Shrine of Remembrance
This podcast was recorded during the 2023 Midsumma Festival and explores stories of LGBTQ+ service. Chaired by Midsumma Chief Executive Karen Bryant, listen as current and ex-service members share their experiences in the ADF. Content warning: Parental guidance is recommended: this audio program contains adult themes and concepts and occasional coarse language. Support: If this program raises any issues for you, feel free to call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Qlife on 1800 184 527. Or please scroll down for additional support services. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this...
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Entertainers have performed in war and peacekeeping zones for decades, but what does it take to get them over there? And what happens if things don't go according to plan? In this podcast, Warrant Officer Class 1 Mark Langley shares a peek behind the curtain of a Forces Entertainment concert from recruiting to the curtain call. Listen as he unpacks stories of escorting comedians, musicians and performers to gigs all over the world. Image: Cold Chisel's Ian Moss with WO1 Mark Langley in East Timor. Music: Sylvester Subconscious Cast Of Characters Disclaimer: The opinions expressed...
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Australian entertainers have performed for troops in war zones and peacekeeping operations since the Vietnam War. Their talent and celebrity have lifted spirits and brought a slice of home to service personnel abroad. In this podcast, hear first-hand the trials and tribulations of entertaining on the front line with host Merrick Watts in conversation with Anthony ‘Lehmo’ Lehmann, Nick Cody and Ami Williamson. This podcast was recorded live at the Shrine in November 2022 to mark the opening of Tours De Force: Entertainers on the Front Line. Listen to part two here. Content warning: This...
info_outlineShrine of Remembrance
Australian entertainers have performed for troops in war zones and peacekeeping operations since the Vietnam War. Their talent and celebrity have lifted spirits and brought a slice of home to service personnel abroad. In this podcast, hear first-hand the trials and tribulations of entertaining on the front line with host Merrick Watts in conversation with Tom Gleeson, Charlie Pickering, Little Pattie and Normie Rowe. This podcast was recorded live at the Shrine in November 2022 to mark the opening of Tours De Force: Entertainers on the Front Line. Listen to part one Content warning:...
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Corporal Ronald Schultz has been in the Air Force for more than two decades, spanning a variety of roles and serving both in Australia and overseas. He now works in Indigenous recruiting, helping other First Nations people across Australia enter the Defence Force. In this podcast, guest host and acclaimed Gunditjmara actor Tom Molyneux yarns with Ron about his entry into the defence force, the highlights of his service and his hopes for the future of First Peoples in the ADF. Credits: Speaker: Corporal Ronald Schultz Interviewer: Editor: Laura Thomas Music: Title: Emu and Brolga...
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Phil Neil, a former Leading Aircraftman with the RAAF, was one of the five members of the Gay Ex-Services Association (GESA) who tried to unsuccessfully lay a wreath at the Shrine of Remembrance on ANZAC Day in 1982. GESA formed after inflammatory and homophobic comments were made in the media about gay service people by then RSL president, Bruce Ruxton. On a cold and rainy 25th of April, 1982, Phil Neil, Mike Jarmyn, Terry Yates and two other gay ex-servicemen walked the steps of the Shrine to try and lay a wreath in the name of their “fallen gay and lesbian brothers and sisters”, who had...
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When the Taliban entered Kabul on the evening of 15 August 2021, Western troops and embassy staff scrambled to flee a country of which its government had lost control. To the world, Kabul in August looked like Saigon in 1975. Andrew Quilty was one of a handful of Western journalists who stayed as the city fell. His book, August in Kabul: America's last days in Afghanistan is a first-hand account of those dramatic final days told through the eyes of Afghans whose lives have been turned upside down. In September 2022, Andrew sat down in front of a live audience at the...
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Bridget Clinch is a change maker. A former captain in the Australian Army, in 2010 she challenged the Australian Defence Force over its ban on transgender service - and won. It was a hard-fought battle that paved the way for other transgender ADF service members to be able transition and to continue serving after her. High profile former Lieutenant Colonel and Group Captain Cate McGregor, was one of them. Born in Sydney in 1979, Bridget Clinch’s military story began in Victoria as an Army cadet in the mid-90s, at the boys’ secondary college, Melbourne High School. She joined the Army in...
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The Beaufort Bomber was colloquially known as the workhorse of the RAAF during World War Two and played a key role in Australia's defence. In this podcast, convenor of the Beaufort Squadrons Reunion Tony Clark unpacks the story behind the plane. Hear why they were built on home soil, how women played a pivotal part in the construction and what happened when the plane was retired. Voiceover: Keith Tucker and John Lloyd-Fillingham conducted interviews with many of the Beaufort aircrew veterans and former DAP factory workers at the 2014 Beaufort Squadrons Association reunion. The sentiments and...
