[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

G'day Ron, and let me also and formally welcome you to Maple Leaf Up!

We are a truly world-wide community of friends united by one purpose - to recognise the service of you and those like you who served our respective countries so well in that great conflagration known as World War II.

The MLU Forum, quite by accident it seems, has grown to be the focal point of the site, and we welcome all who have a genuine interest in the subject matter. In addition to yourself we have several other WW2 veterans on-board, as well as many who've served their countries in peace and in war since then.

Maple Leaf Up does its best to foster a tight, close-knit community here, where all can be themselves quite comfortably; this is something rarely found elsewhere on the internet these days. Doing so requires an elevated level of security to protect our members from the internet scavengers who plague this great medium these days.

It is for that reason that we vet all prospective new members before permitting them to register and post. We as such encourage as many as possible to use their real names here, rather than identifying themselves as only some strange internet moniker; this also helps build the community spirit here.

And herein lies the answer to your question; the reason the Members List is made unavailable is to protect the identities of those who choose to call this their online "home". If it were open for all to see, it would also be downloaded and recorded in short order by the legions of spambots which probe every corner of this internet universe. It is a primary obligation to our membership that we take whatever steps are necessary to prevent such intrusions into their lives, and largely speaking, we are successful.

If you have any other questions, related or otherwise, please don't hesitate to ask them!

Geoff Winnington-Ball
Creator & Managing Director
MAPLE LEAF UP