group and the Rugby World Cup Tour meet up at Twickenham to see the Australia vs. England Pool Game. The atmosphere around the ground was electric, with the well-behaved and gracious English fans softly singing “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” that gently drifted around the crowd. Fortunately, Australia was too strong for the English on the day, producing an historic victory and truly memorable occasion.

From the outset the tour was designed to commemorate the service of the 52 Old Boys who were never able to return to the beautiful grounds of TSS that they had once walked. Many families, with little information, were never able to visit to pay their last respects to sons and brothers lost. Our group respectfully paid homage to these young men in the place where they fell and thanked them for their service.

The boys who attended and who are also part of the TSS Cadet Program now have a greater appreciation for their service as being bigger than the individual. They understand that putting on the uniform each Friday is part of a tradition that has a greater purpose. They are charged with the duty to pass on this level of respect and reverence in order to honour the name of those Old Boys who never came home.”

ANNUAL CADET CAMP Another highlight of 2015 was our Annual Camp in August to Hidden Creek in the shadow of Mount Warning. The fourday camp was very successful with the boys sleeping in their hutchie lines each night, preparing their meals from Hunger Buster ration packs, building a campfire each night and rotating each day through a number of challenging activities. Below is an activity-by-activity description of the challenges the Cadets enjoyed.

Almost 300 cadets, divided into Alpha and Bravo Companies, arrived by bus and quickly set to work establishing their platoon locations. The design of the camp training program was tiered (skill-set specific), so first-year Cadets rotated through eight main activities in a bullring while second-year Cadets conducted a field exercise on top of the mountain and completed a further four activities. On the final afternoon of the camp all platoons competed in “Exercise True Grit” to determine the best trained platoon.

The Obstacle Course is one of the core activities of any military training program. Balance beams, tunnels, monkey bars, bear pits, tyres, ramps, six-foot wall and cargo nets greeted the boys as they arrived at location. Crawling, climbing, splashing, slipping and sliding their way through the course, each boy was pushed outside their comfort zone, ultimately realising that the key to success is through working as a team. Conceivably due to the resemblance to the Call of Duty Video Game, Laser Tag was certainly one of the boys’ favourable activities. This activity was facilitated by the ever-popular CPL “Metho” Methorst, who is ex-ADF and a veteran of Afghanistan. Set ‘in the bush’ amid a combination of artificial and natural structures, the battle ground provided a challenging yet exhausting opportunity to pit their skills against their peers. Small teams were required to achieve missions, with NCOs designing plans and putting it into action with small groups of cadets. It was a great opportunity for all Cadet NCOs to get experience allocating resources to task.

Another activity also involving Laser Tag rifles was the Hostage Rescue scenario. This activity involved a member of the platoon being ‘kidnapped’ and taken to one of three small cabins. While in a position of overwatch on a tall feature, NCOs developed a plan for rescue and sent in a small team to complete the mission. An ADF Section Commander, CPL Scott “Palts” Paltridge, oversaw delivery of orders groups and ensured the boys didn’t kick in the cabin doors or poke out the flyscreens when gaining access to the cabins.

Major Trevor Schulte, a professional archery instructor, patiently introduced cadets to the micro-skills required to accurately employ recurve bows. After a short period of deliberate practice accuracy quickly improved, and Cadets competed against each other for a series of small prizes.

The Survival Skills stand was one of the most popular activities on camp under the expert instruction of Captain Nigel Carter, a highly qualified survival instructor, having worked and instructed jungle, desert and arctic warfare all around the world. He was a Royal Marine Commando in the UK, and is now working with the ADF. He developed great rapport with the boys, adopting a cheeky sense of humour that the boys thoroughly appreciated. Together with Cpl Abram “Abe” Bland, he delivered lessons on animal tracking and traps and snares. During a test of objectives, boys were able to demonstrate their understanding by catching eels, yabbies and bait, and locating and interpreting signs of animal movement.

