Junior Recruits Photographic Museum
The Junior Recruits Photographic Museum came about through the interest shown at the Junior Recruits Golden Reunion 2010 held in Perth during the period of 12 - 16 July 2010 hosted by Trevor Cangemi, Ian Dunn and Alan Rodgers.
The success of that reunion re-ignited a fading camaraderie amongst older JR's and allowed all attendees to share in the special status of belonging to the Junior Recruit community -
a very special bunch of blokes!
Over 13,000 15 & 16 year old boys were drafted into the RAN during the years 1960 to 1984 and this Photo Museum is a record of their life and times at HMAS Leeuwin and HMAS Cerberus.
Come for a wander down memory lane and relive those experiences of joining the Navy as a boy and after 12 months emerging as a fighting fit Sailor - ready to take on the world for Queen and Country.
JRPM is a not for profit enterprise and is staffed by Volunteer Ex JR's for the benefit of all Junior Recruits, their families and descendants.
The success of that reunion re-ignited a fading camaraderie amongst older JR's and allowed all attendees to share in the special status of belonging to the Junior Recruit community -
a very special bunch of blokes!
Over 13,000 15 & 16 year old boys were drafted into the RAN during the years 1960 to 1984 and this Photo Museum is a record of their life and times at HMAS Leeuwin and HMAS Cerberus.
Come for a wander down memory lane and relive those experiences of joining the Navy as a boy and after 12 months emerging as a fighting fit Sailor - ready to take on the world for Queen and Country.
JRPM is a not for profit enterprise and is staffed by Volunteer Ex JR's for the benefit of all Junior Recruits, their families and descendants.
News Page
30 August 2010
We are very pleased to announce that Mr Bill Mudd of Macland Studios, has come aboard as a Committee Member and Photographic Consultant, for the JRPM.
Bill, for many years, was the Official Photographer of JR events at HMAS Leeuwin and has pictorial records of almost every Division to pass through HMAS Leeuwin. Amazing stuff!
His Photographic library has thousands of JR photos from 1960 - 1984 and will form the backbone of our Museum collection. Presently, Bill estimates that it will take 2 years to make digital copies of his collection - however we are exploring ways to accomplish this task much more quickly. We would like to have his work available on this website in half that time. Wish us luck, please.
We will add JR's personal photographs to the Museum Collection over time, to make it the most comprehensive photographic collection of the JRTE era in Australia.
12 December 2010
while i have been away to Europe for a month, Bill Mudd has been busy sorting through his vast collection of HMAS Leeuwin photographs. We have purchased a piece of equipment to scan the negatives into digital files so that we can load them into a database. This project will take many months of Bill's time and effort, but will be well worth it. We have had a hiccup with getting a partner to print and transact our members photo orders. We would like Snapfish to do the job for us but the other company who looks after the affiliates for them, has declined to accept us as an affiliate. As a next step we have applied to join Snapfish on a partnership basis and we are waiting for a positive response at the moment. If we are declined again then someone else will get the business or we will do it ourselves as a last resort. Slowly but surely we are making progress.
The Committee wishes a Happy Christmas and all the best for a great New Year to you all. May you and your families have health, wealth and happiness for 2011
9 January 2011
Well we managed to survive the Christmas and New Year festive season once again. We hope you had a great time with your families and friends. Gerry Harvey is very concerned that you did not spend enough dosh at his Harvey Norman stores - so shame on you. Please do better this year!
Bill Mudd has had no rest over the holidays and spends all his time digitising his vast photo collection for our J R Museum. It is a pity that we can't share the workload but Bill is adamant that he can handle it - given enough time and equipment. He says that the new equipment he now has is working a treat and he can see light at the end of the tunnel. He has around 28,000 photos to sort out.
Our progress with a finished product provider is taking longer than we had hoped. We haven't been able to find another company like Snapfish to take the orders and supply the finished product for us.
So, please, if anyone knows of a lead for us in that direction - please let us know so that we can enter into discussions with a partner.
We hope you all have a healthy and prosperous New Year in 2011.
11 March 2011
The Website is steadily progressing towards completion. There are a couple of features still to be sorted out before we can begin to upload/download pictures. Being first time "newbies" to this type of project we have encountered problems that we didn't even dream of rising up to bite us on the bum.
