Secret war diary
The third part of the citation notes three separate
occasions on which his platoon located and
engaged occupied enemy defensive positions.
“2LT Weekes’ personal bravery, tactical skill
and calmness under fi re was an inspiration to
his men, and resulted in the platoon’s marked
successes during this period,” the citation reads.
Forty years later, in the comfort of his
Thuringowa home, BRIG Weekes fl icks through
the diary, dipping into it at random, suddenly
bursting into laughter when he fi nds an entry
noting the birth of his fi rst child, a daughter.
“That cost me a lot,” he said, still laughing.
He knew the arrival of his fi rst-born
was imminent and had bet the men in
his platoon that it would be a boy.
A telegram from his mother-in-law arrived
congratulating him on the birth of a daughter.
On the strength of it, he duly shouted the bar
and everybody “collected” on their bet.
But a couple of days later, a letter arrived
that said little “Neil William” was putting on
weight rapidly and generally doing well.
“I thought ‘that’s a strange name for
a girl’,” BRIG Weekes said.
It turns out that wife Lyn’s mother had seen a
notice posted on the babies room at the hospital
indicating her daughter had delivered a baby
girl and, without checking, had rushed straight
off to send Neil the good news by telegram.
When she returned to the hospital,
she was astonished to fi nd Lyn was
very obviously still pregnant.
Rather than send another telegram and
possibly causing alarm, they decided to wait.
Neil William Weekes duly arrived and, with
mother and son doing well, Lyn wrote to Neil
to deliver the news and explain the mistake.
“The mail was unreliable and as it happened,
the second letter she wrote was the one I got
fi rst, so it was a day or two before I really
understood what had happened,” he said.
A non-drinker, the platoon commander
was still keen on redressing the balance
and collecting a soft drink or two from
the men he had already paid in beer.
“Do you think those Diggers would buy
me so much as a softdrink?,” he said.
“No way!”
He said his diary also proved, for him, the existence
of a kind of ESP between married couples.
The diary entry for November 18, 1968 notes he
was suff ering “terrifi c pains” in his abdomen.
Then, on November 19: “Pains until 0100h.
Wonder if little Weekesy is arriving.”
November 20: “Telegram. Pains
correct. Daughter born.”
BRIG Weekes fl icked through the diary a
bit further, then burst into laughter again.
“That’s the key to my Army trunk,” he said.
“I wish I had remembered I put it there. I
had to force it open when I got home.”
BRIG Weekes revisited the diary during the
commemorations surrounding the Battle of Coral.
He took the diary with him to the dedication
of a replica cross to one made in Nui Dat.
The cross at 1RAR honours the 1RAR members
lost in two tours of Vietnam in 165-66 and 1968-69.
The commemoration and 1RAR reunion was
one of the biggest ever held by the battalion.
32 | APRIL 2017
If the hat fi ts....
A
CASUAL conversation at
the kitchen table in Neil
Weekes’ Thuringowa house led
to him becoming a newspaper
reporter in a warzone.
And, such was his generosity,
he did it as a favour.
As we sipped our tea, we each set
out the terms under which he would
represent the Northern Services
Courier (the hardcopy predecessor
of this publication) on an ADF-
sponsored media tour of the Middle
East Area of Operations in 2012.
He wanted to be sure we
wouldn’t “whitewash” his copy
and that we would print the truth.
Promised.
I wanted to be sure he felt
confi dent the trip would not
be problematic for him - was
he sure it would not trigger
some sort of PTSD relapse?
No problem.
Although I probably couldn’t
help smirking, I also insisted he
had to wear clothing appropriate
to a “reporter” of his vintage -
specifi cally, a dark fedora with
a piece of white card in the brim
that proclaimed him as “PRESS
No bloody way!
That exchange came back to
him at the dinner to welcome th
visiting journalists to the ADF’s
HQ in the Middle East at Al
Minhad Air Base in the United
Arab Emirates, hosted by one of
his former RMC pupils, COMD
JTF633 MAJGEN Stu Smith.
It was Neil’s birthday and Stu
used that as the perfect cover to
surprise him with a presentation
of exactly THAT hat (pictured).
Neil took it with typical grace
and humour, but, although he ke
the hat, I don’t think he ever wo
it other than just long enough
for this photograph to be taken.
- TED BR