Austral

Austral Magazine

"Austral" - The Magazine of RAAF School
The first edition of Austral was published in 1960. Austral was the magazine of RAAF School. From the beginning it was seen to be not only a record of the school's activities, but would also serve as a "souvenir for each child; a lasting impression of his stay in Penang". Its purpose was to record the life of RAAF School Malaysia and harness some of the spirit of the school. To this end the magazine was produced annually with the aim of harnessing these objectives. Credit goes to the NSW Staff Inspector, Mr AW McKibbin, visitor to the school in 1959, who initially put forward the idea of a school magazine. The magazine was a glossy publication of generally around 150 pages which represented a broad cross-section of school life, including headmasters and teaching staff photos, civilian staff photos, examples of students' literature, art, sporting results, excursion photos, candids, school productions, articles on Penang and Malaysia, reports and messages from officials and visitors. Colour was introduced in the 1966 issue, although the covers had been printed in colour previously. Also, when the logo was introduced in 1963 it was printed in colour in the facing pages. The last Austral was published in 1987. Information on this site relating to 1988 is courtesy of Mr B. Boyle from his publication The RAAF School, Penang. Details were provided to him by Margaret Cronin, David Eden, Paul Loxley and Graeme Whitby. > addresses > magazine Addresses Random selection of official addresses from the Austral Magazine 1986 Squadron Leader Drake. The last paragraph of his address is poignant. 1966 - Air Commodore W.E. Townsend, Officer Commanding, RAAF Base Butterworth 1972 - Air Commodore I.S. Parker, Officer Commanding, Air Base Butterworth 1972 - Group Captain G.S. Zantuck, Principal Education Officer RAAF 1974 - Air Commodore P.F. Raw, Officer Commanding, Air Base Butterworth 1975 - W.B. Booth, Staff Inspector, NSW Department of Education 1981 - Air Commodore B.J. Reynolds 1984 - Air Commodore R.W. Bradford, Officer Commanding, Air Base Butterworth 1985 - Air Commodore R.W. Bradford, Officer Commanding, Air Base Butterworth 1986 - Squadron Leader B.J. Drake. Senior Education Officer
School Magazine Shown below are the front covers of each of the Austral magazines. Contributors To all those who have loaned their Austral magazines to me - a big thank you. I have put the names of those who have helped in this way beneath the respective magazine.
1960 Sandra Wright	1961 Michelle Harvey	1962 Allan Wilson	1963 Chris Howitt	1964 Chris Howitt
1965 Chris Howitt	1966 Len Mezzina	1967 Dave Neilen	1968 Cynthia Matuschka	1969 Cynthia Matuschka
1970 Cynthia Matuschka	1971 Michelle Harvey	1972 Kym Felton	1973 Chris Hays	1974 Derek Dobson
1975 Derek Dobson	1976 Craig Cooper	1977 Tania Wilkes	1978 Russell Cole	1979 Russell Cole
1980 Haley Jones	1981 Haley Jones	1982 Haley Jones	1983 Karren Svensson	1984 Kirrily Welsh
	1985 Juliette Meade	1986 Mr Wayne Thomas	1987 Melissa Scharper

O'er the ocean flies a merry fay,
Soft her wings are as a cloud of day.
As she passes all the blue waves say
"Marianina, do not roam,
Whither, whither is your home?
Come and turn us into foam.
Marianina, Marianina
Come, O come and turn us into foam."

O'er the mountains when the day is done,
There the clouds are gathering o'er the sun.
While they weeping, whisper one by one
"Marianina, come again,
We have tried to dance in vain,
Come and turn us into rain.
Marianina, Marianina
Come, oh come and turn us into rain."
(Marianina from RAAF School song book)