However we have come a long way and there is not much further to go now. Of course it will be a bit "buggy" to start with - but we will fine tune any problems that we come across. Please advise us of any improvements that you think we should make. Your Committee had a good meeting this morning and it is a pleasure to work with such nice Guys. We plan to start uploading serious amounts of "Leeuwin" photographs as early as next month and we then test and prove the website works as it should.
Now is the time to dig up all your old photos from JR days and get them ready to photograph with a digital camera or scan with your printer. A simple and free program that you can use is "Picasa". This program will enable you to edit and improve your image before uploading to our website.
That's all for now as I have to get back to the website and do some work. Kind regards,
12 May 2011
Your Committee had a good meeting this morning. We discussed our progress with Bill Mudd and he came up with some suggestions that we have agreed to try and incorporate into future plans.
We are, of course, open to suggestions from all members - so don't be shy.
Bill would like to have more control over the provision of photos to our Members and has volunteered to supply Hi-res photos on DVD discs for those who wish to order from us. (Instead of ordering Lo-res online from FOTKI in USA). This idea solves another problem that we had - the photos on the website are only lo-res and not suitable for enlarging (to better identify people in the group photos). We believe that it is better to have hi-res images available for you as they can be enlarged successfully. Everyone can still download website images to their PC and print them out in Lo-res, and they can also order DVD's of Hi-res images which we will produce for snail mail delivery at very reasonable prices - just to cover our costs!
We still have the problem that occurs when images are Emailed to the website Albums.
They are converted to lo-res in the Email and we will have no Hi-res images to distribute back to our Members.
The solution to this problem would be for Members to supply their photos in Hi-res form on a DVD disc and send it to Bill to add to his database collection. This should not be a problem for PC savvy JR's, but could be difficult for those of you without the knowhow. The solution for this scenario is for those guys to get copies of their photos put on a Disc at one of the Photo lab processors in the shopping centres and send us the hi-res DVD disc by snail mail. We can copy the disc and return it to you okay.
Your Committee believes that these arrangements will work and produce a better outcome for all concerned.
Further news is that Bill has found around 700 portrait photos that he took at HMAS Leeuwin over the years. We hope to have them feeding into the web albums in the next month.
More news is that the RAN Historical Section is interested in what we are doing for the Junior Recruits and is giving us good support. We are working closely with them now.
We are always interested in your collection of JR photos from Leeuwin and Cerberus, so go searching now and get them copied to a disc and send it to our address at
PO Box 235 Parkwood WA 6147.
Cheers for now.
10 July 2011
Today is a memorable day in more ways than one for me.
It is the day we begin loading our first batch of photos from the Bill Mudd archives. I spent the afternoon with Bill and we managed to burn about 3,000 images to cd discs. I took 50 DVD discs over with me and we ran into a problem straight away - the PC would not write to the discs I had supplied! I finally twigged that Bill's Optical Drive might only be a CD read/write. Lucky Bill had a few CD-R discs floating around his office and we managed to burn four of them.
It only took a little while of helping Bill before I started to really appreciate how big his photo library is and the amount of work that is involved in bringing these photos back for you guys. There are 53 years of photos and most of them taken before Bill purchased a PC to store them on. Your Committee did the wise thing and provided the necessary dosh for the purchase of an Epson film negative scanner for Bill to play with. I have to report that he has been very busy with his new toy and now we get to enjoy the fruits of his work.
I will spend a few hours tonight uploading todays photos to the website.
Just a reminder that the photos on the website are "raw" from the camera lens.
Bill has very kindly offered to edit and enhance individual photos if you wish to order a professional photograph. This would be the finished top quality product that Bill is renowned for in his profession. The reproduction on the website is raw and available to you free.
The Professional Photograph would be enhanced with Bill's skill and expertise and would incur a modest payment for his time and effort. (Price to be advised when we work it out - soon!). The Professional Photograph would be supplied on a Disc for you to take to a Photo lab and have it printed in the size(s) of your choice. The Disc is yours to keep and reproduce as many copies as you ever want.
Finally, the other memorable Anniversary on this day, is the date I joined the RAN in 1960. I repeated the Oath of Allegiance and signed up for 12 years at HMAS Lonsdale on a cold winters morning in Melbourne. With me that morning were Don Barker and Gary Nash - Still best mates after all these years!
