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Poets Corner

Trooper Jakob West from Rifle Company Butterworth Rotation 137 fights through the final objective, covering arduous terrain through dense jungle. Story by Captain Diana Jennings. All photos by Bombardier Guy Sadler.
Poets Corner Thought provoking 

Acrostic Fire & Movement

19/03/202319/03/2023 Mick Shave 4879 Views 1 Comment By Michael Shave

An Acrostic to do With Minor Tactics And some advice. Fighting needs a certain care, Its conduct ruled by those

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ANZAC Day 2020 in Kiama Downs NSW. Photo by Brian Hartigan.
Poets Corner 

THE MILITARY MISSUS

11/03/2023 Posted by Brian Hartigan 4073 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

SHE’LL ALWAYS TELL IT AS IT IS, NO RESPECT FOR MILITARY RANK AND IF THE NEED ARISES, SOMETIMES SHE CAN

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The cushions of St George Church, Ypres. Photo by Michael Shave.
Poets Corner 

Cushions at St. George

05/03/2023 Mick Shave 3323 Views 0 Comments By Michael Shave

The Cushions of Saint George (and commemorations in general) There’s a little church in Ypres which commemorates our dead, So

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RAAF Squadron Leader Keith W 'Bluey' Truscott taxiing his P-40E Kittyhawk along the Marston Mats at Milne Bay Fighter Strip #3, Milne Bay, New Guinea, Sep 1942. Photo courtesy Australian War Memorial.
Poets Corner 

The Shite Hawks of Milne Bay

03/03/2023 Posted by Brian Hartigan 3469 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

Back in 1942, things looked pretty grim The enemy was at Australia’s door, our chances seemed so thin Britain was

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Personnel from 75 Squadron in front of two F-35As at RMAF Base Butterworth, Malaysia. Photo by Leading Aircraftman Adam Abela.
Poets Corner 

RAAF GROUND CREWS

19/02/202319/02/2023 BRIAN Hastie 3414 Views 0 Comments By Brian Hastie

Loyally I stand, a member on the ground, In the Royal Australian Air Force, I’m found. Not in the sky,

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Australian Army Sergeant Tarese Heath (operating ventilator) and US colleagues transfer a wounded patient from a medical evacuation helicopter to the Emergency Department of the Air Force Theater Hospital at Balad, Iraq. Photo by Major Patricia Anderson, US Army.
Poets Corner 

TO LOYALY SERVE AND SAVE

18/02/2023 Posted by Brian Hartigan 3055 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

THEY WERE THE GUARDIAN ANGELS, TO RESCUE MATES FROM HARM THEIR ONLY FORM OF SELF DEFENCE, THE RED CROSS ON

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Blake, Shay and family friend Petty Officer Physical Training Instructor Tamara Prins wait for Petty Officer Combat Systems Supervisor Joseph Muckenthaler to arrive home as HMAS Anzac returns from deployment to Fleet Base West in Western Australia. Photo by Seaman Richard Edwards.
Poets Corner 

The Family Trenches at Home

15/02/2023 Posted by Brian Hartigan 2417 Views 1 Comment By George Mansford

Remember those farewells, strong hugs and comforting hands The sounds of blaring busy airports, and perhaps military bands Or a

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Group comprising (from left) Lieutenant Colonel W B Lesslie, a Canadian officer attached to the Royal Enginers; Private John Simpson Kirkpatrick, 3rd Field Ambulance; Lieutenant-Colonel Edmund Bowler, Beach Commander Gallipoli; and Major C H Villiers-Stuart, Intelligence Officer. In front is Kirkpatrick's donkey "Murphy". Bowler has his arm in a sling because of a wound incurred upon landing. Photograph taken before 17 May 1915, in front of Bowler's dugout, by an unknown photographer. Villiers-Stuart was killed on 17 May 1915. Private Kirkpatrick was killed on 19 May 1915. Photo via digitalnz.org
Poets Corner 

A Donkey’s Tale

07/02/2023 Posted by Brian Hartigan 2720 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