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The story of defence couple, Carole Popham and Christina Dennis, started over 50 years ago in the Women's Royal Australian Air Force. Both born in the '40s, without knowing it they grew up within 350kms of each other in northern Queensland: Carole in Townsville and Christina in Cairns. Coming of age in 1960s Australia - a time of limited work and education opportunities for women - in 1963 and ’64 respectively, Carole and Christina each jumped at the chance to join up and serve their country. The WRAAF offered the women a chance to travel and see Australia, to meet other people from all...
info_outlinePhil Neil, a former Leading Aircraftman with the RAAF, was one of the five members of the Gay Ex-Services Association (GESA) who tried to unsuccessfully lay a wreath at the Shrine of Remembrance on ANZAC Day in 1982.
GESA formed after inflammatory and homophobic comments were made in the media about gay service people by then RSL president, Bruce Ruxton.
On a cold and rainy 25th of April, 1982, Phil Neil, Mike Jarmyn, Terry Yates and two other gay ex-servicemen walked the steps of the Shrine to try and lay a wreath in the name of their “fallen gay and lesbian brothers and sisters”, who had always been a part of the Australian defence forces. On that day, they were turned away.
After the passing in 2018 of GESA founding member Max Campbell, a former RAAF Warrant Officer, it was thought that there were no surviving members of the association. As luck would have it, Phil Neil was found alive and well living in regional Victoria during the making of ‘The Power of the Wreath’, one of the podcast episodes that accompanies the Shrine’s groundbreaking new exhibition, Defending with Pride: Stories of LGBTQ+ service (August 2022 – July 2023).
In our age of open service, Phil is a pioneer for the LGBTIQ+ ADF members and community of today. As you’ll hear, he’s waited a long time to tell his story for the first time. In this extended interview, he sheds more light on the 1982 wreath-laying incident, his motives for being part of it and much more. It’s an inspiring story of courage and compassion.
Phil Neil was interviewed by award-winning podcast maker, Megan Spencer. You can also hear him speak in the special two-part podcast she made for the Shrine, Defending with Pride: Voices – The Power of the Wreath.
Credits
This extended interview with Phil Neil, a former Leading Aircraftman with the RAAF, is part of the podcast series Defending with Pride: Voices. The audio series accompanies the Shrine’s exhibition, Defending with Pride: Stories of LGBTQ+ service (August 2022 – July 2023)
Parental guidance recommended:
This audio program contains adult themes, mild coarse language and sexual references. If this program raises any issues for you, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For additional support services, see also the list below.
Wreath-laying at the Shrine:
We welcome all members of our community to lay wreaths or other floral offerings at any of the many memorials at the Shrine. The Shrine hosts more than 150 official commemorative services each year to remember the service of Australian men and women, particularly Victorians, and we welcome our community to attend and participate. To find out more about remembrance services, or to apply to hold your own, visit this link.
Speakers:
Phil Neil (former Leading Aircraftman, RAAF)
Interviewer/Producer/Sound: Megan Spencer
Music:
Original “Kissed” music: Philip Brophy
Special thanks:
To former Phil Neil for generously sharing his insights and lived experience for this podcast and to Nick Henderson from the Australian Queer Archives.
Thank you also to the Shrine team: Sue Burgess, Laura Thomas and Kate Spinks, curator of Defending with Pride.
Support:
If this podcast raises any issues for you, support is available from the following services:
- QLife Australia’s first nationally-oriented counselling and referral service for LGBTI people. Phone: 1800 184 527
- Defence Gay and Lesbian Information Service Defence Gay and Lesbian Information Service provides policy and community information to gay, lesbian and bisexual, transgender, intersex and non-binary serving and ex-serving members of Defence and their families.
- Discharged LGBTI Veterans' Association (DVLA) A support and advocacy association for Australian Defence Force personnel, their family and their friends who were adversely impacted by Defence's historic anti-LGBTI policies. Phone 0400 124 213.
- Open Arms Free and confidential, 24/7 national counselling service for Australian veterans and their families, provided through the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA). Phone: 1800 011 046
- Lifeline Suicide and crisis support. Phone: 13 11 14
Read:
- Pride in Defence: The Australian Military and LGBTI Service since 1945 (2020), Melbourne University Press and Serving in Silence? Australian LGBT servicemen and women(2018), New South Books.
- Ben Winsor’s ‘The Secret History of Gay Diggers’ essay for SBS here
Visit:
Defending with Pride: Stories of LGBTQ+ service exhibition at the Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne, August 2022 until July 2023.
Disclaimer:
The opinions expressed in this podcast are those of individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Shrine of Remembrance.
Episode duration:
36:09