Certified Legendary Thread Remembering fallen mates - Peter Chant

[Lockhart Road]

Thank you, Ford. Thank you so much.
Your role in this hugely successful campaign is worthy of high acknowledgement alongside the others who took part in it. You were, after all, the 'forward scout.'


For the information of this community, the others in the photo are, left to right:

John England - who was involved in the same action during operation Goodwood in which Peter Chant lost his life, and has in more recent times been awarded the OAM for his service to veterans and his personal quest to reconcile the Australian and Turkish returned servicemen's communities;

Mick Mummery - who was a platoon commander in Charlie Company, 9th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (RAR) during the operation;

Laurie Lewis - who was our company commander in South Vietnam and an admirer of the management abilities of Peter Chant; Laurie retired from the Army as a brigadier, and remains our leader as patron of the 9RAR Association in SA and especially of the tight-knit Charlie Coy. 9RAR Association.

We are all wearing, in the photo, the WTFRW tie, on which the middle of the three feathers is Peter Chant.


Peter, mate... we'll see you back again next year.

 

[Lockhart Road]

And, separately, a special thank you to Andrew Rutter.

The very best of luck, fortune and especially health in your future, mate.

(signed) Charlie Company, 9RAR

 

[Steve Dore]

We're not done yet Lockhart Road. ....

Well done Lockhart Road, way to go.

(pun intended)

.... It's a shame Rucci cannot type the words BigFooty on his computer. We link his site.

Rucci doesn't want to reveal where most of his "research" comes from.

 

[Ford Fairlane]

Thank you, Ford. Thank you so much.
Your role in this hugely successful campaign is worthy of high acknowledgement alongside the others who took part in it. You were, after all, the 'forward scout.'

It's been a pleasure to do my little bit. Look forward to seeing you back here next year, you are after all our lucky talisman.

And wharfie_1870 you are probably correct.

 

[Portmanteau]

la blogosfera

 

[questionable]

Redgum's ode to the experiences of Vietnam War vets

that's not the only song by john schumann that's appropriate for this thread. this accompanies it nicely:

 

[Lockhart Road]

It's been a pleasure to do my little bit. Look forward to seeing you back here next year, you are after all our lucky talisman. .

It was Peter, mate.
Peter's the Lucky Talisman.
Let's get him back and up for the job in 12 months' time.
We'll be at Adelaide Oval.
He'll be even more at home there.

 

[5um0F1]

I have been reading this (and other threads that include Lockhart Road) and it really makes me think.
I have been debating how to add to this conversation but everything I typed seemed lame. But here goes.

I remember seeing the conscription ads running on the TV in the late 60s but I was too young to be called up -conscription ended when I was about 12.
I remember my mum freaking out in case it went on a few more years and I got conscripted.

For the first time in ages I attended the dawn service at Tea Tree Gully and was astounded by the turnout, many people young and old, embracing the sacrifice out vets have made to help secure our freedom.

I know all this has been said by others but I felt I had to also add my piece.
Many thanks to everyone involved and especially to Lockhart Road for reminding us of all the things we should to be proud and thankful for.
I hope next time you are over I can also raise a glass at Adelaide oval with you all.

 

[Rexie J]

I have been reading this (and other threads that include Lockhart Road) and it really makes me think.
I have been debating how to add to this conversation but everything I typed seemed lame. But here goes.

I remember seeing the conscription ads running on the TV in the late 60s but I was too young to be called up -conscription ended when I was about 12.
I remember my mum freaking out in case it went on a few more years and I got conscripted.

For the first time in ages I attended the dawn service at Tea Tree Gully and was astounded by the turnout, many people young and old, embracing the sacrifice out vets have made to help secure our freedom.

I know all this has been said by others but I felt I had to also add my piece.
Many thanks to everyone involved and especially to Lockhart Road for reminding us of all the things we should to be proud and thankful for.
I hope next time you are over I can also raise a glass at Adelaide oval with you all.

'Top shelf' post young fella.

