At Last – JRTE Golden Reunion

Woodman Point Caravan Park is 10km south of Fremantle (on the way to Rockingham and Mandurah).  It’s part of the Top Tourist group and owned by Aspen Parks.  We spent three weeks there, and despite the fact that we were busy every day, we still missed out on some of the things that we really wanted to achieve.  Between shopping for the Reunion (most important), service and repairs to the car and the van, visiting and hosting friends and doctors appointments, we spent most of the three weeks running from spot to spot.  We also spent quite a bit of time re-planning where we were going to stay for the reunion.  Initially we had planned on the Central Caravan Park in Ascot, just north of Perth, because it was the closest spot to the Burswood where most of the reunion events were to take place.  Then we found out that the Fremantle Village, about 5km from Woodman Point was owned by an ex-Junior Recruit and he was offering substantial discounts to Reunion attendees.  The fact that buses had been arranged by the Memorial committee also made an impact on our decision to change our booking to Fremantle Village.  A nice spot if a little expensive normally, but we managed to get a good drive-through site  Then we sat back and watched all the ex Junior Recruits roll in.

For the non-initiated, I have taken the liberty of including an extract from the Foreword of a book written by Rear Admiral Brian Adams AO, RAN (rtd) – “HMAS Leeuwin: The Story of the RAN’s Junior Recruits”.  The Foreword itself was written by Vice Admiral RH Crane, AM, CSM, RAN who is the current serving Chief of Navy.
“Overly nearly 25 years, between January 1960 and December 1984, approximately 13,000 15 and 16 year old boys joined the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) as junior recruits – a group the size of our current Navy workforce.  The world of the ‘JRs’, as they were called, was often a very different one from the modern entry processes to the RAN.  The majority served in warships before turning 18, some experiencing active service in the Indonesian Confrontation and the Vietnam War.
Before joining the Fleet, most of the boys trained for a year in the Junior Recruit Training Establishment located in HMAS Leeuwin, a Navy base located on the banks of the Swan River at Preston Point in Fremantle, Western Australia.  Some received their junior recruit training at HMAS Cerberus, a base near Westernpoint south of Melbourne, Victoria.
Most of these former Junior Recruits have retired after serving Australia in peace and war for up to 40 years.  However, some still serve throughout the three Services of the Australian Defence Force.  I myself joined Leeuwin as a JR in 1970, making the long train journey from Queensland to Perth to pursue what has become my life’s career in the RAN.
This book is the story of their – our – experience while under training and of how, late in the 20th century, the Australian Navy still relied on boys to help crew its ships.  It is also a record of a unique training scheme that had its origins in the Royal Navy of Nelson’s day, one that is unlikely to be used in the Australian Navy again.  Paul Kerr, a junior recruit of the 60th intake, began researching and writing the story; it was completed by Brian Adams of the 22nd intake with the willing assistance of many other former junior recruits.  Our gratitude is die to all of them for their tenacity and effort in recording this unusual chapter in the history of the RAN.”

Altogether, almost 2,000 JR’s and their partners registered for and attended the reunion.  That is a huge amount of organising work which was undertaken by the Golden Anniversary Committee over the course of three years.  They did a fantastic job and should be commended for the success of the events which took place over the period of four days.
The first day’s event was the Meet ‘n Greet which was held in one of the main rooms of the Burswood Conference Centre.  The idea of the event was to pick up name tags and all pre-purchased items, and then gather together with other members of the same year or intake and partake of the odd drink or two.  Burswood thought they had a handle on the amount of booze that 800 or so old farts (sorry, sailors) could drink.  WRONG!!!!!  These so-called old farts drank the place completely dry.  The story goes that the Burswood got in extra stock of about 2.5 extra pallets of beer for the event, and the thirsty buggers drank the lot!!
The following day was the Memorial Dedication at the former HMAS Leeuwin which has now passed over to the Army and is named Leeuwin Army barracks.  The date itself, 13 July, is the 50th anniversary of the first intake in 1960.  The Junior Recruit Memorial itself is very, very good, and the dedication service was fantastic, and very moving.  The estimate was about 3,000 people attending.  I have included a link below to the July 2010 newsletter for the Memorial Project itself.
22nd Newsletter for the JR Memorial Project
And then, that night the Gala Dinner was held in the Grand Ballroom at Burswood.  Burswood management had learned the lesson of the previous day, and the service of dinner and drinks was flawless.  The 1100 to 1200 attendees had a universally fabulous time, ably assisted by the Royal Australian Navy Band – Western Australian Detachment.  They played everything from Glen Miller to the Rocky Horror Picture Show (and including Abba).  The most remarkable sight for the night was hundreds of 60 to 70 year old dancers, not only jigging around with the best, but also singing all the words to the songs.  It was hysterical to watch.  It was a brilliant evening, and we all went home having had way more to drink and eat than the usual quota.
The following day was the Recuperation Function which was held at Ramon’s Restaurant in Perth, owned by yet another ex JR (the buggers are everywhere!).  A much quieter occasion than the dinner with most people drinking soft drink.  Funny about that!  The location was beautiful however, with a large duck pond out the back.
They have a lot of weddings there as well as catering for large groups.  This was the last function that we were attending, so it was time to say adios to all the renewed friendships, BUT, next year on Melbourne Cup “weekend”, Mildura RSL will be hosting a reunion for the 1963 6 & 7 intakes.  That is Rick’s intake year, so we hope to be able to attend that.

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Then and Now