About

ABOUT US

 

The RAAF Apprentices Association is the new name for the old Blue Triangle Association which has been running for many years. The Blue Triangle name came from the Blue Triangle patch that was worn by the early apprentice intakes. Unfortunately most Intakes were not aware of this patch such that the Blue Triangle Association was not recognised as representing RAAF Apprentices. Google was also problematic in that the search for 'raaf apprentice' would not return the Blue Triangle Association or allappies.com (the old website) within the first 4 pages.

 

We have changed that with 'raaf apprentices' and similar search terms

 now returning this website at number 1 in the results, as can be see on

the screenshot at the right.

 

Many of us do not want to be exposed to Facebook and its data scraping

technology so cannot connect with old mates on that platform. Therefore

it is our longer term intention to host a 'Facebook' type forum where

members can share their thoughts.

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The current committee of  the RAAF Apprentices Association is:

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Dutchy (Marty) Holland (27 Intake)                President 0499 229911

Mick Yarrow (31 Intake)                                       Treasurer 0410 251754

Ken Goold (27 Intake)                                           Secretary 0403 877536

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We are here to assist you so don't hesitate to contact us.

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RAAF Ex-Apprentice Reunions a Brief History

The Ex-Apprentice reunions began in Melbourne in 1972 and were organised by ex apprentices in Support Command on St Kilda Road Melbourne. The 1972 reunion included members from 1 Intake (ANZACS) to 8 Intake (Mangoes).  The intention was to invite one additional intake each year. It consisted of a ‘Bucks Do’ (members only) on the Saturday with a Sunday family picnic held at Vic Williams property in the Dandenong Ranges in Victoria. Vic Williams as host (and 9 Intake Donut) was also invited to attend the first reunion.

These reunions ran for many years and the writer remembers the storied tales regarding the reunions as a sprog in Wagga. It’s quite amazing to think that in 1972 less than half of the total RAAF Apprenticeship scheme had run its course. Oorarries (1988) were yet to be born, Ibises (1987) were in nappies, RATS were still to be yelled at on a parade ground. We must always remember that we owe who we are, to those that came before us.

In 1974 there were less than a million people living in Brisbane. Nev Williams (9 Intake Doughnut) was one of those 940,000. Nev travelled down to the 1974 Melbourne event and immediately realised the potential for exporting the concept to the Sunshine State. The 1975 event at Vic Williams place had over 1000 attendees including spouses and children.

“I went down in 1974 and there was a great crowd.  I met up with some Doughnuts, and others who lived around the Brisbane Area   The 1975 reunion Picnic day had over 1000 attendees (included spouses and children)’’ said Nev.  

Nev Williams decided to attempt a similar event in Brisbane later in 1975. Nev was busy with his career, but with a letter to the editor of the Courier Mail (Local Brisbane Newspaper), and significant input from the Victorian committee, he was eventually contacted by Tex Bolin (11 Intake Tadpole). Tex lived about a kilometre from Nev and offered his assistance.

“Tex’s wife sewed an Apprentice flag, three feet square consisting white background with a big blue triangle”.

Many of us younger apprentices don’t know this, but the Blue Triangle was the original RAAF Apprentice shoulder flash.

Nev and Tex named the Brisbane group the Blue Triangle Association with the organising group identifying itself as the ‘Southern QLD and Northern NSW Ex-Apprentice Reunion Committee’.

‘’We had a well-developed committee, and some lived within 15-20 minutes’ drive from our home. Prior to reunions, we would have letter-stuffing evenings, getting out the reunion notices. We later halved the workload by utilising a computer to print the letters with name and address details and used window faced envelopes’’    Nev Williams.

1975-1976 Sweeney Reserve Petrie

The first reunion was a bit of an unknown, so the committee (then consisting of Nev Williams and Tex Bolin), decided to hold the first Brisbane Reunion at Sweeney Reserve, adjacent to the North Pine River at Petrie. To guide the attendees, the Nev and Tex ‘nailed blue triangles to lamp posts and trees’

Nev recalls 30 to 40 members together with their families attended the first event in 1975. At this first reunion a committee was formed, and it was decided to hold the 1976 event at the same location. An attendance register was started which, according to Nev, was still in use in the early 2000’s.