While some Platoons rotated through other stands that also included Bubble Ball, Movement between Terrain and

Code Breaker Exercises, Bravo Company pack marched to the boundary of the AO where they would spend a night in ‘Type 3 Jungle’. At the top of the Hidden Creek range sits a large patch of rainforest with a thick canopy and secondary undergrowth. This was seen as a perfect position for a night harbour and defensive position. Upon arrival, Cadets were briefed by a number of ADF staff, including Pte Beau “Turns” Turner and Mcpl Nicole “Zap” Zapadka, who is Royal Canadian Army parading with the ADF reserves. Cadets were given limited supplies and had to construct shelters out of locally sourced materials, including fallen branches, palm leaves and vines. At night, they experienced the shock of complete darkness, a product of the light not being able to penetrate the thick jungle canopy. The boys could not even see their hands in front of their face and were taken on a walk utilising perimeter cord, where they would be relying on the sense of touch (cetera) to navigate through the jungle.

There is no doubt that the success of the camp is in no small measure due to the contribution of the dozen or so ADF staff who kept the activities relevant and meaningful for the boys. Seeing military veterans and current serving army personnel passionately teach lessons, sprinkled with a unique brand of humour, is particularly appealing for the boys. I am always searching to create new challenges and activities for the boys, and Cadets can look forward to another exciting camp in 2016.

ANNUAL CADET GRADUATION PARADE On the afternoon of Friday 30 October 2015, our Annual Cadet Graduation Parade was held on the Boatshed Ovals at the School. A huge crowd of dignitaries and relatives of the Cadets witnessed an impeccable display. This year it was the Navy Cadets’ turn to provide the Parade Commander, a privilege that fell to CDT PO Zac McFarlane, who performed his duties admirably. Commander Peter Tedman DSM, OAM, RAN was the Reviewing Officer. Commander Tedman assumed Command of Naval Headquarters South Queensland in mid-2013 after a distinguished naval career beginning in 1973 and including service in Iraq, Southern Ocean, East Timor and the Gulf. In his speech to the Cadets, Commander Tedman congratulated the boys on their fine stature and bearing. Awards presented on this occasion included the following:

NAVY CADET AWARDS

Commanding Officer’s Shield.................. LS Michael Noskov

For Most Outstanding Cadet

Nichols Memorial Shield................................LS Tim Peterson

For Outstanding Leadership

Bill Bellairs’ Kokoda Award............... CDT PO Andrew Bridle

For Courage

Ex POW Trophy.................................CDT PO Zac McFarlane

Leadership

ARMY CADET AWARDS

Ex POW’s Trophy ........................ CDT SGT Hamish Maciver

For Leadership of a Platoon or Company

Canon Bruce Maughan Award ...... Bravo Company 2 Platoon

For Best Platoon

Major H. Quinn Trophy.....................CDT SGT Jasper Hardy

For Cadet of the Year

Headmaster’s Award............................ CDT WO2 Jack Woods

For Leadership and Service

ANNUAL DINING-IN NIGHT AND THE RAYMOND AND COLLINGS ROOM After this ceremony, the Cadet leaders, officers and special guests gathered for the Annual Dining-In Night in the Old Gym Café at the School. Among the guests were the veterans and friends of the 39th Battalion, for whose banner the TSSACU is the custodian.

At this dinner, the new School Cadet Museum, named the Raymond and Collings Room, was unveiled for our guests. In my speech on the night, I explained the rationale behind this name, and I recount the story here:

“The first published picture of The Southport School Cadet Unit appears in the November 1907 issue of The Southportonian. The school’s founder, Horace Dixon, sits proudly in the center of photo, uniform immaculately presented. In contrast to the stoic central figure, a seemingly casual bunch of boys are haphazardly seated, uncommitted and irregular poses implying both a sense of familiarity and indifference to the significance of the photograph. Little did they realise that just a few short years later, six of the boys in this photo would never return from The Great War.

In the top right of this photo, and possibly in deliberate placement, stand two great friends, Archibald Hewland Raymond and Mervyn Dane Collings. Their path through TSS as friends, their service to the community, country and school needs to be retold. It is a story that echoes a sense of relevance and meaning, even though it was written over a century ago.

