Good shepherd flocks to rescue wounded birds

Volume 49, No. 15, August 24, 2006

By Capt Lachlan Simond

The role of aviation technicians on Australian warships is usually to maintain and fix the helicopters that are an integral part of a modern ship’s capability.
But CPOATAE George Shepherd found himself responsible for fixing two very different airframes onboard HMAS Ballarat recently. Referred to as “Birdies” by the rest of the ship’s crew, CPO Shepherd lived up to his nickname.

“I found one of the birds exhausted and nearly dead on the quarter deck. I fed it up with water, meal and a bit of fresh meat and it soon came good,” he explained. “The other one he was covered in oil and couldn’t fly. I gave him a wash in water and soft detergent, got him cleaned up and now he’s ready to fly.”

On deployment to the Northern Persian Gulf, George is well aware of the RAN’s mission to assist in the rebuilding of Iraq, but he took on extra duties when it came to assisting the two local fliers.

The two tenor falcons were soon housed in HMAS Ballarat’s hangar as they recuperated, where they were later farewelled on one of the two Iraqi oil terminals that Ballarat defends.
Once CPO Shepherd assessed that “all systems were serviceable”, the two falcons were released back into the wild.

“I guess you could say it was helping the locals. I’m doing my bit for the environment and helping the wildlife up here in the Gulf,” he said.

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