Tiger-pie

I think the full title was,"His Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea, and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular." Wouldn't like to be his signwriter... I believe that they used a British campaign star as the Victorious Cross as it was the closest thing they could find to match. An Africa Star perhaps? Regards; Johnsy

He just spotted an Englishman crossing the range...

Yes and no. The Governor General signs off on these things as the Queens representative. I'm not sure how much external input he accepts or is required to seek. I would however point out that all our medals are still subject to a Royal Warrant. Regards; Johnsy

I hope you think this is a cool photo as much as I... Regards; Johnsy

With the stunning Shanghai skyline as a background. Say what you like about China, but this place rocks...

I love it when the water is like glass...

HMAS Parramatta, sunset near the coast of China.

Gratuitous Gong Shot. Regards; Johnsy

And the green and white ribbon is for the South Vietnamese Campaign Medal. Regards; Johnsy

Another view. I think the Dutch were using this vehicle, you can see a Dutch flag on the front (at the right of the photo), and in the first image you can see "NL" halfway down the hull. We share a compound with them and obviously equipment too.

I knew I had some battle damage shots somewhere. This is B1 or B2, damaged in Afghanistan. Both B1 and B2 were badly damaged, but the crews survived. On being returned to Australia they were wriitten off, I believe that the hulls had been compromised. They were used for range training at Pukka. Regards; Johnsy

I was actually referring to the Bushmaster, but the ASLAV is built along those lines too. The small picture shows the detonation of 19kg of TNT under the hull. On a field trip out to ADI Bendigo I alos saw the test hull that had been subjected to small arms , .50 Cal, 25mm and RPG fire. It was looking a bit worse for wear. See below, sorry not very good images. Regards; Johnsy Images from ADI Ltd.

The Bushmaster in convoy with ASLAVs. This has a hull that is mono-constructed, I think that is the correct term, so you can blow bits off it, but the crew area will remain protected from the blast. As with anything though, put a big enough bomb under it and it will be destroyed. Hopefully that won't occur.

Fortunately our IED incidents in Iraq have only resulted in minor injuries, though we have lost some vehicles. Our mechanised infantry is well provided for with the ASLAV and Bushmaster, any soft-skinned vehicles are only used to transport material rather than personnel. The ASLAV below has been fitted with a stand-off screen for RPGs, something they haven't done in Afghanistan as the threat of close quarter attack is less than in the built up areas of Iraq. I heard a rumour that the Yanks were very interested in buying and trialing our Bushmaster, but I can't confirm that. Regards; Johnsy

Wow. Two fine examples of how medals should be made. Great phots too mate. Regards; Johnsy

Darrell, that would be because it is a copy gong, not an original. They have "built in" a flaw so that they can't be flogged off as originals. It was the only reasonable image I could find. Regards; Johnsy

Yeah, it looks nice. Here is another image for you Antonio. Regards; Johnsy

G'da Darrell; This is all the info I have on it. If you go to the link above you can purchase riband. Regards Johnsy Awarded to Australians for service in Timor-Leste OP CITADEL United Nations Mission of Support in Timor-Leste (UNOTIL/UNMIT) from 12 May 06, ongoing. OP SPIRE United Nations Mission of Support in Timor ( UNOTIL/UNMIT ) from 12 May 06, ongoing. OP CHIRON ADF contribution to the UN Special Political Mission to Timor-Leste. (UNOTIL/UNMIT). Qualifying time of service for the reception of UNMIT Medal is 90 days, for defence force and police personnel.

Soldier keeps watch during a break in the fighting. This contact lasted for four hours. Helo's were used to deliver suppressing fire while the ground forces cleared out the Taliban from huts.

Unit commander hands out orders.

Another day, another contact...

Looks like the UNMIT Medal. Regards; Johnsy Image from: http://www.heritagemedals.com.au/index.php...ge=products_new

The Clarke medal is awarded by the Governor General once a year for the most outstanding act of bravery among those who have been nominated for bravery. The medal was instituted in 1881 and more than one medal may be awarded annually where the Court is unable to decide between the two cases. See link below for a more indepth description. I wasn't aware that they still awarded this type of medal here in Australia, I thought it was one of those institutions that had gone by the wayside. I was casting around the net for somthing completely different and found these sites. Glad to see that it still exists. Regards; Johnsy http://www.gg.gov.au/governorgeneral/galle...view&id=165 http://www.rhsa.org.au/rhsaawards.htm

These are what they are calling "littoral" colours, so I guess they will match the littoral ships of the future. With regards to the reflective cloth stripe, that is so you can be spotted if you go over the side. I think that the idea behind the cams is "corporate identity" rather than an effective cam pattern. Regards; Johnsy

The horror...