Closer to home and to the hearts of many of our Members, I deeply regret to announce the passing of a Nirimba Legend, Shipwright Instructor George Bray, who passed away on the 19th June 2006.

I was first advised of George's passing in this e-mail from Lt Shipwright Officer (Rtd.) Vince Fazio...

"Dear Rick,

I regret to inform you that George Bray died on Monday. He had not been well for some time and could not undertake any commitments.

Would you please inform the Shipwright Mobis and any others for that matter. I have no funeral arrangements as yet, but will contact you ASAP when I do have them. Let me have your mobile No. if you wouldn't mind, so that I can reach you more easily.

Regards,

Vince"

As the website was down I forwarded Vince's e-mail on to a number of (predominantly) Chippies in my Outlook list, with many expressing a desire to attend George's funeral... then a second e-mail from Vince...

"Rick,

In today's Sydney Morning Herald, there is a funeral notice to the effect that George was privately cremated. That effectively rules out any public participation. It also stated that "He was a Proud Shipwright"
We may be able to have a tribute to George at the service on July 1st at Nirimba, but in the meantime, I will include in this email, my tribute to George, on the basis, that I have known and have been continually involved with him since 1942.


Eulogy to GEORGE BRAY...
SHIPWRIGHT, FRIEND AND MENTOR

I have known George since I joined the Australian Air League at the Glebe Branch in early 1942 at the age of 12. He was a Senior member of the AAL and as such, was involved in training juniors like myself. Always firm, but fair, he taught us a lot in the curriculum covering the aspects of aircraft construction, theory of flight and parade work.
I had learned to play a bugle and at Georges instigation, I became a Drummer/ Bugler performing on both instruments (not simultaneously). As I filled out and added some inches to my height, I was told to take over the role of Bass Drummer in the Branch Band. This I managed with a degree of success over time.
Apart from the formal side, George offered his friendship, which was very important to me because of the not so good circumstances in which my family found themselves. After I left the AAL, we maintained communication and I was able to contact him on an irregular basis over the years.

In 1950, I joined the RAN and after some sea service and tropical time, was eventually sent to FND to undergo a lengthy conversion course to Naval Shipwright. On completion, I posted to Nirimba in November 1955 as THE Shipwright. It was a lot of fun as the depot was in Care and Maintenance and following the arrival of Captain F L George as the new CO, things started to move along. I was called into the "Great Mans" office one day and asked if I knew anybody who would fit the requirement as a Shipwright/ Boatbuilder Instructor. The applicant had to have a thorough knowledge of his craft and have a good rapport with youths and young men. George sprang to mind immediately and I informed FLG to that effect, quoting my association in the AAL and subsequent period. I mentioned his name and that he was working at Garden Island, FLG knew him by sight and approved my suggestion, remarking that the pay would be 17 Pounds per week (good money at the time) I was told that I would be required to assist George and I asked if my pay could be bumped to 17 Pounds, which did not go over all that well.
I went to Garden Island, found George who had a smallish apprentice with him who was introduced to me as Brian Swan (yes, the same !) George applied for the job and got it without any bother, becoming one of the small team of Instructors at the beginning. He slotted into the role as though it was all he had ever done and there is no need to elaborate on the result.
I left Nirimba in December 1956 and after some years, having beaten the system and becoming a Shipwright Lieutenant, I returned to the Alma Mater in January 1966
taking over the role as Shipwright Technical Training Officer. This changed on the retirement of Bert Hunter, when I assumed the role as PTO NS, this time being reunited with George, as I was now his boss in effect.

This is where the fun started. Charlie Loines, not known for having a laid back disposition and George, who had perfected the art of stirring, made life very interesting for me. I eventually got it sorted and when the time came for a Shipwright Instructor to be promoted to Senior Instructor, I insisted that George get the job on the basis that he was the longest serving and was equally as capable as any other Instructor in the Shipwright training area. I was not let down at any time as a result.
During the time, I was inducted into Freemasonry and had the pleasure of again socialising with George on another level. I would like to think that the organisation known as NIRMAS owed a lot to Georges involvement. I feel that even non Masons would not disagree with that.

Since he retired, we have maintained contact through various mediums and now that is over. I feel that I owe George a lot for his guidance, advice and friendship over the past 64 years and I take this opportunity to express my condolences to his family and I have no doubt that anybody who had any involvement with George, would not agree with my assessment.

Vale George, you have been an inspiration. Gentleman, Friend and a man who has contributed to the future and success of many.

Vince Fazio
on GEORGE BRAY

I sent the following off to Vince...

A fitting tribute Vince and I know that everyone who ever had the pleasure of meeting George, especially those of us who owe so much of our trade skills to his mentoring, would agree with your sentiments...

With your permission, I'd like to forward your eulogy to all on my e-mail database and when our www.RAN-SkilledHands.org Forum Website is up and running again, I'll post it as a tribute to this memorable man.

From my last round of e-mails I've already had a swag of tributes to George pouring in which I'll eventually add to our website... Thank you all for your contributions...

Many have indicated that they would have liked to attend his funeral, perhaps they can make it to the rededication of the Memorial at HMAS Nirimba on the 1st July to pay their respects...

(Perhaps Kevin Assenhiem can forward this e-mail on to the 2006 HMAS Nirimba 50th Anniversary Reunion database to reach those I've missed, thanks Kev...)

A number of e-mail tributes to George followed, like this one...

Good story Vince and what a "top" photo of George.
George Bray was a bloke fully deserving of your nice words.
There is a lot about my NIRIMBA days I have forgotten and would prefer to forget but not so George.
I am one of those inspired by him. Even though I never had him as an instructor, he always seemed to be "around" watching my every move. Maybe it came from me watching his every move. I really looked up to him at that tender age. I even visited his old "G.I. Boat Shop" I think it was called some time after my apprenticeship days just to see where he worked and to talk about him. I received a warm welcome and got the grand tour of the shop. He was well liked by all who knew him.
Ian Carter

Please feel free to post your thoughts, just hit the 'Post Reply' button at the bottom of the page...

VALE GEORGE BRAY - LEGEND

_________________

Rick Pengilly
WEBMASTER
Ex-CPOMTH3
R42630
13th MOBI Intake
July'62 to July'74
HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Melbourne - HMAS Cerberus - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Lonsdale - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Brisbane

Sadly, George's passing signifies the end of an era.

An era that will never be repeated, and never forgotten by those of us fortunate to be associated with George.

May you always enjoy a comfortable seat down by the ocean, George.

_________________

Chris O'Keefe
R43136
Ex WO Chippy
19th MOBI Intake
July 65 to July 85
HMAS Nirimba X 4 -Penguin-Sydney-Queenborough - Creswell - Moreton - Stalwart - Platypus - Coonawarra Reconstruction Team 76 - Platypus - Hobart - Cerberus - FHQ - Coonawarra.

Anyone can be ordinary. Shipwrights choose to be extraordinary!

You'll remember that, at the time of George's passing, RAN Skilled Hands was off-line...

As soon as it was back online, we posted Vince Fazio's Eulogy to George (above), but the Photo Galleries were still not restored, meaning we couldn't post a photo of our most respected mentor...

Now that the Photo Galleries have been replaced, I'm pleased to add George's photo (taken at the 14th MOBI Intake's 40th Reunion in 2003,) to Vince's Eulogy... (scroll up)

_________________

Rick Pengilly
WEBMASTER
Ex-CPOMTH3
R42630
13th MOBI Intake
July'62 to July'74
HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Melbourne - HMAS Cerberus - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Lonsdale - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Brisbane