Series 02: Alan Gibson Stewart papers, 1987-1989 - Page 347
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on the members to be seated. With some difficulty, he managed to get most of them to comply. The annual election of office bearers was then conducted by secret ballot. Most of the positions were contested, with some acrimony between a few of the candidates. There were points of order called about the eligibility of some members to stand for office, and heated interjections to the president's rulings.
After an hour of argument and voting, the incumbent executive was eventually confirmed in office for another term. It was time to call uponthe guests to speak.
The Air Marshall was first. With clipped moustache and military bearing, he looked the part of an intrepid flyer from the days of Biggles. He had once been in command of the RAAF contingent in Vietnam; and proceeded to tell us about his experiences during that war.
It seemed that his great friend there had been an American Air Force general. Like other commanders before him, this general had been hindered by interference from politicians. He had enough bombs to win the war, but he had been prevented from using them as he wished. Townsend detailed the types and tonnages of bombs that would have been needed to kill the required numbers of the enemy in varioius localities.
As he gave these gory details, the audience listened to rapt attention.