Services General Certificate of Education
Tony Marshall writes:
I was conscripted into the Australian Army on the 1/10/1969. As a clerk in the Medical Corps, I served with 1 Det.Med and Dent PNG. The exact dates of arrival and departure in Port Moresby are details of which I am not exactly sure, as they are not on my discharge papers. According to those papers I served outside Australia for 1 year and 72 days. This would mean that I left Australia in June/July of 1970 and returned in early Sept. 1971 as I was discharged on the 31/9/1971. I was only back in Australia a couple of weeks prior to discharge.
My entire time was spent at Murray Barracks where I was an acting Corporal in a small unit consisting of a Lieutenant (a Pharmacist who was conscripted), a regular Sergeant, a Pacific Island Private and myself.
Obviously I was not a ‘chalkie.’ In fact I am probably in that now elite group of people who served in PNG who was not a chalkie.
While in Port Moresby, I attained a Services General Certificate of Education. I would like to acknowledge the teaching I received to gain my Certificate from (Chalkie) Sgt. John Meyer, Murray Barracks 1969-70.
There are possibly very few copies of this document still in existence
Before being posted to PNG in Oct 1971, a few Chalkies were posted to Holsworthy in NSW. My major role was to re-write the SGCE Study Guide for Economics, in a small team headed by Capt Dale Sutton.
Many thanks, Tony, for your story.
Certificates like yours are a valuable reminder of the RAAEC contribution to adult education across Australia and on overseas postings such as TPNG.