Join the RAEME Association Darling Downs for its final luncheon of the year and an early celebration of the Corps Birthday!
Members, guests, families, partners and anyone associated with the Corps are warmly invited to the Ambrose Deck at the City Golf Club in Toowoomba. It’s a great opportunity to catch up with mates, celebrate our shared Corps connection and round out the year together.
City Golf Club membership is free and lasts for three years, offering discounts on meals and drinks, along with free tickets in the monthly car draw held on the last Sunday of each month.
- Date: Sunday 15 November 2026
- Time: 12.00 pm–4.00 pm
- Venue: Ambrose Deck, Toowoomba City Golf Club, 254 South Street, South Toowoomba
- Catering: Meals and drinks available at your own cost
- Dress: Casual
- RSVP: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Organisers: Peter Pile and Clarrie Sanders
Further details will be published closer to the day.
Please pass on the invitation to anyone who would enjoy coming along. We look forward to seeing you there!
RAQ NQ end-of-year gathering – Saturday 12 December 2026
Above: Members and guests enjoying the September 2026 gathering
Join RAQ North Queensland for an end-of-year get-together at The Vale Hotel, with an afternoon of mateship, good company and Corps camaraderie.
All RAQ members, current and former RAEME members, and friends of the Corps are warmly invited. Those travelling from further afield are encouraged to make a weekend of it and enjoy some North Queensland hospitality.
- When: Saturday 12 December 2026, from 12.30 pm onwards
- Where: The Vale Hotel, 222 Ross River Road, Aitkenvale QLD 4814
- Venue phone: (07) 4779 0100
The afternoon will include a RAEME badge raffle, a $100 member draw and bar snacks from 1.30 pm. RAEME merchandise will also be available for purchase.
Come along, catch up with old mates, meet new friends and celebrate the end of the year—RAEME NQ style!
Enquiries: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Sunshine Coast Chapter’s Final Get-Together for 2026 - Brightwater Hotel
Above: Members and guests enjoy the July gathering at the Brightwater Hotel.
Round out the year with good company at the RAEME Sunshine Coast Chapter’s final get-together for 2026.
- Date: Sunday, 22 November 2026
- Time: 1200 hrs (midday)
- Venue: Brightwater Hotel
- Address: 15 Freshwater St, Mountain Creek QLD 4557
It’s a great opportunity to enjoy a leisurely Sunday afternoon in relaxing surroundings, catch up with old mates and make some new friends. Share a few stories, a few laughs and reconnect with the RAEME family before the busy festive season begins.
Recent gatherings have attracted around 50 people, and we’d love to see another strong turnout to finish the year. Whether you’re a regular or joining us for the first time, you’ll find a warm welcome. There will also be lucky door prizes up for grabs!
Save the date—more details will be available closer to the day. If you already know you can attend, please let us know to help with the hotel booking.
RSVP: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
We look forward to seeing you there!
RAEME Sunshine Coast Chapter
Operation Spanner Pack - A little piece of home
Operation Spanner Pack provides care packages, not tools, to RAEME members serving on operations, posted overseas or undertaking long-term training away from their usual support networks.
Administered by the RAEME Association Queensland (RAQ) on behalf of the RAEME National Network, the program sends familiar comforts and useful items that may not be supplied by Defence or readily available locally. Packs may include Australian snacks, biscuits, lollies, Vegemite and RAEME merchandise.
As of the end of August 2026, Operation Spanner Pack has provided 4914 Spanner Packs, weighing 10,109 kg to RAEME personnel serving on operations.
Who can receive a pack?
The program supports RAEME members who are deployed on operations, posted overseas, undertaking long-term training or engagement activities, or embedded with another organisation or partner force.
Operation Spanner Pack is not state, trade or unit specific. Members can request a pack themselves, while commanders, colleagues, family members and friends are encouraged to nominate eligible RAEME personnel.
There is no lifetime limit on receiving Spanner Packs. If you received a pack during a previous deployment or posting, you are still entitled to receive another during your current or any future deployment. For longer deployments, we would also like to send you a second pack during the deployment.
Deployed? We want to hear from you
If you are deployed or serving away from your usual support network, don’t be shy about asking for a Spanner Pack, we genuinely want to hear from you.
You are not taking a pack away from somebody else. The purpose of the program is to support RAEME members like you and remind you that the Corps family is thinking of you.
To request a pack or nominate someone, contact:
MAJ (Retd) Tom Cross
Spanner Pack Coordinator
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Please provide the member’s rank and name, unit, activity, location, expected duration and an appropriate contact or postal arrangement. Operational security must always be maintained.
Help us send the next pack
Operation Spanner Pack relies on the generosity of the wider RAEME community. Individuals and businesses can support the program through financial donations, commercial sponsorship, suitable products or introductions to potential sponsors.
