Clancy Tucker's Blog, page 144

12 August 2018 - Dr. FRED HOLLOWS AC – AUSTRALIAN HUMANITARIAN

Dr. FRED HOLLOWS AC– AUSTRALIAN HUMANITARIAN  -
G'day folks,
Welcome to some background about a man I've admired for many years. Sadly, he's gone, but his great work continues.
Fred Hollows was an Australian ophthalmologist who is known for providing quality eye care to those in need throughout the world. He spent his life helping others who could not afford or access healthcare. Early on in his career, he realized that the Aborigines were not being provided the screening and treatment that could eliminate a majority of the cases of blindness that were occurring. He believed that everyone should be provided with the same quality of healthcare, and was appalled by the number of children that were unnecessarily going blind. 



The bulk of these cases were being caused by trachoma, a treatable infectious disease caused by the bacteria, Chlamydia trachomatis. He established many clinics and treated Aborigines in Australia who were needlessly suffering. As a child, Fred had considered becoming a missionary. While he never traveled the world sharing the gospel, he did bring medical training and treatment to Nepal, Africa and many third-world countries.


 The work of Fred Hollows has been monumental in advancing the number of people who are now able to receive eye care; he has helped over one million people regain sight through his efforts. His legacy of making proper healthcare accessible to the poor continues through the Fred Hollows Foundation.



Childhood & Early LifeFred Hollows was born to Joseph and Clarice Hollows on April 9, 1929 in Dunedin, New Zealand, where he continued to live for his first seven years of life. He was the middle child, with three brothers: Colin, John and Maurice.As a young boy, he attended ‘Northeast Valley Primary School’ in New Zealand. At the age of 13, he began his high school education at ‘Palmerston North Boys’ High School’.He was impacted greatly by his father’s empathy for humanity. His dad was a Christian Marxist who believed everyone should receive a fair wage for their work. It was this beginning that would later influence Fred to bring medical care to the poor.Growing up, his parents were very religious, encouraging Fred to become a missionary. He even attended seminary for a short time to live out this dream.After working a summer job in a mental hospital in Porirua, he realized that he wanted to help people in another way. He decided to get his BA degree at ‘Victoria University of Wellington’ and complete his medical degree from ‘Otega Medical School’. CareerFred Hollows’ first job after medical school was at the ‘Auckland Public Hospital’, where he was able to assist eye surgeons.He continued to advance his knowledge in ophthalmology at ‘Tauranga Public Hospital’, where he assisted in operations and eventually performed cataract surgeries independently. He dreamed of one day helping the poor in Africa, and because there is a lot of cataract blindness in Africa, he wanted to become proficient at treating this disorder.He gained experience in the latest medical technology at one of the largest hospitals in the country, ‘Wellington’. It was here that the first retinal camera was used.He quickly realized he would need more specialized education in order to reach his dream of helping the poor. In 1961, he began his post-graduate training at ‘Moorfields Eye Hospital’, one of the top training hospitals for ophthalmology in London, England.He completed his fellowship at the ‘Royal College of Surgeons’ and began working as an ophthalmology registrar in the ‘Royal Infirmary’ in Wales. It was here, in Wales, that he met his mentor, Professor Archie Cochrane.The professor and Fred collaborated on a glaucoma survey, which served to popularize Hollows’ work and encouraged him to incorporate treatment with all future surveys he would perform.In 1965, he moved to Australia, where he was appointed as the Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at the ‘University of New South Wales’.He continued to oversee the education at ‘Prince Henry’ and the ‘Prince of Wales’ hospitals from 1965-1992. He increased the level of care provided, performing the ‘Prince of Wales Hospital’s first cataract extraction.In 1968, he began to turn his focus to the lack of healthcare provided for the Aborigines. He visited the Gurindji camp in the ‘Northern Territory’ and was disheartened by the number of people suffering from preventable blindness, especially trachoma.In 1971, he set up a proper treatment facility for the Aborigines, the ‘Aboriginal Medical Service’, in Redfern. Hollows worked together with the ‘Aboriginal Legal Service’ to set up additional treatment facilities throughout Australia.In 1976-1978, he initiated the ‘National Trachoma and Eye Health Program’, which screened more than 100,000 underprivileged natives, and reduced the rate of curable blindness by half.Hollows worked with the ‘World Health Organization’, to eradicate preventable blindness and bring quality healthcare to the masses. In 1985, he visited Nepal to assist in the training of local technicians and to reduce the cost of eye care.In 1987, he visited one of the world’s poorest countries, Eritrea, which in the middle of a fierce civil war. He established intraocular lens laboratories in both Eritrea and Nepal to provide lenses for those in need at an affordable cost.It was Fred’s lifelong goal to provide eye care for those who were unable to obtain it due to money or circumstances. He helped establish the ‘Fred Hollows Foundation’ to meet these goals. The foundation was launched on September 3, 1992.Major WorksFred Hollow’s lifelong work is continued on through the many clinics he established for the underprivileged and the ‘Fred Hollows Foundation’.Awards & AchievementsIn 1985, Fred Hollows refused to acknowledge the award for honorary ‘Officer of the Order of Australia’ because of the lack of interest the government showed for Aboriginal healthcare.In 1990, he was named the ‘Australian of the Year’ because of the advances in eye health that he brought to the underprivileged.In 2004, he was entered into the Hall of Fame at the ‘NSW Aboriginal Health Awards’ for his contribution in the advancement of Aboriginal healthcare.In 2010, the ‘Royal Australian Mint’ featured him on the one dollar coin that was a part of ‘Inspirational Australians Series’.Personal Life & LegacyFred met his wife, Gabi O’Sullivan during his training in orthoptics in the early 1970’s, and they continued to work together at the ‘Prince of Wales Hospital’. They got married after ten years of courtship.After fighting a long battle with renal cancer he succumbed to death as the disease affected his lungs and brain. The philanthropic doctor breathed his last on 10 February, 1993.TriviaHe grew up in a strong Christian home, but Fred decided not to follow in his faith after working in a mental hospital, seeing that those in the secular world could be just as caring







