By Ron Lane
LAST Friday seven members of the Noosa Club – four of whom are Vietnam Veterans – attended a fund-raising luncheon at the Alexandra Headland SLSC. The purpose of the fund-raiser was to support the Alexandra Nippers club.
On this occasion the guest speakers were two gentlemen who need little or no introduction – Mr Keith Payne and Mr Ben Roberts-Smith, both recipients of the Victoria Cross. On being introduced by Ron Rankin, life-member of Alexandra Headlands, the guests of honour were well received.
Ron then went on to explain that since the publication of the book Those Who Served – Surf Lifesavers at War, many clubs were now starting to look at their club’s wartime history and publically acknowledge their contribution. Using the book as a reference, it is interesting to note the stats regarding Alexandra, Coolum and Noosa clubs. For Alexandra, 40 members have served in various wars, while Coolum has 60 and Noosa 43.
Regarding life saving in general, Sir Adrian Curlewis, who was president of Life Saving Australia from 1934 until 1975, is considered by many to be the father of modern life saving. Sir Adrian’s only break occurred when, as a captain in the AIF, he spent four years (’42-’45) as a POW in Changi. To his credit, when he was named as a member of the Major-General Gordon Bennett group to break through enemy lines and escape to Australia, he declined, choosing to stay with his men.
The honour roll of our people who have served should be a thing of pride.
After being introduced by Ron, both men spoke on their military service. This was followed by a question and answer time. Among the questions there was one was of particular note. It was regarding their work assisting returned service personnel.
Keith pointed out that there were some 55 suicides among this group, and he emphasised that in their opinion this was totally unacceptable.
Regarding this, his thoughts were that rather than discharge people on the grounds that they were no longer medically suitable to continue their military service, they be permitted to remain in-house, and while doing so, have available the necessary assistance that would enable them to make a healthy adjustment back into civilian life. This is definitely something to be seriously considered. Who knows how many of our lifesavers have served in Afghanistan and will return home needing a helping hand?
At the completion of the lunch and in appreciation of their open and honest discussions our guests, Keith Payne VC and Ben Roberts-Smith VC received a standing ovation – and rightly so.
With that jolly little fat man about to come knocking on doors, our IRB teams in both Noosa and Sunshine Beach are busy with training, assessments and rostered patrols.
As we all know, Christmas time is also family walking time, and with walks through the beautiful Noosa National Park, visits to the small unpatrolled beaches, are unfortunately high on the agenda.
So the need for our IRB teams, dedicated life savers who are prepared to put in the long hours. Not only that but when big sporting organisations need water safety for their swim events, these teams are the backbone.
Noosa’s Trevor King is just one example of how much work our dedicated patrolmen take on. Last weekend he performed his duties as a patrol captain and also jet rescue ski driver – this is apart from his duties with the IRB teams helping to prepare trainees for their final assessments. He is not the only one, for over the hill our mates in Sunshine Beach have members performing the same workload – and this is what life saving is all about.
In the world of competition keep an eye on Noosa’s beach sprinter James Gelling. This young man not only performed well at the Fastest Man on Sand but also backed up to win the under-12 sprint final at the recent Noosa Gift Track and Field Carnival.