As a person very much from that era, the preceding posts clearly show there are some damn nice people in this world and there are even more who are genuinely appreciative of those who have served our country over many generations. Difficult to fully comprehend just how 'lucky' we are in OZ.

 

[Lockhart Road]

'Top shelf' post young fella.

Could not have said it better myself, Rexie. Thanks, mate.

 

[Lockhart Road]

Subsequent to the events of April 2013 - relating to this year's ANZAC period and the commemoration initiated by the Port Adelaide Football Club of former Magpies player PETER CHANT - as recorded via the earlier posts on this thread, I was requested by the 9RAR Association (9th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment) to write something for publication in the August 2013 edition of their Newsletter, Nine News.

I was originally asked to restrict the project to one A4 page. I asked for, and was granted, two.
What finally resulted was a 14-page Diary.
The full story was just too multi-faceted to have been done justice by any space restriction.

The editor (Jan Stacey) and webmaster (Bob Plummer) at Nine News have been terrific sports. We were able to reach a compromise:
One page of text in the Newsletter reproducing my five-paragraph introduction to the full work, titled PETER CHANT - FIGHTING FOOTBALLER. Diary of a Renaissance.

And one page with seven photographs -
Of Peter and the 1961 Magpies (kindly donated by the PAFC); his team-mates Brian Luke and Peter Obst in high-flying action; Peter Chant in his 1967-14 February 1969 Army days including probably the last photo ever taken of him - kitted up ready to be choppered out of Charlie Company lines at Nui Dat and into the tactical operation on which he would a few days later lose his life; and a couple of relevant photos taken on ANZAC Day 2013 itself.

The captions to the photos have been cleverly written by John England. John accompanied Mick Mummery and myself on the 'Royal Tour' of the PAFC facilities on Monday, 22 April, and John was a fellow guest of David Koch and the Club at 'Before the Bounce' at AAMI Stadium, Round 5, Saturday evening, 27 April 2013. John is a 9RAR mate of Peter's, and was the 'discerning' bloke I described in an earlier post as the WTFRW Tribe Member now renamed 'Wavering Crow.'

Below is the link to the Newsletter page on the 9RAR Association website.
For the Newsletter itself, you are invited to click on 'August 2013'.
For the complete Diary, please click on 'The Peter Chant Story by Denis Way.'
In each case a PDF file will download for reading.
Or save on your hardware for doing that later, when you have the time.

http://www.cpbsa.com.au/9RAR.htm

It gives me a feeling with which words cannot cope to now be able to share the entire story with you. The BigFooty Board and Forum was the place it began. This thread - thanks to Ford Fairlane and Rexie J - was the actual birthplace.
Thank you BigFooty, thank you PAFC, thank you one and all... from me, from my and Peter's mates, and most of all from Pete.

 

[itisnt2hard]

Subsequent to the events of April 2013 - relating to this year's ANZAC period and the commemoration initiated by the Port Adelaide Football Club of former Magpies player PETER CHANT - as recorded via the earlier posts on this thread, I was requested by the 9RAR Association (9th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment) to write something for publication in the August 2013 edition of their Newsletter, Nine News.

I was originally asked to restrict the project to one A4 page. I asked for, and was granted, two.
What finally resulted was a 14-page Diary.
The full story was just too multi-faceted to have been done justice by any space restriction.

The editor and webmaster at Nine News have been terrific sports. We were able to reach a compromise:
One page of text in the Newsletter reproducing my five-paragraph introduction to the full work, titled PETER CHANT - FIGHTING FOOTBALLER. Diary of a Renaissance.

And one page with seven photographs -
Of Peter and the 1961 Magpies (kindly donated by the PAFC); his team-mates Brian Luke and Peter Obst in high-flying action; Peter Chant in his 1967-14 February 1969 Army days including probably the last photo ever taken of him - kitted up ready to be choppered out of Charlie Company lines at Nui Dat and into the tactical operation on which he would a few days later lose his life; and a couple of relevant photos taken on ANZAC Day 2013 itself.

