35 Squadron 75th Anniversary Address – Castle Hill RSL – September 2017

Good day John and Sambo,

Thought I would give you an update on the 75th Anniversary function. It was a very enjoyable night. We were seated with CAF AIRMSHL Leo Davies, his wife Rhonda, and CO 35SQN WGCDR Jarrod Pendlebury and his wife Selda. We were able to talk with them a bit but they were circulating around as you might imagine. We were given a great welcome and I got some good feedback on my talk which was on behalf of the RTFV/35SQN Association. They put us up in the Novotel at Castle Hill which was great as I am a bit hesitant to drive long distance at night now in case I fall asleep. In short we were very well looked after.

My talk was historical, Jarrod spoke of the present and Leo spoke of the future. We were each given 10min for our talk. I have attached a copy of the basis for my talk for your information. Maybe it is not 100% accurate working from memory but I did cross-check it as much as I could during its preparation. Jarrod indicated that the squadron was very happy with the C27J Spartan. Either he or the CAF expressed the view that it was not really a Caribou replacement nor a small C130 but rather a tactical transport with its own place in the air force which will continue to evolve with time.

I did send in quite a few photos from my own slides collection and from others but they were not included in the slide show. However, they should now be in the 35SQN archives. Talking of photos I have established that the AWM photos taken in 1966 in Vietnam and covering Harold Holt’s visit may now be found at the following link: CLICK HERE

I have also sent a similar email to Don Pollock to show him the talk I gave in his place.

Thanks for the opportunity to attend on your behalf.

Hope you are well

Regards

Richard

75th Anniversary Address 35SQN 2017 – click here to view