Dear Commander M, It has been quite a year, to say the least. Fig 1: An LCM8 boat from HMAS Choulesferries evacuees The disastrous bushfires along the south-east coast at the end of December brought a mobilisation of the amphibious force that had echoes of a similar effort to support Darwin following Cyclone Tracey exactly 25 years before. In this case, HMAS Choules (the former RFA Largs Bay) sailed on New Year’s Day, at less than 24 hours’ notice. She was followed within a few days by other units which had been at the lower readiness inherent to the annual main leave period. Amongst Choules’…
