Birthday address 27-07-2007

50th Anniversary Dinner of Riverwood Squadron
Friday 27 July 2007

Address by Comr Peter Glover MSA
Federal Field Commissioner

Fellow Officers, guests, Cadets, friends and family.

It falls to me this evening to address you on the history of Riverwood Squadron.

Well, of course as we all appreciate, the Squadron has been in continual operation for 50 years. When your current Squadron OC Gp Lt Christopher Bailey MSA honoured me with this opportunity, I asked him about how long should this speech be? He said if I spoke no more than 7 - 10 minutes that would be OK. Politely, I thanked him and hung up the phone and thought to myself, how does one encapsulate 50 years of history in no more than 10 minutes? I then spoke to my wife Beverly about this challenge. Her response was that ‘you have a captive audience, just stick to your speech, don’t include a lot of anecdotes and above all, try not to be boring’. Well if there is one thing that I have learnt after 37 years in the AAL, it’s how to follow orders. So here goes.

If I could start by offering an observation on the Squadron today and at the risk of embarrassing Chris, there can be no doubt that he is a great Squadron OC, totally dedicated to the League and the Squadron’s Cadets, his enthusiasm and professionalism has resulted in the Squadron, and I know that in my position I should be unbiased, but it is really the best Squadron in the Air League today. Its record not only speaks for itself but its membership is nudging 60. The Squadron’s band has not been beaten at a Federal Review for over 20 years. I know that many of you ex-members will be as proud as I am of that record.

I want to take you back 50 years, half a century ago to 1957. At least 2 major events that would affect Riverwood Squadron occurred that year. One was that the Squadron was formed and the other was that my old friend Robert Devitt was born. Happy 50th Bob for last week!

In preparing for this address tonight you will no doubt be relieved to hear that I have focused on the events leading to the birth of Riverwood Squadron as opposed to the events which gave rise to Bob’s birth. As many of you can probably imagine, the Air League during the 1930’s and 1940’s enjoyed a huge membership and support. Particularly through the war years. But of course during the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, the Air League, like other similar organisations suffered a big reduction in membership and interest particularly among Australia’s population who had served in WWII. Understandably, people were tired of uniforms and the type of activities organisations like the AAL offered.

My research has revealed that a crisis meeting was called by the NSW Boys’ Group in 1956 Chaired by Keith Glover, who would later become Chief Commissioner and Assistant State Secretary of the Federated Clerks Union, at the Bankstown Aero Club. It was suggested that existing Officers needed to open Squadrons particularly in the new suburbs of Sydney. As fate would have it, the East Hills railway line had been built and suburbs such as Hearn Bay, ie Riverwood were being established as new housing estates. So in February 1957, a public meeting was held to start Riverwood Boys’ Squadron at the newly opened Hannans Road Public School. This also became the initial venue for the Squadron. Some time later the Squadron commenced meeting at the small hall near the railway line at Narwee. The hall is still there today and is used by the Scouts. In time, the Squadron grew and eventually moved to a disused WWII hut which formed part of the US Army Hospital located at the Southern end of the Alverstone Street Riverwood. Going east today on the M5 its approximately where the exit ramp is leading to Belmore Road.

During the late 1960’s Riverwood Squadron found itself in circumstances where on the departure of Mr Bentley as Squadron OC, it had an abundance of young cadets but lacked experienced Senior NCO’s and Officers. However, neighbouring Padstow Squadron had an excess of both. Padstow Squadron was of course earlier formed by members of Riverwood. A team was transferred along with the Squadron’s new OC Mr Wally Boys. Equipped with a staff of Officers, the Squadron grew and prospered. Fathers joined as Officers like Mr Ed Snelling along with their sons. Ed was some years later to become President of Riverwood Legion Club. At its high point, the roll strength reached some 65 members. Most of the Cadets were all Junior Cadets and I was one of them. The Squadron was commonly known as “Wally’s Kindergarten”.

The future of the Squadron appeared bright. However, in a few short years it would enter the most troubled period of its history.

In mid 1973 Wally Boys, a WWII veteran, sadly passed away. Despite the best efforts of existing and newly recruited Officers in the Squadron, membership started to decline. By early 1974, the Squadron roll strength was down to about 10 members with an average weekly attendance of 7 members. Mr Fred Holmes had taken over as OC Squadron by this time and his son Stuart was to join soon after. It was during this time that the Wing considered amalgamating the Squadron with Beverly Hills Squadron which operated out of what is now the Group HQ building at the corner of Loader Avenue and Penshurst Street. Beverly Hills Squadron was struggling for members as well and their roll strength was as bad as Riverwood’s. Riverwood was instructed that they would have to start meeting with Beverly Hills Squadron at their hall. For those few Riverwood members who were left that had experienced the Wally Boys era, this was a very difficult time. However, in typical Riverwood tradition, first parade was held at Riverwood’s hall before proceeding to Beverly Hills Squadron. The Squadron’s few members were determined to maintain their independence whilst still obeying orders.