 MUST SEE VIDEO ABOUTTHIS LEGENDARY MAN
VIDEO OF FRED HOLLOWS IN VIETNAM



Clancy's comment: What a human! What a champion! What a legend! Love ya work, Fred.
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REST IN PEACE

11 August 2018 - THE AMAZING LEAF CUTTER ANT

THE AMAZING LEAF CUTTER ANT
G'day folks,
Nature is truly amazing. Check out this tiny critter.

There are about 40 species of leafcutter ant in the world.They use their large jaws to cut up leaves to carry the pieces back to their nest.Leaf Cutter Ants can easily be spotted by the long lines they create as they carry their leafy supplies. These lines can be up to 30 meters’ long!Their leaf cutting helps stimulate vegetation growth – similar to pruning, so they are actually helping, not harming, the plants from which they are harvesting leaves.They are able to carry things in their jaws that are up to 50 times heavier than they are! (Don’t try that at home!)The leaves are not eaten by the ants. Instead, they use the leaf cuttings to cultivate fungal growth in their nests, the fungus provides food for the ants and their larvae.The fungus they cultivate on their leaf clippings can only be found in their colonies and nowhere else.The nests can house thousands of ants and has many tunnels and chambers.All ants have different things to do in the nest, whether they are workers (who collect the leaves), guards, soldiers or reproducers.Most leaf cutter ants are infertile female workers.Workers can vary in size, smaller ones tend to the fungal garden while larger ones bring back leaves.












Clancy's comment: Yep, amazing creatures. The fact that they can carry up to 50 times their own weight is truly staggering!
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10 August 2018 - DOREEN HIGHT - GUEST AUTHOR

DOREEN HIGHT - GUEST AUTHOR -
G'day folks,
Today, I interview an author who has written under various names. Doreen is the author of 66 books, novellas and various articles. Born in the UK,  she now resides in the USA.
Welcome, Doreen ...