It's a pity that not many of us could afford to take pictures in those days.
That's it for today. Kind regards, Ian.
Your Committee had a good meeting this morning. We discussed our progress with Bill Mudd and he came up with some suggestions that we have agreed to try and incorporate into future plans.
We are, of course, open to suggestions from all members - so don't be shy.
Bill would like to have more control over the provision of photos to our Members and has volunteered to supply Hi-res photos on DVD discs for those who wish to order from us. (Instead of ordering Lo-res online from FOTKI in USA). This idea solves another problem that we had - the photos on the website are only lo-res and not suitable for enlarging (to better identify people in the group photos). We believe that it is better to have hi-res images available for you as they can be enlarged successfully. Everyone can still download website images to their PC and print them out in Lo-res, and they can also order DVD's of Hi-res images which we will produce for snail mail delivery at very reasonable prices - just to cover our costs!
We still have the problem that occurs when images are Emailed to the website Albums.
They are converted to lo-res in the Email and we will have no Hi-res images to distribute back to our Members.
The solution to this problem would be for Members to supply their photos in Hi-res form on a DVD disc and send it to Bill to add to his database collection. This should not be a problem for PC savvy JR's, but could be difficult for those of you without the knowhow. The solution for this scenario is for those guys to get copies of their photos put on a Disc at one of the Photo lab processors in the shopping centres and send us the hi-res DVD disc by snail mail. We can copy the disc and return it to you okay.
Your Committee believes that these arrangements will work and produce a better outcome for all concerned.
Further news is that Bill has found around 700 portrait photos that he took at HMAS Leeuwin over the years. We hope to have them feeding into the web albums in the next month.
More news is that the RAN Historical Section is interested in what we are doing for the Junior Recruits and is giving us good support. We are working closely with them now.
We are always interested in your collection of JR photos from Leeuwin and Cerberus, so go searching now and get them copied to a disc and send it to our address at
PO Box 235 Parkwood WA 6147.
Cheers for now.
10 July 2011
Today is a memorable day in more ways than one for me.
It is the day we begin loading our first batch of photos from the Bill Mudd archives. I spent the afternoon with Bill and we managed to burn about 3,000 images to cd discs. I took 50 DVD discs over with me and we ran into a problem straight away - the PC would not write to the discs I had supplied! I finally twigged that Bill's Optical Drive might only be a CD read/write. Lucky Bill had a few CD-R discs floating around his office and we managed to burn four of them.
It only took a little while of helping Bill before I started to really appreciate how big his photo library is and the amount of work that is involved in bringing these photos back for you guys. There are 53 years of photos and most of them taken before Bill purchased a PC to store them on. Your Committee did the wise thing and provided the necessary dosh for the purchase of an Epson film negative scanner for Bill to play with. I have to report that he has been very busy with his new toy and now we get to enjoy the fruits of his work.
I will spend a few hours tonight uploading todays photos to the website.
Just a reminder that the photos on the website are "raw" from the camera lens.
Bill has very kindly offered to edit and enhance individual photos if you wish to order a professional photograph. This would be the finished top quality product that Bill is renowned for in his profession. The reproduction on the website is raw and available to you free.
The Professional Photograph would be enhanced with Bill's skill and expertise and would incur a modest payment for his time and effort. (Price to be advised when we work it out - soon!). The Professional Photograph would be supplied on a Disc for you to take to a Photo lab and have it printed in the size(s) of your choice. The Disc is yours to keep and reproduce as many copies as you ever want.
Finally, the other memorable Anniversary on this day, is the date I joined the RAN in 1960. I repeated the Oath of Allegiance and signed up for 12 years at HMAS Lonsdale on a cold winters morning in Melbourne. With me that morning were Don Barker and Gary Nash - Still best mates after all these years!
It's a pity that not many of us could afford to take pictures in those days.
That's it for today. Kind regards, Ian.
24 July 2011. Simple instructions on how to upload your Photos to our website.
Some of you guys are having difficulty uploading photos to the existing Albums on the website. Please be aware that you don't have to join anything or sign up to the website.
Do not try and create a new Album as only we can add new Albums to this website.
All you need to do is send us an Email with your photos attached. The Email address needs to have the name of an existing Album in the address.
