Sinai face lift

By David Edlington
Volume 11, No. 39, March 23, 2006

Wired for sound: Country musician James Blundell strikes a low profile as he crawls under the wire at the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) obstacle course at North Camp in the Sinai. Photos by David Edlington.

Bec and a lie down: Singer Bec Lavelle doesn’t only rest her voice after getting past the wire obstacle.

Stretcher case: Comedian Wayne Deakin recovers after winning a dash to the finish line of the obstacle course, as Bec Lavelle and James Blundell laugh about who should give him mouth-to-mouth. They are flanked by PTI WO2 Dave Schenck and WO2 Tom Littler, who took the entertainers around the course.

COUNTRY music legend James Blundell will go to great lengths to entertain Australian troops – even if it means crawling under barbed wire. Not to mention travelling half a world away to do so.

That was the case when Blundell, stylish singer Bec Lavelle and talented adman-turned-gagman Wayne Deakin took part in the Forces Advisory Council on Entertainment (FACE) tour to the Sinai in Egypt last month. The trio approached the tour with the same intensity as a Sinai sandstorm – but left a much more favourable impression.

They staged two concerts during a three-day visit to North Camp, a major base for the 11 nations in the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) that monitors the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. Twenty-five Australian Army members serving on Operation Mazurka are based at the camp.

Apart from the concerts – which showcased Australian music, culture and humour – the artists further entertained onlookers when they braved the obstacle course.

During the session PTI WO2 Dave Schenck showed them the correct way to run, jump and crawl, and also taught them the ropes - literally. While Blundell slithered under the wire and skimmed across a rope bridge with aplomb, comedian Deakin had the last laugh by winning a dash to the finish line.

The same gusto the troupe demonstrated on the obstacle course was evident during their performances at an outdoors concert open to all North Camp personnel and at a more intimate concert at the Anzac Cove club for the Australian and New Zealand contingents.

Blundell, who has given some 1000 performances in his distinguished career, was blown away with the enthusiastic reception.
“It’s a real privilege to be part of this. Concerts like this are among the most apt applications of entertainment – they’re a great way to acknowledge people who are disconnected from their homes and families,” he said.

Capt Meaghan Barry said the concerts were particularly welcome because Australia had “been part of the MFO for so long that we’re kind of forgotten, so it’s nice to feel loved”. She said the shows enabled the Australians to get together and celebrate their national identity.

“A little bit of home in the Sinai” is how Capt Anne-Marie Russell summarised the entertainment tour. That was certainly true for Sgt Glenn Norton, who was delighted to hear James Blundell live in concert. “I grew up with his music so it was good to be able to sit down, relax and think of home,” he said.

Sgt Andrew Hall expressed a common feeling among his compatriots when he said, “That was outstanding. This is going to make a lot of the other nationalities here envious.”

Commander Australian Services Contingent Lt-Col Russell Hodson described the performances as “quintessentially Australian”. “We really are a lucky country and that came out in the songs they chose to sing,” Lt-Col Hodson said.

I Still Call Australia Home and I Am Australian were clearly crowd favourites, with many of the Aussie troops joining the entertainers at the microphone in a rousing rendition of the latter at the Anzac Cove club. Earlier, Sgt Keith Banfield added to the entertainment when he accompanied Blundell on the iconic Cold Chisel hit Khe Sanh – using a folded piece of a paper as a makeshift harmonica.

Blundell also performed his own song inspired by the experience of Australians in the Vietnam War, Postcards From Saigon, from his new album Deluge.

“Choosing a set in a deployment situation is a bit hard because you can trip an emotional wire, but then again that’s a cathartic thing,” he said.

The musician, who has also performed for troops in Timor-Leste, was particularly keen to take part in the Sinai tour because his grandfather fought in the Middle East during World War II. His grandad’s service has imbued him with a deep affection for and appreciation of the sacrifices of Australian soldiers on operation in war and peace.

“I think leaving family behind is about the most admirable thing you can do for your country. That sounds simplistic, but it takes real strength of character to say ‘I think this job is important enough’ and to forgo some of those personal things,” he said.

Deakin, who was involved in the Tour de Force to Timor-Leste last year, also enjoyed the chance to perform for the soldiers.
“They’re doing their bit and they really have a crack wherever they are. You noticed that in North Camp they had everyone’s respect. They’re really knockabout guys and you know when the chips are down they’re the ones you can count on,” he said, then quipped, “I’m happy to go and do my bit as long as they fly me home business class.”

He knows he can count on soldiers to provide him with material for his act.

“There’s nothing like an Australian digger to come up and dob in his mates for you to have a crack at – and I’m more than happy to oblige,” he said.

In a good-natured swipe at his tour colleagues, he said, “Other people get up there and sing songs that they didn’t write, but I use my own stuff. The stuff I wrote for the first gig at North Camp was pretty good. As Greg Norman said at the 1986 Australian Open, ‘I was in awe in myself’.”

Apart from the two concerts, Deakin also performed just for the Australians at the Homestead, the barracks where many of the Australian contingent live. While his act went down a treat, he said it was not easy to do stand-up to an audience of Australian soldiers.

“Aussies especially think they are all absolutely hilarious, so why would you need a comedian. That’s the greatest obstacle to doing comedy to diggers – they are all pretty much funny themselves.”

But he has a word of warning for any would-be hecklers at future FACE concerts: “The pen is mightier than the sword and my tongue can take down a battalion.”

Singer Bec Lavelle, the vocalist on the McLeod’s Daughters soundtrack, has cherished memories of the tour.
“The highlight for me was the show we did at Anzac Cove because it was a really nice, intimate setting. Also, it was my birthday that night and they spoilt me rotten,” she said.

“To be so well received and to be able to perform with someone of James’ calibre was an absolute highlight of my career so far and an experience that may even surpass anything in the future.

“It was so hands-on: staying in the quarters and doing some of the activities the soldiers do – such as the obstacle course – was great.

“You wouldn’t be able to pay for an experience like that. It’s important to remember that even if you are a Richard Branston, you can’t spend money and get as close to those guys as we did on this trip.”

The three entertainers were adamant they would welcome the opportunity to be part of other FACE tours in the future.
As for the troops in the Sinai, they were delighted to receive a FACE lift – and no doubt would be pleased to host more concerts.

After leaving Egypt, the entertainment troupe travelled to Cyprus to hold a concert for the 15 members of the Australian Federal Police, as well as officers from other nations, deployed with the UN Force in Cyprus that monitors the buffer zone between Turkish and Greek Cypriots. British soldiers based in Cyprus also attended the concert.