User talk:Ian Rose

    Hi and welcome to Ian's Talk. Please leave new comments at the end of the page. Unless requested otherwise, I will reply to you here to keep the conversation thread in one place. Cheers, Ian.

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Happy New Year!

Dear Ian Rose, I hope you had a wonderful New Year's Day, and that 2009 brings further success and happiness! ~ YellowMonkey (bananabucket) 04:58, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

Well done on Goble. A great read. YellowMonkey (bananabucket) 04:58, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

Thanks mate, and a very Happy New Year to you. Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 08:16, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Alister Murdoch

The article Alister Murdoch you nominated as a good article has been placed on hold . It hasn't failed because it's basically a good article, but there are some minor changes or clarifications needed to be addressed. If these are fixed within seven days, the article will pass, otherwise it will fail. See Talk:Alister Murdoch for things needed to be addressed. Cheers, Abraham, B.S. (talk) 13:58, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

Hi, Ian. Just give me a shout when you have ammended the issues in the above as best you can, and I'll go have another look. Cheers, Abraham, B.S. (talk) 11:37, 7 January 2009 (UTC)

London Gazette url has changed

The Gazette have just completely changed their url scheme, the basic search page is now at http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/search, I've just updated the template so everything should keep working, but you may need to force a purge of your cache to see the updated version, and if you spot any problems this may be the reason. For reference, the notarchive= parameter is no longer required. David Underdown (talk) 17:25, 7 January 2009 (UTC)

Well done!

		The WikiProject Barnstar
		For your extensive contributions to the Military history WikiProject, as evidenced by your nomination in the 2008 "Military Historian of the Year" awards, I am delighted to present you with this WikiProject Barnstar --ROGER DAVIES talk 03:57, 12 January 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for organising that, Roger. Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 09:41, 12 January 2009 (UTC)

Thanks

For this! - I think I made all but one of those edits with the wrong date! Nick-D (talk) 10:33, 13 January 2009 (UTC)

Heh, think nothing of it - reminded of what cheque books used to look like every January (that is, when we still used cheque books)...! Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 10:56, 13 January 2009 (UTC)

re: Director WAAF succession box

Hi Ian. That's fine; I mainly added it as the area looked a little sparce. ;) If you believe the addition of a succession box to be redundant, then by all means remove it. Cheers, Abraham, B.S. (talk) 07:08, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

If she was essentially the only Director of WAAAF, then there is deffinately no need for a succession box. Thanks for the update. Cheers, Abraham, B.S. (talk) 13:19, 19 January 2009 (UTC)

DYK for Clare Stevenson

On January 22, 2009, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Clare Stevenson, which you created or substantially expanded. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

Dravecky (talk) 13:41, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

re: McNamara

Hi Ian. In Robert Macklin's Bravest: How some of Australia's greatest war heroes won their medals, it states that McNamara became deeply resentful of his treatment by the RAAF and Australian Government, and decreed that on his death his VC not be returned to Australia. After McNamara's death, his family later donated his VC to the RAF Museum in London, so my guess is that it would still be there. Perhaps checking their website might help? Cheers, Abraham, B.S. (talk) 03:44, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

Hmm, checking the RAF Museum website came up with a whole lot of nothing, but victoriacross.org.uk also states it is in the RAF Museum. Hope this helps. Cheers, Abraham, B.S. (talk) 05:45, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

Heh, great minds... I decided to go to Dymocks at lunch today on spec and found that same book! Was going to post when I got back to save you the trouble but had meetings all arvo so my apologies for that. Anyway you won't have to give me the pages numbers and ISBN, etc - thanks mate. Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 06:25, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

Hello, Ian Rose. You have new messages at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Bruce Kingsbury.
You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

Bruce Kingsbury

		The Copyeditor's Barnstar
		For your admirable efforts at Bruce Kingsbury during its FAC. Simply great work, thank you! » \ / (⁂) 21:18, 30 January 2009 (UTC)

• Thank you, you're very welcome. Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 21:40, 30 January 2009 (UTC)

