HMAS LEEUWIN 37th Intake

Greetings fellow shipmates,

For all those 37th matelots who read this I'm telling you it is your duty to get off your backsides and start getting enthused about the forthcoming reunion. It will most probably be the last one. I for one missed a reunion once, my school one. Mind you I had good reason as I think I was overseas at the time. However, it has always played on my mind for not attempting to attend because every time I go back home there is always someone there to remind me that I missed 'that reunion'. It is not bloody easy trying to organise a reuinion and Tom, Ted, Glen & Dick are doing a bloddy good job getting this far. I'm telling you it can't be done alone. I for one would love to meet up with every one of you that I started the Puss with. I might not have kept in touch but I still feel that bond we all forged together and comradie is still there today.

At the 1990 reunion there were only 14 of us with families but we had a bloddy good time. Sadly though for many of us it was the last time saw Steve Longhurst as he passed away not long after. Guys, this is a moment in our journey we once started together nearly 40 years ago we should never let pass.

It's up to each and everyone of you to make this happen & make it a success.

By the way, if you want a good book to read, I can recommend....

In the Navy, by Dave Rickard (1999)
One Hundred Days: The memoirs of the Falklands Battle Group Commander (1992), and
Heart of Oak by Tristan Jones (1984)
not mention all the Nelson books I have!

From the Darkhelmet

the good the bad and the ugly

well i just met up for the first time in over 36 years with 2 boys who now look like contenders for the grandfather of the year tho truth be known only one was. i turned up at the lounge of the leagues club to be met by 2 grey haired men 1 with an old war wound the other looking like the sea dog he was and probably still is smiles all around all three of us with that spare tyre only some of us had the spare tyre of a mack truck i put it down to glanddular trouble myself some kind of gland anyway the flood gates soon opened and the perverbial flood gushed forth god the mammories oops memories of my two lunch mates astounding me Glen knowing the story of so many and ian not so far behind me well the memories were not so vivid but there were some sparks little shorty horn mr houghton bluey langridge mr coffee peter mcgrath great highlights but gosh looks like i was the only one who had supped from the fountain of youth for those around us am sure the other patrons in the lounge thought that the kindly old salts next to me were kindly uncles but of course i jest ian (turtle) actually looked not too much different whilst Glen, roorat (how on earth did he get that monicker) took a bit more time to remember ian had a couple of beers whilst glen drank his 2008 reisling with his pinky raised just a tad and i a can of coke (the secret of my youthful looks and rotund girth) I was surprised when my wife beckoned me that we had spoken for over 2 hours the time just zipped past. Glen will be getting in contact with the rest of the cane toad contingent and hopefully we will have an expanded visit with more of those who protected us from the communist threat of the north, south east and west, whilst the x generation slept soundly next to the bossum of their mothers come to think of it I probably slept soundly next to those very same mothers , and those very same bossoms, but i digress i cannot stres what a buzz it is to drink from the cup of friendship with friends from the 37th. and i ask all of you who read this to take it upon yourselfs to pick up the phone and dial up an ex new grub and make a date none of us are getting any younger and it certainly fills up the tank to talk with old friends and rekindle old memories geeze am starting to waFFle now eh hey Gavin any room on your leather couch mate i might need a session. my phone number if anyone would like a chat is 07 3201 7859 am always home love to watch that biggest looser show love a show where the combatants are actually bigger then me. well should you read this ian and glen it was a magical afternoon thank you guess if ian was the bad glen the ugly makes me chunk eastwood take care all

Old fellas about the Patio Table

It all started for me a few weeks back when I got this call from an old crusty voice. It went something like this. " I’m looking for Warwick LIPSCOMBE that joined the Navy back in 71 travelled to H.M.A.S. LEEUWIN and joined the mob in 37th Rhoades Division" After I got off the floor I managed to find out that I was talking to an old sea dog Glen Tancred. The memories started to come back. We spoke for about an hour swapping waries. He then told me that a reunion was happening about 2011 venue yet to be decided. 40 bloody years has gone by and I can tell yah that the days I spent at Leeuwin with you fellas shaped my life. Just a few days ago after a few emails from the boys who are putting this together I managed to contact Pete Justin’s who unbeknown to me lives a few suburbs away Again the stories flowed. Glen had managed to find himself with his lovely wife amongst the grape vines in the South West of WA. He called the wife and arranged to meet for a BBQ. I phoned Pete and the three of us sat about the table spinning waries. Time has weathered us all both Pete and I have parted company with a little hair on the head but Glen always spit and polished. I can still recall taking the piss out of him when he went off on weekend leave to his sponsors. Hair all combed and the after-shave on He was staying with 2 young ladies, lucky bugger. Our drinking habits have not changed much, I've gone to the light beer Glen on the grape and Pete, still drinking the supper juice. We had a great night, laugh a plenty, viewed some old photos and endeavoured to spark some old brain cells to put names to faces. Its time that we all support the boys that have put this together. I for one will be in favour of this get together and looking forward to have that yarn with you all. A little of my history I only served 7 .5 years as a Survey Recorder got to the dizzy heights of a kellick. Got married to a Western Australian and stayed here, bloody love it. Had 2 children both hitched and expecting my first grand child. I am working as a cop and have been for the past 29 years just a few left and I start the grey haired tours.

you spoke to who !!!!!!!!!

