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Vale LTGEN (Retd) John Henry Coates, AC MBE

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More sad news has just come in that LTGEN (Red) General H. J. Coates passed away on Monday 11 June. His funeral will be on 12 July at the RMC Chapel, Duntroon.

This date has been chosen to allow family and friends from overseas to attend.

A biography is at this link: COATES, John. This was drafted while I was still serving with AAHU and is based on his own unpublished autobiography, as well as an official bio and his Service Records. It should not, however, represented as an ‘official’ biography. There will no doubt be some differences/divergences in views on what is written here.

Vale Greg Thomas

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I have been advised that Greg Thomas passed suddenly away on Friday 15 June, after suffering a heart attack. As yet I have no other details – will post them here once they become available.

RIP Classmate.

QB Honour – Jeff Brock

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Congratulations to Jeff Brock on being appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia in today’s QB Honours List.

Colonel Jeffrey Robert BROCK, Qld

For exceptional service to the Australian Army in the fields of Aviation Medicine and Health.

Colonel Brock’s performance as an expert in the field of Aviation Medicine, aircraft accident investigations and contributions to aviation safety has been exemplary. His professionalism and dedication consistently ensured the highest ethical standards are maintained, significantly enhancing the operational air worthiness of Army Aviation. His tireless application of knowledge coupled with moral courage, initiative and personal standards has made a substantial contribution to the Australian Army and the Australian Defence Force.

And a PS:

Appointed as an Officer in the General List:

Mr John (Jock) Stephen MURRAY, Lindfield NSW 2070

For distinguished service to the transport, infrastructure and freight industries, through roles in policy direction, planning and implementation, and to Jesuit education.

The Eastgate Anecdotes and more

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The last two anecdotes (I think!) by Ross Eastgate have been posted. Thanks to Ross for making these available, and to Pete Teys who dug up a couple I was missing.

See them at this link

And this was in the latest edition of The Duntroon Society Newsletter, which you can see in full at this link

Syd Hodges’ Century

Associate Professor Sydney Hodges, Fellow of The Duntroon Society and also the Elder of the Society, celebrated his 100th birthday on 3 February 2018 at a luncheon party hosted by his family at the Canberra Southern Cross Yacht Club.

Congratulatory letters from the Queen, the Governor-General and the Prime Minister were read out. The Governor-General’s letter held special personal significance since Staff Cadet Cosgrove (1968) had been a pupil of Syd’s at Duntroon more than 40 years ago.

Syd was in fine shape and addressed the gathering briefly after the lunch. Former RMC cadets Ray (R.A.) Sunderland (1953), Ron (R.S.C.) Morris (1956) and John (J.E.) Bullen (1958) were among the audience of about 40 guests, some of whom had come from overseas. Sadly, Garth (J.G.) Hughes (1956) had died two months earlier or he would have been present too. Garth and Ron had together written the fine article on Syd which was published in Newsletter 2/2015.

Also among the guests was the lively Elaine Bryan, widow of Professor Ridley Bryan. Rid Bryan and Syd Hodges had joined RMC staff in the 1930s and 1940s respectively, serving for several decades as professional colleagues and good friends.

 

Half a Century Looms

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January 2019 marks 50 years since we sauntered into RMC Duntroon, oblivious (mostly) to what awaited us.  A suggestion has been made that we could celebrate/commemorate/curse this event with some appropriate activities.  Any thoughts? I have one volunteer (he who suggested the idea) already to organise.