The captions to the photos have been cleverly written by John England. John accompanied Mick Mummery and myself on the 'Royal Tour' of the PAFC facilities on Monday, 22 April, and John was a fellow guest of David Koch and the Club at 'Before the Bounce' at AAMI Stadium, Round 5, Saturday evening, 27 April 2013.

Below is the link to the Newsletter page on the 9RAR Association website.
For the Newsletter itself, you are invited to click on 'August 2013'.
For the complete Diary, please click on 'The Peter Chant Story by Denis Way.'
In each case a PDF file will download for reading.
Or save on your hardware for doing that later, when you have the time.

http://www.cpbsa.com.au/9RAR.htm

It gives me a feeling with which words cannot cope to now be able to share the entire story with you. The BigFooty Board and Forum was the place it began. This thread - thanks to Ford Fairlane and Rexie J - was the actual birthplace.
Thank you BigFooty, thank you PAFC, thank you one and all... from me, from my and Peter's mates, and most of all from Pete.

Puts it all in perspective Really. Eat broken glass for you blokes. Living and Fallen national treasures. Lost a bud monday, funeral this monday. Top bloke and father of three. if you suddenly get headaches, they arent migranes go to the doctor FFS. Anzac day is my one day of the year i shed a tear. In private of course.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

.....
Below is the link to the Newsletter page on the 9RAR Association website.
For the Newsletter itself, you are invited to click on 'August 2013'.
For the complete Diary, please click on 'The Peter Chant Story by Denis Way.'
In each case a PDF file will download for reading.
Or save on your hardware for doing that later, when you have the time.

http://www.cpbsa.com.au/9RAR.htm

It gives me a feeling with which words cannot cope to now be able to share the entire story with you. The BigFooty Board and Forum was the place it began. This thread - thanks to Ford Fairlane and Rexie J - was the actual birthplace.
Thank you BigFooty, thank you PAFC, thank you one and all... from me, from my and Peter's mates, and most of all from Pete.

Thanks for that link LR. It was a very good read and re read of the stuff you have put on big footy. The photos were also good to see. As you said how do you limit the story to one page. Get it all down and let the editor do the editing.

 

[Lockhart Road]

Puts it all in perspective Really. Eat broken glass for you blokes. Living and Fallen national treasures. Lost a bud monday, funeral this monday. Top bloke and father of three. if you suddenly get headaches, they arent migranes go to the doctor FFS. Anzac day is my one day of the year i shed a tear. In private of course.

Mate...
I've hit the 'Like' tit on your post... but somehow that by itself just isn't enough.
If there was an 'Appreciate More Than Anyone Can Imagine' tit, I'd be hitting that as well.

 

[Ford Fairlane]

Fabulous work Lockhart Road. I was lucky enough to proof-read the diary entry but some of those photos are new to me. Just so stirring and sad too, you guys really were putting it all out there. Photos really convey that commitment and danger.

Thank you for the acknowledgement but in the big scheme of things, I feel insignificant. In a good way.

 

[Lockhart Road]

I’ve had a recent recall of an extra football snippet involving Peter Chant…

In an earlier post I mentioned a scratch match we played together in the winter of 1968 up at Woodside during our training for Vietnam. It was a training run, really, umpired by then Major Laurie Lewis, our company commander. What impressed me about Laurie that day, added to the endless list of great stuff he did as o.c. during my term of service, was that he came from NSW and, if I recall correctly, told me he had relegated rugby as his favourite footy code and replaced it with Aussie Rules.

The reason we were restricted to a scratch match that afternoon was because the opposition, a side from a different services unit, had cancelled at the last minute. Essentially, they chickened out. They probably took note of an intelligence report on what had happened to the previous services team that dared to take on Charlie Company, 9RAR in a game of what we now call AFL.

