107 Battery RAA Association

Reunion 2016.



Reunion 2016 kicked off at Long Jetty Diggers club on 22/04/2016 for our usual meet & greet. Many old faces where there plus a couple of members who had not been to a reunion before.
It was great to see the current 107 FD Bty continuing to support us with the BC Maj James Casey, Lt Dean Nicholle, Command Post Officer, BSM WO2 Jason Burke, Troop Sgt Brendon Murray, L/Bdr Mathew Pal & Gnr Luke Thompson flying down from Townsville for the entire reunion.


The next day was a pretty quiet day for us to recuperate from the night before, but we still fitted in a tour of the local area, feeding the pelicans and lunch at the Entrance. Most of the wives & partners went of a separate tour of the Central Coast for a bit of retail therapy. It was unfortunate to those members that wanted to do a bit of deep sea fishing as this was cancelled. That night we all met up again for the reunion dinner which was a very enjoyable meal.
On Anzac eve we all boarded the reunion bus for an historical trip to Newcastle which incorporated a trip to Fort Scrathley. This was both interesting and informative. Most interest was the disappearing gun which showed how clever they were back in the WW2 era. The guides were very knowledgeable and informative. Lunch was taken at the Newcastle Diggers Club. It was then back to Long Jetty for our Anzac Eve drinks and food.
Those who rose at the early hours of the morning to go to the “Dawn Service” would not have been disappointed, it was a very good service with around 10000 (police estimate) locals attending. Those that did attend the dawn service were invited back to the Diggers Club for the traditional Gunfire breakfast.
After a couple of hours rest it was time to board the buses to take us down to The Entrance for the march. Once again we were selected to lead the march (behind the official party) and with the help of the members from the Bty in Townsville marching in uniform. It is an honour to be asked to lead a march on Anzac Day but we did ourselves proud. The estimated turn up for the March and service was 15000 – 20000 and a good crowd to be greeted by.

It was a good service with the current BC on the stage with the official party. Both the BC & our organiser Graeme Lucas laid wreaths on behalf of the past and serving members of the Bty who are no longer with us. The rest of the day was a time to reflect on the good times we had as a proud unit of the Australian Army, then and now.
The following day there were a few feeling a bit below the weather, but as we have always done we soldiered on and visited a winery followed by a substantial lunch at Harrigans Pub. Then some of us went to a Brewery and the ladies and some partners did a bit more retail therapy. We did a slow tour back to the “Diggers” followed by farewell drinks. A lot of discussions went on about the next reunion and where the 50th anniversary should be held. It was decided after a while that the next reunion will be in Townsville in 2020. The current BC said that he will do a lot of the groundwork for us in Townsville and he hopes to still be there to enjoy our company once again. It was fun to see poor old Bozo being marched up to front the BC to get a good Army bollicking from the BC and as usual he took it well. After this he was promoted to L/Bdr the highest rank he achieved both in & out of the Army.
A very good reunion and thanks must go to Graeme & Hilton for the work that they put in to make these reunions work.
In the meantime there is a reunion in 2017 in Malaya. Any member that wishes to attend this should contact the secretary at secretary@107fdbty.com .

Reunion Canberra 2015.
 
Thirty nine Rammers and their partners from Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and the ACT gathered in Canberra for an impromptu Reunion 2015 to commemorate the Centenary of ANZAC in April 2015.
Australian War Memorial pre Anzac dawn morning, a section of the 120,000 crowd gathered for the Dawn Service
Reunion breakfast under the wings of 'G for George' in the great Anzac Hall following the Dawn Service
AWM early in the morning.
The banner party leading the Black Sheep off the AWM Parade Ground following the taking of the salute by His Excellency Sir Peter Cosgrove.
The banner party leading the Black Sheep off the AWM Parade Ground following the taking of the salute by His Excellency Sir Peter Cosgrove.
Part of the 107 members at the Dawn Service breakfast.
Breakfast at the AWM
Group photo after breakfast
Tour of the AWM by special guide Paul Jones
Part of the Reunion group after touring the Tidbinbilla Deep Space Tracking Station just outside Canberra

Darwin 2014
Another very successful reunion in Darwin has come and gone and was enjoyed by all who attended. Thanks to Jim Wright with the assistance of Hilton.
 
It started with the meet & greet on Thursday 24th April at the Darwin RSL where once again many old faces came together for another reunion plus there were a few new faces who met up with members who they had not seen since they served in the battery in Malaya, Townsville or Vietnam. We were fortunate to have three serving members of the battery, Tim, Brandon & Brett who flew from Townsville to be part of this great association and I hope that they enjoyed our company as much as we did theirs. We were then welcomed by our vice president Brian Tapp as Noddy was unable to make it to the reunion due to prior commitments.

Friday 25th April we were gathered at the Bicentennial Park for the Dawn Service which also incorporated the main service. It was then onto the Darwin RSL for breakfast. At 0900hrs the main march through Darwin began with a huge contingent of present day servicemen/women, US Marine Corp and of course veterans from all services. The remainder of the day was enjoyed by all at the RSL where many won and lost money on the two up. Many old war stories were told amid the continual laughter from our members.

Saturday with a few sore heads we strolled down to the Crocosaurus Cove where we were served a substantial brunch. We were greeted with a great display of all things relating to crocodiles and other reptiles. It was then up to two of our members to get into the cage of death to swim with the crocs. Well none of us older veterans volunteered (still remember the old days, don’t volunteer for nothing) however Amy and Tim volunteered to go in. Saturday night was back to the RSL for the reunion dinner.
Got my eye on you lot.
He’s never looked better.

Sunday we boarded the reunion bus for a tour of the Darwin CBD followed by a trip to Battle for Australia and Defence of Darwin centre which was very informative and interesting followed by lunch. It was then off to the Aviation War Heritage Museum.
The gangs all here.

Sunday night it was farewell drinks back at the Darwin RSL with finger food served and enjoyed by all. During the night we had to decide where we will be having our reunion in 2016. Many places were put forward but in the end the vote went to Long Jetty on the central coast of NSW.

At the conclusion of the night the majority went back to their accommodation, however some of the members thought that they were still in the Army and were led astray by Amy who decided that it was time to do a bit of nightclubbing, some of us still don’t know when we have had enough, still it was a great night.

All being well we hope to see you all in 2016.

DVD’s of the reunion have been posted to all who attended.