Military history of Australia during World War II

Hi Ian, Would you be able to have a look at this article and let me know what MOS changes are needed before this can be nominated for a FAC? My last FA nomination (Timor Leste Defence Force) was before MOS compliance became so strongly enforced and I'm sure that there are issues concerning emdash usage, photo placement and the like which will need to be fixed. Nick-D (talk) 23:32, 30 January 2009 (UTC)

No problem - as you might've noticed over at Bill Bostock's FAC, I'm picking up new things all the time...! BTW, tks for your judicious edits on that article as well, Nick - grammatically and content-wise they're a definite improvement (only wish I could say I inserted the Freudian slip deliberately...)! Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 02:49, 31 January 2009 (UTC)

Okay, here are a few things:

• My understanding is that all page number ranges require endashes (this is one rule I don't personally see the point of, especially when you're using the equivalent-sized dash anyway, but haven't bothered arguing - I just do it from acratch in all my articles now in case I decide to take them beyond B-Class).
• Your use of emdashes in place of parentheses, e.g."...two RAAF squadrons — No. 3 Squadron and No. 450 Squadron — and numerous individual Australians..." appears sound though I generally see them appearing sans surrounding spaces, i.e. "...two RAAF squadrons—No. 3 Squadron and No. 450 Squadron—and numerous individual Australians...". However I'm not certain if that's required.
• Your photo placement looks fair to me in that you're doing your best to alternate while also avoiding left-hand pics immediately following third-level headings. However in addition to this last rule forcing you to have consecutive pics on one side, a number of them are also 'facing outwards' as opposed to the preferred 'inwards'. In my experience (and IMHO) this last is the least important rule to follow but it's nice to achieve if possible. I'm actually experimenting on a version of the article in my sandbox which sticks religiously to the 'alternating sides' rule without flouting the 'left-hand pics not immediately following third-level headings' one, to see what can be achieved, and will let you know how it goes.
• Most citation templates seem to now display literally the value in the accessdate parameter, e.g. "accessdate=2008-10-24" shows up as "Retrieved on 2008-10-24". This can generally be avoided by using accessyear and accessdaymonth, e.g. "accessyear=2008|accessdaymonth=24 October" should display as the more aesthetically pleasing "Retrieved on 24 October 2008" - though I notice Cite Web is now completely ignoring accessdaymonth and only displaying accessyear or accessdate (but the last only comes out nicely if you go "accessdate=24 October 2008", not "accessdate=2008-10-24" - I'm afraid these citation templates are becoming chronically unstable...)

FWIW, that's all I can see with this fine article at the moment...! Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 05:20, 31 January 2009 (UTC)

Thanks Ian - I appreciate your advice on this. Nick-D (talk) 05:31, 31 January 2009 (UTC)

No prob - here's a link to that version I promised with all pics alternating but not violating the rule about left-hand pics under third-level headings, so see what you think... Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 06:08, 31 January 2009 (UTC)

That looks good to me, though the New Guinea offensives section looks a little bit crowded on my 24" monitor (which normally means that it would be fine on normal monitors!). I'm afraid that I just buggered up your ability to copy and past that version into the article though by coverting the dashes to endashes. Nick-D (talk) 06:33, 31 January 2009 (UTC)

Yes, you got all enthusiastic there didn't you, just as I finished my sandboxing! There's more work in the endashes so obviously the thing to do is graft the individual pic re-positioning on to the live version when we're so disposed - the point is that it looks like it can be done. Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 06:40, 31 January 2009 (UTC)

Yep, I'll make these changes in the next round of fiddling. Nick-D (talk) 00:52, 1 February 2009 (UTC)

Question

Hi Ian. I was debating whether to take John Whittle through FAC, but thought I'd ask for a second opinion before I decide to do so and figured you were probably one of the best to ask. There is quite limited scope for further expansion to the article so I don't think that will be much of a problem, but rather prose would be the main issue (as it usually is). I was wondering if you would be able to have another look through the article (you were the GA reviewer, if you remember), and be able to provide me with any comments on what needs to be done, or if it requires a copy-edit; basically anything you think that would hinder the article in FAC, or whether I should go for FAC at all. If you are too busy or do not wish to, that is fine; please do not feel obligated to do so. Which ever way, thanks. Cheers, Abraham, B.S. (talk) 01:02, 1 February 2009 (UTC)

