Anthony Paul Sobels 17 April 1944 – 1 May 2023
Peter Leaney
I first met Tony during our radio apprenticeship at WRE where he soon got the nickname as "Arab" which stayed with him for years. During our training we spent time in the Radio Workshop building all sorts of interesting projects and having lots of fun times. Water skiing was the go at the time and he joined us in many trips to the river, he survived the dramatic event when a wheels fell off sportscar and he was ribbed for ages. Part of our training was spent at Woomera rocket range and many larger then life experiences "down range" occurred. Following our graduation we worked together at Systems Integration tasked with the job of building porotype equipment for the Ikara missile, Tony spent months wiring the main computer for this system. We then went on many trips to Sydney and Nowra completing field trials, Kings Cross was an eye opener to a couple of young Adelaide boys. After he moved to WA I caught up with him many times while working with Colin Haddy. His banjo playing with the Idlers three was also a lot of fun. He was a great bloke to work with and we sure had lots of fun in the sun, a true friend. My condolences to the family on their loss, he was a great character and I remember him fondly. Peter "Lugsy" Leaney
Peter Leaney
> VIEW ON MEMORY TIMELINElloyd clonan
Many fond memories of Tony dating back to when we served our Apprenticeships at WRE in Salisbury commencing 19/01/1961. We spent time at Woomera together in 1963 when together with Chris Gamlin, Tony and myself formed a Folk singing group we called The Idlers Three, winning the Woomera Amateur Hour and performing at various Football Clubs and parties. [see photo] On returning to Adelaide, we performed at various Nightclubs, Coffee Lounges and featured twice on National Television shows. The group was disbanded when Tony moved to W.A. Tony was also involved in our water skiing escapades at Mannum and Lake Bonney, where we taught him how to ski. The group consisted of Lloyd Clonan, Peter Leaney,[Luggsy] Niven Irwin,[Springbok] Peter Muegge [Sid], Hugh Robertson and Tony Sobels [Arab] . Many happy hours on the water and camping in our tent on the banks of the river and Lake Bonney, no matter what the weather. Tony shared a flat with me at 577 Magill Rd. Magill during the 1960's until I was married in 1967 when he moved in with Alf Pfeiffer who owned the Ampol Servo next door to the block of flats. We both worked for Alf on weekends pumping petrol etc. and enjoyed many drinks at the Tower Hotel, just up the road, and also the magnificent hamburgers and steak sandwiches from Mick Tettis' fish and chip shop, located halfway between the pub and our flats. I am sure I could tell a lot more stories about Tony but they may have to be censored, so I will quit here. We lost touch with Tony after he moved to W.A. but his memory lingered on. Another one of the Good Guys sadly lost. My condolences to his remaining family, [whom, sadly, I have never met], On behalf of all the aforementioned people. R.I.P. Arab.
