Sorry somehow the time didn’t actually copy and paste.
His funeral is at 1000 EST.
Please note EST, all you people on stupid time.

Last Sunday our mate, Pommy Hallam succumbed to his illness and passed away
His funeral will be on Friday 21 November 2025.
Somerville Funerals Nerang Chapel
129 Nerang-Broadbeach Road Nerang QLD 4211


Live stream
https://view.oneroomstreaming.com/index.php?data=MTc2MjkyMzk4MDM4ODQ3MCZvbmVyb29tLWFkbWluJmNvcHlfbGluaw==

87 Transport Platoon Assocn offer their sincere and heartfelt condolences to Jenny and Family.

Rather than post a list of attendees, I am instead offering apologies for not attending from the following members:
Pommy Hallam is not traveling too well with a few ongoing cancer cases so he will not be attending.
Neither will Chris Curtis as his wife Yoko is not traveling that well either with heart problems. His son Brett and wife will be there on the Saturday.
Merv Pickering’s daughters from the West can not make it either
Des informs me that the club at Seymour is bending over backwards to cater for us and have sent a copy of their menu (which I am not computer wise enough to be able to transfer it to here without retyping the whole thing), so you will just have to take my word that it looks pretty good.

By the way, recently we had a contact from a Mate of Bob Martins, they went through Portsea together (and with consecutive regimental numbers), and was wondering whether anyone had any idea where he is now. Last we heard he was in Texas Qld, so if anyone has any further more detailed info please forward to me and I can pass it on.

I am setting out tomorrow morning on the trek south and dreading the thought of that stupid time you Southerners seem to love, and hoping to meet up with Bloo who is also en route.

See you down there.

On 30th May I received a message from Des Ralph which stated:

“Last week Bob Wilson went to have a stent inserted- turns out his arteries were full of “cement”!

This week Bob had a quadruple bypass open heart surgery. At this stage all is well and it appears that he does have a heart in very good condition.

Regards

Des R”

Today I rang Bob and he answered the phone eventually, a bit drowsy, as apparently he had only just come out from another op today to set the heart beating a bit more regularly than it was. Bob has asked me to pass on his heartfelt thanks to all who have wished him well over the past week or so and also that he has a new and deep appreciation of his attending medical staff.

All the best Bob from us all, and hang in there mate.

I have just hung up from a phone conversation with Jenny Pidgeon, where I apparently interrupted a deep and meaninful conversation between herself, John and Blue Broomhall.

Blue has been procrastinating about visiting his home state of Tassie for the past 4 years or so, and this year he actually departed Bundaberg, travelled south, hopped on the ferry and actually got there

He spent time with an old friend from way back when and also spent some time with the Pidgeons. He is due to leave the Apple Isle tomorrow and travel home with a bag full of local fare that should keep him fed for quite some time. We all applied a reasonable amount of pressure on Blue and as a result,he promised to, at the very least, think about attending our reunion in Seymour in October.

We will all look forward to that Blue.

We didnt go into health details but going by the photo, all seem to be battling along fairly well.

Called in on Bob Jones the other day at Clifton hospital. Bob is looking pretty good and has moved out of his home on the farm into a more secure situation as a permanent resident in Clifton Hospital’s care section. Bob has been having a bit of a problem staying upright of late but now at least has free range of the hospital with the aid of a wheelie walker.

He appeared to be in good spirits and enjoyed the company. If anyone is travelling between Warwick and Toowoomba, Clifton is only a 10 minute detour!

I spoke to Wally Edwards on the phone earlier on and he sounds to be pretty good despite the fact that his mobility is severely restricted because of his Parkinsons. Wally and Sandra are still living at Mount Morgan in Qld.

We all know Lorna Campbell, Sandra’s mum; well you may be interested to know that on the 28th of February this year she will be celebrating her 102nd birthday. All the best Lorna from us all.

Blue Hickey is doing all right for the shape he is in, using bottled oxygen to keep himself agile and about, and by all reports is putting up one hell of a fight against ther cancer that threatened him 6 or 7 years ago.

Bloo Dennis has found his way out of hospital down in Sydney and driven himself and the dog back up to Jandowae, home at last. So much for the pinched nerve that the Coffs Harbour hospital gave him a sedative and nexk brace to cure.

Cliff Hodgson is still alive, has the flu, fell over yesterday and grazed his arm, blood everywhere but still here and awaiting a car to take him in for a cat scan. Apart from all that he is relatively good and wondering what tomorrow will bring. Shirley also has the flu as well as her asthma.

I am still here, and health wise good.

I just recently spent an enjoyable Christmas Luncheon with my sister Lesley at Binna Burra in the Lamington National Park, and whilst on my way home I dropped in to what was known, once upon a time, as the  Jungle Training Centre Canungra, (now the LWC) to view our Vietnam memorial that was recently re located.

Back at the turn of the century a group of Veterans were approached by a representative of the Army with the suggestion that a memorial would be deemed to be appropriate to be erected on the grounds of JTC Canungra. The reason behind this logic was that 99% of soldiers who served in South Vietnam went through training at this establishment. (It is of note that 87 Tpt Pl was one of the exceptions to this statement.)