Yep, detail-wise it should be fine - it's almost identical in length to Stanley Goble, my shortest biographical FA to date, which went through without complaint. As far as MoS goes, I'd suggest checking immediately above this for the same things I mentioned to Nick, if you haven't already. Over at the William Bostock FAC, they've now mentioned non-breaking spaces before ellipses, so check that review too. Let me know when you're satisfied with the article re. all those, and I'll be happy to read over it again from a prose perspective and make any suggestions or minor copyedits there. In general though, I think it'll be worth going for FAC with it. Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 04:58, 1 February 2009 (UTC)

I think all of the above have already been addressed; I found out about the non-breaking spaces before ellipses not to long ago myself, I think a reviewer brought it to my attention during the Blair Anderson Wark FAC. If you don't mind having a read again to pick up any prose issues, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks mate, Abraham, B.S. (talk) 05:56, 1 February 2009 (UTC)

Okay, will try and do so in next day or so. Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 08:55, 1 February 2009 (UTC)

Thanks immensely for this, Ian; I really appreciate your input. Cheers, Abraham, B.S. (talk) 09:29, 3 February 2009 (UTC)

... and nomination completed. Cheers, Abraham, B.S. (talk) 09:47, 3 February 2009 (UTC)

William Ellis Newton

Saw that you signed up for this on WP:MHCON. That's great! He was one of Keith Miller's cricket mates in their older days. were you thinking of doing Keith Truscott as well? Another Miller buddy, he was Miller's captain at high school. HAve you heard of Neville Reeves DFC? He was Miller's CO. I wonder why there is no article there. YellowMonkey (click here to vote for world cycling's #1 model!) 07:36, 5 February 2009 (UTC)

As a matter of fact, my parents knew Bill Newton after he joined the Air Force. I have pics of him with them at Wagga, one of which I'll probably use in the updated article. Funnily enough they never talked about Truscott, and there's a few articles I've got in mind before I get to his, but it's on my long list anyway... 'Fraid I don't know Reeves at all, none of my major refs seem to mention him... Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 09:20, 5 February 2009 (UTC)

Reeves was RAF from UK btw...YellowMonkey (click here to vote for world cycling's #1 model!) 23:48, 5 February 2009 (UTC)

Replied on the ACR btw. YellowMonkey (click here to vote for world cycling's #1 model!) 00:48, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

Response

Hello, Ian Rose. You have new messages at Nick-D's talk page.
You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

Nick-D (talk) 04:07, 7 February 2009 (UTC)

WikiChevrons with Oak Leaves

		The WikiChevrons with Oak Leaves
		By order of the coordinators of the Military history WikiProject, you are hereby awarded the WikiChevrons with Oak Leaves in recognition of your outstanding contributions to Australian military history articles (including four Featured Articles, an A-Class article, and four Good Articles), your highly civil and collaborative editing, and your willingness to provide advice and assistance to other editors. For the coordinators, EyeSerenetalk 18:39, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

• Very kind of y'all - thanks! Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 07:52, 11 February 2009 (UTC)
  • No worries Ian - it's well deserved. Nick-D (talk) 08:01, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Ian, it's just a thought but with the coordinator elections coming up you might consider standing. --ROGER DAVIES ^talk 09:49, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Heh, per my comments at the workshop, I'm now even more convinced we should only hold elections once a year (so I wouldn't have to consider now)...! No, seriously, very nice of you to suggest it, Roger, though I fear it could give The War of the Roses a whole new meaning if I took on any further obligations at WP, since there are still plenty of articles to which I want to dedicate time. However, never say never and, if I did go for it, I'd certainly give it my best. Thanks again, cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 10:45, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Sybil Irving

