Jim Kaulins died aged 63 in Blacktown, NSW. 08JUL88 (SMH)
I knew Jim at Williamtown and Butterworth in the 1960's.
Apparently he was a Latvian immigrant who adopted the name Jim.
I know he was also in Ubon with 79 Sqn and Vietnam with 9 Sqn.
Rumours said that he served with the German army on the "Russian
Front" ???. A quiet single man and a good worker, well liked
and a fond of a drink or two, like most of us gunnies.
Bill Riley
I new him at Canberra when I was in 34sqn and he was in No9 Sqn at
the time. I remember him going on the CO’s parade this day decked
out in full medals, the only trouble was, he was wearing his “Iron
Cross”. For this he was escorted off the parade. We had a laugh
about this later
Ian (Blue) West
Jim was my first CPL when I got posted to Butterworth in 1975. I asked him one day about how he ended up in the German Army seeing that he was a Latvian. His answer was that the Germans had a very powerful recruiting incentive. Join the SS or get shot! I believe his next words were Seig Heil.
In another of our conversations I found out why he wouldn't drive. Not long after arriving in Australia, he had accidentally hit and killed a child that had run onto the road. With that death coming on top of his experiences in Europe he decided that he didn't want to be responsible for any more.
I found Jim to be a generous man with a good sense of humour until he got a few beers in him. He then could get a little stroppy, but as he would by that time be speaking Latvian or German and we couldn't understand either, it didn't matter.
Bowdog
I served with Jim at Snake Creek in 1961/62.
We had tremendous times together shooting and fishing. I remember once, in company with Bill Broker, Jim dropped a Big Bull Buffalo ,with a 303 , using a tree to steady him . We then checked the speedo on the weapon carrier and drove to the carcass, it was calculated at a staggering one mile, give or take speedo error. I was a box packer at Snake Creek and have only just discovered your site.
My best wishes to all the gunnies and especially to any that may remember me. I was xf qualified.
Robert J. Heffernan A.M.
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