Story 80 - Operation Overlord
5 - 14 June 1971
For Those Who
Never Made it Back
By Ken Mackenzie OAM
The following commentary is
drawn from a précis of notes I made in my ‘green notebooks’ during
Operation Overlord in June of 1971.
Left: Ken's Field Message and
Note Book AAB-64 (front cover)
Right: Operation Overlord, Outline Map (Source 'A Duty First'
by Lt Col Fairhead)
Prelude
In late April - early May 1971, the OC
104 Sig Sqn ,
MAJ Tony Roberts, called me across to his office. He announced that
he was upgrading our Detachment at 4RAR/NZ (then in the process of
replacing 2RAR/NZ), to a SGT, CPL and two Signalmen. I was to be the
SGT.
A major Operation was being planned
and it was highly likely that 4RAR/NZ Battalion Headquarters (Bn HQ)
would deploy to the field and remain deployed, like 3RAR, following
the Operation. SGT Denis Boland would be my replacement in
Communications Control (Comms
Con). I was to arrange a handover and move across to 4RAR/NZ,
without delay.
[Deja Vu - in February, my predecessor in Comms Con, SGT Mike Didsman, had moved across to 3RAR. Now it was my turn to head to an Infantry Battalion.]
Suffice to say, a short time later I
became part of the “Fighting Fourth”.
Small World
Within a day or so I’d met two blokes
in the SGTs Mess I knew from Malaya, two of
my old apprentices who were vehicle mechanics in the 4RAR workshop,
and my Company Commander from 1968/69, the remarkable Major Jerry
Taylor, now OC Admin Company.
Operation Overlord
Background
Operation
Overlord was a “Search and Clear” operation. It took place in
southern Long Khanh Province, close to the Phouc Tuy Province
border and north-east of the De-Courtenay Rubber Plantation. This
area was known as the “TRAC (Third Regional Assistance Command)
Special Zone”.
In order to counteract this threat,
1ATF and US Army Forces decided to conduct a major operation
(Overlord), the aim of which was to destroy and disrupt all enemy
elements in this region.
The plan was for the US Army's 2/8th
Bn, 3 Brigade 1st US Cavalry Division (Air Mobile)
to block north-east and east along
the Suoi Luc river; 4RAR/NZ (ANZAC) Bn was deployed to block south
and south-east along the Suoi Ran river system, and A Squadron, 3rd
Cavalry Regiment (A Sqn, 3 Cav Regt) was to be used as the cordon.
3RAR was to search between the two
blocking Battalions and destroy all enemy found in the area.
Operational Control was vested in the Commander 1ATF who’d relocated
his Headquarters, 1ATF (Forward) from Nui Dat, to the top of
Courtenay Hill, an 800ft feature west of Route 2 at Grid YS450905 in
southern Long Khanh Province, and within the sprawling De-Courtenay
rubber plantation.
Our Battalion’s first
Operation and preamble to Operation Overlord, was “Operation Bhowani
Junction”. It took place around the notorious De Courtenay Rubber
Plantation from 03 to 04 June 1971. Clear sign of D445 VC Bn’s
presence was detected. The operation concluded with our ‘B, C, D and
V’ Companies positioned in strategic locations south-east along the
Suoi Ran River by late afternoon on the 4th of June.
History would record that Operation
Overlord would be the final 1ATF Operation of the Vietnam War
The following is our deployment story and timeline on Operation
Overlord.
Wed through Fri, June 2nd
– 4th,1971
Final Briefings, Issues,
Checking, Testing, and Packing.
Briefings.
There were several of these. In essence, we (Bn HQ), Support
Company, Pioneer, Mortar, and Tracker Platoons, supported by a
section of 104 Field Artillery Battery (104 Fd Arty Bty) and
elements of A Sqn, 3rd Cav Regt, were to deploy by air on
June 5th into Area of Operation (AO) Juno in northern
Phouc Tuy Province at Grid YS525885, to occupy and develop what
would become Fire Support Base (FSB) “Trish”. This included a
briefing on the layout of the FSB and sequence of occupation. It was
also noted that due to the numbers and proximity of VC/NVA forces,
the landings may be opposed.
The RSM with an Advance Party would
deploy in a section of M113 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) on
June 4th to monitor and hold the ground.