1.   TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOUR WRITING JOURNEY.
I guess my career as an author began in London, during WW II.  I was five years old when England declared war on Germany, and I spent a great deal of my childhood in bomb shelters.  I told stories to my classmates, spinning the tales off the top of my head, without really knowing what I was doing.  It kept their minds off the gunfire and explosions, and that was all that mattered.  My first published work was a letter to a national newspaper.  I was eight years old.   It wasn’t until forty years later that I attempted to publish again.
2.   WHEN AND HOW DID YOU BECOME A WRITER?
I’d been writing most of my life – short stories, poems, newsletters for my British Club, etc.  Now living in the U.S., facing my fiftieth birthday, married and the mother of a teenage son, I read a somewhat patronizing article about women writing romances at the kitchen table and decided to give it a shot.  I’d been reading romance novels for years, so I knew how they worked.  I wrote four of them on a typewriter, all of which ended up in the trash, then started work on the fifth. 
Meanwhile I attended a writer’s conference and met a wonderful editor from Harlequin/Silhouette who invited me to send her a proposal.  Two months later she wrote and asked me to send the full manuscript.  I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.  I invested in a computer, finished the novel and sent it in.  Two months later, on February 6th, 1987 at 2.30 in the afternoon, I received the call.  I was a published author.  I think the entire neighbourhood heard me scream.  
3.    WHAT TYPE OF PREPARATION DO YOU DO FOR A MANUSCRIPT? DO YOU PLAN EVERYTHING FIRST OR JUST SHOOT FROM THE HIP?
I write mysteries now, so plotting beforehand is pretty much essential.  Before I start writing the book I have to know who died, who killed him, why and how he was killed, who are the other suspects and their possible motivations.  I think of it as building a house.  First, I need the setting, and it has to be unique, like another character in the book.  Then I lay the foundation, which are the main plot points.  After that I start writing the chapters, adding the rooms with all the interactions with the characters.  Then I go back and fill in the decorating and furniture, which are details of scenery, emotions, self-examinations of the protagonist, etc.  It works for me, but that doesn’t mean it works for everyone.  A lot of excellent authors I know fly by the seat of their pants. 



4.   WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT BEING A WRITER?
So many things!  I guess the most enjoyable aspect of it all is escaping to a world I’ve created.  When I’m in the zone, I am there, sharing in their adventures.  My characters become like family to me.  They intrude on my days and wake me up at night to tell me where I’m going wrong, or where they want to go next.  When a series ends I feel a deep sense of loss, as though I’m saying goodbye to people close to me.  
5.   WHAT IS THE HARDEST THING ABOUT BEING A WRITER?
Sitting down every morning in front of a blank page.  I can find so many things to do instead.  Once I actually start writing I can stay with it for two or three hours, but that initial motivation to open up the manuscript is sheer torture.  I don’t know why, as I love writing.  Maybe it’s an obscure fear that I won’t be able to produce – that whatever it is that prompts me and allows me to write will be gone.
6.   WHAT GENRE DO YOU WRITE?
I used to write romantic suspense and have twenty-six books published with Harlequin.  I now write nothing but mysteries.  They are cozies, similar to the work of the great Dame Agatha Christie, though I could only hope to reach such majestic heights.  Twenty-four of them are set in Edwardian England, nine in WW II England and the rest are contemporary.



7.   DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR NEW WRITERS?
If you want to write a book to make money, find another hobby.  If you want to write a book because something inside you is driving you - a need to write, a dedication to your ideas, words that are in your head clamouring to get out - then sit down and write.  It takes time to learn to write well enough to sell.  Yes, I sold the first manuscript I sent in to a publisher, but it wasn’t the first book I wrote.  I spent half a lifetime honing my craft before I felt ready to be published.  Learn all you can.  There is so much information on the Internet now – so much that wasn’t available to me when I was learning.  Listen to criticism but take what you feel is right for you and discard the rest.   Pour your heart and soul into your writing and above all, NEVER GIVE UP.  Believe in yourself and you can make it happen. 
8.   DO YOU SUFFER FROM WRITER’S BLOCK?
Yes, I do.  Most of the time I can work through it, but five years ago I had one that lasted almost two years.  I had ended a twenty-one book mystery series and was convinced I wanted to retire.  I had been fighting deadlines for almost thirty years and I was tired.  I had no new ideas and I’d lost the joy in the whole process.  Then my husband and I took a road trip in an RV around the entire country, following all four borders, stopping off to see the sights and visit relatives and friends.  I don’t know if it was the change of scenery and lifestyle - living in a motorhome for three months can be a challenge - but soon after we returned home I was bitten by the bug again.  I’m still happily writing. 
9.   DO YOU HAVE A PREFERRED WRITING SCHEDULE?
My husband is a late sleeper, while I am a morning person.  I get up early and write for about three hours until it’s time to wake up Bill and get the day started.  It works for me, as my mind is clearer in the morning.  As the day wears on, my head gets clogged up with all the chaos and uncertainty of living in these modern times.  I think that’s why I started out writing historical mysteries - I could go back to a more quiet and gentle time.  I love the upstairs/downstairs life of early twentieth century England, and always felt at peace while writing those books.

10.              WHAT’S THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT YOU EVER RECEIVED FROM A READER? 
I have had readers write to tell me how my books have helped them relax, find peace, etc, but when one of my readers told me he read my books out loud to his dying mother in a hospital and accumulated a large group of patients all eager to hear the next installment - that meant the world to me.   