Example: yagan60+leeuwin1960@fotki.com That's all you have to do!
(Note: The album name is between the + and the @ signs).
Here is the routine in long speak.
Thanks for contributing to the JR Photo Museum site. The more photos we have will create more interest in the site and will become an historical repository for JR 's. We spent a good bit of time and effort to try and make it simple for you guys to upload your photos. The instructions are located on the "Welcome" page of our website but may be strange and confusing for some of us 'Vintage class'. We tried to make it as simple as possible and came up with this procedure. (we are having a problem with getting the procedure details to 'stick' on each Album description page). Here follows a step by step procedure to add your Photos to the website.
1. Select the photos you wish to upload from your computer photo files.
(a) It is presumed that you have loaded your photos/negatives into your PC by scanning or from a disk.
(b) It is only possible to load photos to one Album at a time.
(c) Please add your photo details to each photo (who, what, where and when) after you upload it.
2. Attach your selected photos to an Email by one of the following methods.
(a) from one of your available menus or R click mouse, select "send to Email". (usually the program will ask "do you wish to reduce the size of your photos?" - always choose "yes" as it will reduce the time and cost of your Email). OR....
(b) Open a new Email page and choose "Add attachments". Then browse to your photos and select the photo that you wish to send. If you want to select more than one, Hold down the CTRL key continuously as you select all the photos for that particular Album. Then release the CTRL key and continue the actions.
A list of the photos will appear in your Email details if successful.
3. Put the address of the Album in the To: box like this:
yagan60+(name of album)@fotki.com - all lower case, without brackets!
(a) All emails go to yagan60+xxxx@fotki.com Be sure to change xxxx to the name of the Album that you want your photos to go to.
4. That's all there is to it. Wait a few minutes, then visit the website to view your photos here www.jrphotomuseum.com
If the above is too hard or does not work for you, then just email your photos to me saying which album they are for and I will do the necessary work for you. You can also take your photos to a Photo lab and have them scan your photos to a CD disc. Then go to the Post Office and buy a little mailer box and send to: JR Photo Museum, PO Box 235 Parkwood WA 6147. Thank you for making your photos a part of the History of Junior Recruits in the Royal Australian Navy. Kind regards, Ian Dunn 0422 514 982
9 October 2011
My how time flies when you are busy.
Your Committee has been quite active on a variety of matters that should consolidate and improve the position of the Junior Recruit Photographic Museum. We have managed to squeeze in a few meetings over cups of coffee and make plans for the future. Many interesting aspects for this Association come up from the diverse people we meet and learn from in our various activities. At one meeting we had recently, Rex Raniere was invited to attend. He is the guy who produced the DVD of our JR Golden Reunion 2010. This DVD is an outstanding record of that marvelous event. Rex had some enlightening observations and comments to give us and we are acting on his suggestions. We have to get some return for all the coffee he drank!
On top of our usual busy routines, Trevor and I are both going on holidays tomorrow. No, not together. Trevor has organized the HMAS Hobart reunion in Canberra and is taking his caravan over East and making a two month holiday out of it. Whilst in Canberra, Trevor is meeting with RAN personnel to promote our activities and seek support and funding for the procurement of further assets. Promotion is in the forefront of our minds and is difficult to achieve when we are a 'not for profit' business. As for me, I am off to Paris for a month. I promised my wife, in 1970, that I would take her to Paris when StKilda won the Premiership. She is sick of waiting and has now decided to take me to Paris instead. My offer still stands!
We now have 4048 photos from Bill Mudd and he has promised another batch soon. Membership applications are steadily increasing and we are getting around 60 hits a month on the website. Photo uploads from members is not as great as we had hoped but we believe it will improve with time and promotion. Sales of prints from the website has been very slow, according to Bill, and we need to pay more attention to this part of our operation. The photos on the website are only 'raw' and of low resolution. The photos that you would get from Bill are high resolution and 'enhanced' by Bill to produce a professional photograph for a picture frame. Bill supplies the image on a CD so you can take it to a Photo Lab and have it printed as you desire.
Cheerio for now as I have to pack. More news just before Christmas. Regards, Ian
My how time flies when you are busy.