In our case, we would be
deploying from the Battalion Landing Zone (LZ) at Eagle Farm. The
only major issue was the mystical disappearance of my 104 Sig Sqn
‘Overlord Operations Order’ into Signal
Platoon HQ never to re-appear. Fortunately, I’d already made plenty
of notes. However, it put me it an extremely awkward position and
remained a source of friction.
When we weren’t spending
time in the Bn Command Post (CP) getting to know how 4RAR/NZ
operated, our time was taken up with issues of first-line
ammunition, pyrotechnics, rations (5 Days) and batteries. Checking
and testing of all of our radio equipment, erecting and dismantling
each of the RC-292 antennas and checking each component.
Everything worked. All the equipment was clean, complete
and in very good condition. Nick ran a tight ship. He, Bob and Don
were a tough, close-knit team who knew their business. Lastly,
we double-checked and packed our personal equipment and cleaned our
weapons. We finished off with a few quiet beers, went over the next
day’s deployment activities and timings, discussed various scenarios
and solutions; then had an early night.
Saturday, June 5th,
1971 – “Up and Out”
0430 - Battalion
reveille. Early breakfast.
0600 - Met up with
Nick Mazzarol, Bob Martin and Don Willis and conduct final equipment
and personal checks. Lastly, I check that each of our rifles are in
the ‘Loaded’ condition, only. Then like ants pouring from a
disturbed nest, we join the streams of soldiers leaving the
Battalion’s lines - each of us staggering under the weight of our
equipment - on the long walks down to Eagle Farm and
Kangaroo Pads. Our destination is Eagle Farm.
0625 - Arrived at Eagle Farm LZ to a scene of
controlled chaos. Movement controllers are busy allocating everyone
into the usual ‘Chalks’ and ‘Lifts’3.
They split the four of us into different chalks and lifts. I argued
that the four of us need to stay together because we’re the Bn Comms
Team – no us – no Bn comms. Quickly told that our allocated ‘chalks’
and ‘lifts’ wouldn’t be changed. Their immediate concern was getting
everyone ‘up and out’; and they didn’t want to lose all of us in one
hit should the chopper go down. However, this wasn’t mentioned at
the previous day’s Lifts Briefing – if it had, we’d have split our
equipment between the different ships as extra insurance. As it was,
all our gear went one ship so if it had gone down… no comms.
0700 – Under the Rubber Trees beside
Eagle Farm. Sweating gallons from our trek, waiting. First the air,
then the ground, begins to vibrate. Before we know it, there's a sky
full of Huey Slicks. I have never seen so many
Hueys in the air at one time. A veritable wall of slicks appears
from the west; and begin race-tracking over Nui Dat.
Concept Photo: Sticks of
Huey's coming into the pickup LZ (Internet Source)
Cobras and Huey Gunships are
riding shotgun over and around the slicks.
Every two or three
minutes, groups of six slicks peel off from the wall of Hueys and
land at Eagle Farm. On command of our Movement Controllers, chalks
of soldiers stagger out from both sides of the pad, and clamber onto
their designated ships. Within a minute, the slicks climb out and
rejoin the wall of Hueys above.
Finally, it’s my turn.
I'm in with a two-tube Mortar Team from the Mortar Platoon. We watch
our slicks head into the LZ, flare and touch down. We're on the
third one in line. We need to make two frantic trips backwards and
forwards to get the tubes, base-plates, ammo and then our own gear
into the slick. No sooner than we're onboard, than the slick lifts
off.
I take stock of my
surroundings - I'm one off the left-hand side door. The door-gunners
motion a wave, smile, and hand-sign for us to hold our rifles with
the barrels pointed vertically down at the floor.
We do a climbing circuit
of Nui Dat, join the herd of Hueys and then head north. Route 2 is
out to our left. My rolled down sleeves are flapping like crazy in
the beautiful cool air.
The assault into what will
be FSB Trish in AO Juno is 15 minutes away...
Approx 0730 - North
of Nui Dat. The cool air rushing in the doors has turned cold and
I'm shivering. Our Huey is moving around in the rotor-wash
turbulence from the ships in front. We are flying nose to tail in
ascending order front to rear. From my perspective, we're far too
close to the ship in front. There are strings of slicks out to our
left and right in the same formation. The left seat pilot turns
around to us, motions, and points out to the right front of the
ship. Off in the distance is a huge pall of dust/smoke and what
appear to be gunships. As I wonder whether dust/smoke is from
gunship runs or landing Hueys, the strings of slicks on our right
begin to move away towards the pall.
