Author: John Elphinston

How Times Change . . .

/ John Elphinston / 2 Comments

Back in the day, many people of our parent’s vintage were very comfortable in their view of the world.

The war was over, the country seemed to prospering and there was plenty of technological changes coming out of the USA. Everyone seemed to be getting on with living and raising families.

What was very clear in people’s minds was what their roles in society were – to work and earn a living, to make a home and to raise children. Included in this was the clear understanding of what a housewife was . . . . . as best illustrated below.

The traditional mid century housewife

But little did our families know that within the Army there was a quiet revolution going on. The Army knew best; the Army would decide who did what and more importantly what they were to be referred to as. Roles were redefined, and old norms were no longer the case.

The most telling of all was to be told

. . . .

that’s not a housewife,

this is a

housewife!

Catch Up for Lunch Brisbane 23 Feb 2023

/ John Elphinston / 1 Comment

It was a very good turn out for lunch on Thursday. Around this table were Graham Huggins, John McNamara, John and Jacqui Black, Helen Teys, Murray and Judy Smith, Gail Huggins, Barb Callan and Peter Teys.

On the other table were Phil and Chris Newman, Kevin and Jan Loughrey, Jon Mander-Jones, Maurie Meecham and Rod Wallace. A very good turn out even after a couple of late cancellations.

So good to see some cross border migration for lunch with Jan and Kevin Loughrey up from Ballina but also a first time for Murray and Judy Smith up here from Coffs Harbour – good effort indeed!

The next catch up is planned for May on the Gold Coast at a venue of John Black’s choosing. So any Mexicans and other assorted travellers from down south, plan accordingly and join us.

Memo to all – get the cameras out earlier in the lunch next time!

Cheers

Second of the Reunion Dinner Videos is Available

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The second of the videos from the reunion dinner has been uploaded to the website. It covers the ‘Tell Us a Story’ segment where John McNamara as MC, invites Jon Mander -Jones, Tony McLeod, Geoff Hay and Brenda Elliott to to open up on their lives.

You can find it under Reunions / Reunion 2022 – Canberra and scroll down to Videos – Anniversary Dinner.

Please remember it was recorded on a mobile phone and might not be cinema quality.

Enjoy!

Reunion Dinner Videos

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The first of the videos from the reunion dinner has been uploaded to the website. It covers the Welcome speech, Grace and a toast to deceased classmates by Rev Brian Chalmers.

You can find it under Reunions / Reunion 2022 – Canberra and scroll down to Videos – Anniversary Dinner.

As each video is released we will put out a post to notify website subscribers.

We hope you like the first one – it certainly shows that, based on the laughter and high spirits in the room, the committee chose the right man for the job of MC. John Mac did a superb job and the committee deserves the Oscar for casting him in that role.

Enjoy!

Reunion 2022 Updates

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We’ve started putting up photos and reports of the various activities that have been occurring in Canberra this weekend. We also hope to have excerpts from the Monday night dinner and other video material. Have a look under the Reunions menu tab.

As more material becomes available it will be put up – and it wont always have a post associated with it – so check back every now and again.

At some stage someone will hopefully write the definitive account of the reunion – and anybody at all can shoot in a comment or a post – feel free.

John Elph

Photos

/ John Elphinston / 3 Comments

Gents,

Seems like some are having trouble accessing the photos.

There is not meant to be a link between my post and the photos. The post alerts you to a bulk upload of photos and you have to find them yourselves.

To do that go to the Gallery menu tab and pick any of the menu tabs under it depending what you want.

For the Fourth Class tab, there are no photos under the root level – there are about 6 or 7 sub menus under the Fourth Class tab and that is where those photos are. The sub menus will appear to the right, the left or underneath, the Fourth Class menu tab, depending on what sort of computer/ipad/phone device you are using.

I hope this helps – if not let me know. Cheers