11.              WHAT WAS THE WORST COMMENT FROM A READER?
I had one reader who read all the books in the Pennyfoot Hotel mysteries and wrote awful reviews of every one of them.  He kept saying he couldn’t understand why they were so popular.  I couldn’t understand why he kept reading them.
12.              WRITERS ARE SOMETIMES INFLUENCED BY THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN THEIR OWN LIVES. ARE YOU?
Absolutely!  The Pennyfoot Hotel mysteries are based on the seaside hotel my family owned in England, and the delightfully eccentric guests that stayed there.  The Manor House mysteries, set in WW II, are based on my experiences during the war, though I set the stories in a remote village, so that I could tell the stories with a humorous touch, which might not have been possible if I’d set them in London.



13.              OTHER THAN WRITING, WHAT ELSE DO YOU LOVE?
I used to love dancing, ice-skating and playing tennis, since I grew up in Wimbledon.  These days my pursuits are more sedate.  I love to play golf, play the piano and walk our little chihuahua mix dog.   
14.               DID YOU HAVE YOUR BOOK / BOOKS PROFESSIONALLY EDITED BEFORE PUBLICATION?
No, I didn’t.  That doesn’t mean they didn’t need editing – and still do.  I have been fortunate to have some of the best editors in the business work with me, and I shall always be eternally grateful for their help and advice.
15.               HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE ‘SUCCESS’ AS A WRITER?
That depends on what the writer wants.  Fame and fortune come to very few in this profession.  In my mind, if you write something that is read and enjoyed by even a few people, that is success as a writer.   
16.               WHAT SHOULD READERS WALK AWAY FROM YOUR BOOKS KNOWING? HOW SHOULD THEY FEEL?
I think readers should have the satisfaction of knowing that no matter how big the problem, there’s always a solution.  You just have to dig to find it.  It’s not always easy, but it’s always worth the effort. 



17.               WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE YOUR BOOKS MADE INTO MOVIES? EVER WRITTEN A SCREENPLAY?
Absolutely!  I once had a producer in Los Angeles contact me about televising the Pennyfoot mysteries.  Nothing ever came of it, but it was exciting at the time.  I did write a screenplay and had it optioned for a weekly series, but again, nothing came of it.  Getting anything even read in Hollywood is tough, much less accepted for filming. 
18.                WRITING IS ONE THING. WHAT ABOUT MARKETING YOU, YOUR BOOKS AND YOUR BRAND? ANY THOUGHTS?
I am notoriously bad at marketing.  I do have a website, I am on social media to some extent, though not nearly as often as I should be.  I am from the old school of thinking, that all the marketing in the world is not going to help if you don’t have something spectacular to sell.  I’d rather spend the time working on my books and making them the very best they can be.
19.                ARE YOUR BOOKS SELF-PUBLISHED?
No, most of them are published by Berkley/Penguin and the rest by Crooked Lane.  I have the rights back to several of the Berkley books and I republished them as Ebooks on Amazon.
20.               ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE TO ADD?
Thank you, Clancy, for inviting me to contribute to your blog.  To any of my readers who might be reading this - my heartfelt gratitude for your loyalty and your friendship.  It means everything to me.  And to all aspiring authors - I wish you the very best of luck.  Stick with it, work hard and true success can be yours.


AMAZON
GOODREADS PROFILE


Clancy's comment: You are most welcome, Doreen. It's been a pleasure. 66 books! Wow! I love the titles of your books. Best wishes with book sales, and keep writing.

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9 August 2018 - LOST VICTORIAN MANSIONS OF DOWNTOWN LA

LOST VICTORIAN MANSIONS OF DOWNTOWN LA

G'day folks,Downtown LA does have history, it’s just buried under gleaming high-rise office blocks and strip malls. 

Despite once attracting high-income residents with its fashionable apartment buildings, 'Bunker Hill' had become a working class lodging district by the 1920s. The once thriving leafy hilltop suburb was a symbol of urban decay that discouraged new investments. After the Great Depression, the grand old Victorian mansions were run-down and being used as cheap apartment hotels.




In the 1950s, the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency came up with a drastic redevelopment plan for the entire Bunker Hill area and by 1968, every last Victorian home of Bunker Hill Avenue had been demolished.
These pictures show the last surviving houses, the Castle and another Victorian home, the Salt Box, being relocated by preservationists to another site in the 1960s, only to end up getting torched by vandals soon after.




The controversial redevelopment destroyed and displaced a community of almost 22,000 working-class families who  were renting rooms in the architecturally significant but ill-maintained buildings. 