IF ANYONE KNOWS THE WHEREABOUTS OF THIS REGISTER PLEASE CONTACT DUTCHY
 

1977-1979/80 Shafston House

The next two or three reunions were held at Shafston House at Kangaroo Point on the Brisbane River. Shafston house was RAAF Queensland Headquarters, and the Commanding Officer was Brian Langby, a 7 Intake Daffodil (Daffy).  

The reunion morphed into a similar event to that of Melbourne with a Saturday ‘Bucks Do’ and Sunday Family Picnic. Raffles were held to raise operational funds. The cost of these early events was $10 for food and drinks with the beer being supplied by the Officers Mess at Shafston House. As one would expect, Shafston House had a magnificent Barbeque and outside Bar area with lots of shade and lawn. “A magic place from which to watch the passing parade of boats on the Brisbane River”.  

By 1980 Jim Langby had departed and the new Commanding Officer was an ex-Radio Apprentice who decreed that the reunion participants could only have light beer. According to Nev ‘light beer had a terrible taste in those days’.

The Blue Triangle Association stayed at Shafston House for another couple of years until the unit closed around 1988. After the closure’ the Blue Triangle Association “became wanderers”. Searching for venues.  They limited their endeavors to service establishments and the venues were wide and varied according to Nev.

Some of the venues included:

•    Army Service Police Mess at Indooroopilly a short walk to the mess, and again on the river.  We reverted to a single day Saturday as a family day.

•    A couple of reunions at Enoggera Army Base at one of the Sergeants Messes on the Base. It was a long walk from the Station.

During this period there was a large reunion was held at Wagga. As many members were going to travel to the event, it was decided NOT to have an official reunion in Brisbane that year.

•    One unforgettable reunion venue was at Moorooka in an old war time Building with no air conditioning on a hot day. Still a good turnout though. Beer came from Amberley

•    Mess at Vic Barracks until about 1995 when the mess was closed after we had sent out the notices.  

•    Sergeants mess at Kelvin Grove barracks. Had a couple of years there until the mess was closed.

•    Then into the city CBD at the Abby Hotel for one year

•    Travel Lodge ON Roma St Station. We were there until they renovated the function rooms 5/6 years

•    Transcontinental until the latest move to Geebung RSL in 2024.

I am not sure when Rita and I stopped organising but it would have been around 2000-2005 (Dim memory) maybe during the stay at the Hotel when Rob Wilson and his crew took charge.

A New Crew takes Charge

Rob Wilson takes it up from here.

‘I first attended the Brisbane Reunion ‘Bucks Do’ at Shafston House in 1984. Shafston House was occupied by the RAAF at the time and QLD Squadron Air Training Corps Headquarters was among the many units there. It was such a great venue for the reunions but after the house was added to the National Estate, it was refurbished and in 1988 was no longer a Defence asset.

QLD Squadron Air Training Corps moved to the former WWII ex-Army Logistics Facility in Hamilton Road, Moorooka and the reunions were held there for a few of years around 1989-1991. Like Nev, I remember the venue being quite warm when reunions were held on the Australia Day long weekend.

I had a long absence from attending while I was involved with the Air Training Corps later known as the Australian Air Force Cadets. The annual Cadet Promotion Course graduation clashed with the Ex-Appie Reunion dates.

It wasn’t until 2007 that I returned to attend a reunion at the Holiday Inn in the Roma Street Transit Centre complex and I haven’t missed one since. By now, the reunion had changed to a one-day format and many of the wives and partners attended.

At the 2008 reunion in the Holiday Inn, Nev and his committee announced they would be stepping down, age had caught up with them. A group of us from 15 and 16 Intake were standing around having a few beers when the announcement was made. Immediately, we thought we can’t let these reunions disappear. Along with fellow Beavers Keith Row and Dave Lee, and the only existing committee member Bill Moore, we advised Nev that we were prepared to take on the role.

We were on a steep learning curve for a time. The sad passing of Bill Von Trapp who administered the all-appies website was devastating, no one else could gain access and administer the site. Nev was able to obtain a DVA grant and recreate a new website hosted by Brisbane Hosting. However, this website was not as user friendly as I would have liked and relied on Brisbane Hosting to do changes, at a price. Loading notices took so long. Email communication was playing a big part and to reduce expenses, we reduced the number of mailouts from about 105 to 7, by mailing to only those who responded to a questionnaire.
 