A committee was formed of mainly Gold Coast residing veterans, fund raising was set up, meat trays were held at various pubs, along with raffles, and a 4WD trek to Birdsville was also carried out. This trek attracted a few large sponsors and fund raising raffles were held at towns en route attracting a fair amount of money from outsiders. From these combined efforts enough money was raised to commence building a basic memorial, using timber path edgings railings and seats etc. This memorial was opened in 2000.

Unfortunately, this initial structure suffered badly from the effects of the weather and had to be rebuilt only a few years later. A new committee was formed, and the old timber structures were replaced with concrete, the grounds instead of being graded gravel were paved with bricks, stainless steel hand railings were put in place and the newer much improved memorial was opened in 2005. Many members of the Army Transport Association were involved volunteering their labour and expertise in this upgrade

Then the world was turned upside down with the attack on the World Trade Centre in the U S and suddenly we locked all military bases up and made them off limits to all and sundry, even to ex members, the people who would appreciate this memorial.

The memorial once again fell into disrepair through lack of maintenance and use and was pretty well right off everyone’s radar until recently, when yet another committee was raised and the memorial was redesigned and moved to the roadside, just outside the old JTC transport and Supply point site entry. This new memorial is landscaped in an area resembling the Long Tan Cross with a bronze statue of a Vietnam era soldier holding centre stage. It was relocated and unveiled on December 1st 2023

I must admit that I was quite impressed with the new site, well worth a visit….. but I must add, I was absolutely disgusted to see 3 flagpoles standing out the front of a military base flying our 1 National flag along with two other racially representative flags.

Please note the correct dates.

The Reunion will be held at Seymour on Friday 24^TH -Sat, 25 and Sunday 26 of OCTOBER 2025.

Please don’t change any thing because of my mistaken dates in the previous post. I have it on great authority from Jenny Pidgeon that the above dates are correct, disregard the previous dates.

In the last post that I did a while ago I promised to do a resume of the reunion. Well let it be said that it was a successful and happy reunion attended by Brian and Yvonne Englund, Rob Hallam, Cliff Hodgson, Jenny Hurnall, John Horner, Jenny Morcom accompanied by her daughter Helen, Joyce Purdie, Dennis and Jo Quinn, John and Jenny Pidgeon Des and Margaret Ralph, Tracy Pickering and sister Dianne and Michael Andrews, Bob and Adrianna Wilson, Bloo Dennis, Glen Hutley, Pommy Adcock, and Betty Collard and Lindsay. If I have missed someone or misspelt a name, I am going to throw in the age card as an excuse!

A pretty good turn up considering ages and medical conditions of all of us old Pharts. It was especially good to see the two West Australian girls (Merv Pickerings’s daughters) make the effort once again to join us, as well as Jenny Morcom’s daughter Helen.

It was decided after a bit of a discussion that the next unofficial get together is planned for OCT. 24-25-26 in 2025. at Seymour Victoria.

Most of our members come from the Southern states hence the decision re the site.

Should any Southerners still travel up this way in the winter months to escape the dread of another Southern winter, let it be known and I am sure some of we Northerners could arrange a get together of some type, after all, none of us are getting any younger, and as I just found out in September, none of us have any idea what the future holds for any of us.

 With that in mind, and as I am sure all you wives will well understand, now that I have lost my Xmas Card writer/organiser/poster, there will be no Christmas cards form me this year. Please don’t think that this means I am not thinking of you at this rather special time of year, to the contrary I am. I am simply taking the easy way out and using this blog to convey my heartfelt best wishes to each and every one of you and your families for a merry and joyous Christmas, and a happy New year.

Bloo, who is at the moment still malingering down in NSW recovering from his heart event, also passes on his similar wishes.

Missing from the following photos are Pommy Adcock and the Pickering girls all of whom had leave early for various reasons.

 A quick note to let all know the current state of our mate Bloo Dennis.

Some of you may recall that whilst we were attending the last reunion at Coffs (a report to follow later) Bloo woke me up on the Thursday night around midnight or so complaining that his neck had seized up, a nerve was pinched, and he couldn’t move his head. We called an ambulance, and he was admitted to Coffs Harbour emergency where they gave him a neck brace, some sedatives and sent him back home next day. Similar thing happened the next night but not quite as bad, so no ambulance was involved.

Anyway, he saw the reunion through, we travelled back to Brisbane, then after a day or two he headed back to Jandowae and Toowoomba, and all was well. Next, he hooks up his caravan and travels off to Orange to visit a niece who is having a rough trot with cancer. Apparently they celebrated Christmas a bit early (a case of have to whilst time permits) then rings me on Sunday saying he isn’t too well, and has called an ambulance. The ambulance transported him to Orange hospital where they did some heart tests and decided that it was too big a job for them, so they transported him by air to RPA in Sydney.

I spoke with him today; he sounds a bit groggy but is still with us at least. Apparently, there was a blockage in a valve and that has been replaced, along with a few other bits and pieces. Daughter Jody tells me that the operation has been successful, and he will probably be rehabilitating for quite some time.

That is about all I know at the moment; he is in RPA Sydney and by all accounts recovering satisfactorily.