Post by grannygussie on Apr 9, 2012 22:24:14 GMT 12
Has everyone heard of this little mag and the association? They regularly get letters thanking them for taking on cases, often run for years, to get the rightful pensions and allowances, without success. They succeed where a lot of big official associations fail. The main force seems to be Bob Bak, a Viet Vet and his wife, Gladys but they have great teams of helpers in different cities and seem to achieve so much, tucked away, in a small country town in rural NSW, Cootamundra. Bob takes no bull and has a forthright, right leaning slant but is a champion of broken men and women who have been abandoned by both sides of gov't and bureaucracy. The magazine is 3 or 4 times a year, and for me, has a few truly fascinating articles, some more articles that would be great if they were in my field of interest, a few rants of fury from Bob over something unfair and stinking and a few pages of jokes, that would appeal to those who fly or who were in the forces or hate bureaucracy or right leaning. They have had some FANTASTIC articles and photo's of WW2 planes. One, a bomber that landed with the remains of a German fighter lodged in it's side and the plane almost diagonally split. The reargunner was initially pulled forward, to at least be with his mates, on the other side of the split, but as he was pulled forward, the tail began to move and they had to get him to go back, and wait it out beyond the split. All their parachutes were used to tie the two parts of the plane together and the plane landed and almost as the last man got out, the back part dropped and hit the runway. It was almost like the dogged bomber had got 'em home and then let go. Another amazing article was on a US bomber Flying Fortress? that had it's nose blown open, a huge gaping hole, the metal pushed back and partially covering the windscreen, so the pilot had to try to lean hard to one side, to see. The article began, "They could hear it before they could see it. A screaming, groaning of metal..." and as you'd imagine, everyone ran out to scan the skies. What they saw, as it grew closer, from a speck, was a bomber blown open and with almost every control lost, it was coming in. It was the landing that nobody could imagine being pulled off... I swear, those two articles were so thrilling, so extraordinary, they alone were worth the subscription/membership of $25 pa Oz. More. There is always one article that is fabulous and the subs help them help the Vets. HATS stands for Helping Those That Served and I did think to recommend that it should be WHO served but upon reflection, I saw it was best as is... Oh. I can't leave you wondering as I would... In both those planes, the only fatality was the bombaimer in the Fortress? who must have had it hit him in the lap. The chap behind him was knocked out but okay.
Postal address P O BOX 145 Cootamundra NSW 2590
Website address: www.veteranshelpline.com.au
Office Email address: admin@veteranshelpline.com.au
I believe that Temora aviation museum allow them to run raffles there and there are usually raffles and limited ed ww2 prints, badges, etc. Really worth support, I think.
Postal address P O BOX 145 Cootamundra NSW 2590
Website address: www.veteranshelpline.com.au
Office Email address: admin@veteranshelpline.com.au
I believe that Temora aviation museum allow them to run raffles there and there are usually raffles and limited ed ww2 prints, badges, etc. Really worth support, I think.
