----- Original Message -----
From: Warren Meredith
To:
Sent: Saturday, April 07, 2007 6:37 PM
Subject: VALE 41259 Maj Brian Arthur Stevens

A cornerstone of my life has ceased to be. Brian Stevens became such a person without my realising it until he was gone.

Though we could have been at the School of Signals at about the same time in early 1953, I first met Brian when Project Sqn were doing the Wallgrove/Bringelly installation. My involvement was with antennae construction while Brian and co worked inside the building overseen from afar by one Lloyd Solomon.

We crossed each others path from time to time until my posting to Army Headquarters (D Sigs) in 1970. One of the first to greet me was Brian. My head was still reeling as I had moved quickly and had never entertained a thought of going to Canberra.

After a somewhat hurried handover from my predecessor Foxy Ryan I started to put my legs under the desk when in no time at all Brian burst into the office and told me I was off to my first inter Service meeting. We were walking in the tunnel under Bugs Bunny (the Australia-American Memorial) when I said to Brian what the hell do I do at this meeting? His answer was succinct and typically Brian, Warren, keep your ears open, your mouth shut and dont commit Army to anything. Superb advice to a new kid on the block for I naively arrived thinking the opposing forced in Vietnam were the enemy, I was soon stripped of this delusion.

Brian was posted to Vietnam, and I subsequently met him in New Guinea. We had kept in contact ever since. Some time ago he told me about Skype and the Sunday morning talks with Ray Beckett and Max Stark, in fact we were talking last Sunday.

At some time I discovered Brian had the same love of classical music as I had though I have never had his passion for Wagner. Brian had a wicked and irrepressible sense of humour. We both were in Lions and both enjoyed being a part of that organisation.

During his posting to Japan he met and married Harumi. They have been an inseparable pair since. Brian is survived by Harumi, Peter, Dianne and David. While our sympathies go out to his family one can only agree with Peter that he was a man of extraordinary kindness. We have all lost an outstanding friend.


Warren Meredith
Woolgoolga NSW 2456
7/04/2007