Your Committee has been quite active on a variety of matters that should consolidate and improve the position of the Junior Recruit Photographic Museum. We have managed to squeeze in a few meetings over cups of coffee and make plans for the future. Many interesting aspects for this Association come up from the diverse people we meet and learn from in our various activities. At one meeting we had recently, Rex Raniere was invited to attend. He is the guy who produced the DVD of our JR Golden Reunion 2010. This DVD is an outstanding record of that marvelous event. Rex had some enlightening observations and comments to give us and we are acting on his suggestions. We have to get some return for all the coffee he drank!
On top of our usual busy routines, Trevor and I are both going on holidays tomorrow. No, not together. Trevor has organized the HMAS Hobart reunion in Canberra and is taking his caravan over East and making a two month holiday out of it. Whilst in Canberra, Trevor is meeting with RAN personnel to promote our activities and seek support and funding for the procurement of further assets. Promotion is in the forefront of our minds and is difficult to achieve when we are a 'not for profit' business. As for me, I am off to Paris for a month. I promised my wife, in 1970, that I would take her to Paris when StKilda won the Premiership. She is sick of waiting and has now decided to take me to Paris instead. My offer still stands!
We now have 4048 photos from Bill Mudd and he has promised another batch soon. Membership applications are steadily increasing and we are getting around 60 hits a month on the website. Photo uploads from members is not as great as we had hoped but we believe it will improve with time and promotion. Sales of prints from the website has been very slow, according to Bill, and we need to pay more attention to this part of our operation. The photos on the website are only 'raw' and of low resolution. The photos that you would get from Bill are high resolution and 'enhanced' by Bill to produce a professional photograph for a picture frame. Bill supplies the image on a CD so you can take it to a Photo Lab and have it printed as you desire.
Cheerio for now as I have to pack. More news just before Christmas. Regards, Ian
29 November 2011
Back in the saddle again after a holiday in France for a month. We had a great time and found the French people are now very friendly and helpful towards tourists - not like a few years ago!
Of course there is now a new generation who are PC savvy and converse in English far more than their parents did. Therefore I can now recommend France as a holiday destination.
Trevor is still on his way back from the Eastern States towing his caravan across the Nullarbor Plain.
He reports that the HMAS Hobart reunion went well.
While the two of us have been away, I hope that Bill has been copying some more photos for our website. When Trevor gets back to Perth we will arrange a Committee meeting before Christmas to discuss some ideas that I have had recently regarding speeding up the uploading of Bill's photos.
I also wish to provide a list of Members on the wesite. I did plan to have this list automatically appear as people signed up - but the program I used has let me down and I will have to do it manually.
I do hope to have more photos on the site very soon.
Other news: The WA Chapter of the Tingira Association are planning to have regular get togethers at least once a year. Anzac day has been mentioned but we have discovered that most guys have their preferred place to march and want to keep it that way. One guy makes a trip to Sydney each Anzac Day to catch up with old shipmates.
The other thing I wish to mention is that I have 'Special Edition' lapel pins for JR's who were in the first intake at HMAS Leeuwin in 1960. These were made for the 'Golden Reunion' in 2010 and are in limited quantity. I have a list of names for the first intake and will cross off names as the pins are claimed. The cost is $10 each to cover packing and postage. The pins are not available to anyone who is not first intake - please don't bother asking unless you are NOK of a deceased 1st Intake JR.
To order, please phone me on 0422 514 982 to arrange payment and registered delivery.
That's it for this month, so we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and all the best for a happy and prosperous New Year. Regards, Ian
29 February 2012
Hope you all had a great Christmas with the ones who matter in your lives. The New Year has come with promises of bigger and better things for us all. I just hope that I can stay on top of the wave of new technology that is swelling up for this year.
It has been very encouraging to read the posts of gratitude and support for our JR Photo Museum.
We realised after the Golden Reunion of 2010 that we had very little to show for our years spent at Leeuwin and that if Leeuwin ever got sold for private housing, then the Drill Hall would probably go and we would have nothing to remind us of JRTE. The drill Hall is in dire need of expensive repairs and their is no funding on the horizon. Every year there are rumours that the Leeuwin site will be sold and developed but nothing happens.
I'm sorry that there are not many new photos for this year as yet. Poor Bill has had some issues with his equipment and we have had to call in the Cavalry for assistance.
We are hoping that the issues are now fixed and the photos will start flowing again.