In 1966, The Los Angeles Times wrote of Bunker Hill: “Nowhere else in Los Angeles was the architecture so ornate. The mansions were wooden-frame Victorian with Gothic gingerbread touches applied with a heavy hand to simulate masonry.”




























Clancy's comment: Magnificent. Imagine what stories these enchanting homes could tell? Imagine who lived in them?
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8 August 2018 - Captain Reginald Walter 'Reg' Saunders

Captain Reginald Walter 'Reg' Saunders G'day folks, Reginald Walter "Reg" Saunders, MBE was the first Aboriginal Australian to be commissioned as an officer in the Australian Army. He came from a military family, his forebears having served in the Boer War and the First World War.

Reg Saunders was the first Aboriginal Australian to be commissioned as an officer in the Australian army. The son of a First World War veteran, Saunders was born in western Victoria on 7 August 1920 and brought up by his grandmother. Having attended school only sporadically, he found work as a sawmiller but imagined himself going to fight in South America for the poor and oppressed, with whom he felt a kinship.
 
 
Very conscious of the service of Aboriginal men during the First World War, Saunders enlisted on 24 April 1940 and, after his initial training, was sent to the Middle East as a reinforcement for the 2/7th battalion. Having survived several encounters with German aircraft in North Africa, Saunders embarked on the ill-fated Greek campaign which he, along with many others, considered a mistake. After Greece his unit fought on Crete where Saunders experienced his first close combat and was forced to remain hidden on the island for twelve months after the German victory.



After escaping Crete in May 1942, Saunders returned to Australia before rejoining his battalion in New Guinea - now as a sergeant. He fought through the Salamaua campaign, remaining in action with the 2/7th until mid-1944 when his commanding officer nominated him for officer training. After a 16 week course, Saunders was commissioned in November 1944 and returned to New Guinea. 

 
For the remaining months of the war, Saunders fought as a platoon commander in New Guinea. He was in the Wewak area when the war ended and was repatriated to Australia to a welcome tinged with sadness for his younger brother who had been killed in action. By now tired of living rough, Saunders sought work in the city and, for the next five years, worked as a shipping clerk and, later, a builder's labourer.



When the Korean War began he returned to the Army, leaving his wife and three daughters behind. In Korea, Saunders served as a captain in the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment and fought at Kapyong. On returning from Korea, he was posted to National Service Training but, dissatisfied with the training regimen, he left the army in 1954 and found work as a logging contractor in Gippsland. He then moved to Sydney and, for the next 11 years, worked with the Austral Bronze Company. In 1967 he joined the Office of Aboriginal Affairs as a liaison and public relations officer. 

 
Saunders's first marriage did not survive his absence during the Korean War. A second marriage followed but it too ended in divorce. He had ten children and was awarded the MBE in 1971. A well-respected soldier and leader, Saunders died on 2 March 1990.
Clancy's comment: And, to think that for most of his life, he and his family did not have a bloody vote, nor could they own a house. What a disgrace. Not only, the battle still goes on in our capital city to recognize more than 5,000 Aboriginal soldiers who fought for this country. Another bloody disgrace.
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7 August 2018 - AMAZING FACTS ABOUT THE BUTTERFLY

AMAZING FACTS ABOUT THE BUTTERFLY
G'day folks,
Welcome to some facts about a creature I love to photograph whenever I can.

The word butterfly was first used to describe a butter coloured insect- the brimstone butterfly. ‘Butterfly’ eventually came to include all the species and the brimstone acquired its present name which relates to the colour of sulphur.A butterfly has a small body, made of three parts – the head, thorax and abdomen. Butterflies have two large eyes, which are made of many, many small parts. These are called ‘compound eyes’.They have two antennae on top of their heads, which they use to feel, smell and to hear. A butterfly’s mouth is a long tube, through which it sucks the sweet nectar from flowers. When the butterfly does not want to eat, it rolls the tube up!Butterflies have three pairs of legs. Their feet have little claws to help them stand on flowers. Some butterflies, like the peacock, only use four of their legs, carrying the two front legs against their bodies.The wings of the butterfly are made of hard tubes covered with thin tissue. The wings are covered with scales, which are like a fine dust.