For information about donating or otherwise supporting the program, visit:
Operation Spanner Pack
Every contribution helps remind another deployed RAEME member that the Corps family remembers them and stands firmly behind them.
Arte et Marte
RAQ 1943 GPW Jeep - Small engraving unlocks a wartime story - Buderim
A small engraving on the steering wheel of the RAEME Association Queensland’s 1943 GPW Jeep has opened a fascinating window into the life of a Second World War soldier, thanks to some recent detective work by Frank Carroll.
Following a conversation at the Maroochydore lunch, Frank investigated the engraved Army service number. It appears to read WX5466, the number allocated to Private Cecil Arnold Berryman of the 2/28th Infantry Battalion.
Cecil enlisted in Western Australia on 30 July 1940, aged 25. His wartime service took him to the Middle East, New Guinea and North Borneo, with further research identifying him as one of the “Rats of Tobruk”.
Above: Cairns, QLD, 7 August 1943. Troops of the 2/28th Infantry Battalion boarding the SS Paul P Steinmetz for New Guinea. Image courtesy of AWM.
In August 1943, Cecil sailed from Cairns aboard the SS Paul P Steinmetz, arriving at Milne Bay on 10 August. He later departed Finschhafen aboard the Van Heuts in January 1944, returning to Townsville.
That voyage revealed a remarkable coincidence: Frank’s father had arrived at Finschhafen on the same troopship just three days before Cecil boarded it for the journey home. Two soldiers’ paths almost crossed, with the connection coming to light more than 80 years later.
Above: Left to right: WX5466, Private Cecil Berryman on enlistment in 1940. Morotai, 1 June 1945. Landing Ships, tank (LST), drawn up on the beach to load troops and equipment of the 2/43rd Infantry Battalion during a full-scale rehearsal for the OBOE Six Operation. Images courtesy of the Australian War Memorial and the National Archives of Australia.
After leave, during which he married, Cecil returned overseas in April 1945, travelling to Morotai before embarking aboard LST595 for service in British North Borneo. He returned to Australia in October and was discharged on 10 October 1945.
Sadly, Cecil passed away on 4 October 2009, aged 94, and rests at Geraldton Cemetery. Archival enlistment photographs now put a face to the name behind the number.
While the engraving alone cannot establish exactly when or how Cecil’s number came to be on the steering wheel, it provides an intriguing lead in uncovering the Jeep’s history.
Our thanks to Frank for his research, and to Frank and Keith for their ongoing care of the Jeep. Their efforts are helping preserve both the vehicle and the stories connected with it.
Visit the Jeep at Coolum
Frank Carroll graciously houses the RAQ Jeep at his Carroll’s Transport Depot Museum in Coolum, where it is on permanent display alongside an excellent collection of well-preserved military vehicles, Rolls-Royce cars and other equipment.
We sincerely appreciate Frank’s generosity and ongoing care of the Jeep, allowing Association members, Sunshine Coast locals and visitors to enjoy this piece of military history.
Frank opens the display on the first Saturday of each month for Coffee and Cars, from 7.00 am to 10.00 am. Come along, take a closer look at the Jeep and enjoy the collection in the company of fellow motoring and military history enthusiasts.
Find the museum at:
- Unit 2, 52 Lysaght Street
- Coolum Beach QLD 4573
For more information, visit the Henry Royce Foundation’s Coolum Showroom page and follow Cars and Coffee Sunshine Coast on Facebook for event details.
Maintenance Matters Edition 09 — Read it online now
The latest edition of Maintenance Matters is now available, bringing together news, achievements and stories from across the RAEME community.
Edition 09 includes:
- St Eligius Trophy results, showcasing the technical skills and teamwork of our Corps.
- RAEME Birthday celebrations and other gatherings planned around Australia.
- A feature marking the anniversary of Australian service commencing in Afghanistan, including information about commemorative coins.
- A call to support Matt Redwood’s artwork, Generations in Conflict, in the People’s Choice Award for the Australian War Memorial’s Napier Waller Art Prize.
- Reports and photographs from RAEME members around the nation.
Congratulations to Matt McCarthy, who received this edition’s $50 best member submission voucher for his reports and photographs from the recent Recovery Mechanic Reunion.
Choose your preferred reading format:
Have a story to share?
The editorial team is seeking RAEME families with two or more members who have served in the Corps, particularly those with stories spanning generations. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to start the conversation.
Nominations are also welcome for former-serving members who have gone Above and Beyond in supporting their communities.
Articles, photographs, recognition nominations and welfare notifications can be lodged through the Maintenance Matters submission portal.
Take a look, share it with a mate and consider contributing to the next edition!
Ian Cook
Managing Editor
Arte et Marte.