Hi Ian, FYI I've created this article as a fairly lame stub. I'm planning on expanding into something more satisfactory tomorrow. It's interesting to see that Irving is also in the Oxford Companion while Stevenson isn't. Nick-D (talk) 10:35, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Ah, you do mean the Oxford Companion to Australian Military History don't you, mate? Stevenson's there on page 606 - I used it in the article, it's where I got Irving's quote...! However, you were right about ADB and how weird their selection criteria is, valuable a resource as it is. The first time I became aware of that was when I found an entry for Bill Bostock, but none on George Jones (sweet revenge for Bill...)! Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 10:45, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Just had a quick squiz, well done getting it under way in any case - and born in Vic Barracks?! Jeez, talk about an army brat...! Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 10:49, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Irving has her own article on pg 287 and also gets a para in the article on the AWAS on pgs 70-71. Nick-D (talk) 10:55, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

I just belatedly expanded this, and thought that it or AV2767 Crusader (also my work) would be the best new Australian military history article today until I came across Joe Hewitt (RAAF officer) - that's an excellent article. Nick-D (talk) 08:39, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

You're too kind, Nick - I went into the Hewitt one not certain whether I'd end up with something of the detail of a solid B/GA or, on the other hand, maybe a potential A. As it's turned out, I think it has a shot at the latter (evidentally you do too, tks for the vote of confidence as always). Irving looks good, do we have a "Women in the Australian military" cat yet...?! Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 14:04, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

How about that, there's one with that exact (and highly logical) name - and it now has two new members...! Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 03:33, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

Thanks Ian. I just started Women in the Australian military. Nick-D (talk) 07:16, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

That's a great start, Nick - well done! Actually, make that three new members for the cat, just added Julie Hammer, which turned out to be a very decent B-class article and have just tagged as such - met her a few years ago BTW, when I was doing IT with the Air Force (brush with fame)...! Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 07:49, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

Leonard G. Shepard

Thank you, Mate! About the time I lose faith in the system, along you come with all sorts of suggestions about how to make 'ole Lenny' a better article. When I first posted a request for a peer review I figured that I would get a few replies with some specific ideas for improvement. No suggestions, but someone did bump it from a Stub to a B-Class. My problem was I didn't know why!

Anyway, thank you for your fair critique and I have already made several changes that you suggested. Still looking for a couple of citations though.

BTW, sorry to hear about Australia's trouble with the hot weather and all the wildfires. I hope the weather breaks in your favor.

Cuprum17 (talk) 02:15, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

		The Guidance Barnstar
		The Guidance Barnstar is hereby greatfully awarded to Ian Rose for his guidance and help in steering me in the right direction Cuprum17 (talk) 02:25, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

You're welcome, thanks mate - and thank you also for your thoughts re. the fire disaster that's happening at the moment. Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 03:41, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

Backstage Pass: Powerhouse Museum

-You are recieving this message because you are listed as interested in wiki-meetups in Sydney-

The Powerhouse Museum will be giving Wikimedia Australia members (and friends) a personal tour through their collections - much of it not on public display. They'll take photos for us and give us access to their curators. Afterwards, they give us a meeting room and we help improve articles about their items. 20people Max.

Would you like to come along?

Signup and learn more here: www.Wikimedia.org.au/wiki/backstage pass

Date & Time: Friday the 13th of March @ 10am. BYO laptop. Where: Powerhouse Museum, Ultimo. map

Hope to see you there, Witty Lama 05:09, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

GA nomination for Frank Hubert McNamara

Hello. I've reviewed the article Frank Hubert McNamara for its nomination for Good Article status. The article easily fulfilled the good article requirements and I have passed it. (The fact that it was already A-Class for WikiProject Military history made the review easy.) Thanks, and good editing. — Bellhalla (talk) 15:07, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for taking the time to review, mate. Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 01:43, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

Peer review Walter Nowotny

Thanks for your constructive help. I believe that I addressed all the issues here Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Peer review/Walter Nowotny. If you have the time please revisit and check what you think. MisterBee1966 (talk) 16:02, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

Congratulations!

		The Military history A-Class medal
		For prolific work on – Stanley Goble, William Bostock and Frank Hubert McNamara – promoted to A-Class between November 2008 and February 2009, by order of the coordinators of the Military history WikiProject, you are hereby awarded the Milhist A-Class medal. -MBK004 20:25, 16 February 2009 (UTC)