Thursday, August 24, 2023

Issue:

Mackay and Whitsunday Life

WAR VETERAN

After a well-timed TV ad and a bet with his mother, Steve Haidle joined the Navy.

“The only part of the ad I remember is the submarine being in it and I said to Mum ‘I’ll be in there in a month’s time’, just jokingly,” Steve said.

“And I was, I joined up and I was on my bike down to Victoria.

“She told me ‘Do not ever come home if you get a tattoo’, so I never got a tattoo,” he laughed.

Steve was born in Wynnum in 1984.

He grew up in the Brisbane bayside suburb and got a job in the office of the livestock department with Queensland Bacon where he worked for 18 months.

At the age of 17, Steve joined the Royal Australian Navy in Brisbane City, a move that would see him serve in Vietnam.

“We Were Lucky And Unlucky”

Steve Haidle was sent to HMAS Cerberus at Western Port Bay in Victoria where he did three months of recruit school before being drafted onto HMAS Hobart in Sydney.

He had the goal of becoming a Physical Training Instructor but was instead made a quartermaster gunner in the seaman branch where he completed a test to aim Seacat missiles.

HMAS Hobart was sent to Vietnam in March 1967 with Steve on board.

He says about half of the men onboard were drafted onto another ship before its departure.

“We were sort of lucky and unlucky; lucky in the fact that we got war service, unlucky that we could’ve got killed,” he said.

The ship left Sydney with 330 men onboard.

Steve says the quarters weren’t too bad; cards and mahjong were played in the recreation area in downtime.

In his role on the ship, he would complete six-hour shifts on a lookout station above the bridge of the ship.

When it came to action stations, he would rush below deck where he would load 70kg bullets into a magazine to be automatically taken to a gun five decks above.

Steve returned from Vietnam in September 1967 and continued to serve in the Navy until 1975.

He returned to Brisbane after his departure from the Navy where he went back to work for Queensland Bacon for five years.

He made the move to Mackay in 1980 when he accepted an opportunity to manage the food and beverage section of the racecourse in Ooralea.

After 12 months in that role, which he loved, Steve worked in office equipment and bottle shops around Mackay before returning to Brisbane in 2004 and retiring in 2008.

He got married in 2009, a marriage that took him to The Philippines for six years before he and his wife came back to Mackay where he says he knows the area and the people well.

After leaving the Navy, Steve stayed active in the military community by getting involved in the Naval Association and the HMAS Hobart Association before joining RSL Mackay in 2018.

He says staying involved has been an important part of his life after the military.

“You meet new friends; you meet old friends,” he said.

“It’s somewhere you can go, and they know what you’re talking about, and you know what they’re talking about.”

As a committee member for RSL Mackay, Steve looks after purchasing, planning, and setting up merchandise and memorabilia.

He is currently working hard towards ANZAC Day, an important day to him.

“It’s a remembrance, to me.”

He is planning displays at Harrup Park and Parkside Plaza, and you will catch him selling merchandise at Parkside Plaza between Tuesday and Saturday next week.

On the day, Steve will be involved in the RSL’s activities including the dawn service, the march, selling memorabilia, raffles, and, of course, a few friendly games of two-up.

“We were sort of lucky and unlucky; lucky in the fact that we got war service, unlucky that we could’ve got killed,” he said.

“It’s a remembrance, to me.”

Steve Haidle will be selling commemorative ANZAC Day merchandise at Parkside Plaza next week. Photo: Sam Gillespie

HMAS Hobart’s company in Hong Kong in 1967

Steve’s role on HMAS Hobart saw him load 70kg bullets into a magazine before it was automatically taken up to a gun five decks above

Steve and a fellow seaman on their first night home from Vietnam in Sydney in 1967. Photos: supplied

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