That earlier match occurred before I arrived at Woodside from Holsworthy Army Base outside Sydney where I’d spent a few weeks with 7RAR (which would become Graham Cornes’ unit a year or so later). I recall I arrived in the first week of June 1968, and went straight out to Murray Bridge on an exercise, on the first night hearing on someone’s transistor radio that Bobby Kennedy had been assassinated – so that puts it at D-Day, 6th June.

I’d put in for a transfer to 9RAR, knowing it was going to Vietnam in November 1968, not because of any death wish but because Woodside was 45 minutes drive from my home in Parkholme, where we'd moved from Evandale a few years earlier. I could ‘live out’ with my parents. My father had suffered a heart attack not long before I was conscripted, so I was granted a ‘compassionate’ posting from a battalion that had just come back from a year’s tour in Vietnam to one that was soon to go there. By ‘living out’ I could sleep in my own bed and enjoy my mum’s cooking most nights, and miss out on Army cuisine and the bleak freezing Nissan huts of Woodside camp. For that I got a small bonus added to my pay. What you'd call a win-win. I’d get up at 6:00 and drive up to Woodside in my low-slung white Morris 1100 complete with surfboard racks and a Lukey muffler, en route collecting one of my two best mates – Bushman Mick from the NT who also lived out, in married quarters at the west end of South Terrace, and who appears in my lengthy 'Diary' available via the link posted just above.

But I’m digressing…

The Charlie Company 1968 footy team included Russ Cromarty, a fellow conscript who in 1966-1967 had played 18 VFL games with Fitzroy seniors, kicking 25 goals. We also had a lead ruckman, another conscript called Dave Pritchard, who came from a VFL squad; there’s a difference of opinion as to whether it was Geelong or Collingwood. He was a champion footballer and a champion bloke.
And we had Peter Chant snaffling Pritch’s taps as first rover and putting the ball down the throat of Russ Cromarty on the lead.

Laurie Lewis, retired brigadier, was telling me during ANZAC week about that earlier game, at which he was an admiring spectator, not the umpire. Peter was everywhere. Never a moment went by in the four quarters, it seemed, that he didn’t have the ball in his hands. He racked up, Laurie recalled, something like 70 or 80 possessions. Charlie Company won by a coupla hundred points. Or more.

The commanding officer of the opposition unit, standing next to Laurie, went from pink to puce. “Somebody stop that little bastard!” he bellowed at his suffering charges throughout the match.
“If one o' you doesn’t bloody tackle him quick bloody smart you’re all on a bloody charge every bloody one of you!” I may not have got that exactly right. Don’t think the man used ‘bloody.’

Laurie today speaks so fondly of Peter Chant, lets on that he was so impressed with Pete’s leadership qualities that he made sure he was promoted in record time to NCO rank. I reckon the absolute thrashing Charlie Company handed out to Puce Face’s mob that day helped embed Peter in the heart and mind of Major Laurie Lewis, and there he stays.


I hope you’ve enjoyed this bonus short story about Pete as much as I’ve enjoyed remembering it.

 

[Rexie J]

I’ve had a recent recall of an extra football snippet involving Peter Chant…

In an earlier post I mentioned a scratch match we played together in the winter of 1968 up at Woodside during our training for Vietnam. It was a training run, really, umpired by then Major Laurie Lewis, our company commander. What impressed me about Laurie that day, added to the endless list of great stuff he did as o.c. during my term of service, was that he came from NSW and, if I recall correctly, told me he had relegated rugby as his favourite footy code and replaced it with Aussie Rules.

The reason we were restricted to a scratch match that afternoon was because the opposition, a side from a different services unit, had cancelled at the last minute. Essentially, they chickened out. They probably took note of an intelligence report on what had happened to the previous services team that dared to take on Charlie Company, 9RAR in a game of what we now call AFL.

That earlier match occurred before I arrived at Woodside from Holsworthy Army Base outside Sydney where I’d spent a few weeks with 7RAR (which would become Graham Cornes’ unit a year or so later). I recall I arrived in the first week of June 1968, and went straight out to Murray Bridge on an exercise, on the first night hearing on someone’s transistor radio that Bobby Kennedy had been assassinated – so that puts it at D-Day, 6th June.