The Door Gunners motion
five minutes and continually remind us to keep the barrels of our
weapons pointed vertically down at the floor. I look around at the
mortar guys. They've all got wide eyes and grim faces. So far,
there’s no indication that our LZ is hot.
Concept Photo: Air assault
into to the LZ
Then we're descending and
falling back from the slicks in front of us. Up ahead, is a huge
open area surrounded by what appears to be a mixture of jungle and
rubber trees. The Door Gunners are now hunched over their M60s,
looking out and down. The nose of the Huey flares, the rotor thud is
deafening, then
we’re out the doors and hit the ground hard. We grab tubes, base
plates, ammo and our gear and drag it all clear of the rotor disc
and crouch down facing out. The Door Gunners give us a 'thumbs-up'
as the slick ‘pulls pitch’ and lifts off.
Concept Photo: Quickly moving off the LZ
(Internet Source)
We quickly move forward
and off the LZ as more slicks are coming in behind us. I grab my
gear and head for where I know Battalion HQ will be. A CH-47 Chinook
pushing a billowing cloud of red dust flies low across in front of
me. A Bulldozer is slung beneath it. I see other Chinooks bringing
in 105mm artillery pieces and slung pallets of 105mm ammunition.
Nick, Bob and Don are
already there. Nick’s got readable comms on a 10ft whip. Amidst the
confusion of noise and movement, we quickly unpack an RC-292
antenna. Connect four mast sections, add a '3 up - 4 down' element
configuration, hook it into the '77, hold the ‘292 up and call the
Net Control Station (NCS) on the Task Force Command Net. A 5x5 reply
booms in.
We quickly insert the
remaining mast sections, erect and stake the antenna. By this time,
the Battalion Operations Officer (OPSO) and 2IC of Support Company
have appeared. Our Assault Pioneers are finishing off the two
parallel slit trenches for our temporary Battalion CP, as others are
already well into excavating the Main CP.
Approx 0900
- RSM arrives to show us our position on the perimeter. Leave Don to
man radio and head out where pioneers are laying concertina wire.
We’re slotted around 60 feet in front of a section of 105mm
Howitzers.
And about 40 feet in from
the perimeter wire.
Walk along wire with the
RSM, WO1 Wally Thompson4
He remarked they’d harbored here quietly the previous night,
watching NVA movement to the north (Wally was on his third tour of
duty in Vietnam). He points out neighbors and our ‘left and right of
arcs’. We have a good field of fire and view. An M60 Strong Point is
at our 3 o’clock.
Before he leaves, the RSM
advises that we have a Standing Patrol and Listening Posts out
to our immediate front. They are due to come in through our wire
prior to Stand-To. He reminds us of the “Rules of Engagement”5
and reinforces the need for us to remain alert
and keep our eyes open.
Three of us get stuck
into collecting 12 pieces of heavy, semi-circular steel ARMCO
Culvert Channeling from where they’ve been dropped in the centre of
“Trish”, drag them back to our position, and begin digging 2 x 2 man
fighting positions. Standard “square C” design; 6ft long x 18 inches
wide by 4 ft 6 inches deep - sleeping bays at each end covered with
ARMCO and topped with 18 inches of Over-Head Protection (OHP).
Fighting positions get done first - and must be down to 4’ 6” before
stand-to. Digging is relatively easy – for a change. A dozer is
working behind us, pushing up bunds of earth in front of the
105’s.
Concept Photo: Fire Support
Base setting up and digging in.
Note: Kiowa (Bell OH58A) in the back ground (AWM P02636.030)
June 7th - 1971
“Mid Afternoon”
Temperature’s around the
110-degree mark; digging is dirty, tiring and thirsty work. And
shirts have to stay on6.
We’re also filling sandbags with the spoil from the pits for our
OHP. Bob goes off to relieve Don at the CP. There’s lots of yelling
and movement at the 105’s. Don arrives and mentions elements of 3
RAR are now in contact to our northwest.
A deafening explosion
and concussion makes us jump. We turn around towards the guns and
there are two more. The 105s are firing a contact mission in support
of 3RAR, right over our heads. Within 3 minutes we have splitting
headaches and ringing ears, but we can’t stop digging. The gunners
laugh and poke fun at the way we flinch each time they fire their
105s.
