sandy point, history, victoria

The 13th Australian Armoured Regiment was a Gippsland militia unit that had been called up for full time duty in December 1941 as a traditional light horse regiment. The early months of 1942 had seen the regiment lose its horses, a conversion to a motor regiment and finally to an armoured regiment in May. During this period there were considerable changes in personnel, however the regiment maintained its strong links to Gippsland and its former identity. Between May and November 1942, individual soldiers had become proficient in their trade training and the regiment changed its focus to troop and squadron activities. On 16 November 1942, the unit was located at the Puckapunyal Army Camp. C Squadron's training program involved a night driving exercise where a column of armoured and B vehicles would depart camp at 0245 hours and proceed to a site to the East of Seymour and set up a bivouac between Whiteheads Creek and Highlands Road. Numerous army camps surrounded the Seymour area; and much of the surrounding farm land had been acquired for military purposes. By November 1942 exercises such as C Squadron's were commonplace and had been repeated on numerous occasions since 1939. At 0400 hrs, C Squadron's vehicles reached O'Sullivan's Paddock on the Kobyboyn Road; prior to reaching the Old Telegraph Road the column turned to the North towards a known crossing point on Whiteheads Creek. The column consisted of seven M3 Medium Tanks and four Universal Carriers. In the case of Corporal McLeod's vehicle, there were seven crewmen rather than the usual five man crew. On arrival at the creek crossing, Captain C.M.I. 'Sandy' Pearson dismounted and with the assistance of Sergeant R.J. Ball began to guide individual tanks across the creek. Four tanks had crossed the creek without difficulty when Corporal McLeod's tank, ARN 24652, began its descent. Captain Pearson stated at the Coroner's Inquiry in December 1942, "Whilst climbing out of the ford the vehicle swerved to the left, apparently striking the tree. It was not the portion of the tank (front) that struck the tree. The tank straightened and appeared to be well under control, suddenly the bank on the left collapsed to the extent of 3ft by 12ft by15ft long causing the vehicle to slide into the creek and turn upside down." Captain Pearson and Sergeant Ball were faced with a nightmarish situation: The Grant had come to rest upside down in soft mud, six crew members were unaccounted for, escape hatches could not be opened and the weight of the tank was settling deeper into the water and mud. Compounding the problem was that the location of the tank did not allow for the other tanks to safely conduct a recovery. It was truly the darkest night.Single A4 card. folded, Contains an account of the raising of 13 Armoured Regiment in December 1941and a tank accident during a night creek crossing in which six crewmen were killed, and, Order of Ceremony for plaque unveiling, Guest of Honour LtCol Stuart Cree CO/CI School of Armour13 armored regiment, tank accident, puckapunyal

The study into the Grampians Puma was undertaken by John A. Henry to settle the question of the existence of a puma population in the mountains. People who believe they have sighted a puma, or have sighted other evidence, were interviewed. The study also looked into records relating to the potential of USA army personal leaving a mascot in the grampians. Also see cat no 14012 - Pumas in the Grampians Mountains: A compelling Case?: An up-dated Report of the Deakin Puma StudyWhite A4 pages laser printed pages related to a study conducted on the possibility of a Grampians Puma (Felis concolor) populations. Australian Animal Foklore Collectionaustralian animal folklore collection, john a henry, john henry, maurice hornocker, grampians, geranium springs, puma, felis concor, mt bepcha, scats, us army, peter morris, hans brunner, mt gambier, raaf, ernst wieher, ellis tucker, halls gap, peter dryden, geoff riddle, snow astbury, robert hiatt, tom schubert, trevor clark, dick saligari, ted saligari, terry zerbst, brian warren, gary middleton, barry henderson, morrie lawson, bill hower, michael harrison, ray kerris, robert east, terry rethus, dougal shilcock, garth rees, ilka rees, harry shrive, ellis tucker, american airmen, mascot, billywing range, sandy mackirdy, mark johnson, john morris, des paulson, feral cat, roses gap, paula odare, gaye beveridge, donald macarthur, karen jeffery, plaster casts, terry rethus, tom schubert, victoria valley, mt talbot, fox, john spencer, ivan bother, neal bother, evan macklay, harry shrive, bill hower, michael harrsion, norma harrison, ellis tucker, gary middleton, barry henderson, joy potter, les becker, john ryan, cam anderson, richardson, shirley farrant, adinsall, max xharles, margaret hurley, linda crawford, don anderson, paddy hynes, barry bell, neal boethe, mark johnson, victoria point, david hamilton, wally smith, mythical, myth, folklore