Archibald Raymond was the son of a sawmiller from Kangaroo Point who attended TSS from 1907 to 1910. He served a Sergeant in the School Cadet Unit and was appointed prefect in his final year of school. Archibald was the quintessential TSS Boy, an all-rounder who was noted as an athlete, rower, cricketer, debater, swimmer and rugby player. At only 5 foot 2 inches, his diminutive stature belied his exceptional athletic abilities. He was a particularly fast sprinter and in the 100yds and 220yds sprint recorded times of 10.2 seconds and 24 seconds respectively. One of his favourite sports was Melbourne Rules (AFL), where he often played on the same team as his friend Mervyn Collings.

Mervyn Dane Collings was the son of wealthy tea merchants that lived in the exclusive ‘Langdale Estate’ in Brisbane. He attended the Southport School from 1904 to 1907. On the 6 July 1911, Mervyn founded the Old Boys Association (OSA) at a meeting held at the local YMCA. Prior to the OSA, ‘Old Boys’ Notes’ had actually been published in The Southportonian for a number of years, with the first recorded meeting of Old Boys occurring in November 1909 (Mervyn and Archibald Raymond in attendance).

Apart from his shared interest in Melbourne Rules Football, Mervyn was an academic, a passionate writer and an avid stamp collector. When Mervyn left school his family connections helped him join the New Zealand Insurance Company’s Brisbane office where he later became its Charters Towers acting manager before enlisting in the AIF soon after war was declared.

Despite his family connections and academic ability, Mervyn joined the AIF as an enlisted soldier in the 15th Battalion. He departed the shores of Australia on the Star Line steamship Ceramic, along with Rupert Goodchild and Hugh Quinn, fellow schoolmates who would also lose their lives at Gallipoli.

He landed on the shores of Gallipoli on the late afternoon of 25th April, 1915. Early in the morning of 3rd May, 1915, Turkish forces attacked the post at Pope’s Hill. The advance was repulsed, but Mervyn was killed by a Turkish sniper while digging a communication trench.

A few months after Mervyn Collings was killed, in October 1915, 2nd Lieutenant Archibald Raymond arrived on the shores of Gallipoli. Despite his humble beginnings, and working in his father’s sawmilling business following schooling, Archibald had applied for a commission and enlisted as an officer in the 2nd Field Battery Artillery. He survived Gallipoli, served in the Middle East at Zaheriah, Heliopolis and Ter-el-Kebir. He was promoted to Captain prior to arriving in France in March 1916. He was described by his soldiers as “rather small and well liked”. Tragically, he was killed by a stray shell in Bancourt L’Abbaye, France on 3rd March 1917 and is buried at Flatiron Copse Cemetery, Mametz, France. He was buried with full military honours with many senior officers in attendance. Lieutenant Colonel G. Stevenson, Commanding Officer of the 2nd Field Artillery Brigade, was kind enough to write to his family and let them know that his ‘cheery presence’ was missed by all.

The significance of this story reaches its significance when we discover what came home in his cabin trunk. Following a soldier’s death in The Great War, his effects were carefully gathered up and respectfully sent home to the family. Unfortunately, in the case of Mervyn Collings, his effects where lost among the chaos of the war. This was not the case for Archibald Raymond. In his cabin trunk among items of uniform, issued equipment and printing frames was a small reminder from home. A small silver disc, an inscribed medal ‘100 yds, Championship, Southport School, 1907’.

Far from home and 10 years after leaving TSS, Captain Archibald Raymond had taken with him a small keepsake. This medal was more than a reminder of a proud achievement, it was his link to home, it was a link to a school he loved and sense of pride he shared with his friend Mervyn Collings. Despite coming from very different backgrounds, together these two gentleman, both academics and sportsman, had bonded through a love of sport and a fondness for this school. This bond was legitimised through establishing the OSA, where, regardless where you may be in the world, continues to link former students and provide a small reminder of home.”

CONTINUED SERVICE The Southport School Cadet Unit continues its history of serving the local community. In 2015, TSSACU provided cenotaph parties and honour guards to a number of commemorative occasions, including ANZAC Day, Korean Veterans Day, Vietnam Veterans’ Day and Kokoda Day.

My thanks to the staff and Cadet NCOs for your enthusiasm and tireless effort in making the Cadet Program a success this year, and I look forward to you continuing this good work next year.

May the take this opportunity to congratulate each of the 2015 graduates and wish you well for your future as you find your career path as a servant leader.