I’d put in for a transfer to 9RAR, knowing it was going to Vietnam in November 1968, not because of any death wish but because Woodside was 45 minutes drive from my home in Parkholme, where we'd moved from Evandale a few years earlier. I could ‘live out’ with my parents. My father had suffered a heart attack not long before I was conscripted, so I was granted a ‘compassionate’ posting from a battalion that had just come back from a year’s tour in Vietnam to one that was soon to go there. By ‘living out’ I could sleep in my own bed and enjoy my mum’s cooking most nights, and miss out on Army cuisine and the bleak freezing Nissan huts of Woodside camp. For that I got a small bonus added to my pay. What you'd call a win-win. I’d get up at 6:00 and drive up to Woodside in my low-slung white Morris 1100 complete with surfboard racks and a Lukey muffler, en route collecting one of my two best mates – Bushman Mick from the NT who also lived out, in married quarters at the west end of South Terrace, and who appears in my lengthy 'Diary' available via the link posted just above.

But I’m digressing…

The Charlie Company 1968 footy team included Russ Cromarty, a fellow conscript who in 1966-1967 had played 18 VFL games with Fitzroy seniors, kicking 25 goals. We also had a lead ruckman, another conscript called Dave Pritchard, who came from a VFL squad; there’s a difference of opinion as to whether it was Geelong or Collingwood. He was a champion footballer and a champion bloke.
And we had Peter Chant snaffling Pritch’s taps as first rover and putting the ball down the throat of Russ Cromarty on the lead.

Laurie Lewis, retired brigadier, was telling me during ANZAC week about that earlier game, at which he was an admiring spectator, not the umpire. Peter was everywhere. Never a moment went by in the four quarters, it seemed, that he didn’t have the ball in his hands. He racked up, Laurie recalled, something like 70 or 80 possessions. Charlie Company won by a coupla hundred points. Or more.

The commanding officer of the opposition unit, standing next to Laurie, went from pink to puce. “Somebody stop that little bastard!” he bellowed at his suffering charges throughout the match.
“If one o' you doesn’t bloody tackle him quick bloody smart you’re all on a bloody charge every bloody one of you!” I may not have got that exactly right. Don’t think the man used ‘bloody.’

Laurie today speaks so fondly of Peter Chant, lets on that he was so impressed with Pete’s leadership qualities that he made sure he was promoted in record time to NCO rank. I reckon the absolute thrashing Charlie Company handed out to Puce Face’s mob that day helped embed Peter in the heart and mind of Major Laurie Lewis, and there he stays.


I hope you’ve enjoyed this bonus short story about Pete as much as I’ve enjoyed remembering it.

Ah yes, now I see it all Lockhart.....................a Lukey muffler.........................the muffler above all mufflers.

Now if you'd had triple Weber carbies Bliss, absolute bliss

 

[Lockhart Road]

Ah yes, now I see it all Lockhart.....................a Lukey muffler.........................the muffler above all mufflers.

Now if you'd had triple Weber carbies Bliss, absolute bliss

Here she is, Rexie.
Drove this baby once across to Puckapunyal after a mid-recruit training break and back.
Drove her twice across to Singleton for Infantry Corps training and back; one time with a car full of mates spinning out in the Blue Mountains, did a 180... being lowered, she just came around on the skid to face the direction I should've been going in the first place.

 

[itisnt2hard]

Ah yes, now I see it all Lockhart.....................a Lukey muffler.........................the muffler above all mufflers.

