Beary challenging

Volume 11, No. 56, November 16, 2006
By Lt James Groves and
Cpl Andrew Hetherington

A tonne of fun: Gnr Chris Milligan, Gnr Jason Johnson and Gnr Rik Olsson in the foreground on their way to Royal Darwin Hospital. Photo by Gnr Jay White

SOLDIERS from 8/12 Mdm Regt raised over $45,000 for the children’s ward of the Darwin Hospital in their 2006 Gunner Bear charity event.

Maj Steven Mott BC of 101 Mdm Bty, said 100 personnel from the battery, who had recently returned from the Solomon Islands, pushed a 1.8 tonne L119 Hamel gun through the streets of Darwin on October 28.

“The 22km, six-hour gun push began at the Esplanade in Darwin and finished at the Darwin hospital,” he said.

“The soldiers spent a fortnight collecting donations and raising public awareness for the event, which aimed to raise money for improved security resources at the Paediatrics Ward of the Royal Darwin Hospital.”

Within an hour Maj Mott said the Darwin heat and humidity started making its presence known but, to their credit, all detachments involved in the gun push completed their rotations in high spirits and with heavy donation tins.

“We were fortunate to have a robust heat management plan in place to assist with the hot conditions, and we rotated guys on and off the gun at regular intervals.”

At the conclusion of the gun push, the director of Royal Darwin Hospital Dr Len Notaras, and his staff welcomed the soldiers into the hospital grounds for a barbecue celebration.

After thanking the Commander 1 Bde and the regiment, Dr Notaras encouraged his staff to bid for the Gunner Bear teddy in an auction that raised $300.

In total, Gunner Bear 2006 raised in excess of $45,800 for the Royal Darwin Hospital thanks to the generosity of the people of Darwin and the efforts of the Gunners.

This is an improvement of more than $15,000 on last year’s fundraising efforts.

Maj Mott said the soldiers from the regiment always enjoyed helping the Darwin community and in particular such an important resource as the Royal Darwin Hospital.

“This event is all about community service, it is about returning the favour to an organisation that supports the Darwin community, which also includes the Army,” he said.

“This is the second time we have run the event in Darwin. The event was run for a number of years in Sydney before that. The soldiers thrive on the event.”