Wiley
Brilliant.
Reminds me of another YSCB VVIP fiasco in which I figured back in 1968. I was scheduled to be Orderly Dog (aka Orderly Officer) on the day that Ethiopian
Emperor Highly Salubrious (aka Haile Selassie, Lion of Judah, etc1892-1975) blew into town in his Ethiopian Airlines 707. It was the first and last OZ visit of the last of the Solomonic Kings, the Abyssinian Emperor being a lineal descendant of the Queen of Sheba and one of the ancient Christian Kings of Biblical Mythologic Lore. He'd fought off Mussolini's troops in the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1935 and was much beloved of his people. The Base Commander was ACDRe Sam ?? and he was greatly concerned that things should go off without a hitch for the Royal Visit. In particular he had visions of the Australian media out of control and storming the barricades during the pomp and pageantry of the welcoming ceremony. So my brief at his assembly the day before - of functionaries for the distinguished visit - was to position the scores of Service Police under my control and avoid any such pitch invasion by having the Service Police intervene as early as possible and manhandle them off the premises so to speak. I duly briefed my Orderly Sergeant and Orderly Officer Understudy exactly what I expected of them - and they briefed the SPits. It was all going to be a little difficult because I'd be standing at attention at the foot of the steps, facing front and giving the salute in standard fashion. However I wanted to be sure that nothing went awry and knew that if it did, I'd be held personally responsible - so I organised some hand signals that the Orderly Sergeant could act upon. The Orderly sergeant was a chopper crewman from 5 Sqn and wasn't all that smart - but he knew that if he got the signal to act, exactly what he should do.
So the first part (landing and taxi-in with flags waving) went off well and the momentous moment when the diminutive five foot tall figure of his Excellency emerged and stood resplendent at the top of the a/c front door for his National Anthem, wearing his impressive
array of medals was a real crowd stopper. Even though small in stature, Hailie Selassie looked like something out of a bygone era, with his military uniform swathed in the huge leopard skin robe that he always wore on State occasions. A very very distinguished gentleman indeed - something out of the historical story-books, almost a total anachronism for that day and age. As the fading strains of his Anthem receded, He was announced as:
His Imperial Majesty Negus Negast, His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I (Power of the Holy Trinity) Emperor of Ethiopia, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Elect of God, Light of the Universe
his standard imperial salutation. A more solemn and regal occasion you couldn't imagine. Just as he took his first step downward I caught the flash of a flashbulb close by and heard the whirr of a camera and I knew it was time for me to leap into action. Still standing at the salute I managed to flash the other hand gesture to my trusty Orderly Sergeant and the team closed in and manhandled the interlopers away. The Lion of Judah looked a bit perplexed but continued his regal descent of the steps and the greeting ceremony continued. A little later, the royal motorcade had departed and I couldn't quite understand the mixture of dark looks and sniqgers that seemed to be intended for me. I couldn't quite comprehend at that point - but did later when I watched it on TV in the O's Mess bar. From a middle distance shot you could clearly distinguish his retinue deplaning from the aft stairs and his official
PR people pealing off to get the obligatory piccies of H.E. descending the stairs - when out of nowhere a horde of SP's, capped and armbanded like Nazi stormtroopers, descend upon them and hustled them off out of the picture - stage right. Puggerr. I was P.O.R.'d never to do RAAF Fairbairn O/O ever again and found myself in Vietnam a week later. (I guess the appropriate punishment was so obvious they couldn't help themselves). But I got my own back later when, under a different administration and with a chestful of medals they decided I was the obvious choice to fly the GG, mount the Honour Guard for the Opening of Parliament, Battle of Britain Day and various other Moratorium Crowd crowd-pleasers. Plenty of regrets all around there too - but that's another story.
H.I.M. displaying here the mystical and metaphysical "Salutation of Peace" or the Sign of the Holy Trinity. The triangle pointing downwards is an esoteric symbol representing the maternal phase of the Seal of Solomon; the six - pointed star is also known as the Star of David.