Sunshine Coast veterans are among those featured in a new book ensuring Australia’s service stories are preserved for generations to come.
Never Forgotten Volume 2 continues Vietnam veteran Dave Morgan’s mission to capture personal accounts of courage, sacrifice and service.
The collection spans decades of Australian military history, showing how Vietnam veterans inspired their children to serve in the Middle East.
Among the stories are five from local veterans, including Steve Van Prooyen, also known as ‘Dutchy’, who served more than 40 years in the Royal Australian Navy.
Steve joined the Navy in 1972 after encouragement from his father, a World War II naval veteran.sa
“I remember going home and telling my father … that I wanted to follow in his footsteps and join the Navy,” he says.
“To my amazement and relief, he said, ‘Well, if you’re fair dinkum, go and do it’.
“From day one, I found it hard to take orders, which wasn’t a good sign for someone seeking a career in the Navy.”
Despite that, he rose through the ranks to Lieutenant Commander, serving across multiple ships and operations, including HMAS Hobart, HMAS Melbourne, HMAS Supply and HMAS Westralia.
Reflecting on his early years, Steve admits, “I was always in the sh*t. But I managed to pull myself together … I actually did 40 years” – a milestone even his father doubted he would reach.
“He really didn’t think I’d last three months,” he says.
That transformation came down to the Navy itself: “The Navy did it for me. It gave me discipline.”
Steve’s service included disaster relief after Cyclone Tracy in Darwin, deployments across Asia and the Middle East, and participation in Operation Morris Dance during the 1987 Fijian coup response. He also served during the Gulf War aboard HMAS Westralia, where Australian forces operated in the Persian Gulf alongside international navies.
Steve says living and working on the HMAS Melbourne was daunting, considering its troubled history.
“Notably, the Melbourne had a history of collisions: it cut HMAS Voyager in half in a collision in 1964 in Jervis Bay, resulting in the loss of 82 sailors from the Voyager, and it also collided with the USS Frank E. Evans in 1969, resulting in the deaths of 74 American sailors,” he says.
After more than four decades of service, Steve retired in 2013 as a Lieutenant Commander, just short of his 60th birthday.
“I am honoured to follow in your footsteps, and I raise my eyes to the heavens and salute you, Dad. Thank you,” he says.
Following his military career, adjusting to civilian life was difficult for Steve, but volunteering at the Caloundra RSL Military Museum helped him reconnect with others.
“I found it very difficult to socialise, and I isolated myself,” he says.
“The only thing that helped me break free from my isolation was volunteering.”
Anzac Day, for Steve, is deeply personal.
“He’s my one and only hero – my father,” he says, while also remembering the many mates he served alongside.
After decades at sea, one thing stands above all: “We’re all a brother. We’re all a family.”
Despite his long and decorated career, Steve’s view of service remains humble: “We’re nothing special – we only just did our job.”
Never Forgotten Volume 2 aims to ensure stories such as his are preserved and remembered beyond Anzac Day.
The book also features Australian singer Little Pattie, who performed at Nui Dat in Vietnam as a teenager when the Battle of Long Tan began on August 18, 1966.
All proceeds from the book support Legacy Australia.
For more information, visit bigskypublishing.com.au/never-forgotten-vol-2/.
A SIMPLE GESTURE OF REMEMBRANCE
A Sunshine Coast man is expressing his gratitude to Royal Air Force personnel in the United Kingdom for helping him honour his childhood friend.
Tony Masche, 91, reached out to RAF Marham in West Norfolk, asking if officers could place flowers on the grave of Flight Lieutenant Leslie Hawkins and his fellow crew members. He included 25 pounds to pay for the flowers, writing: “I hope this is enough”.
Radar navigator Flt Lt Hawkins was just 30 when he was killed in May 1964, after the RAF Valiant aircraft he was aboard crashed and exploded in Lincolnshire.
The cause of the crash was never determined.
“It’s one of those mysteries. It’s so sad because five very talented young men lost their lives,” Tony says.
For Tony, the loss has remained deeply personal for more than six decades.
“Leslie and I were the best of friends … We grew up together in London during the war and we did so many things together with the scouts,” he says.
“He was so good with survival. He trained in how to survive in Arctic conditions. He was very talented. The fact that he died 64 years ago is so sad.
“I think of him every Anzac Day.”
RAF Marham’s Station Commander, Group Captain Fred Wigglesworth, along with current personnel from 207 Squadron, honoured Tony’s request by holding a small memorial service at Marham cemetery.
In a letter reply to Tony, Group Captain Wigglesworth expressed gratitude for the continued remembrance.
“It really means a lot that caring people like you are still out there, remembering our fallen,” he wrote.
