Beersheba. ANNUAL CONGRESS Sweeping changes to State Council SPECIAL FEATURE:

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1 THE PRICE OF LIBERTY IS ETERNAL VIGILANCE The Voice of New South Wales Serving and Ex-Service Men and Women ANNUAL CONGRESS Sweeping changes to State Council SPECIAL FEATURE: Beersheba Lest We Forget VOL 90 NO 4 JULY-AUGUST 2017 SUBSCRIPTION $5.50 PP243459/900095

STATE CONGRESS 2017 JAMES BROWN ELECTED STATE PRESIDENT Members of State Council were called up on stage and congratulated on their election New State President James Brown addressed Congress on the

welfare of veterans, serving personnel and their families.

2 STATE CONGRESS 2017 JAMES BROWN ELECTED STATE PRESIDENT Members of State Council were called up on stage and congratulated on their election New State President James Brown addressed Congress on the final day, pledging less bureaucracy Six newcomers join State Council The NSW Branch of the RSL is poised to enter a new era with a fresh focus on fulfilling its principal aim of caring for the welfare of veterans, serving personnel and their families. After several months of uncertainty during which the League faced accusations of financial mismanagement and inadequate governance, a new State President and rejuvenated State Council have pledged to restore public confidence and respect. 37-year-old James Brown defeated three other candidates to be elected State President; he was also unopposed for the position of State Treasurer and a byelection will be held to fill that role after Mr Brown took on the task of President. Mr Brown is a graduate of Duntroon who in seven years until 2010 reached the rank of Captain, with operational service in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Solomon Islands. He joined the RSL in 2008 and has held the positions of secretary and vice president of North Bondi sub-branch. He is employed as Director of Research at the US Studies Centre at Sydney University. In a closing address to State Congress, Mr Brown said the RSL leadership needs to be better at communicating with members, who clearly want more accountability from those they elect. You want our organisation to be simpler, less bureaucratic, he said, promising to listen to any ideas which members put forward. But be patient. It might take years but we will get it done. Of the 12 members elected to State Council, six have not held such a senior position before, bringing a younger dynamic to the group: Former commando Mick Bainbridge, from the Gerringong sub-branch, at 33 and an RSL member for only 15 months, becomes the Southern Country Vice President. He served in East Timor in 2006 followed by four tours of duty in Afghanistan. Brad Copelin, an East Timor and Afghanistan veteran who appeared on the cover of Reveille in 2015 as one of the RSL Active team competing in the Canadian Army running festival in Ottawa, was REVEILLE 6

3 STATE CONGRESS 2017 elected a metropolitan State Councillor. A member of Engadine sub-branch, he served 14 years in the army with postings to Afghanistan and the Solomons, and is an RSL DefenceCare ambassador. Joining him is Greg Makutu, from the New Zealand sub-branch and a staff member at the NZ Consulate in Sydney. He served 23 years in the NZ Army with tours of duty in Cambodia and East Timor. Vietnam veteran Bryan Slattery is also a metropolitan State Councillor. He has most recently been treasurer of Mosman sub- Branch and a member of the State Tribunal. Sandra Lambkin, the only female on the new State Council, served in the WRANS from 1968 to 1971, is the New England District Council president and has held most positions in her sub-branch of Tamworth. She is a regular contributor and book reviewer for Reveille. Scott Seccombe, from Coffs Harbour, served for more than eight years in the Royal Australian Engineers, with a posting to Bosnia. He has been an RSL member since 2002, is president of the Veterans Centre Mid North Coast and has taken part in the Invictus Games. Re-elected as State Councillors are Ray James (Metropolitan Vice President), Bob Metcalf (Northern Country Vice President), Bill Harrigan, Darren McManus-Smith, Alan Hutchings and Tony Toussaint. The need to rebuild and reform was a common theme at State Congress, which Chief Petty Officer Catherine Harvey travelled furthest as a delegate, returning on leave from her posting in Kabul, Afghanistan, to represent the Branxton sub-branch