Butterflies can only feed or fly when their bodies are warmed to at least 30°C, and they have to gain this from the sunshine using their wings. Butterflies are often seen basking with their wings open wide, as they gain heat. They adjust the area exposed to the sun by overlapping their wings or angling them towards the sunshine. The veins located in the wings then carry the heat to the body. Colour helps the butterfly with their temperature control. Dark colours absorb more heat, than light colours. Some butterflies such as the Blues have a shiny underside to their wing, which can help them reflect heat.Some butterflies can fly 50km/h or faster. Slow flying butterflies probably fly about 10km/h.The scales form bright patterns, sometimes with a hidden ultraviolet pattern to attract mates. The bright colours also act as a deterrent to predators eating them. The scales may also form patterns that help the butterflies to blend into their background to escape predators.During fall migration migrating Monarchs have been seen flying by tall buildings such as the Empire State Building hundreds of metres high. Butterflies are picked up by storm fronts and moved 100’s of km, probably at altitudes of thousands of metres.









Clancy's comment: Amazing colours, eh?
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6 August 2018 - CAPTAIN ALBERT JACKA – VICTORIA CROSS WINNER

CAPTAIN ALBERT JACKA – VICTORIA CROSS WINNER -
G'day folks,
Albert Jacka, VC, MC & Bar was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces.

Albert Jacka (1893-1932), soldier and merchant, was born on 10 January 1893 at Layard near Winchelsea, Victoria, fourth child of Nathaniel Jacka, a Victorian-born labourer, later a farmer and contractor, and his English wife Elizabeth, née Kettle. The family moved to Wedderburn when Albert was 5. After elementary schooling, Bert worked as a labourer with his father, then for the Victorian State Forests Department. He was a shy youth, but excelled at sports, especially cycling.



Jacka enlisted on 18 September 1914 as a private in the 14th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force, and trained at Broadmeadows camp. His unit embarked on 22 December and spent two months training in Egypt before landing at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli Peninsula, on 26 April 1915. Early on 19 May the Turks launched a massive counter-attack along practically the entire Anzac line. At about 4 a.m. they rushed Courtney's Post. Amid frenzied fighting some Turks captured a twelve-yard (11 m) section of trench, one end of which was guarded by Jacka. For several minutes he fired warning shots into the trench wall until reinforcements arrived and, after shouting his instructions, he and three others sprang out into the trench. All but Jacka were immediately hit so he leapt back into the communication trench. A new plan was devised. Two bombs were lobbed at the Turks while Jacka skirted around to attack from the flank. 
Amid the smoke and the noise he clambered over the parapet, shot five Turks and bayoneted two as the rest hastily retreated. 'I managed to get the beggars, Sir', he reputedly told the first officer to appear. For this action he received the Victoria Cross, the first to be awarded to the A.I.F. in World War I.



Instantly Jacka became a national hero. He received the £500 and gold watch that the prominent Melbourne business and sporting identity John Wren had promised to the first V.C. winner. His image was used on recruiting posters and magazine covers. On 28 August 1915 he was promoted corporal, then rose quickly, becoming a company sergeant major in mid-November, a few weeks before Anzac was evacuated. Back in Egypt he passed through officer training school with high marks and on 29 April 1916 was commissioned second lieutenant.
The 14th Battalion was shipped to France early in June. Jacka's platoon moved into the line near Pozières on the night of 6-7 August and as dawn broke German troops overran a part of the line. Jacka had just completed a reconnaissance and had gone to his dug-out when two Germans appeared at its entrance and rolled a bomb down the doorway, killing two men. Jacka charged up the dug-out steps, firing as he moved, and came upon a large number of the enemy rounding up some forty Australians as prisoners. He rallied his platoon and charged at the enemy, some of whom immediately threw down their rifles. Furious hand-to-hand fighting erupted as the prisoners turned on their captors. Fifty Germans were captured and the line was retaken. Jacka was awarded a Military Cross for his gallantry. Charles Bean described the counter-attack 'as the most dramatic and effective act of individual audacity in the history of the A.I.F.' 
The entire platoon was wounded, Jacka seriously in the neck and shoulder; he was sent to a London hospital. On 8 September London newspapers carried reports of his death but Bert Jacka was far from done for. He had been promoted lieutenant on 18 August, rejoined his unit in November and was promoted captain on 15 March 1917 and appointed the 14th Battalion's intelligence officer.



 Early in 1917 the Germans had retired to the Hindenburg line and on 8 April Jacka led a night reconnaissance party into no man's land near Bullecourt to inspect enemy defences before an allied attack against the new German line. He penetrated the wire at two places, reported back, then went out again to supervise the laying of tapes to guide the infantry. The work was virtually finished when two Germans loomed up. Realizing that they would see the tapes, Jacka knew that they must be captured. He pulled his pistol; it misfired, so he rushed on and captured them by hand. Jacka's quick thinking had saved the Anzac units from discovery and probable disastrous bombardment; for this action he was awarded a Bar to his Military Cross.