It may be asked, how was this obeying orders?

The answer was simple, Riverwood was ordered to start meeting with Beverly Hills Squadron which it did. The order said nothing about having to Parade with them. When Riverwood members arrived at Beverly Hills, it soon became apparent that their only NCO was a Corporal. Riverwood arrived with a number of Corporals and Sergeants amongst its members, which included some fairly bold personalities like Warwick Mestern, Kim Schneider, Robert Devitt, Michael Ingram and Peter Glover. The Cadets at Beverly Hills never had a chance. After a few weeks, the experiment was declared a failure and Riverwood was allowed to return back to its own hall much to the relief of the harassed Cadets and the one exasperated Officer at Beverly Hills. Riverwood had survived, thanks mostly to the guile of it’s NCO’s. But the Squadron was still in trouble. It only had a handful of members and no Parents’ Committee to speak of. By all accounts the Squadron was still running a very real risk of being closed.

It was at this time that Mr Viv Jones decided to join the Air League at Riverwood Squadron. He was in his late 60’s. Even though the Squadron was struggling to put more than a Flag Party and a Section on parade, Mr Jones knew that the foundations were still in place for the Squadron to not only survive but to grow.

His corps of Senior NCO’s had all been members of the Squadron back when its roll strength tipped 65. Mr Jones understood that the last thing any of us wanted was for the Squadron to close. We in return, recognised that in Mr Jones we had an Officer who was not there just to tread water. He was going to lead Riverwood Squadron back to its halcyon days of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s and we were all desperately keen to follow his lead. Soon after, Vivian Jones was appointed OC Riverwood Squadron.

He set about giving the Squadron some direction and purpose. The year was 1975 and the roll strength had gradually risen to about 15 members in total. Whilst recruiting and retaining more members was an important priority, one problem which was acting as a deterrent to parents leaving their sons each parade night with confidence, was the condition of the hall. It was run down and dark. No street lighting or external lighting existed on the hall itself. The Squadron needed money to repair and maintain the hall (what’s new) but the Parents’ Committee existed almost in name only. A couple of Committee Office Bearers had done their best through the previous difficult years and had been stoically led by Branch President Bud Mestern. Bud’s son Warwick was by now our Squadron Sergeant. It’s great that both of them are here tonight.

Viv Jones decided that the Parents’ Committee needed to be revitalised and funds had to be raised to help the Squadron function. Fortunately, Viv was a great people person. He put his skills to work and got the Squadron Parents’ Committee enthused. Coincidently, the Girls’ Group had decided to open Riverwood Girls’ Squadron. This gave an opportunity for more parents to become involved. Mr Kevin Archer was elected as the new Branch President and would serve the Committee and Squadron with distinction along with his wife Mary for years to come and their son Craig was an active member of the Squadron. Its great to see both Kevin and Mary here tonight as well. The Committee went out and raised funds which helped improve amenities at the hall.

At the same time, Viv Jones sought the input of his Senior N.C.O.’s as to what they believed was needed to help get the Squadron’s training program on track. By now, people like Fred Simpson, David Hibbert and Ivan Bridges had joined the Squadron and were among its senior NCO ranks. The N.C.O.’s were provided with their own room at the hall for this purpose and were permitted to meet regularly. No doubt many of the Cadets wondered what was being plotted by the N.C.O.’s at those meetings as did some of the Officers. All proposals were submitted direct to Viv Jones as O.C.. This proved to be an ideal approach as the N.C.O.’s ideas could not be watered down before they got to the him. It was at this time, that the pre-cursor to the term Riverwood Hornets was formed. Back then the Cadets and Senior N.C.O.’s developed the term ‘the Black Sheep’. The idea being that although we were part of the flock being the Air League, we stood out, we excelled, we were different from the rest. Meanwhile, the Squadron started building relationships with the Community as well. It may be a little known fact that much of the work clearing the land on Belmore Road to establish Rotary Park was performed by the Squadron. This helped to establish a close relationship between Riverwood Rotary Club and the Squadron. The Rotary Club President Alan Doolan was a regular visitor and the Club supported the Squadron. It was around this time that the Squadron was presented with custody of the unit banner of the RAAF Airfield Construction Squadron which it still carries today at the Sydney ANZAC Day March.

The balanced Squadron program, coupled with the Squadron tennis competition, instigated by Viv Jones and held every Saturday night, served to increase the comradere amongst the members. The roll strength gradually grew over the next year into the mid 20’s. The Squadron attended and competed in everything. Wing Parades (held monthly), Group Swimming and Athletics Carnivals, local festivals, ANZAC Day Parade, Group Reviews and Ceremonial Parades and of course Federal Reviews. The Squadron started winning or placing in the competitions. This had a profound effect on all the members. The hard work and total commitment of the N.C.O.’s and Officers over about a three year period had completely turned the Squadron around.

