Wayne was different on many levels. He was one of our diggers in 1PL. He could run. He had been a very good distance runner in his hometown before joining the Army, and had a habit of running with weights when he trained.

He was one of our best 5km and Cross Country runners in the battalion, we all knew Wayne because of his running. If the battalion or Brigade had a Cross Country event on, Wayne was one of our guns.

As a preparation, he would run the Cross Country the morning of a battalion or brigade Cross Country to get a feel for the course. He would swim 55 lags every morning before PT, jumping the fence at the BDE Pool.

He loved it when a new guy in the company would say yes and go for a run with him. The older guys only ever did that once, though Vic Perry and Strengy often ran with him.

In 1984 Wayne competed in the BDE Athletics carnival and was competing in the 1500m. After three laps he was well behind, which was unusual, it was rare he could not maintain a pace with pretty much anyone. As the leaders turned into the final lap, Wayne was 100-120m behind. Wayne started to sprint, and with the battalion cheering from the sides closed the lead. In the final straight Wayne was 25m behind and maintained his sprint and won on the line.

The Battalion went berserk. 

Immediately after the race, he collapsed. He had a seizure.

Consequently, Wayne was to be med discharged. Our Company Commander, Dougal McMillan did everything he could and exhausted every option to keep Wayne in service but was unsuccessful. 

Whilst his Discharge paperwork was going through, he was assigned the job of Mascot Handler. Seppy. Corporal Septimus Tertius, the Shetland Pony.

Wayne managed Seppy like no one had previously. The pony had previously been managed by a bushman Horse wrangler, as well as an ex Jockey. Seppy had seen them all come and go. He did not take into account Wayne’s commitment to training and his never say die attitude. For Sep and his new handler, this meant the Cross Country runs three times a week.

Sep, the little white bastard was beginning to look athletic. Greyhound like. The RSM thought it wise to have a word with Wayne. Seppy had been spotted by the RSM behind the Guard Room with legs upright, aka Animal House in the Dean’s office.

Wayne was asked to ease up on the horse.

As the handler, Wayne was also responsible for handling Sep on parades. Sep was a stubborn little fucker, but didn’t appreciate that in a contest of strength of mind with Wayne, he was never going to win. Sep reluctantly behaved after Wayne gave him a gentle Tyson uppercut on the Battalion parade ground.

Hadn’t we all wanted to do that at one time or another.

Sadly, Wayne took his own life in 2015, months before we returned to the Battalion to celebrate the 70th Birthday at Coral Lines.

Rest easy mate.