Les Boyd
Mob – Gudgjala (ChartersTowers) Kuku Yalanji (Port Douglas-Cape Tribulation)
Radio Operator
Communications Branch 1966-1974.
Royal Australian Navy
Vietnam veteran
Medals
Australian Active Service Medal 1945-75 with clasp Vietnam
Vietnam Logistic and Support Medal
Australian Service Medal 1945-75
Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee (Dei Gratia) Medal
Australian Defence Medal
It all came together when I was 14 years old, watching a movie about the war in the Pacific during WW2 featuring Ernest Borgnine as the Captain of the Patrol Boat. I saw the Radio Operator in action and said to myself, ‘That’s me.’ The movie also referenced JFK, who later became the President of the USA. Three years later, I joined the RAN. At recruiting school, they had a nickname for me, ‘Mr Immaculate’. Each Monday morning, on parade before classes, I would be called to stand out the front. Lieutenant Curry would then compliment me with the words, ‘Now this is how a Radio Operator should look – spit-polished boots and neatly dressed uniform.’ So then, whenever Officers would ask me, ‘Where did you get those pig-skin boots, Sailor?’ I’d reply, ‘Sorry Sir, spit-polished.’ You could see your face in them. During my time as Purser in the Navy, I received four Bravo Zulus (‘Well done’) for directing a Gunnery Shoot off Sydney Heads and the next morning received a standing ovation from my fellow compatriots on entering the Comms Section at HMAS Kuttabul. A year or so later, my fellow Radio Operators (RO), Bazza and Macca, aboard the Patrol Boats Attack and Assail based in Darwin, stopped me on the way to collect mail from Headquarters and said, ‘Les, we’ve been taking votes throughout Purser, on who is the number one RO in Comms. Just about everyone picked you.’ ‘Thanks,’ I said and carried on up to HQ. The vessel I served on, HMAS Advance, is now tied up alongside the National Maritime Museum in Sydney.