Mr William Moppett Dear William, This may or may not help you to understand the military way of doing things. In Viet Nam I was posted to the 1st Australian Reinforcement Unit (1ARU). Had you gone looking for me in the fourth week of my posting at 1ARU you would not have found me. I was on the strength of that unit, but I was serving with the RAAF, Air Defense Unit at Vung Tau air base. Basically, I had been seconded to the RAAF while remaining on the strength of 1ARU. Why has your Dad got Fort Scratchely on his discharge papers? The answer would be that he was on the posted strength of the unit at Newcastle, which was the headquarters of Coastal Command Artillery. His discharge would have been organised through the headquarters unit as it was the Command unit. The fact that your Dad never served in Newcastle, would not alter the fact he was on the posted strength of Coastal Command Artillery Headquarters at Newcastle. As a medical officer your father's records would be kept at Command Headquarters not at his serving unit as he would have been posted from the Australian Army Medical Corp to the Command Headquarters then seconded to the sub-unit he served in at Sydney. None of this would have required your father to go to Newcastle, the Army tells you where to go and administratively does it's own thing to suit itself. Could I suggest that you contact the North Fort Artillery Museum on (02) 9976 3855 or the Army Museum of NSW, at Victoria Barracks on (02) 9339 3330. From experience the North Fort mob charge like wounded bulls for any information they research for you. Tis cheaper to go there, Scenic Drive, Manly is the address. I have not contacted the Victoria Barracks mob, but again it might be cheaper to go there. The Artillery Museum should be able to confirm all of the information you require. Should neither of these sources prove useful you might try contacting the Army History Unit. Any or all three of these units should be able to confirm what you want to know. Good Luck and Good Hunting, Paul Kinney _________________________________________________________________ MSN Instant Messenger now available on Australian mobile phones. Go to http://ninemsn.com.au/mobilecentral