Don Willis returns to Nui
Dat. Spent nearly all day on the radios listening to the Operation
unfold. 3/33rd NVA, 274 VC Regt and D445 VC Bn are
believed to be in a major bunker system around 6 klicks from us.
3RAR’s Callsign (CS) ‘20’ appears to be up against them in heavy
contact. And it must be danger-close because US Gunship Pilots want
the Ground Commander’s initials. Dustoff stood-by then called by
3RAR. Also reported that a Huey has been shot down during
resupply/Dustoff for 3RAR and one battalion member wounded
in mortar incident. Other 3RAR elements supported
by Tanks, APCs and gunships plan to
encircle them. Our 105s now firing almost continual contact missions
for 3RAR (they fired over 400 HE shells in this action). Our Bn’s
task is to provide fire support
and to block potential escape routes that enemy
troops may use to exfiltrate the area.
Photo: 3RAR and Armour
moving into bunker systems on Operation Overlord
(Internet Source)
“Contact!”
The Standing Patrol and
two Listening Posts come back in thru our wire. We start preparing
for Stand To. Ten minutes later, our clearing patrol moves quietly
out through our wire at 12 o’clock. They will clear an area of two
visual distances around to the M60 strong point at 3 o’clock and
come in through their wire. At the same time, three other
clearing patrols are going out thru the perimeter wire at 3’clock, 6
o’clock and 9 o’clock. We sit quietly on the edge of our pits and
wait for 9 o’clock’s patrol to appear.
Mike Jauncey is
sitting beside me. He arrived earlier today as a replacement for Don
Willis. We chat in whispers, ducking down into our fighting pit to
drag on the cigarettes we have carefully concealed in our cupped
hands. Suddenly, two single shots boom out from where our clearing
patrol should be. A short pause, then sustained bursts of
rifle and M60 fire. The M60 gunner to our right burns a 100rd
belt through his gun. Then silence. Nothing moves. Eyes straining to
penetrate the quickly fading light. I call out twice to the 3
o’clock M60 gunner but he doesn’t answer. For a moment I think the
clearing patrols have clashed.
The RSM goes running past
us heading for the wire. He’s yelling out for everybody to hold
their fire. I reckon he’s crazy – everyone’s jumpy as hell -
adrenalin is pumping and our hearts are in our mouths. He’ll get
shot for sure. Mike’s eyes are wide as saucers.
I’m
sure mine are the same.
More
silence…
Several minutes later, 9 o’clock’s patrol comes in through our
position followed by the RSM. Nobody speaks. The RSM moves quickly
past us towards the 3 o’clock M60. He’s swearing and not very happy.
The
rest of the evening, then the night, passes uneventfully.
The
story we get later is that the forward scout of our clearing patrol
spied a guy in camouflage clothing up a tree looking into our area.
This guy notices the scout and shinnies down the tree. The scout
takes two shots at him at the same time he
sees others near the
tree - and the whole patrol opens up on ‘em.
And
the M60 guy to our right says he saw a guy with an AK47 near his
wire and opened fire.
But
we reckoned the real story was that our scout had an “AD”7
and rest of the
patrol opened up to cover for him. And we figured that the M60 guy
on our right had dozed off at his gun – got startled by the gunfire
– and hauled back on the trigger – which accounted for the 100-round
belt…
However, this incident was officially logged
a Bona Fide enemy contact. So, who knows?
June 8th through 14th
– 1971
June 8th. Finished off final OHP
layer over sleeping bays. Two of us are working on perimeter defence
improvement, two working in the Bn CP. We returned to our position
for lunch and find some mongrel had been thru our rucksacks. All
lost precious food, personal items, plus my spare bandoleer of M16
magazines. Mightily pissed off over the mags. We have our strong
suspicions.
"30
in Contact!"
Charlie Company soldier was wounded
(WIA) by NVA squad moving east away from main Soui Nhac bunker
system. His platoon was covering a ‘Y’ track junction from center of
‘Y’. Sentry posted close to track saw two NVA moving quickly along
track from the left across his front. He engaged them, but didn’t
observe other NVA soldiers following close behind; who immediately
engaged and wounded him. NVA did not stop and continued east. Maybe
vanguard of larger group. Dustoff stood by.
CO leapt into Kiowa then moved to low
and slow orbit over the contact location. Charlie Coy Comd
exceedingly agitated as helo noise was covering further enemy
movement around his position and making his control of contact
drills and situation exceedingly dangerous. He directed the Kiowa
"...to exit area", "Now!" CO not impressed.
