Greg Davies, Robert Freshfield to receive OAMs for Australia Day honours
From easing burdens on war veterans to teaching nonagenarians how to fly planes, the achievements of the Parramatta community have been celebrated for Australia Day.
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The Parramatta and Cumberland communities are celebrating the achievements of five people who have been awarded medals for the Order of Australia and been made members of the Order as part of the Australia Day honours list.
Greg Davies, Robert Freshfield, Sister Barbara McDonough were awarded an OAM while Father Peter Gregory Williams has been made an Order of the AM. The late heritage advocate Brian Powyer has been honoured with an posthumous accolade.
Greg Davies
Oatlands resident and aircraft engineer and recreational pilot Greg Davies feels humbled to be appointed an OAM for service to the aviation industry.
“It’s very strange,’’ he said.
“I’m someone who’s just had a passion for flying aeroplanes. I didn’t think I would rate. I was blown away.
“There’s hospital workers and doctors and nurses battling Covid for two years and I’m someone who’s just had a passion for playing with aeroplanes. I didn’t think I would rate.’’
A passion for aviation was almost inevitable for Mr Davies, whose father and grandfather were also aircraft engineers.
His dad worked for Butler Air Transport and his grandfather was a flight sergeant with the No.31 Squadron (beaufighters) in New Guinea in World War II.
When he was 13, he ascended into the skies for the first time on a Qantas 747 from Sydney to London.
“That was just magical — it was like a big cruise ship flying to the other side of the world. It was much better in the old days. It was very fancy and there was good service, not like today’s cattle class. It was huge as a 13 year old.’’
Mr Davies served a coveted apprenticeship with Qantas, emerging from thousands of candidates to secure the traineeship that lasted between 1976 and 1980.
“It was very exciting,’’ he said.
“I couldn’t believe my luck. I was one of 3500 applying for the apprenticeship and there were only 300 chosen so I grabbed it with both hands.’’
While he now flies and maintains smaller aircraft, his engineering job with Qantas saw him work on Boeing 707 and 747 jets as well as Hercules C-130.
He joined The Oaks-based Sydney Recreational Flying Club as a founding member in 1985 and has been part of its heart and soul, imparting his passion with other aviation buffs, from “nine to 90-year-olds” as its chief volunteer flying instructor, head of engineering and vice-president.
Many seniors take up flying lessons later in life, without the constraints of raising a family or mortgages.
“People get a huge lift out of it, they really enjoy the experience,’’ Mr Davies said.
“We’ve got doctors, barristers with the one common theme — it’s the chance to fly in a relaxed, safe manner.
Now semi-retired after decades of working in ICT infrastructure installation, many weekends are spent using his 2C recreational licence to fly up the coast and continue building the flying club, which has seven volunteer instructors and five committee members.
Mr Davies is also a member of Recreational Aircraft Association Australia (formerly Australian Ultralight Federation).
Robert Freshfield
As a Vietnam veteran, Merrylands’ Robert (Bob) Freshfield has empathy for the struggles of returning servicemen and women.
He was 20 in 1971 when he served in Vietnam as an infantry soldier for nine months and recalls the struggles of returning to normal life.
“Coming home it was a bit hard on some of us,’’ the 72-year-old said.
“There were a lot of us that didn’t come home with a battalion; we were just flown home in the middle of the night and some of us just went home from there.
“We’d get home in the middle of the night with just your parents to meet you at the airport, and then you reported back to the closest base for discharge.
“It made it difficult to acclimatise back into your normal life.
“A lot of the RSL were rejecting us and saying Vietnam wasn’t even a war service, ‘’ an honour that was eventually recognised at the 1987 Welcome Home Parade.
Mr Freshfield has been awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the general division for his service to veterans and their families.
That includes the mental challenges that plague many returning troops.
“That’s part of assisting a veteran,’’ Mr Freshfield said.
“Being a veteran, you know the warning signs yourself from your own experiences.’’
Mr Freshfield was a former president of the Merrylands RSL sub-branch and club director and is a member of the Vietnamese Veterans’ Peacekeepers and Peacemakers’ Association of Australia’s NSW branch, an organisation of which he is most proud during his 20 years volunteering there.
The group is affiliated with the Vietnam Veterans’ Federation of Australia, which lobbies the government to support welfare and justice for veterans.
Much of Mr Freshfield’s role as a volunteer advocate assisted veterans making pension claims through the Department of Veteran Affairs. He is now the Vietnam Veterans’ Federation’s national treasurer and editor of the Vietnam Veterans’ Newsletter.
“Such achievements can only come from the full support of our long-suffering wives, and my wife Christine is certainly a high achiever in that regard,’’ Mr Freshfield said.
“It didn’t feel justified that I landed the award.
“It was just nice to be accepted and nominated by my peers.’’
Sister Barbara McDonough
Catholic nun and teacher Sister Barbara McDonough has been awarded an Order of the Australia Medal for her service to education and the Church.
A Sister of Mercy since 1955 and science and religion teacher since 1963, Sister McDonough was the principal of Catherine McAuley at Westmead from 1984 to 1987 and in 2012 the high school honoured the former science teacher with the opening of the Sister Barbara McDonough Building.
A keen historian, she also published a book about the school’s foundations to mark its 50th anniversary in 2017.
In 2011, the naming honour was bestowed upon her when Our Lady of Mercy College (OLMC) Parramatta opened the Barbara McDonough Student Centre and Pastoral Facilities block.
From 1989 to 2001, Sister McDonough helmed Holy Cross College Woollahra where she initiated the enrolment of international students and co-ordinated the amalgamation of two schools on separate campuses in 1988.
Much of her vocation called her back to Parramatta where she has been an OLMC foundation board member, alumnae secretary, congregational secretary and financial committee member over the past 20 years.
Father Peter Gregory Williams
Granville’s Father Peter Gregory Williams has been made a member of the Order for significant service to the Catholic Church in Australia and to tertiary education.
That included being a parish across the Parramatta Diocese from 1991 to 2004 and being the dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral at Parramatta for two years from 2006.
A director of liturgy since 1998, he was also the chairman on the liturgy committee for the canonisation of the Blessed Mary MacKillop in 2010.
Brian Powyer
Heritage advocate Brian Powyer’s legacy is still present more than two years after his death, with the former Northmead resident being awarded an Order of the Australia Medal for his service to the community through history preservation organisations.
The 71-year-old was the National Trust’s NSW president and lobbied to preserve history in his own community including Parramatta’s Roxy Theatre, St George’s Terrace and the now-demolished Willow Grove.
The Parramatta and Blacktown district historical societies member and father-of-two was also a respected primary school teacher and taught at primary schools in the Liverpool area and West Ryde before he was appointed the principal at Winston Hills Public School.
Mr Powyer died after a heart attack on November 12, 2019.
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