Captain Jacka was wounded by a sniper's bullet near Ploegsteert Wood on 8 July and spent nearly two months away from the front. On 26 September he led the 14th Battalion against German pill-boxes at Polygon Wood and displayed 'a grasp of tactics, and a military intuition that many had not given him credit for'. In May 1918 he was badly gassed at Villers-Bretonneux and saw no more action. In September 1919 he embarked for Australia aboard the Euripides. A large crowd, including the governor-general, greeted the ship when it berthed at Melbourne and a convoy of eighty-five cars with Jacka at its head drove to the town hall where men from the 14th Battalion welcomed their famous comrade. He was demobilized in January 1920. 




Shortly after his return Jacka, R. O. Roxburgh and E. J. L. Edmonds (both former members of the 14th Battalion) established the electrical goods importing and exporting business, Roxburgh, Jacka & Co. Pty Ltd. Jacka contributed £700 of the firm's paid up capital. The company's other directors were John Wren and his associate 'Dick' Lean, while Wren's brother Arthur held over three-quarters of the company's shares. In 1923 the business name was altered to Jacka Edmonds & Co. when Roxburgh withdrew.

 On 17 January 1921 at St Mary's Catholic Church, St Kilda, Jacka had married Frances Veronica Carey, a typist from his office. They settled at St Kilda and later adopted a daughter. In September 1929 Jacka was elected to the St Kilda Council and became mayor a year later.He devoted most of his energies on council to assisting the unemployed. His own business flourished until 1929 when the Scullin government increased import tariffs and the company went into voluntary liquidation in September 1930. It was rumoured that the company's difficulties stemmed in part from Wren removing his support after Jacka refused to follow his wishes. Jacka then became a commercial traveller with the Anglo-Dominion Soap Co.

He fell ill, entered Caulfield Military Hospital on 18 December 1931 and died on 17 January 1932 of chronic nephritis. Nearly 6000 people filed past his coffin when it lay in state in Anzac House. The funeral procession, led by over 1000 returned soldiers flanked by thousands of onlookers, made its way to St Kilda cemetery where he was buried with full military honours in the Presbyterian section.Eight Victoria Cross winners were his pallbearers.

 At his funeral Bert Jacka was described as 'Australia's greatest front-line soldier'. Few would challenge this assessment. Bean and the men of the 14th Battalion ('Jacka's Mob') shared the belief that he had earned three V.C.s. He might have risen higher in the A.I.F. but his blunt, straightforward manner frequently annoyed his superiors. 'He said what he meant, and meant what he said', recalls one friend. As an officer he invariably won respect by his example. It was claimed that he preferred to punch an offender than to place him on a charge. 'His methods could not have been adopted generally in the A.I.F. without disaster', Bean noted. 



Nevertheless Jacka seemed to epitomize the Anzac creed of mateship, bravery, fairness and an absence of pretentiousness. Many sought to exploit his fame. In 1916 and 1918 he spurned offers from Prime Minister Hughes to return to Australia and assist with recruiting campaigns. His name was also used by (Sir) Keith Murdoch in the 1916 conscription referendum. His father promptly stated publicly that Bert had never declared himself in favour of conscription. The anti-conscriptionists made much of this denial but on balance it seems probable that Jacka did support conscription. His standing remained so high that a memorial plaque and sculpture for his grave was paid for by public subscription while £1195 was raised towards buying his widow a house. His portrait, by G. J. Coates, is in the Australian War Memorial. Two of his brothers had A.I.F. service.


Clancy's comment: Certainly an interesting life, considering the tough times in which he lived.
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5 August 2018 - THE BEAUTY OF NATURE

 THE BEAUTY OF NATURE
G'day folks,
Welcome to some top shots of nature at its best, taken by clever photographers.

























Clancy's comment: Stunning, eh?
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4 August 2018 - MOVING HOUSE IN THE 1970'S USA

MOVING HOUSE IN THE 1970'S USA
G'day folks,
Well, here is a walk back in time. Back to the 1970's in the USA.
These precarious moving houses were documented by photographer Dave Glass in late 1970s San Francisco. What we’re looking at is essentially the result of a thirty year urban renewal scheme for the Western Addition neighbourhood of SF, particularly the Fillmore District, which after the Second World War, had become a cultural centre for the city’s African American community. 