Photo: Kiowa (Bell OH58A) -
On lease from the US Army in 1971
(Source 'Target Charlie' by Steve
Eather)
Sleep is patchy due to continuing artillery night contact missions. Also had some fun when FSB Trish became a 'malfunction grid'8 for 105mm illumination rounds out of FSB Pamela. Had to stay in sleeping bays and bunkers until fire mission ceased. Spent illumination shell casings whooshing loudly as they crash down into our FSB. Miracle no casualties or damage caused.
June 10th – 1971 '‘Tub Time”
Shower Unit flew into FSB Trish this
morning. A Chinook carrying two giant water bladders and several
water pumps set-up shop right across from LZ. There are four
showerheads at each of four shower points.
And we go across 16 at a time. When my
blokes have come back, down I go. Filthy clothes off, 30 seconds
under tepid water, out, dry and filthy clothes back on. Red dirt is
now so thoroughly ingrained into our skins that it won’t come out.
Small, Small, World.
As Fate would have it, I run across
Bruce Cameron (A Sqn) and Barry Cane (104 Fd Bty), at the same
shower point. The three of us were Drill Instructors back in 1968.
Now, three years later, we’re all Sgts within 300m of each other in
different units on the same FSB in Vietnam! And none of us knew the
others were here! We swap notes, catch-up on gossip and info. Really
great to know we can call on each other in an emergency.
[We would meet again as WO1s at Enoggera
in 1984. Bruce was RSM 6 Bde, Barry was RSM of the Arty Regt and I
was RSM 1 Sig Regt]
June 12th - 1971 “Mid-Morning to Late Afternoon”
APC CS Tango Alpha came up on the Task
Force Command Net calling "Contact!" Explosions / Heavy 50 and 30
Calibre / Small Arms Fire / Yelling over the top of his
transmissions. General confusion as Tango Alpha CS is not releasing
his ‘push to talk’ (PTT) and consequently jamming the Net. Tango
Alpha CS pleading for help and on verge of panic; apparently many
killed (KIA). Says the two APCs preceding him have been destroyed or
disabled. NCS is trying to contact the accompanying troops on their
frequency without success. Situation sounds dire.
The Task Force Command Net quickly
changed to its alternate frequency - Comms are 5x5. Battle now
raging close to 1ATF (FWD) at Courtenay Hill? Our US Forward Air
Controller (FAC), CS “JADE” is coordinating Gunship and Fast Mover
support.9 Must
be Danger Close situation, as Aircraft Commanders
are asking for the Ground Commander’s Initials.10
Distinct possibility that people (2?)
captured by enemy.
CO reacts our B Coy and Assault Pioneers into the
battle area (during the engagement, one of our B
Company diggers was struck on the head by a spent 20mm shell casing
fired by an F4 Phantom jet during a strafing run over the enemy
bunker system. He picked it up and still has today!).
Passing US Dustoff “Medevac 66” comes
up TF Comd Net. Offers to extract friendly casualties from contact
area. Medevac 66 asks for confirmation that one WIA missing a leg
and Papa Zulu (Pick-Up Zone) is hot. Cannot hear ground
transmission(s) to Medevac 66.
Concept Photo: Dustoff "Medevac
66" (AWM EKN/67/0145/VN)
Dustoff lands through fire and
extracts WIA. Pilot’s voice is calm, and 'matter of fact',
throughout entire extraction and he advises he’s inbound to the US
Army’s 24th Evacuation Hospital at Long Binh. We’re
fortunate he was nearby.
Grid
references passed in clear indicate that the battle is now
concentrated around a bunker system that parallels a creek line
within 1500 metres of 1ATF (FWD) at Courtenay Hill and most probably
involves 3/33rd NVA Regt or 274 VC Regt.
Confirmation received
that no personnel captured by enemy. The two missing personnel have
been accounted for.11
We were later briefed that three M113
APC carrying members of the D&E Platoon were sent to an area west of
Courtenay Hill to investigate ‘Agent’ reports of enemy activity.
However, no enemy activity was detected and they returned to
Courtenay Hill.
