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CONTACT magazine

By Tomas ‘Paddy’ Hamilton

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

THE FORGOTTEN ARMY

21/01/2023 Posted by Brian Hartigan 336 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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Poets Corner 

THE TRAIN

08/01/2023 Posted by Brian Hartigan 466 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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'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 1042 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 254 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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Poets Corner 

When the copper’s back is turned

14/12/202214/12/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 370 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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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 557 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 472 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 soldiers from 8th/12th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, fire M2A 105mm howitzers as part of a reenactment during the 80th anniversary of the Bombing of Darwin commemorative ceremony in Darwin, Northern Territory. Original photo by Leading Seaman Shane Cameron, digitally altered by CONTACT.
Poets Corner 

THE STOCKMAN’S DAUGHTER

03/10/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 591 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

This town is still familiar, for I lived here long ago Gazing down Kelly St, the memories begin to flow

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A Mk VIII Spitfire, sporting the 'Grey Nurse' moniker used by 'Bobby' Gibbes, flying at the Australian International Airshow at Avalon, Victoria (2011). This aircraft is now part of the RAAF's No. 100 Squadron, also known as the Air Force Heritage Squadron. Photo by Brian Hartigan.
Poets Corner 

THE GHOST OF BOBBY GIBBES

30/08/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 892 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

Wartime fighter pilots, gallant knights of the air Few would ever make that claim, they wouldn’t ever dare Bobby Gibbes

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Australian Task Force Base at Nui Dat.
Poets Corner 

The Final Wakey (last night in Nui Dat)

18/08/202231/07/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 683 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

For twelve months, this place has been, the sum of all our fears But sadly, for many, it was their

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Australian infantry on. a jungle track, March 1945. Modified from original AWM 018301
Poets Corner 

FACES IN THE MIST

07/07/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 797 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

I stand here this time each year, in the soft grey light of dawn To pay a silent tribute, to

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Photo by Warrant Officer Class Two Gary Ramage.
Poets Corner 

The Choco

03/07/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 766 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

They all called us “Chocos”, cause we’d melt in the battle’s heat Yet we were sent in harms’ way, when

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Cropped from larger image of the Bronze 'Digger' at the Australian Memorial Park, Bullecourt, France, taken by Leading Seaman Justin Brown.
Poets Corner 

THE SOLDIER ON THE PLINTH

16/06/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 625 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

I stand upon my lonely plinth, my eyes a stony gaze ‘Tis here I greet the morning sun, or watch

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Royal Air Force Bomber Command Memorial in London. By Tim Rademacher (via Wikimedia Commons)
Poets Corner 

A HAVEN IN GREEN PARK

01/06/202202/06/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 783 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

Commemorating the 10th anniversary of the unveiling of the RAF Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park London – 28 June

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Australian soldiers from the Special Operations Task Group and Reconstruction Task Force farewell fallen comrade Private Luke Worsley during a ramp ceremony at their base in Uruzgan Province, southern Afghanistan on 27 November 2007. Photo by Captain Al Green.
Poets Corner 

FOR LUKE

23/04/202224/04/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 934 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

There’s a soldier’s memorial at the end of our street, from a war they claim we lost For 41 Australian

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My new Veteran's Lapel Pin, box-mounted in the shirt pocket. Photo by self.
Poets Corner 

THE MASK

09/04/202209/04/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 832 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

. PEOPLE RARELY SEE MY FACE. IT HIDES BEHIND A MASK TO FREE ME FROM ITS VACANT STARE, IS NOT

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Lieutenant-General Arthur Ernest Percival, led by a Japanese officer, walks under a flag of truce to negotiate the capitulation of Allied forces in Singapore, on 15 February 1942. It was the largest surrender of British-led forces in history.
Poets Corner 

SUNSET ON AN EMPIRE

21/03/202221/03/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 814 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

. Everything was surreal, the calm before the storm With G&T at Raffles and playing bridge till dawn They swept

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Commanding Officer of 8th/9th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel John Eccleston gives instructions to a soldier in the Enoggera Close Training Area during Exericse Ram Strike. Photo by Private Jacob Hilton.
Poets Corner 

THE SPARTANS

02/02/202202/02/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 942 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

We fought like ancient Spartans, with no shame or fear Amongst the tales of bravery, very few came near During

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A collection of rare old warbirds at the Wings Over Illawarra air Show 2021. Photo by Brian Hartigan.
Poets Corner 

THE WARBIRDS NEST

27/01/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 789 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

WE ARRIVED HERE MANY YEARS AGO, BUT NOW I STAND ALONE BENEATH THE MOUNTAIN’S SHADOW, IN THE HUNTER TOWN OF

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Poets Corner 

THE HOMELESS REFUGEE

02/01/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1120 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

Barney was a treasure, one of my great finds We met up in hospital, where they patched up broken minds

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About CONTACT

Contact Publishing Pty Ltd is an independent veteran owned and operated Australian publishing business that curates this daily blog, a fortnightly newsletter and a quarterly magazine – only available by subscribing free (above).

editor@militarycontact.com

+61 (0)408 496 664

PO Box 3091
Minnamurra
NSW 2533
Australia

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