Over the next six months, I am introducing one of my characters not only in Book 1 but in the whole series, at the rate of one a week, so every week you will get to know them as I do when I write about them. This week its-
Wayne Michaels (Sarge)
Sarge was an ex-Sapper RAA turned bushman. It was said he could survive on two red berries and a dirty puddle for a month!
He was Taswegian born and bred, coming into this world in 1970 in Kings Town; and was the son of Basil and Florence Michaels. Basil was a bulldozer driver who worked for a large civil contractor; his job often took him away from home and all over the state. Most of the time he’d camp away for the week, returning home for the weekend if he was lucky.
Sarge’s upbringing was different to most; he wasn’t a great scholar and pretty well hated his school days. Picked on by the hierarchy and branded dumb by his peers, most of the time Sarge just took off and spent time away with his father. Basil, a qualified bushman, taught him far more than he would ever have learned in the classroom; everything from how to drive a bulldozer to how to fall a tree.
Sarge thrived in this environment and by the time he was twelve years old he could out-cut most grown men with a chainsaw and could handle the O65 Stihl pro-saw with ease.
Basil realised the future wasn’t going to be easy for Wayne and encouraged him to try out for the Army. Much to everyone’s surprise he was accepted; given his lack of education one could only assume that Basil must have had contacts!
After completing his basic training at Kapooka in 1987, Sarge joined the Royal Australian Engineers. It was the perfect career path for him; being part of this corps would allow him to use all the skill sets his father had taught him.
Sapper Michaels attended the School of Military Engineering in Sydney and began his initial employment training as a Combat Engineer. Upon completion of his Combat Engineer course in August 1987, he was posted to the 2nd Combat Engineer Regiment in Brisbane.
As a Combat Engineer, Sarge belonged to the Royal Australian Engineers (RAE) Corps. RAE soldiers are known as ‘Sappers’ and are responsible for assisting their own forces to move, while at the same time denying mobility to the enemy. They are combat soldiers who are specialists in military field engineering, and hold a very wide range of trade and technical skills; being trained in a broad range of tasks including wielding a chainsaw, bridge-building, clearing minefields, demolitions, field defences and road and airfield construction and repair. They are also highly skilled in using explosives to demolish a target.
Among other things, at different times during this military career Sarge was called upon to assist in the construction of temporary roads, bypasses and fords, dig drains and construct culverts, erect bridges using both equipment and non-equipment components, construct and operate rafts and ferries, carry out concreting tasks, and construct field defenses and wire obstacles.
He was experienced in laying, arming, neutralising, disarming and removing mines and booby traps, conducting demolition tasks and producing potable water using water purification equipment. On top of this he could pretty well operate any field machine, boat or power tool you could think of.
Sarge saw extensive service in Iraq, East Timor, the Gulf War and Afghanistan. After paying off in 2000, he ended up back in Taswegia trying to start his own firewood cutting business.
To those who didn’t know him, he seemed like a quiet, unassuming man, with not much to say. But Sarge didn’t mind; he liked it that way.
It was Dick’s farrier who’d originally introduced him to Sarge; Sarge needed a supply of wood to cut and a place to stay, and Dick and Patch needed someone to help them finish building the motel; there was still a lot of fencing, landscaping, clearing and general bush work that needed to be done. It was a natural progression for Sarge to end up with them; his skills had sure come in handy!
Not long after that the long treks kicked off, and Sarge offered to be backup driver. It was his job to prepare the campsite for the arrival of Dick and his customers; this often meant travelling through dense forest on small, and sometimes non-existent tracks. He was also happy to double as a tail guide whenever needed, as well as help with cattle musters and general work around the property.
The friendship between Sarge and Dick developed rapidly; they were a great team, as well as great mates, and the pair worked tirelessly at whatever had to be done.
Sarge was a single man, and he thought it was the best idea ever when they started training the guides; nearly all of the trainees were female and under twenty years old. This was right up Sarge’s alley; and he proceeded to test them all out. By “testing”, he didn’t mean their horse-riding skills! He’d worked his way through to a guide whose name was Jan by the time the skinny local girl came onto the scene.
Fifteen-year-old Annie, who was an excellent horsewoman, took to Dick’s training like a duck takes to water. She also took a shine to Sarge, but Dick was never certain whether this was initially because of the fun it would be to take him away Jan or whether it was because of the feelings she had for the ex-Digger. Although there was a seventeen-year age difference neither of them cared; it was obvious to everyone that this relationship was one that was going to last.
Eventually, after Annie’s mother died, the pair settled down onto her family farm at Twaddle; her other siblings were happy for Sarge and Annie to pay them out, and farm eventually became Sarge and Annie’s place.
