By CASEY NEILL
GEOFFREY Charters joined the Air Force at age of 18 and fought in Borneo during World War II – but his service papers reveal he should never have been sent overseas.
“I was working on a dairy farm at Thornton and the boss said to me ‘if you want to join the services you better go now or they’ll stop farm workers from leaving’,” he said.
“So I went the next day. I rode my bike from Thornton to Melbourne.”
The 87-year-old, who lives in Dandenong North, signed up at Fishermans Bend and was sent to a camp at the MCG for a week.
From there he was posted to Darwin, and then Borneo.
When the war ended Mr Charters worked with the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces at an Air Force camp in Bofu, Japan.
“I was there probably for about 12 months I think, then I got sent home because my dad drowned in the Maribyrnong River,” he said.
He was sent home and discharged on compassionate grounds.
His papers said he should never have been sent overseas because his chronic sinusitis meant he wasn’t fit for duty.
“I never got into the thick of battle or anything because the war was on the way to being finished when I got over there,” he said.
“All I was doing was we’d send out patrols and try to get any Japanese that were still left around the place, round them up. That was our job.
“I remember we had a Japanese prisoner, and he was treated like a pet. He used to walk around, he’d make us cups of tea.
“A lot of the Japanese themselves never wanted to go to war, they had no choice.”
The experience had a profound impact on his life.
“I think I might have become a better person for it,” he said.
It also led him to join the Springvale RSL, where he’s been a member for 63 years, including 12 as president. He was also on the district RSL board.
“I was pretty heavily involved in the RSL for many years. I still go socially now,” he said.
He’s been married to wife Dawn for almost 60 years and it was her father, Vic Fleming, and his brothers who formed the Springvale RSL in 1920.
Mrs Charters said her husband one night mentioned Borneo while playing cards with her father, who he knew through Mulgrave Football Club.
“My father put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a receipt book, he said ‘give us a quid’,” she said.
“He just wrote him a receipt and said ‘now you’re a member of Springvale RSL’.”
Mr Charters was inducted into the Victorian RSL Hall of Fame in 2008.
“That was a big day in my life and I missed the presentation,” he said.
But it was worth missing the ceremony – that night he saw violinist Andre Rieu instead.
He already had the tickets, which even granddaughter Melinda’s wedding took a back seat to – she rescheduled her special day.
Not even ill health kept him away from this year’s Springvale RSL Anzac Day march, held on 21 April, where he read a Bible excerpt during the service.
He used to go into Melbourne to march with his squadron every year, but now spends Anzac Day watching the commemorations on television.
“Anzac Day means a heck of a lot,” he said.