I’m just a little donkey, standing four foot four It was never my intention, to serve in the First World

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Australian Fusiliers of the 45th Battalion in Russia, 1919. Photo AWM 04700
Poets Corner 

THE FORGOTTEN ARMY

21/01/2023 Posted by Brian Hartigan 2688 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

It was a time of revolution, with monarchs on their knees Freedom and the rights of man, were carried on

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Australian National Flag. Courtesy PM&C.
Poets Corner 

Australia Day

20/01/2023 Posted by Brian Hartigan 2386 Views 0 Comments By George Mansford

The night before the historic day, campfires were well alight Burning with true blue flickering flames so bright Creeping warmth

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Poets Corner 

THE TRAIN

08/01/2023 Posted by Brian Hartigan 2257 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

THERE’S A PASSAGE IN THE BIBLE, I TRUELY DO BELIEVE A TIME TO LOVE, A TIME TO LAUGH AND A

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Australian soldiers in France. Photo by Sergeant Janine Fabre
Poets Corner 

Memoirs of an Infantry RSM

08/01/2023 Mick Shave 2481 Views 0 Comments By Michael Shave

In 1961, as a 17 year old, my service (REME) began amongst some very intelligent and witty National Servicemen. Against

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'T-wall' art in Tarin Kot, Afghanistan. Photo by Brian Hartigan
Poets Corner 

A MOTHERS PRAYER

01/01/202301/01/2023 Posted by Brian Hartigan 2626 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

There are those in this great country, who stand out in a crowd And overcome adversity, to make our nation

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C-130J Hercules aircraft from No.37 Squadron fly in formation over RAAF Base Richmond. Photo by Corporal Craig Barrett.
Poets Corner 

THEY’D BE LOST WITHOUT US

21/12/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1728 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

No one gives a second glance, as we fly through the sky When we cruise overhead, few will wonder why

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Trooper Jakob West from Rifle Company Butterworth Rotation 137 fights through the final objective, covering arduous terrain through dense jungle. Story by Captain Diana Jennings. All photos by Bombardier Guy Sadler.
Poets Corner 

A Reflection

18/12/2022 Mick Shave 1765 Views 0 Comments By Michael Shave

Beside that track in jungle green (Bare the bayonet, beat the drum.), Sweat-soaked, dirty, thus unseen (Bare the bayonet, beat

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Poets Corner 

When the copper’s back is turned

14/12/202214/12/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1633 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

When night falls like an evil veil, you’re out there on patrol To protect the weak and uphold the law,

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Poets Corner 

The Misery of War Never Ends

12/12/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1585 Views 1 Comment By George Mansford

Soldiers are trained to kill and endure battle din No second chance, no shoulder shrugging or apologetic grin They bayonet,

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The wreckage of Lockheed Hudson A16-68 near Dight Street, Richmond. National Archives of Australia, via Australia @ War
Poets Corner 

THE TEARS AT CHRISTMAS

10/12/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1965 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

IT WAS THE FESTIVE SEASON, SO MANY YEARS AGO WHEN A TALE OF HAPPINESS, WOULD SUDDENLY TURN TO WOE THEY

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The Montevideo Maru
Poets Corner 

The Montevideo Maru

30/11/202230/11/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1788 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton, Montevideo Maru

How easy to forget, the slaughter that raged here For what was once a place of peace, became an abyss

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Australian Army Sergeant Tarese Heath (operating ventilator) and US colleagues transfer a wounded patient from a medical evacuation helicopter to the Emergency Department of the Air Force Theater Hospital at Balad, Iraq. Photo by Major Patricia Anderson, US Army.
Poets Corner 

Space Age Angels

14/11/202214/11/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1584 Views 0 Comments By George Mansford

You ask this old soldier where I’ve been Oh, to see the space age medics and their teams So many

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CONTACT Air Land & Sea plus COMBAT Camera magazines were past publications of this business. Digital copies of both magazines can be viewed or downloaded via our Archives (see menus).

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