Peter Jenke writes . .
My best friend from school days was a member of the local family that had produced Gawler’s newspaper, “The Bunyip”, since the 1860s. Craig and another Gawler mate attended our grad. For many years after grad I had the weekly copy posted to me.
A short time after doing my LARC ANARE selection course i received my weekly Bunyip – and nearly had a heart attack when I saw this on the front page.
Thanks for the contribution Peter.
I just realised that this photo has somehow slipped through the cracks (I think). But it is now posted to the website under Gallery/4th Class/General – click here to see it.
The photo was in Al McMurran’s possession and we had it professionally scanned and took the original to Coffs Harbour in 2025.
Thanks for making it available Al. The more I write this, the more it comes back to me that maybe I have uploaded it some time ago . . but I can’t find it. If this is all old news to you, just quietly delete it.
Cheers
Elph
We had a good, relaxed catch up last week. A catch up with a few significances.
It was a chance to sad goodbye to Jon Mannder-Jones who is returning to South Australia to live. Jon has been a solid supporter of the Class and we’ll miss his company at future events. Best of luck with the move Jon.
It was good to see Denis Brennan in town for a few nights from Thailand. Denis doesn’t come this way often but itis good to see him and hear some real-world stories of life in other countries.
And, for a change, we invited the class of ’73 and it was great to welcome Gary Stone, Mike Hyde, Ian McNaughton and John Hands.
A good effort too from the out of towners Jan and Kevin, Don Muirhead, Ian McNaughton and Lindsay Rowlands; it’s not necessarily easy battling the highway from the Sunshine and Gold Coasts to Brisbane.
It was really enjoyable – some photos attached.
Thanks for organising it Mac.
There’s a few changes and quite a few new photos in the various Galleries. Thanks to Rod for the new material – quite often there are better quality images of the same photo which improves the ‘viewing experience’.
There are 2 new Galleries – Rugby and Rogues.
The Fourth Class Gallery has been simplified.
Take a look – but also please see if you have any old photos lying in albums or shoeboxes. Remember, your children will put them in the skip bin, particularly if they don’t know what the context is, the date, who the people are in the photo. To preserve it for posterity, send it in and it can go on the website.
We could still use a better photo of 4-2 if anyone has one.
Cheers
Another good lunch in Brisbane with the extended locals plus it was good to see Rod Allan up from Melbourne. A total of 17 for lunch, a good number given the travels and trevails of our times.
Clearly some of us share the same tailor!
The photo below came to me by way of John Culleton (Gallipoli ’74) and Bob Brown (Gallipoli ’74) and apparently shows a number of our number who gathered at RMC to play an annual game against the current cadets. It could be the 1984 gathering.
So the challenge is to try and recognise who is in the photo! I’ll kick off with the obvious – Paddy Ryan, John Culleton, Bob Brown, Don Muirhead (also picks up the prize for the biggest shoulders), Al McMurran. So come on men – who else is in it?
Once again we were priviledged to be invited by the youngsters to share Christmas dinner. Our numbers were down but we made up for it with style. Phil and Chris Newman, Al McMurran, Kev Loughrey and John Elphinston and Sandra Davies represented the class of ’72 but alas no photo – we’re getting forgetful. But thankfully someone remembered the camera, and there were a few other photos taken – first prize goes to the Gallipoli Survivors from ’72 and ’74.
It was somewhat special to see the class of ’74, many of whom, some of us hadn’t seen for 50 plus years. It’s pleasing to report that all our hard work paid off as they’ve turned out to be a fine bunch of young men. Well not so young anymore but . . . .They spruiked their 50th Anniversary Class Book and they’ve kindly agreed to for it to go up on our website so you can judge for yourselves.
The speeches were good – lively and entertaining and Kev did us proud with a heartfelt speech of thanks. We were also priviledged to have Tracey Spicer deliver an after-dinner talk on Artificial Intelligence. Tracey’s grandfather was a decorated WWII veteran and a very close neighbour to Peter and Rosemary Keane in The Gap.
Thanks to Peter Keane for organising the dinner and for the invitation.
It was time to gather at the Gold Coast so we convened on the Grand Hotel Labrador for a few Christmas drinks and lunch. Thanks to John Black and John Mac for organising it.
We are going to have to make aformal name change soon as the numbers from south of the border continue to grow. Good to see Sue and Lindsay Rowlands join us for the first time from Pottsville and also to welcome Judy and Murray Smith from Coffs Harbour and Janet and Kevin Loughrey from Ballina. Unfortunately Maurie Meecham missed out on being in the photo.
Happy Chritmas to all. . .
At first I thought it was just another class photo and then I realised it was something I hadn’t seen before. Obviously I didn’t spend enough time in the corridors of power. Many thanks to Al McMurran for bringing it to the surface after all these years. If you talk to Al, he’ll reveal how come he managed to obtain and retain such a piece. Many thanks Al. The 56 year old original will be on display at Coffs.
John Mac and I went to Landsborough for the official handover. A nice outing to the Sunshine Coast.
If you want to see the memorabillia, click here.
Cheers
John Elph
RMC Class of 1972 