Now if you'd had triple Weber carbies Bliss, absolute bliss

You cant put triples on it Rexie, it only has a 4 port intake manifold. Now twin SU,S or strombergs on a modified manifold, fully sick. Dig it up Lockhart and i will put it back on the road for you. Currently looking after 350 yellow cabs and a panelshop, too easy. Throw in 800 plus drivers its a bit like looking after the united nations. Slot her in for you though cheers

 

[Rexie J]

Here she is, Rexie.
Drove this baby once across to Puckapunyal after a mid-recruit training break and back.
Drove her twice across to Singleton for Infantry Corps training and back; one time with a car full of mates spinning out in the Blue Mountains, did a 180... being lowered, she just came around on the skid to face the direction I should've been going in the first place.

View attachment 24996

A classic understeer............

 

[Rexie J]

You cant put triples on it Rexie, it only has a 4 port intake manifold. Now twin SU,S or strombergs on a modified manifold, fully sick. Dig it up Lockhart and i will put it back on the road for you. Currently looking after 350 yellow cabs and a panelshop, too easy. Throw in 800 plus drivers its a bit like looking after the united nations. Slot her in for you though cheers

Was only taking the p**s mate. .........spent way too much time and money racing and rallying.

Digressing, we rallied the Mini Copper S that won the first London to Sydney Marathon...............unfortunately met a sad death when it failed to take a right hander.

 

[itisnt2hard]

Was only taking the p**s mate. .........spent way too much time and money racing and rallying.

Digressing, we rallied the Mini Copper S that won the first London to Sydney Marathon...............unfortunately met a sad death when it failed to take a right hander.

Hearing you and should have added the smile. Reckon we take this a bit further and get one on the road for the boys if we can. No probs in smicking it up foc if we can get one to vic. Present it to the boys on Anzac day 014. No probs in the cost and would only mean a company logo attached to make it worth their effort. Food for thought if any one has one.

 

[Lockhart Road]

A classic understeer............

You know... I can distinctly remember it happening ---
Brain went into frame-by-frame mode. It definitely happens. Everything in super slow-motion.

I'd taken a left-hand turn into the wrong fork, change of mind thing at the last second. Too late. Back wheel went onto loose gravel and the spin started.

We were heading out on a four-day break and had decided to drive to Adelaide, four of us, through the night. It happened just after sundown.

The previous night, the Army, as it always did, had gathered us all in the theatre on base at Singleton and showed the customary warning flicks... what happens to you the week, month or year after you don't wear a condom... graphic pictures... What happens to you when you drink and drive and speed... graphic pictures...

Then a qualified racing driver turned instructor walked to the front and told us, among other things, what to do if your car goes into a skid: Do not hit the brake hard... do not wrench the wheel in the opposite direction to the skid or the car will flip... apply gradual increasing pressure on the pedal... turn the wheel slowly into the skid...

It helps, as it's designed to, when your brain automatically goes frame-by-frame. And when at the same time you remember every word that instructor told you the night before. Damn good thing I was listening. That bloke may well have saved the lives of four twenty-one-year-olds that night.

 

[Lockhart Road]

Now stop it you lot............this is getting tooooo much and the reminiscing is also going way off track

Yeah I know Ford, just a tad off track but Lockhart started it........

Sometime between his last game for the Port Magpies in 1962 and joining the Army in 1967, Peter Chant was also involved with racehorses. He was small enough to be a jockey, but I think he was an owner or part-owner. We could go off on that tangent, too...

 

[Lockhart Road]

it has been a day of reflectance.Moving on lets get these blokes a car.

Appreciated, mate. Really appreciated...

However, 'these blokes' already have a car.
She is a jet black 1947 Buick Straight-8 and her name is Cher.

Extract from Peter Chant - Fighting Footballer :
The car was black as a black Straight-8 should be: long and sleekly bumpered and marvellously restored, the automotive version of Cher sliding across a stage. This was the ‘Official 9RAR Staff Car,’ assigned to my airport transfers in and out plus VIP duties on ANZAC Day. Check out the photo.

Cher's picture, taken on ANZAC Day 2013, is among the gallery at the end of the Diary. The link to the PDF file is on Page 3 of this thread. As this is now Page 4, for convenience here it is again:

http://www.cpbsa.com.au/9RAR.htm