“WE were preparing for a caning, but got congratulated instead for making a decent career move,” Mount Gambier’s Dieter Merchel told The Border Watch.
From the days of skipping school to years at sea serving his country, the truant never imagined one simple decision could lead him to a stint in Vietnam with the navy.
In his final year at Mount Gambier High School in 1971, Dieter and his mate Steven Falland skipped school for the Compton Street snooker room duing two free periods on a Thursday afternoon.
Unfortunately for them, two plain clothed policemen who were playing a game advised them to get back to school in a hurry.
But who would they encounter on Main Street on their way back?
Non other than headmaster Mr McManus.
“We couldn’t believe our eyes and ducked into the first open door we could find,” Dieter told The Border Watch.
“It turned out to be the recruitment centre and a bloke asked me if I wanted to join the navy.
“He gave me literature to read and forms to fill out in my own time.
“I tucked mine into my pockets, but Steve threw his papers in the bin.”
Dieter said the next day both of them were called to the headmaster’s office.
“Our excuse was that we wanted to join the navy,” Dieter said.
“We were preparing for a caning, but got congratulated instead for making a decent career move.”
Later that year, on November 23, Dieter officially joined the Royal Australian Navy in Adelaide at the age of 17.
He would spend the next 14 years at sea and another six years in land-based roles.
“My first three months was training at HMAS Cerberus from where I was posted to the HMAS Anzac as an ordinary seaman, marine engineering,” Dieter said.
Until his retirement in 1991 he had 16 postings, including on the HMAS Sydney, Derwent, Waterhen, Stalwart, Kattabul, Brisbane, Hobart, Perth, Nirimba and Penguin.
During this time he steadily moved through the ranks from ordinary, able and leading seaman to petty officer and later chief petty officer (marine technical propulsion).
“My stint in Vietnam was in November 1972 onboard the aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney,” Dieter said.
“Our port of call was Vung-Tau and on arrival the Americans protected our ship with floating razor wire and 24 hour gunboat patrols.
“Some engineering personnel including myself were made to act as sentries.
“I was first issued with an SLR rifle and then a whistle.
“I was told to blow the whistle as hard as I could if someone tried to board the vessel.
“We were also informed there were no bullets in the magazines of our rifles because ‘we stokers might hurt ourselves’.
“To this day I can still remember the dumbfounded look on the faces of my mates.
“But we unloaded an assortment of military transport and other cargo and, as quietly as we arrived, sailed for Singapore.”
For his service in Vietnam, Dieter was awarded the Vietnam Active Service Medal and the Vietnam Logistic Service Medal.
He was also awarded the South East Asia Active Service Medal with clasp for his First Gulf War service aboard the HMAS Brisbane in the early 1980s.
Dieter’s love for the sea stems from his travels as a child between Germany and Australia.
He was born in Lohberg, Germany, on June 2, 1954 – the son of a German pantzer soldier who was captured by British forces during World War II and became a prisoner of war for three years.
Dieter’s parents wanted to migrate to either South Africa or Australia, but opted for Australia with a four-year-old Dieter and six-month-old sister in tow.
“We finally settled in Mount Gambier, but something of those early sea voyages stayed with me,” he said.
“I always loved the ocean and looking back am very happy I settled in the navy.”
Dieter’s sister and mother, Inge, 87, still lives in Mount Gambier and he has two children and five grandchildren in Sydney.
Reflecting on his service, Dieter said he was a bit “teary eyed” when he retired.
“I think about the mates who are not with us anymore and miss all the friendships I had at sea,” he said.
“But I also miss the ships, the smell of the ocean.
“It’s in my blood.”
