Charlton Machinegun

[Peter Laidler]

When I was in NZ (and Aust to a slightly lesser extent) in the 60's I noticed that these two nations had blokes with bags of nous. They could pretty-well fix anything. The word I'm looking for is versatility. I asked my friend Robbie Robertson how come they were so good and versatile and he told me that in NZ at the time, it was pretty well impossible to import new things or even some spare parts without what was known at the time as 'overseas funds' As a result, they had a good home based industry making parts and the ability to do everything for themselves including the manufacture of parts for the Sunderland flying boat engines

He also said to me that this was the reason why all (?) of the desert LRDG and SAS teams had New Zealanders or Australians as their fitters. Simply because they were so adaptable and able to get you home when the muck hit the fan.

I was paid in UK-Sterling or Aust £ (I could choose) while I was in NZ and I was always asked if I would give the blokes my UK ££'s in exchange for NZ£ instead of going to the bank. I seem to recall that the Aust and NZ £ changed to $ while I was there.

Yep...... Very versatile people