My name is George Baylis I was conscripted in the second intake 27/09 / 1965 in what I class as the most corrupt form of selected conscription. I was first sent to Puckapunual for recruit training , carried out by a bunch of alcoholic N.C.O who’s training skills were verbal abuse and the continual threat of military prison if you did not conform, i.e. become a brain dead idiot.
I then got posted to engineer training for 3 months, then was posted to 22 construction in WA. In 1966 we went to Borneo stuck out in the jungle building a road to no where most of that time spent being as drunk as possible. On returning to WA life went really down hill as we were then an embarrassment to them for they had nothing left for us to do.
If I thought it could not get any worse I was picked for funeral duties and spent 6 week traveling round WA taking part in at least 6 military funerals for soldiers who came home in a box, there is nothing worse than lowering the coffin in to the ground while you have mothers, wives and girlfriends try to jump in the grave with their loved ones. Then we used to go back to the pub we staying at and get blind drunk.
At the end of two years they gave us a form for the Dole office and that was that. In 2003 I had a mental breakdown, I was a full blown chain smoking alcoholic who had all ready tried to commit suicide once. So again I found myself on suicide watch in hospital. While there a visitor asked me why I did not put in a for pension from the D.V.A, my response was who are they? I did and after 6 years of the D.V.A putting me through HELL I was given a T.P.I pension.
Since 2003 I have written to every Prime Minister and Minister for the D.V.A trying to get an apology and some form of compensation for all the crap the D.V.A put me through plus the two years of our lives they stole. I feel we are no different from any other stolen generation. I would like to also point out that all members should request their ARMY medical records as I found out that I had a heart murmur and none of us was given a proper psychiatric assessment to check if we were fit for active service. My heart murmur turned out to Aortic Stenosis and I had to have open heart surgery 14 years ago. WHAT did two years of service do for me? It turned me in to a chain smoking alcoholic who knew how to kill people and buried them. Now I am permently on head pills. To the D.V.A the only good Veteran is a dead one. What we need is a good lawyer and a class action