Son takes up father’s fight

Pakenham RSL veterans Ray Mitchell with Buster and president of the RSL and Gary Elliott. 117729_01 Picture: ROB CAREW

By DANIELLE GALVIN

THE sweet smell from the petrol cookers used by troops in the jungles of Papua New Guinea has left a bitter taste for the family of Raymond Thomas Mitchell.
Like the others who were yet to celebrate their 21st birthdays, he had changed his name and a new identity had bolstered his confidence to join the fight with the allied forces.
He served in the 2/11 Field Regiment as a cook and with the artillery in Papua New Guinea, the Middle East and Darwin where his adventure continued.
On the way back to Australia, Raymond and his comrades were told to go down below and hide out under the deck as Japanese aircraft mounted an almighty attack on Australian troops.
“My parents wanted to move back to Pakenham to be nearer to my kids,” his son Ray Mitchell explains.
“Not long after he put up the house for sale, he was diagnosed with leukaemia.
“He passed away three months after he was diagnosed just six weeks after he moved to Pakenham.”
During that time, Ray got his hands on a book about his father’s regiment that would change his life and set a precedent for all cooks exposed to the carcinogenic benzene from their petrol cookers.
“I got involved in pension, welfare and advocacy work when my father died,” he said.
“I was with Legacy for a while and have just re-joined in Dandenong.
“I had to fight three and a half years to try and get my mum the war widow’s pension.”
It dawned on Ray as he skimmed the pages of the book that the petrol cookers would have been widely used.
“I did a lot of research and found that they used petrol cookers which contained a lot of benzene and he died of leukaemia, I was able to link all of that,” he said.
“I spoke to the nephew of the bloke who invented the Wiles cookers and I was able to link it.
“Importantly, it set a new precedent. No other cooks in the Army had ever been able to win a case like this, which can now be used for anyone.”
In the ’80s, Ray joined the Navy for 11 years and spent five years in the gunnery branch and was trained in small arms.
For six years he worked as a Naval police dog handler.
“When you are dealing with attack trained dogs they have to be 100 per cent trained because you are dealing with a weapon, essentially,” he said.
As a Veterans Plus advocate, Ray has also spent time volunteering to help veterans get access to compensation and the right information to make claims.
He suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and his assistance dog Buster is able to pick up on his moods.
The prevalence of assistance dogs for veterans is also on the rise.
“It’s only something that has been in Australia for about 10 or more years that’s why when Buster is around you feel a lot happier, safer,” he said.
“He picks up if I am stressed, he sleeps in my room and wakes me up when I have nightmares.
“I’m back with the Pakenham RSL and I’m helping with pensions and welfare work for them as well.
“Hopefully we can get the younger ones into the Pakenham RSL.
“I wish all a great Anzac day.”