We now have a Patron.CDRE Jim Dickson AM MBE RAN Ret'd ( Divisional Officer Yagan Division HMAS Leeuwin 1960) has come on board for our cause. Jim is a very passionate JR advocate and was involved in the very early planning and implementation of JRTE at Leeuwin.
We are very pleased and honoured to have Jim accept this position.
It is becoming apparent that perhaps there are not that many private photographs from the Leeuwin days. I do remember that not many guys had an "Instamatic" in those days. Those that did could not afford the film and processing anyway. We were allowed only 10 shillings a week and if we needed more we had to put in a 'request' to our Divisional Officer. I remember a story that one JR put in a request for more money. When he fronted his D.O. and was asked why he wanted more money, he replied "Because it's my money". His request was denied. Ah, those were the days.
That's all for now - keep searching for those old photos - We need them for posterity.
Regards, Ian.
Back in the saddle again after a holiday in France for a month. We had a great time and found the French people are now very friendly and helpful towards tourists - not like a few years ago!
Of course there is now a new generation who are PC savvy and converse in English far more than their parents did. Therefore I can now recommend France as a holiday destination.
Trevor is still on his way back from the Eastern States towing his caravan across the Nullarbor Plain.
He reports that the HMAS Hobart reunion went well.
While the two of us have been away, I hope that Bill has been copying some more photos for our website. When Trevor gets back to Perth we will arrange a Committee meeting before Christmas to discuss some ideas that I have had recently regarding speeding up the uploading of Bill's photos.
I also wish to provide a list of Members on the wesite. I did plan to have this list automatically appear as people signed up - but the program I used has let me down and I will have to do it manually.
I do hope to have more photos on the site very soon.
Other news: The WA Chapter of the Tingira Association are planning to have regular get togethers at least once a year. Anzac day has been mentioned but we have discovered that most guys have their preferred place to march and want to keep it that way. One guy makes a trip to Sydney each Anzac Day to catch up with old shipmates.
The other thing I wish to mention is that I have 'Special Edition' lapel pins for JR's who were in the first intake at HMAS Leeuwin in 1960. These were made for the 'Golden Reunion' in 2010 and are in limited quantity. I have a list of names for the first intake and will cross off names as the pins are claimed. The cost is $10 each to cover packing and postage. The pins are not available to anyone who is not first intake - please don't bother asking unless you are NOK of a deceased 1st Intake JR.
To order, please phone me on 0422 514 982 to arrange payment and registered delivery.
That's it for this month, so we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and all the best for a happy and prosperous New Year. Regards, Ian
29 February 2012
Hope you all had a great Christmas with the ones who matter in your lives. The New Year has come with promises of bigger and better things for us all. I just hope that I can stay on top of the wave of new technology that is swelling up for this year.
It has been very encouraging to read the posts of gratitude and support for our JR Photo Museum.
We realised after the Golden Reunion of 2010 that we had very little to show for our years spent at Leeuwin and that if Leeuwin ever got sold for private housing, then the Drill Hall would probably go and we would have nothing to remind us of JRTE. The drill Hall is in dire need of expensive repairs and their is no funding on the horizon. Every year there are rumours that the Leeuwin site will be sold and developed but nothing happens.
I'm sorry that there are not many new photos for this year as yet. Poor Bill has had some issues with his equipment and we have had to call in the Cavalry for assistance.
We are hoping that the issues are now fixed and the photos will start flowing again.
We now have a Patron.CDRE Jim Dickson AM MBE RAN Ret'd ( Divisional Officer Yagan Division HMAS Leeuwin 1960) has come on board for our cause. Jim is a very passionate JR advocate and was involved in the very early planning and implementation of JRTE at Leeuwin.
We are very pleased and honoured to have Jim accept this position.
It is becoming apparent that perhaps there are not that many private photographs from the Leeuwin days. I do remember that not many guys had an "Instamatic" in those days. Those that did could not afford the film and processing anyway. We were allowed only 10 shillings a week and if we needed more we had to put in a 'request' to our Divisional Officer. I remember a story that one JR put in a request for more money. When he fronted his D.O. and was asked why he wanted more money, he replied "Because it's my money". His request was denied. Ah, those were the days.
That's all for now - keep searching for those old photos - We need them for posterity.
Regards, Ian.
