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Roy Chamberlain met Bomber
while both were patients at Keith Payne Unit at Greenslopes Hospital in Brisbane around 4˝ years ago. During many
“round table” conversations, Roy learnt that Bomber was
helping to clear land mines in rural Cambodian villages on a
entirely volunteer basis - and had been doing so for a number of years.
Roy also had been a career
soldier in the Regular Army. He served in the Infantry Corps including 2 tours
in Vietnam. The
first with 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (6 RAR) in 1966-67 and with the
Australian Army Training Team (AATTV) in 1972. Having already seen
first hand the horrific injuries that mines were capable of, Roy had no problem
visualising what the blast effects were capable of inflicting on innocent men,
women and children in rural Cambodia.
At Bomber’s invitation
Roy first went to Cambodia in November 2006. He was
there to see if he was able to help Bomber in his work. Roy again returned to Cambodia with Bomber in Sept 2007
to continue to carry on the work started all those years ago by Tony “Bomber”
Bower-Miles.
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Roy was taken with the generosity,
courage and grace of the Cambodian people. The rural population were very poor and
after observing mine blast mutilation injuries to children, Roy had Bomber
teach him how to safely lift and disarm live landmines. A
task that still does not sit comfortably with Roy. However, any reservations
held by Roy are held in check because of the importance of the task of making
at least some area of Cambodia a little safer for the locals is motivation
enough for Roy to continue working and learning how to safely handle these
devices alongside Bomber.
Roy is eternally grateful
to Bomber for his patience in teaching him some of the finer points of mine
warfare protocol and he looks forward to learning as much as he can, so as to
be able to take away some of the burden that Bomber has taken on in his mine
clearing quest. Bomber carries physical injuries from his service in the
Australian Military Forces, including injuries and illnesses sustained during
war service in Vietnam in ’69 – ’70. Some of
these injuries constrict Bomber’s movements. He already has one knee replaced
entirely with the other also needing to be replaced at any time. Along with
chronic back pain, Bomber has difficulty with getting around on a regular
basis. There is only so much a pain killer is capable of doing. "I have two good
legs" commented Roy, "and am able to get around quite satisfactorily. I see in the future of
being there to be a pair of legs that will enable Bomber to continue long after
his injuries make movement too difficult".
Roy is 61 years old, and
retired on a disability pension from the Australian Army. He lives north of
Brisbane near the coast at
Caloundra. He has an adult son, an adult daughter and has 4 young grandchildren.
While in Cambodia, Roy
also worked with Akira and his Cambodian de-miners and like Bomber, has nothing
but the utmost respect and admiration for Akira and the many years of sheer
dedication and bravery this man has shown in his ongoing task of removing
landmines from his village and the community’s unproductive (due to mines) farm
land.
In this risky and often
fatal area of endeavour, Akira has no equals. He has personally located, lifted
and disarmed tens of thousands of live explosive devices together with mines of
every description, including anti personnel and anti vehicular mines, aircraft and
other types of munitions and Unexploded Bombs (UXB’s). These indiscriminate death dealing devices
were left behind by many years of occupation by invaders and from continuous war
waged by internal Cambodia influences. Many millions
were slaughtered during those years and every day brings the death and
destructive aftermath of the hidden mine menace that has become a tragic
consequence of past occupation and internal war.
Akira is a very quiet and unassuming man. He is married,
has 2 infant sons and a new baby daughter. His petite Cambodian wife, Hourt
(pronounced Hort)
also works beside Akira clearing these destructive and deadly landmines. She
also acts in the role of “House Mother” to the orphaned children living and
attending school at the facility both she and Akira operate in the same grounds
as the Mine Museum.
Contact Details: Roy
Chamberlain
Address:
18/8 Lyon
Street, Dicky Beach, Queensland - AUSTRALIA 4551
Phone :
(07)
5491 4889 (Australian Domestic Number)
Mobile:
Mob (Intl):
+61 437 922 166 - Mob (Aust): 0437 922 166
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