STATE CONGRESS 2017 The Governor of NSW, General David Hurley, and outgoing State President John Haines laid wreaths at the memorial near the Albury Entertainment Centre The NSW RSL Rural

In opening the Congress, the NSW Governor and State Branch patron, General David Hurley, tackled the problems head-on, calling for a new direction and saying the League has been wounded by the bad

4 STATE CONGRESS 2017 The Governor of NSW, General David Hurley, and outgoing State President John Haines laid wreaths at the memorial near the Albury Entertainment Centre The NSW RSL Rural Commemorative Choir led the singing of the National Anthem and also entertained delegates was held for the first of three years at the Albury Entertainment Centre. In opening the Congress, the NSW Governor and State Branch patron, General David Hurley, tackled the problems head-on, calling for a new direction and saying the League has been wounded by the bad publicity. Despite your good work in the sub-branches and elsewhere and across the board, we are wounded. This conference in particular must address that wounding. All good people involved in this organisation. All people with good intent. The Governor pointed out that two or three times the number of soldiers who were killed in combat while he was Chief of the Defence Force have killed themselves since then. He described the RSL as the biggest gorilla in the fight to tackle mental health issues among veterans. Other speakers at Congress included Veterans Affairs Minister Dan Tehan and Opposition spokeswoman Amanda Rishworth, National RSL President Robert Dick and Victorian President Dr Robert Webster. The caretaker management committee of John Brien, Warren Thompson and David Clarke, as well as outgoing State President John Haines, gave delegates a full briefing on events surrounding the resignations or standing down of State Council members. They welcomed the appointment of former NSW Supreme Court Justice Patricia Bergin SC as an investigator under the Charitable Fundraising Act to examine all financial transactions and payments which have been questioned. The State Government has given Justice Bergin until February 2018 to report. Among resolutions carried by Congress was one demanding fully itemised accounts for expenses incurred by the State President and Councillors be provided to District Councils every three months. Other motions called for criminal prosecutions against anyone destroying or mutilating the Australian flag and for the cost of providing security at Anzac Day Marches be borne by State and Federal Governments. For the second year in succession Congress debated a motion seeking to have 11 September prescribed as a day of commemoration for all those men and women who served from the time of the First Gulf War. Again it was lost, on the basis that 9/11 was already fixed in people s minds as a day to remember those who died in the attack on the Twin Towers in New York. Former State Secretary Chris Perrin, representing Cumberland sub-branch, pointed out that a ceremony was to be held at the Anzac Memorial on 11 June, being the anniversary of the successful Battle of Eastern Shah Wali Kot in Afghanistan in The next State Congress will be held in Albury on 22 and 23 May John Gatfield REVEILLE 8

BEERSHEBA 1917-2017 The desert countryside outside the city, across which the Light Horse charged, is little changed A FAMOUS VICTORY FOR THE LIGHT HORSE At 4.

It was late in the day, the battle had raged for hours, and the Australians horses had gone all day without water.

