What happened to the Australian Ski Corps?

[Fluffy beanie]

Doing a little reading in 'The White Roof of Australia' by Bill Beatty, and I was suprised to read about the Australian Ski Corps. It says it was started in the 1940s, and they did training in the 1940s in Lebanon.

Anyone know what happened to the Ski Corps and when it ceased to exist? Did they actually do see any action on the batllefield?

 

[benchives]

read a bit about it on wiki and some other books.

apparently they did some serious training in lebanon but were never used in actual combat. Correct me if I am wrong.

 

[Shadowtec]

They all switched to snowboards ??
(joking)

 

[Bogong]

That's my understanding Piggy. They took a few potshots at the French, but never had a ski battle with them. Several members of the Aust Ski Corps went on to make their civilian life in the snow such as Sgt Lindsay Salmon who built Drift Chalet at Hotham over 60 years ago (it's still there) and set up a very successful ski school.

The other great Australian ski story of World War Two is the Changi Ski Club. Changi was a Japanese prisoner of war camp close to where Singapore airport is today. Inmates were starved and beaten. Despite being on a flat area at sea level on the equator, Changi Ski Club flourished. It's meetings were mostly about swapping stories and instruction on technique. The secretary of Changi S.C. was Capt Tom Mitchell who had written Australia's first how to ski book in 1938. He went on to be a Member of Parliament in Victoria who lobbied for resorts to be opened up. Skiing today would be very different if not for him.

 

[Mr. Mook]

if you are interested there are lots of photos in on-line library collections of the corps training in lebanon.

http://www.pictureaustralia.org/

is one place where you will find them