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I'm sorry everyone. Mike passed away tonight.
Hi Guys
My name is Michael, I was born in 1959, in a place called Orange NSW Australia. i was the son of a farmer, and granndson to one of the original ANZACs, fought at Gallipoli, Palestine, including Beersheba. My grandad left me his war medals when he died, which I still have and cherish.
I was not real close to my Dad, but he brought me up, and taught me how to think, and question the world around me, and i am thankful for that. My dad was a difficult man, a needy man i guess. All of my brothers and sisters are bright....I have two sisters and a brother. My brother is an electronics engineer, has worked on everthing from the Harrier engine management systems to how to make Pokies suck more money out of the punters. My sisters are each a singer, and my other sister is a psychologist.
I had an intersting upbringing. Mum left my Dad when I was 7, and my brother and I spent most weekends on the farm, helping out. I learnt to ride, to gentle horses, i was driving trucks and tractors, and owned half a dozen guns by the time i was twelve. I learnt to shoot pretty well, but later, in my late twenties, I turned right away from hunting, and guns and all that stuff. I also learned how to fish with explosives, which was kinda cool i thought. At the other end of the scale, I was reading three books per week by the time I was ten. I grew to love knowledge, any knowledge, mostly to take on my Dad in the endless debates that we used to get into . Very young learning and knowledge became my escape for me
I graduated in in 1977, senior high, having achieved tertiary entrance scores in the top 2% of the country. I cannot tell you if my dad would have helped me through Uni, but I was getting tired of the the control he wanted to excercise over me, i was always a restless soul, and loved two things, boats and planes. I decided to join the navy
All this sounds like a dirge, but it wasnt. I had a blast as a young fella. I used to live about 45 miles from school, and was the only kid in the valley with a car. I used to keep the petrol up to it by running a school taxi service. It cost two bucks, flat fee, to flag me down and get in the car. if you were a cute girl, you got in for free, so long as you sat next to me, and i was allowed to put my arm around you. On weekends I used to sink wells for the local farmers, and use explosives to cut through any rocks I would find
I joined the navy in 1978, having spent some time in the Naval reserves before that. By the time I left for the navy my sport was boxing. I was young and fit, and strong, and dangerous.
I graduated from the naval College in 1981, and spent a couple more yearswith the fleet having qualified for my second stripe (Lt). Whilst i was in college, I was introduced to what beacame my lifelong passion, wargaming. I have been doing that ever since, not as a full time living, but as serious hobby neverthe less.
I served on a number of ships, including the carrier melbourne. Whilst on the melbourne I realized that I really wanted to fly. But that was never to be. The nearest I got to a shooting war was in 1981, following the Russian invasion of afghanistan. We all thought there was going to be shooting back then. I was training to be a PWO by then (Principal Warfare officer) and got to see a lot of action in the ops room as a result. Later i went to staff college for about six month (or thereabouts) It was a bit scary (and exciting, to watch the live ammunition being loaded onto the carrier Before we sailed. It was a small but effective TG that sailed into the Arabian sea that year. Shooting would have started if Pakistan was attacked
The last trip i did with the navy was 1984. I volunteered to crew on the Antarctic supply ship, the Nella Dan. I wanted to see the Polar ice. already I had deployed to a lot of interesting places. New Guinea, Fiji, New Zealand, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Malaysia, just to name a few
I remember one of the best times was meeting in Singas with some New Zealanders, one or two Americans, and I think two Russinas. We had the best times teaching each other how to swear in various languages, and other stuff. It was about that time that i realized that politics keeps us apart, andthe stuff that I was being indoctrinated with in the navy was a bit off the mark in some respects. We all bleed and have the same worries and cares in many resapects.
I never made it to Antarctica, I was wondering why I was losing so much weight. I ate like a horse and was constantly thirsty. halfway down to antardtica, I collapsed, in a coma. My old ship the melbourne apparently winched me to safety. All i know is i woke up in a hospital. A few days later i received the bad news, I would be discharged from the navy as medically unfit. It was pretty bad. My girlfriend, who became my first wife was pregnant, and I had no job. It got worse. A couple of months later I had a bad motocycle accident, and my wife decided it was all too much after the baby came along. So here I am, no job, a baby (by that stage about 8 months), and with injuries that might well make me permanently disabled (I had nearly torn my shoulder off, and had split my liver). I remember the medical staff saying on the night of my accident "we might lose this one" Kinda makes you really stop and think when that happens.
But I did survive. My second love was design, urban design, geography and things like that. I worked by day, my mom helped with the baby (for about two years), and I studied by night. I completed my second degree in two years (I could use a lot of the subjects from the first degree I had received in 1980). In 1987 I got my first job as a town planner. It had been a long dark time. I now also have a further degree in Environmental land management, which sort of explains why i no longer own a gun, and wont even touch one
I am still a town planner today. In 2002 my son graduated, and all of a sudden I was single and unnattached again. I met a lady plying chess on the Internet, shes Russian, and beautiful, and she actually likes me. We got married in 04, have built a house. i am thinking of having another child. Tanya, my wife, is thirteen years my junior, so she really wants to have a child. I wouldnt mind one either, to be honest
Because i read so much, i have a lot of books. I mentioned my hobby, wargaming. Actually I am a wargame designer, working with a small group of friends, Our Group have helped to design a number of games, the most famous of which is World In Flames. These are the table based counter games, some of you may be familair with. they are not computer games. They require a lot of research, because they must be reasonably accurate if they are to have my name on it. they are better described as simulations rahter than games actually. My current project is a simulation of the entire war, covering the air, land, sea, political and industrial aspect of the war. The air system is based around "air points", ten plane units, which are not on the map as such. The points are grouped into air Gropups, which for kland based units is about 20 air point (200 a/c) Everyone who has seen it says it is easily the most accurate air combat system they have ever seen. But it still needs some work. It takes about 300 hours to play the whole thing from strart to finish, which is just too long
Anyway, here is my ugly scone, and my wife on the day we ewere married.
BTW I call myself Parsifal, because that was to be my callsign if i had ever received my wings. i was always liked to see myself as the one of pure heart...yeah right.
Hi everyone,
Apologies if this is in the wrong section, I came on here to update everyone about regular user Parsifal.
I noticed there is an in Memorium section but I couldn't post in there.
I am Parsifal's nephew, I know these forums have meant a lot to him over the years.
Parsifal, or as I know him as, Mike, is in a critical condition in hospital at the moment and may pass very soon.
If someone could please redirect this where it needs to go that would be most appreciated, also if anyone knows the other WW2 forums he might have frequented could this news please be passed on to there also.
We are hoping for a miracle at this stage and it may come. I will update with more information as it comes.
Please pray for Mike.
Regards,
His nephew