The reunions continued at the Holiday Inn from 2009 to 2014 and while our attendances were pretty steady at around 60 – 70, we relied on those who attended to spend enough over the bar to ensure we didn’t incur a room hire fee. Financially, we would have been in trouble if that situation arose, so the committee decided it was time to look for an alternate venue.

A consideration was the timing of the reunion. The Saturday nearest to Australia Day, meant many ex-appies could not attend because they were still interstate or overseas, or with family. Another date was considered and the fourth Saturday in February, away from school holidays, was considered more desirable.

The Transcontinental Hotel 2015 - 2023

The 2015 Reunion was held at the Transcontinental Hotel, a short walk from Roma Street Station, on Saturday 28th February 2015. The conditions regarding numbers were far more friendly. On the day, the finger food brought out by staff did not reach all attendees. During negotiations with the ‘Trans’ staff following this reunion, we decided to opt for a pub style lunch, from a limited menu, for all attendees for the next reunion in 2016. We also needed to attract younger ex-appies to our reunions and the use of facebook and word of mouth helped. From 2016 to 2020 the numbers attending the reunions at the Transcontinental on the fourth Saturday in February were steadily rising.

At the 2020 reunion, our committee decided it was time to hand over the reins. Thanks to Dutchy Holland and his team for taking on the role and taking the reunions to the next level.


Members of the Blue Triangle, All Appies and RAAF Apprentices Association
The following is not an exhaustive list and is subject to fading memories. If you, one of your mate or loved ones is missing from this list then contact the writer and the list will be updated.

Nevs Crew 1975 – 2008
Nev Williams                9 Intake Doughnut
Bushy Trimble             4 intake  Dewy
Bill Pappin                     7 Intake Daffy
Peter Agapow             7 Intake Daffy
John Monkhouse       8 Intake Mangoe
Peter Henson               7 Intake Daffy
Tony Murray                  9 Intake Doughnut
Bill Downton.               8 Intake Mangoe   
Tex Bolin.                      11 Intake Tadpole
Bill Von Trapp             16 Intake Arabs
Rita Williams               (Nev’s Wife)  

Robs Crew 2009 – 2020
Rob Wilson                 15 Intake Beavers
Bill Moore                    16 Intake Arabs
Dave Lee                     15 Intake Beavers
Keith Rowe                15 Intake Beavers

To Nev Williams, Tex Bolin, Rob Wilson and all the committee members who have come before us, I extend our most grateful thanks.  It would be wrong not to mention the most important component, the wives behind the scenes that carried out the endless unpaid tasks that made each and every reunion special. In this, I single out Rita Williams (Nev’s Wife) who ran the attendance desk, collected the fees and sold raffle tickets over the many years that Nev Williams ran the show.  

Nev’s reunion attendances ranged from 70 to 100 members and that number remained fairly static until recently. With the advent of the raafapprentices.com.au website, we are reaching an ever-larger contingent of our lifelong workmates and friends.

I urge each and every one of you, regardless of your position in life, your health issues, plain embarrassment, years served or the simple ‘can’t be bothered’ attitude, to make the effort to attend one of the events put on throughout Australia. You are an important member of our community, and we would love to see you, buy you a beer and chat about shared experiences.

 

I guarantee you will not be disappointed

Dutchy Holland
President RAAF Apprentices Association
0499 229911
mholland@electriciansplus.com.au

 

ABOUT THE RAAF APPRENTICESHIP SCHEME

 

The RAAF Apprenticeship Scheme was based on a similar scheme run by the Royal Air Force in Britian. In the RAF instance the scheme had been running well before WWII. It was first considered by the Air Board in 1943 but was shelved during the war.

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In 1945 Air Commodore Hewitt the Air Member for personnel noted in a submission the difficulties that the RAAF had experienced in recruiting men of sufficient educational standard to deal with the rapid technological advances being made in aviation at the time. The then general education system throughout Australia was believed to be inadequate or inappropriate to the needs of the RAAF. It was believed that the service had to bridge the gap with additional classroom training for new recruits. There were two separate schools set up, one at Frognall in Victoria and the other in Wagga Wagga New South Wales.