Today we say goodbye to Ivalen Keane-Murphy (Spud) who passed away last night. Spud had been in Entabeni hospital for the last week or so and I think as he would put it he finally decided to take down my tent, pack up my kit and head for somewhere new. So now we know at the big beach in the sky there will always be smiles and chuckles at Spuds zany sense of humour, the bar will be running at a profit and his old friend Lucky Eddie Hall will not go without a nice hot pickled onion. My memories of Spud are many and varied, starting out in the Navy at SAS Ikonkoni where he was my GI with the rank of WO1. If one wanted to know what a uniform should look like as worn by a sailor, you could take a picture of Spud and place it in any instruction manual. A tough uncompromising Gunnery Instructor who took no nonsense and certainly didnt take any prisoners. He honed my parade ground work and inculcated Naval lore and tradition into my thinking in all things that I did. Our friendship really started when we were at sea on an SDB. The seas were so rough and Signalmen (my mustering) had to manage all the signals and conduct the radar plat at the same time. So when it was not your watch you went and got your head down, that I kept getting thrown out of my bunk by the pitching and rolling SDB. I took a blanket and went and lay down next to the stack to get some rest as the the stack was the epicentre of the boat and was relatively stable. Technically I was sleeping on the deck. I was in dreamland and felt this hand shaking me awake....it was Spud and he said Killick you cant get your head down here, go to your bunk my rejoinder Warrant, do me a favour and f*** o**. He looked a bit taken aback, but then that smile appeared and he left me alone. I later moved on to MI and Spud decided to take a Commission. He is one of the few Citizen Force sailors to have received a 40 year service medal (gold). As a friend he was an excellent raconteur and great company in any setting, whether sitting in the bush making the most of a rat pack or at a formal dinner eating the most sumptuous meal along with the wines, port and rum to go with it. My enduring memories are of him and I taking a stroll on a Saturday morning to go and buy our lotto tickets and then sitting at the illegal pub next door and drinking a bitterly ice cold Hansa discussing what we would do with the money. Also the time he was driving my car, I was asleep and we were on our way somewhere and he left his drivers license at the roadblock where they checked it. About 4 hours later he asked (on recalling where his license was) if I would go back to the road block and got a definite no in answer. He didnt skip a beat, he phoned the road traffic inspectorate, cajoled the name of the officer at the roadblock out of them and cajoled this man into bring his license to us about 300kms away. Spud in later years would leave early if we were away for whatever reason and had gone out for a bite to eat. He would invariably leave his money with me with strict instructions to ensure that I put his money into the pot for the meal. I worked out years later he had always forgotten to pay the Vat/GST.....I never told him, it was my pleasure to make up the bill. He would have been devastated to think he didnt pay his way. I think of the time after the Marine conversion when we took mobile radar units up to Northern Zululand as we had Int that the terrs were bring in arms via the sea. So from Punto de Oro on the Southern Mocambique border for about 40 kms south we placed the mobile units. We also did patrols into what you could only call jungle (riverine/coastal forest). I remember Spud at the head of the platoon (who were supposed to be moving quietly through the bush as an ambush was a very real possibility) using his panga to chop any stick, branch or reed that had the temerity to cross his path. These tink tink tinks you could hear from 200 meters away. Perhaps his reasoning was if they hear us theyll move off as no terr worth his salt wanted to get into a bunfight with South African Marines as they generally found they had bitten off more than they could chew. Also if SA troops got shot the paperwork was a nightmare. So I prefer to think he saved us a lot of trouble and pain. So many other stories to tell that they will keep me smiling into my old age. Spud,even when faced with adversity would always end up with a smile on his face with a chuckle at the end of it. I have never really seen him angry or at a loss. 77 years young my dear friend, Spuddy we say adieu....we will all see you at the big beach beach in the sky soon enough, please keep a Hansa cold for me in the cooler box. RIP Commander IA Keane-Murphy PMM MMM JCD
Posted on: Mon, 26 May 2014 08:15:53 +0000
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