Transition

This book traces the journey of a young man who has had the good fortune to achieve his two boyhood dreams – to be a soldier, and to build bridges.

Dan spent 20 years as a soldier, made up of 14 years in the Regular Army and then 6 years in the Reserve, completing service as a Lieutenant Colonel. Dan experienced 12 months active service in the Vietnam War as a troop commander, followed by two years in Papua New Guinea building a road to Kokoda.

He achieved his second aim of bridge building by being involved in the construction of two major bridges across the Brisbane River – the Merivale Rail Bridge and the Gateway Bridge. Between those two, Dan commenced his own business as a contractor building bridges, but the enterprise was not financially successful.

The book concludes with details of varying experiences as a professional engineer, culminating in the successful completion of a road in Samoa, by solving technical and managerial problems, and surviving the horrendous Cyclone Val in December 1971.

Daniel Robert Simpkins was born in 1942 and raised in the Richmond and Clarence River valleys in the far north of New South Wales. He attended a series of one-teacher bush schools for his primary education.

Dan won a government bursary at the age of 11, enabling him to live in a hostel for bush children and attend the Lismore High School. After graduating with a Leaving Certificate, he gained entry to the Royal Military College at Duntroon.

On completion of that four-year course, Dan was selected to attend university in Adelaide for his bachelor’s degree in Technology-Civil Engineering. Dan did war service in Vietnam, studied at the Royal Military College of Science in England, and resigned from the army to work as a civil engineer, a career in which he is still engaged.