One of the Squadron’s young Officers Gary Pollard, whose wife Sue was the first O.C. of Riverwood Girls’ Squadron, left to open Belmore Boys’ Squadron, our Squadron Sergeant Warwick Mestern went with him.

Viv Jones decided it was time to promote his team of Senior N.C.O.’s to become Officers and in doing so, the Cadets which had been trained by the Senior N.C.O.’s were able to be promoted to N.C.O.’s themselves. This included Cadets like Gary and Ross Haloran, Stuart Gelder, Mark Hartigan and Robert ‘mad dog’ Morgan.

So it came to be that in 1977, 30 years ago, the Squadron staff were:

     Viv Jones - Officer Commanding
     Peter Glover - Second in Command
     Ivan Bridges - Adjutant
     Robert Devitt - Education Officer
     David Hibbert - Drill / PA Officer
     Michael Ingram - Quartermaster

Nearly all of them are here tonight and I would invite you all to join with me in recognising their contribution.

A neighbouring Squadron whose name starts with the letter ‘P’ on hearing of these appointments quipped “The inmates are now running the asylum”. Whilst spoken in jest, it turned out that the so-called inmates had a pretty good idea of what was needed to run the asylum, that is, the Squadron, I would venture to say that it was very much like the Squadron’s staff today. They were absolutely dedicated to their appointments, to the Squadron and to each other. Over the next few years, this team were to cement the foundation for success which the Squadron still carries on today. The staff planned and implemented a busy, balanced and varied program for the members of the Squadron all under the guiding hand of Viv Jones. Apart from the usual Group and Wing commitments, there was hardly a weekend that went by without a Squadron activity. I’m sure this sounds familiar to the parents and Cadets of the Squadron today. For example, aircraft modelling classes were started on weekends, the regular Saturday night tennis competition continued and Squadron camps or hikes were held and attendance at local community festivals took place. At around this time the Squadron re-initiated the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme back into the Air League. It had been many years since anybody in the Air League had taken part in the Scheme. However, the Scheme has never disappeared from the Air League radar since Riverwood participated in it in the mid to late 1970’s. With the Squadron roll strength nudging 40 with an average attendance almost equal to that number, the Squadron was ready to make one of its biggest and ultimately best decisions.

The idea was to form the Riverwood Squadron Band. However, it was with some trepidation that this decision was made. Back when Wally Boys was O.C. in the very early 1970’s, the Squadron had flirted with the idea of starting a band. However, with the drop in numbers following Wally Boys passing, it never really got off the ground. This time though it was to prove very different. The Squadron still had the drums from the failed attempt years earlier. Therefore, for a small initial investment the band was formed. Ivan Bridges became Squadron Band Officer and Lead Drummer ably supported by David Hibbert. Michael Ingram played the Bass Drum. Over time Cadets were trained and transferred into the band (including a promising and enthusiastic young Cadet named Christopher Bailey). The tradition of band practice every Saturday afternoon was started. It wasn’t long before the Band was in demand at local parades. This honed the band members’ skills which meant that come Air League competitions both the Band and individual solo competitions became fertile ground for the Squadron. The Squadron continued to succeed in other areas as well. In education, the Squadron would regularly win or place under Robert Devitt as S.E.O.. Viv Jones found time to attain over a dozen education badges himself and gain a Squadron Instructor Level 2. A pretty good effort for somebody who by now was over 70 years of age. Every year at Group and Federal the Squadron would win or place in the Squadron Education competitions.

The Flag Party had always performed well in competitions and continued to do so. That remained my specialty. The Squadron would also continue to win or place at Group Swimming and Athletics Carnivals.

Riverwood Squadron was by now one of the biggest and most successful Squadrons in the Group. Whilst most Squadrons usually excelled in one particular aspect be it education or drill, the secret to Riverwood’s success was and still is that it excelled in all aspects of the Air League’s activities. This can be attributed to the Squadron offering an interesting and balanced program to its members.

During his time as Squadron O.C., Viv Jones or ‘Mr J’ as he was affectionately known, had led the Riverwood Revival.

Viv Jones’ vision, enthusiasm and leadership set the framework by which every Riverwood O.C. has operated since. It has become more than an expectation, it is an obligation. Viv Jones retired from the O.C.’s position at the end of 1978. He was followed by a number of O.C.’s including myself, Ivan Bridges. Eventually that promising young Cadet named Christopher Bailey was appointed O.C..

In the time available it is impossible to recognise the contribution made over the last 50 years by many of you here tonight. For that, I apologise. However, we can all take comfort that in our own way we either have or continue to contribute to a very special organisation and more particularly we have had the wonderful opportunity to be part of what I know you all regard as the greatest squadron in the history of the Air League. In 2009 we celebrate the 75th Anniversary of our organisation.

Tonight, we, the Riverwood family celebrate 50 magnificent years of training young boys to become better men, better fathers and better citizens.

It is a noble cause in which we are involved ladies and gentlemen. I know that we are all better people for the experience.

Happy 50th Riverwood and enjoy the evening.

A Vinculo Terrae