Jim Allpike was originally a member of the 2/4 Machine Gun Battalion and later with 2/3 Machine Gun Battalion. Whilst a POW Jim was with Weary Dunlop at Hintock Mountain Camp. Due to the initiative of a Major Clarke (a Dentist) and others they established a still at the camp to produce distilled water. The still was operated up to 24 hours a day, staffed by the officers, and could produce 120 pints of saline. The distilled water could have salt added later to produce saline fluid. Amongst other things, this could be infused to improve fluid levels of dysentery and cholera patients. Jim used to carry four 1 gallon demi-johns of distilled water from Hintock Mountain Camp to Hintock River Camp, a return journey of over 8km, several times a day. Jim had no boots and walked/ran the path in all weathers by day or night. It is reported that Jim was seen doing a delivery at 2 AM on one occasion. One would need to see the terrain to appreciate the difficulty. Today Jim lives at Shenton Park. If you have a copy of Ghosts in Khaki (author Les Cody deceased February 2002) there are pictures of young Jim Allpike on pages 31 and 253.

Article prepared by Lt. Col. Peter Winstanley OAM RFD (Retired) JP 2003 E-mail peterwinstanley@bigpond.com