late last year when I was first contacted my tom to ask if i was the "kevin hoult who wa sonce i was given a list of names of memories with states that they now resided n I was surprised at the amount of people i remembered name that i had not heard in over 30 years i sat in the spare room with the computer and sourced telephone numbers then rang and rang and rang these memories from my past the rusty veneer was soon stripped away as i chatted to grandfathers a lawer health and safty guru a protector of brisbane water and those who still wore the queens uniform. after a number of hours i went into the kitchen babbling to my wife that i had just spoken to turtle she looked at me trying to decide if i had overloaded on " finding Nemo" the movie . Sweet heart guess what! bluey was still in and was now an ossifer (memories of liasions that bluey had secured for me decades past with a young girl from inner city Sydney and my gold medal accomplishments in the bedroom olyimpics flashed before me , I kept that quiet from my quizzical partner, i sghed knowing that my partner had never seen me in my marathon triathalon greatness and that my golden javlin was but a toothpic hidden from view by an ever extending verandah and that i was retired from such cassonovic activities long ago and my domain now comprised of a recliner a tv remote and copious cups of milo. ) My wife looked at me trying to determine if i needed valium who or what was a bluey? Amazing that just a simple matrix of names would evoke such memoreis I found myself lookingforward to toms emails and smiled when i saw pictures of those retired warriers at their mini reunion lookin at them i thought that time hadent been so cruel to me jeeze look at tom and what about the others where the hair? I sent turtle an email suggesting we get a qld/brisbane thing happening of which he concurred time to polish the walking frame squeese into the girdle trying to pull in that verandha and swap stories (no doubt time will have embellished them ) and put on the charf bag. so for those of you who live in the s.e of the garden of eden watch this space well its time for me to sign off take my medication drink my bran extract and prepare for my tour of the zoo for those of you who read passed the second line be well and send an email put it on the circuit and make an old fart smile
Regards
Kevin (harry)

That's why I love the Navy

I LIKE standing on the bridge wing at sunrise with salt spray in my face and clean ocean winds whipping in from the four quarters of the globe, the ship beneath me feeling like a living thing as her engines drive her through the sea.

I LIKE the sounds of the navy the piercing trill of the boatswains call the syncopated clang of the ships bell the harsh squawk of the main broadcast and the strong language and laughter of sailors at work.

I LIKE navy vessels, nervous darting destroyers, plodding fleet auxiliaries, sleek submarines and steady solid carriers.

I LIKE the proud names of navy ships Australia, Melbourne, Sydney.

I LIKE the lean angular names of navy destroyers Anzac, Vampire, Vendetta, Voyager.

I LIKE the pipe "libertymen fall in" and the spicy scent of a foreign port.

I LIKE sailors, men I trust and depend on them as they trust and depend on me for professional competence, comradeship and courage in a word they are shipmates.

I LIKE the surge of adventure in my heart when the word is passed "special sea dutymen close up".

I LIKE the serenity of the sea after a day of hard ships work, the beer issue, watching flying fish flit across the wave tops as sunset gives way to night.

I LIKE drifting off to sleep lulled by the myriad noises large and small that tell me that my ship is alive and well and that my shipmates on watch will keep me safe.

I LIKE hectic watches when the exacting minuet of hazy grey shapes racing at full speed keeps all hands on a razor edge of alertness.

I LIKE the sudden electricity of "action stations" followed by the hurried clamour of running feet on ladders and the resounding thump of watertight doors and hatches as the ship transforms herself from the peaceful workplace to a weapon of war ready for anything.

I LIKE the sight of space age equipment manned by youngsters clad in No8's and sound powered phones that their grandfathers would still recognise.

I LIKE the traditions of the navy and the men who made them and the heroism
of the men who sailed in the ships of yesteryear.

An adolescent can find adulthood, in years to come when sailors are home from the sea they will still remember with fondness and respect the ocean in all its moods, the impossible shimmering mirror calm and the storm tossed green water surging over the bow and then there will come again a faint whiff of stack gas, a faint echo of engine and rudder orders, a vision of the bright bunting of signal flags snapping at the yardarm and a refrain of hearty laughter.

Gone ashore for good they will grow wistful about their navy days, when the seas belonged to them and a new port of call was ever over the horizon, remembering this they will stand taller and say.

I WAS A SAILOR ONCE, I WAS PART OF THE NAVY AND THE NAVY WILL ALWAYS BE A PART OF ME.

Lets make this work

G'day all,
Firstly lets all acknowledge the hard work already done by Tom, Ted, Dick (and son) and others for where we have already got to.
The only way we can make this reunion work is for all of us to input in some way towards the overall end goal.....that of reuniting after 40 years.
For those of us that attended the get together at Penrith last month will attest to the success of that weekend. Lots of stories and lots of laughs all well washed down.
In support of Tom and others I suggest that anyone who is in contact with anyone from the 37th, or know of someone who is, might get the word out to them about this website, about the reunion and encourage them to visit it and sign up. This centralised location then will be effective in getting out the news to as many of the division as possible.
I for one, am looking forward to meeting old aquaintences and seeing how kind or not the years have been.
An interesting observation, mostly based on the December Penrith get together is that "you can take the boy out of the Navy but you can't take the Navy out of the boy" for although many of us are long gone from the service, the approach to life, born at Leeuwin in 1971, when we were all dragged from our mostly comfortable high school lives to one of discipline and rigid routine has not died. The Penrith get together showed that a lot of those bonds forged way back then are really still there, despite the years that have passed and the fact many of us have had very little or no contact with our original shipmates for many years.
So, please support the hard work of the tireless few, and make OUR reunion work.
Pete "Clyde" Withers