Photos Aussies and Kiwi's in Vietnam

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Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam. 18 February 1970. Sapper Paul Scott of Beverley Hills, NSW, gives his M16 automatic rifle a thorough cleaning before B Company of 8th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (8RAR), moves in to check and destroy a VC bunker system in the Long Hai Mountains during Operation Hamersley. Spr Scott was an engineer attached to the unit for clearing mines and booby traps, and demolition of bunkers. The bunker system was uncovered by an air strike by B52 bomber aircraft on the mountains which were the scene of bitter fighting between the Australians and VC on 15 February 1970.

 

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A sharp eye is needed when moving through jungle such as this in South Vietnam. Sitting astride an Armoured Recovery Vehicle (ARV), his M60 machine gun close by, is Australian Private (Pte) Frank Jelen of Fairfield, NSW, a member of the 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR). The ARV is followed by a Centurion tank. Australian soldiers of 3RAR and 4RAR combined with C Squadron, 1st Armoured Regiment, in Operation Overlord on the border of Phuoc Tuy and Long Khanh Provinces, to the north of the 1st Australian Task Force Base (1ATF) at Nui Dat. Identified atop the Centurion tank are 37691 WO2 Russell Hocking, 3RAR, to the left of the gunner, and 519516 Pte Ian M. Tibbits, 3RAR, to the right. Also believed to be atop the tank are Pte David Pye and Pte David Read.

 

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Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam. July 1970. Armed with a US Rocket Launcher 66mm M72 Light Anti Tank Weapon (LAW) and an L1A1 self-loading rifle, Australian Private Nicholas Andropof of Reservoir, Vic, patrols silently through a rubber plantation during a combined infantry-tank operation against Viet Cong bunker systems in Operation Petrie. He is a member of 8th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (8RAR).

 

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Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam. January 1971. Officers of 7th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (7RAR), and 106 Battery, Royal Australian Artillery (RAA), study a map after joining forces during an operation in Phuoc Tuy Province. The operation lasted thirty days and consisted mainly of patrols and ambushes. Left to right: Officers Commanding the battalion's C Company, Major Geoff Skardon of Bathurst, NSW; Captain Denis Byrne of Lota, Qld, forward observer with 106 Battery; and the Commanding Officer of 7RAR, Lieutenant Colonel Ron Grey of Watson's Bay, NSW.

 

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Vietnam. 1966-10. 2/7758 Warrant Officer 2 John William 'Jack' Kirby, Company Sergeant Major (CSM) D Company, 6th Battalion The Royal Australian Regiment (RAR) of Windsor, Brisbane, Qld, (left), and Major Harry Smith of Ashgrove, Brisbane, Qld, Officer Commanding D Company 6RAR, test firing the Goryunov SG43 7.62 x 54mmR Soviet made Chinese communist heavy machine gun captured at the battle of Long Tan. Smith and Kirby distinguished themselves at the Battle of Long Tan on 18 August 1966. Smith was awarded the Military Cross (MC) and Kirby the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM). On 6 February 1967, whilst participating in Operation Tamborine, Kirby was fatally wounded by artillery fire from the 161st Battery, Royal New Zealand Artillery (RNZA), when 12 105mm rounds accidentally fell on and around the D Coy Headquarters. This friendly fire incident killed four Australians (including Kirby) and wounded 13 others.

 

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Vietnam. c.1968. Private `Stoney' Burke, a member of Assault Pioneer Platoon, Support Company, 7th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (7RAR), and the 7RAR tracker dog `Tiber' resting in the field during an operation.

 

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End of day smoke for Sapper Barry Hartford of Broken Hill, NSW, as he relaxes against a tree after an arduous tunnel search during Operation Enoggera after the 6th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (6RAR), occupied a VC village.

 

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Concert at Australian Base at Nui Dat (1968 or 69)
Photo from Dick Kennedy. Dick served as a cook at a number of Australian units in Vietnam (Vung Tau & Nui Dat) from 21/5/1968 until 13/3/1969.

 

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Looking out of ORs Mess at 1OFP at Nui Dat (1969)
Photo from Dick Kennedy. Dick served as a cook at a number of Australian units in Vietnam (Vung Tau & Nui Dat) from 21/5/1968 until 13/3/1969.

 

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ORs Mess at 1OFP Nui Dat (Xmas 1968)
Photo from Dick Kennedy. Dick served as a cook at a number of Australian units in Vietnam (Vung Tau & Nui Dat) from 21/5/1968 until 13/3/1969.

 

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Bernie Kelly 1OFP Nui Dat (Australian Base) 1969
Photo from Dick Kennedy. Dick served as a cook at a number of Australian units in Vietnam (Vung Tau & Nui Dat) from 21/5/1968 until 13/3/1969.

 

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June 1970. Soldiers of the Defence and Employment Platoon of Headquarters, 1st Australian Task Force (1ATF) base at Nui Dat, watch a fourteen foot python snake which slithered into their operational field base in the north of the Province. In the foreground, pointing is Lieutenant Peter Cosgrove of Coogee, NSW, the platoon commander. The snake was adopted by the platoon as a mascot and flown back to Nui Dat.

 

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Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam. June 1970. Sergeant Frank Johnson of Mornington, Vic, of the Defence and Employment Platoon of Headquarters, 1st Australian Task Force (1ATF) base at Nui Dat, holds a fourteen foot python snake which slithered into the platoon's operational field base in the north of the Province. The snake was adopted by the platoon as a mascot and flown back to Nui Dat

 

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Three of the HQ 1 ATF ACV's (Callsign 85, 85A and 85B) ready to lead the convoy out of Nui Dat
on the 16 Oct 1971. Vietnamese vehicles line up on the outside waiting to help themselves
to the goods being left by the Australians. Photo supplied by Pete Bird

 

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Callsigns 85C and 85D being prepared for deployment at 104 Sig Sqn, Tech Maint, Nui Dat in 1969.
Note the 10KVA generator trailer on the left. Photo supplied by Dick Meager.

 

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Signal Centre Command Post, 4 Field Regt at Nui Dat (1968)
(Photo supplied by Gordon Taylor)

 

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Luscombe Bowl, Nui Dat with a RAAF DHC-4 Caribou in the background (1968)
(Photo supplied by Gordon Taylor)

 

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104 Sig Sqn Radio Operators on Nui Dat Hill at the front of the Radio Bunker (1968)
L-R Gordon Taylor, Ken Cox, Richard Christiansen and Geoff Morgan
(Photo supplied by Gordon Taylor)