President John Bolto welcomed Rotarians, and all joined for the Singing of the National Anthem.
John Thornton gave us a note to start which helped greatly.
Sad News – Brad Noble has decided to resign from Rotary, he is going to pursue his passion for heritage machinery through Heritage Australia and the Dwellingup Vintage Rail Group.
Business Lunch Board – 100 attending to date, target 220. Email sent; replies expected this week to firm up numbers with 4 weeks to go.
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Visiting Rotarians and Guests:
Pres John warmly welcomed the guests to our meeting;
- John Denman - 2/2 Commandos Assoc
- Ed Willis - 2/2 Commandos Assoc
- Chris Richardson - Rotary Club of Nedlands (President)
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Apologies and LOA: 37 members and 3 guests were in attendance. 7 + 5 apologies & 12 LOAs. Members need to remember to book their guests in for dinner!
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Question of the Week:
Q: When did Rotary's involvement in polio eradication begin?
A: Geoff Cahif answered the question correctly with 1979. Further information follows;
History of PolioPlus. Rotary's involvement in polio eradication began in 1979 with a five-year commitment to provide and help deliver polio vaccine to six million children of the Philippines. It was the first project of the new Health, Hunger, and Humanity (3-H) program.
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Family & Friends Announcements:
Steve Halbert announced that he became a Grandfather for the first time. To mark this occasion, he bought a bottle of wine for each table. (ed: thank you Steve)
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Birthdays & Anniversaries: Bob Davis
Bob announced the following birthdays and anniversaries:
Member’s Birthdays;
- Win Jones OAM -3 September 80 years
- Michael Bisset -4 September 61 years
Partners Birthdays
- John Bourke - 2 September - No Flower!
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Members Attendance: 37 members at 63% attendance rate.
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Committee Reports and Announcements:
Secretary (Craig James)
Craig noted that a Board Meeting will be held next Monday evening.
Club Service: (Anthony McGrath)
Anthony thanked all participants of the Guess Who is Coming to Dinner event. Particularly the Saturday Hosts, John & Beth Mackinnon, Kim & Christine Smith and Anthony & Shelley McGrath. All in all, 33 people participated, and all the feedback was very positive. He would encourage more members to be involved - like all good things, you need to put in a bit of effort but the rewards in many ways are far greater.
Community Service: (Peter Robertson)
Cans for Xmas is scheduled for 8 Dec 2019 pickup. Flyer distribution before this. Peter will be liaising with Foodbank to ensure it all runs smoothly.
Tim Humphry also noted that the Polio Coin Collection day is 19 October 2019. To bring it into the 21st Century they will have a card swipe machine. Going Hi-Tech!!
Youth Service: (John Bolto)
Attending School Link coordination meeting this Thursday with Kim.
Other Announcements
Peter Marfleet noted the “Walk in the Park” for Parkinson’s is on 15 Sept 2019. Please register (on their Website), come along and enjoy the day whilst helping a good cause.
President’s Report: President John Bolto.
Pres John noted the following;
- Rotary Leadership Institute – nominations, please? Going, Kevin J, Michael B, Leon L and Kim S to finish his from last year.
- Rotary Month Theme – Basic Education and Literacy – Ethiopia Project.
- Dick Smith compassionate grants (local) - $1m extra on $ for $ matching grants. Put in for this as it’s a great way to help your community.
- John Hopkins request for speaker nominations, 1 x December, 1 x Jan & 1 x Feb needed.
- Rotary Means Business, 3rd Sept, Cerri, register online.
- Ride Like a Girl Movie Night – All tickets bought by RCD members and friends will result in $9.50/ticket going to polio plus. See Flyer.
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Sergeant: Sergeant (Jon Steward)
Jon rolled up late and didn’t know the way the Sergeant because he didn’t read his emails. Anyway, his Fines were as follows;
- The Wine Table - Geoff Cahif and crew
- Steve Halbert - Grandfather
- Everybody because Steve bought them wine!
- Brian English - Wrong Card for question (ed: all on his table were pretty blind and we all should have shared some responsibility!)
- Graeme Sansom – For being sergeant last week and NOT fining the Wine Table. (ed; Graeme Noted the convention that sergeants don’t fine sergeant lest there be trouble!)
- Kevin Jackson - Golf, 12 strokes on a Par 5 - (ed: Isn’t there a mercy rule now!)
- Kent Warburton - Winning bowls AGAIN!
- All those who didn’t go to GWCTD.
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Guest Speaker: John Denman - 2/2 Commandos Association
John MacKinnon introduced John Denman who will talk about the exploits of the 2/2 Commando particularly of their time in East Timor.
The major points from John’s talk appear below. For more comprehensive information and history of the unit please see their website
www.doublereds.org.auJohn noted that the main reason for the existence of the 2/2 Commando Association is to help the people of Timor-Leste. The reason for this will become apparent. They are also putting together the history, survey of the battle sites and walking trails and tours. This will all provide benefits for the Timorese people in terms of increasing tourism.
In WWII not long after Pearl Harbour, the Allies needed to secure airfields in West Timor (Dutch) and then decided to invade East Timor (Portuguese) who were neutral. The 2/2 Commandos were sent to do this mission. From Feb 1942 most of the company had contracted malaria and to reduce this incidence they went into the mountains based on MO Richard Dunkley’s assessment. West Timor fell to the Japanese quickly. After that, the Japs attacked Dili which they took. The 2/2 Commando being a relatively small Company fought a guerrilla warfare campaign for the next 12 months. It was around 600 men vs 9,000 Japanese. During this time the 2/2 were vitally assisted by the Timorese Boys - Criados. This help saved the Australian Troops. However, the Timorese people paid a high price in helping the Australians as later on the Japanese slaughtered thousands in retribution.
In Sept 1942, they arranged some reinforcements from 2/4 Commandos.
Some information about the Commandos;
- All volunteers and all single men mostly from the Eastern States where they trained.
- Their colour patch is red double diamonds.
- On East Timor, they took a decision to NOT surrender.
- The Criados worked closely with the Australians.
- The signallers somehow cobbled together a radio and got thru’ to Darwin telling them of the situation.
- 610 served in the war, 25 were killed in Timor, most on the first day when the Japs invaded (15).
From the end of the war, the 2/2 believe they owe a huge debt of gratitude to the East Timorese people. They note that Australia has not always lived up to this ideal. However, the 2/2 Commando association will not forget the Timorese and have advocated for them and are helping to provide education and medical assistance to this day.
Ed Willis noted that he is organising survey and walk trails of the battlefield sites. This will ultimately assist the Timor-Leste people for the longer term.
Pres John Bolto thanked John Denman and Ed Willis for sharing this piece for WWII history and its ramifications to the present day. Thank You!
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Future Events: President John Bolto
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Next Week – Nat Crewe - Backpacker Medics
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Next Week’s Sergeant – TBA
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September 15th – Parkinsons Walk in the Park – Perry Lakes, come and support our members.
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September 16th – Club Forum, no guests please. Review results from last Forum Meeting and discuss
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October 3rd – Business Lunch
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THANK YOU
President John thanked;
- NCG staff Denise & her team
- On Par Caterers
- Club Sponsors
- Our 3 guests
Recognise our very generous Sponsors;
- Lizzy Bee-supplier of flowers
- Butler Settineri – Hon Club Auditors
- Paragon Consultants -Our Foundation’s Auditors
- PSZ Accounting for providing Xero Accounting software and Sharesight Portfolio reporting software to the Charitable Trust.
He called on members to recognise RI President Mark Maloney’s Presidential theme for the year, "Rotary Connects The World" and to Salute the Flag.