It was a center of jazz with grand Victorian architecture that had survived the 1906 earthquake, but due to overcrowding and a high proportion of low-income families, the area was considered a slum and targeted for redevelopment. A “nice new neighbourhood” was promised by the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency and in the mid 1950s and 60s, entire blocks were cleared, destroying up to 2,500 Victorian houses, along with the neighbourhood’s character.



By the 1970s however, San Francisco started to wise up. Pioneers of historic preservation who had been tirelessly protesting for years against the destruction of the city’s heritage, finally began to win the battle. The Redevelopment Agency agreed to find new homeowners for the Victorians, who would agree to rehabilitate and help conserve the homes. The tired old Victorians could be purchased for one dollar– relocation and restoration costs not included!



The victory was bittersweet. For every handful of houses saved, many others were destroyed (in fact, a lot of the relocated homes simply moved to lots where other Victorians had previously stood). For every handful of houses rehabilitated by upper middle class families in gentrified neighbourhoods, many more low-income families and neighbourhoods sunk further into poverty.



In November 1974, Dave Glass , along with an imaginably large crowd of onlookers, witnessed the monumental task of moving twelve Victorian houses approximately one mile down the road (and around a few corners). They were moved in groups of four over three weekends, the majority joining the Beiderman Place Historic Area. Telephone lines were moved, trolley wires were cut, streetlights removed, thirty police escorts and thirty tow trucks were called to clear the path, all to make way for the Victorians.The sight was compared to watching great ships moving through an inland waterway.













Clancy's comment: No doubt, it would have been a monumental project. Love the old trucks.
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3 August 2018 - TRUGANINI

TRUGANINI
G'day folks,
Truganini is probably the best known Australian (Tasmanian) Aboriginal woman of the colonial era. 
She was of the Nuenonnegroup, born on Bruny Island in about 1812, just nine years after British settlement was established further north on the mainland, close to what is now Hobart. By the time she had learned to collect food and make shell necklaces, the colonial presence became not only intrusive but dangerous. She had experienced and witnessed violence, rape and brutalities inflicted on her people. By the time she was 17 she had lost her mother, sister, uncle and would-be partner to violent incidents involving sailors, sealers, soldiers and wood cutters. At this time, in 1829, the Black War was under way and Truganini was detained at the Missionary Bay station on Bruny Island. 



Placed in the custody of Augustus Robinson, a government-backed conciliator who set out to capture all independently living Aboriginal Tasmanians, she remained for the rest of her life under the supervision of colonial officers. Except for a short interlude, accompanying Robinson in his travels to Port Phillip (now part of Melbourne), she spent 20 years imprisoned, with other Aboriginal Tasmanians, on Flinders Island, and another 17 years in the Oyster Cove camp, south of Hobart.



Details of her biography are sketchy, predominantly drawn from the journals and papers of Robinson, with whom she was associated for ten turbulent years until her long detention on Flinders Island. She was bright, intelligent and energetic, known as one of the few Aboriginal Tasmanians rooted in pre-contact language and culture, who survived beyond the middle of the 19th century. She was frequently depicted in paintings and photographs. In 1836 artist Benjamin Law produced her bust-portrait. When the artist was putting the finishing touches on her sculpture in Hobart, Truganini was already imprisoned on Flinders Island.
When the number of detained Aboriginal Tasmanians fell below 20 in 1854, there was growing appreciation that Tasmanians were a unique human group, distinctly different from mainland Indigenous Australians. Soon this interest expanded beyond paintings and photographs. Scientists and entrepreneurs attempted to obtain human bodies for research and exhibitions. 




From the position of her Aboriginal beliefs and spirituality, Truganini feared that, when she died, her body would be cut into pieces for scientific or pseudo-scientific purposes as it had already happened to another Aboriginal Tasmanian William Lenne in 1869. She also feared that her remains would be displayed in a museum for public viewing. Truganini pleaded to colonial authorities for a respectful burial. Despite her pleas, her body was taken to the Hobart Museum and put on display until 1947 when, after public and Indigenous protests, it was locked in the Museum stores.

Finally, a hundred years after her death, the Palawapeople, modern Aboriginal Tasmanians, succeeded in reclaiming Truganini's remains. On 30 April 1976 her remains were cremated at the Cornelian Bay crematorium where Rosalind Langford, former Secretary of the Aboriginal Information Service in Tasmania, delivered the oration. The following morning, just seven days short of the centenary of her death, Truganini’s ashes were scattered in the D’Entrecasteaux Channel, close to her birthplace and homeland.



Clancy's comment: Sadly, many of our Aboriginal brothers and sisters experienced tough times when they dealt with the white settlers.
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