5 BEERSHEBA The desert countryside outside the city, across which the Light Horse charged, is little changed A FAMOUS VICTORY FOR THE LIGHT HORSE At 4.30 pm on 31 October 1917 the 4th Australian Light Horse Brigade under Brigadier- General William Grant launched a desperate mounted attack against the Turkish trenches at Beersheba. It was late in the day, the battle had raged for hours, and the Australians horses had gone all day without water. Common sense argued that the Australian, British and New Zealand troops would soon be withdrawn, but General Sir Edmund Allenby and the Australian commander, Lieutenant General Sir Harry Chauvel, had faith in the 800 men of the Light Horse and ordered Grant to attack. The Light Horsemen rode and fought in units of four; one man would hold the horses while the other three dismounted and fought as infantry. On this occasion they all charged like cavalry, wielding bayonets. So fast did they ride over about 6 kilometres of open, rocky ground that the Turks had difficulty in finding their range and were shocked when the Australians threw themselves into the trenches. Some drove their horses over the trenches and charged into Beersheba itself to capture the strategic goal of the wells, the vital water supply. By 5 pm, eleven hours after the overall battle had started, Beersheba was in the Light Horsemen s hands. The 4th and 12th Light Horse Regiments, with the 11th in reserve, had delivered a triumphant victory. Grant s brigade had taken more than a thousand prisoners and captured nine guns. Hundreds of Turks were dead. The Australian losses were 31 killed and 32 wounded. At least 70 horses had been killed by bayonets, artillery or machine-gun fire. The charge into Beersheba was made possible by the bravery earlier that day of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles and the 3rd Light Horse Regiment in capturing Tel el Saba, the heavily fortified hill just east of Beersheba which would have According to the Turkish government 298 of their soldiers died here given the Turks a commanding site from which to pour deadly fire onto the charging Australian men and horses. British units had also fought valiantly throughout the day, with losses of around 400 infantry killed and 800 wounded. Chauvel, wrote to his wife the next day: 22 REVEILLE

BEERSHEBA 1917-2017 The minaret on the mosque gleamed in the late light, giving the Light Horsemen an objective to ride for through the dust and smoke The railway station built by the Turks is one of

We really did not take this place till about 9 o clock last night when Grant s Brigade, which I put in as a trial effort, carved the last defences and the town at the gallop in the moonlight.

In Australia s military history More than 1200 Commonwealth soldiers are buried in the Beersheba war cemetery this was one of our finest days and the names of Chauvel, Grant, Major James Lawson,

6 BEERSHEBA The minaret on the mosque gleamed in the late light, giving the Light Horsemen an objective to ride for through the dust and smoke The railway station built by the Turks is one of the few buildings surviving the past century in Beersheba We had a great battle yesterday and an entirely successful one but it was a long business and a hard fight. We really did not take this place till about 9 o clock last night when Grant s Brigade, which I put in as a trial effort, carved the last defences and the town at the gallop in the moonlight. By any standards this was a significant victory. It broke the Turks defensive line from Gaza to Beersheba and was the turning point in the war in Palestine. In Australia s military history More than 1200 Commonwealth soldiers are buried in the Beersheba war cemetery this was one of our finest days and the names of Chauvel, Grant, Major James Lawson, Major Eric Hyman, Captain Rodney Robey, Major Cuthbert Featherstonehaugh, Captain Jack Davies and scores of other officers and troopers deserve to be honoured. The Israeli city of Be er Sheva today bears no resemblance to what was little more than a trading and supply village 100 years ago. The Ottoman era railway station remains, and nearby is a monument erected by the Turkish government in 2002 commemorating 298 honourable Turkish Army soldiers who lost their lives at the Be er Sheva front between That s no misprint 298 is their figure. And what was Beersheba s only mosque a century ago and it is said the Light Horsemen used its minaret as a guiding reference point during their wild charge - also stands untouched, just along the road from the beautifully maintained Commonwealth War Graves cemetery. Here lie the bodies of the 31 men killed in the charge and those who died later, a small percentage of the 1241 graves of Commonwealth soldiers, 67 of them unidentified. Most are men whose remains were recovered from numerous sites and reinterred after the war ended. Among the graves is that of Albert Tibby Cotter, a mounted stretcherbearer with the 12th Regiment, shot dead at close range just short of his 33rd birthday. Born in Glebe, Sydney, and educated at Sydney Grammar School, Cotter had won fame as a fast bowler, taking six wickets for 40 runs in the 1904 cricket test against England. The recently constructed pedestrian and cycle bridge over Anzac Parade, outside the SCG, is named in his honour. John Gatfield REVEILLE 23

The Returned and Services League of Australia (New South Wales Branch)

The Returned and Services League of Australia (New South Wales Branch) Minutes Annual State Congress 24 th May to 25 th May, 2016 ANZAC House 245 Castlereagh Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 i INDEX SUBJECT PAGE