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Three generations of McAlisters Photo provided by WO1 Tony McAlister Birds of a feather Army-style MCALISTERS come and go – that would appear to be the impression at ARTC Kapooka after another of the clan completed recruit training. For proud father WO1 Tony McAlister, HQ 2 Div, the sight of his son Pte Nathaniel McAlister, 1 Cdo Regt, marching out represented another strand in his family’s military history. Witnessing the parade is a family tradition – some 30 years ago when WO1 McAlister completed his recruit training at 1RTB Kapooka, his father Bernie McAlister was on hand. Mr McAlister returned to Kapooka with his son to see his grandson freshly minted and ready to go. Pte McAlister is the seventh member of his family to take the oath to serve the nation. His paternal great-grandfather, Sgt Percy Edgar McAlister, 36 Bn, AIF, fought on the Western Front in WW1. One of his maternal great-grandfathers, LCpl Henry Tasman Bradley, who was a member of the Guard of Honour at the opening of the first Parliament House in Canberra, was a member of the 7th Light Horse. He won the Commander’s Cup (a unit horse race run on the day on the same horse that he rode from Tumut to Canberra). Grandfather Cpl Albert Henry Shields was a member of the famous 9 Div 2 AIF, serving in a field hospital in the Middle East fighting against the Afrika Korps as a Rat of Tobruk. WO1 McAlister’s paternal uncle, Sgt Norman McAlister, transferred from 21 LHR on the outbreak of WW2 to 22 Inf Bn and saw service in New Guinea and New Britain. Pte McAlister’s smart turn-out on parade could not just be attributed to the hardwork of the ARTC instructors – his mother, WO2 Verell McAlister, RAAPC, no doubt was an influence on the latest member of the McAlister military clan.