Later that same day, further
reports were received of enemy activity in the area. The Platoon
reboarded the APCs and proceeded back to the area by the same route
they’d travelled earlier in the day. During the return journey, a
box of M18A1 Claymore Mines fell from the leading APC [each M113
carried a box of six (or more) Claymore Mines. These were used for
protection at Halts and Harbours]. The second APC stopped and a
soldier retrieved the claymores, which were stowed next to this
APC’s own box of claymores.
At the same
time, the last APC slowed to a stop to maintain his tactical
distance.
In the
meantime, the lead APC, which had continued on, rounded a slight
bend and was struck by an RPG-7, severely wounding both the Driver
and Crew Commander and disabling the APC.
All three APC were immediately engaged by enemy fire. A Satchel Charge was thrown onto the second APC, which detonated both boxes of claymore mines as well as the first-line ammunition also stored on top of the APC. The catastrophic explosion killed or badly wounded all those aboard.
It was the
Crew Commander of the third APC who’d called in the contact.
Maintaining his tactical distance from the second APC had kept him
out of the killing zone and allowed him to provide a firm base of
fire in support of his leading elements caught in the ambush.
I have also
heard that that the explosion on the second APC was caused by an
RPG-7 striking the claymore mines. Whatever the cause, it was a
terrible and tragic day for the D&E Platoon. And one I have never
forgotten.
Recovered APC Tangp Alpha 84B at
Nui Dat
(Left photo supplied by Nev Haskett and right photo supplied by Ken
Mackenzie)
Warned by OPSO to standby for move to
Courtenay Hill at Grid YS 450905, with CO. Mission: Provide Step-up
Battalion Command Net for the Battalion Headquarters relocation onto
Courtenay Hill.
Choppered from FSB Trish into LZ below
Courtenay Hill, with CO. Trudged up Courtenay Hill with great
difficulty, as everybody was trying to get down off it.
1ATF (Fwd) is in the process of moving
from Courtenay Hill back to Nui Dat. It gives me the impression of
controlled chaos. Manage a quick ‘Hello’ to a few of the 104 Boys,
before they leave.
Working out of two M577 Armoured
Command Vehicles (ACVs) with Tent Annexes deployed. A US Army CH47
Chinook arrives overhead with a large, slung, wire basket of Defence
Stores. Desperately try to wave him off but he ignores us and
descends anyway. The enormous downdraft from his twin rotors
destroys the tent annexes, sucks every piece of paper out of the
ACVs and badly kinks two ‘292 antenna masts. Miracle that nobody was
hurt. CH-47 Crew Chiefs’ laugh and wave as they depart. They’re the
only people laughing; it wouldn’t have been so funny if we’d had
troops in contact. Spend the next half hour picking up our scattered
codes, maps, message pads and logbooks from across the top of
Courtenay Hill. Do the best we can with the twisted and bent annexes
and the 292s.
The rest of Battalion HQ, Support
Company HQ, Tracker and Pioneer Platoons begin arriving and are
complete on Courtenay Hill by early next morning.
Operation Overlord was officially
over.
A small, sandbagged bunker on the
north-western side of Courtenay Hill was to be my home until the 5th
October 1971
4RAR/NZ(ANZAC) Battalion was the last
Australian Infantry Battalion to serve in the Vietnam War. They were
a great unit and I was proud to have served with them.
What I wore and
carried - June 5th – 14th
1971
In my experience, a soldier’s ‘Field’
load was very much an individual thing. Whilst Bn/Unit SOPs normally
dictated who, what and where, certain items would be carried. The
rest was up to the person who had to carry it.
Webbing and Rucksack
Mixture of US/Australian M-1956 LCE12 web equipment (with SAS ammo pouches);
8 canteens (each with a cups canteen steel), plus
US 2-quart collapsible canteen
Entrenching Tool, with Cover, and
US Army Tropical Rucksack on aluminum frame.
Weapons /
Ammunition / Pyrotechnics
Colt 5.56mm M16A1 Rifle with 24 x 20 rd Mags (in
ammo pouches and bandoleers, Field Dressing taped to rifle butt as
per Bn SOP;
Bipod in pouch
Cleaning Kit
LSA Oil
Colt .45 M1911A1
Pistol, 3 x 7 rd Mags, plus box of 50 .45 Cal cartridges13
KBar Knife;
M7 Bayonet and scabbard;
M18 Smoke Grenades x 2;
Flares Trip, M49A1 x 2, and
Flares Para (Illumination) x 2.
Personal
Equipment – In No Particular Order
5 Days rations (It was 4RAR SOP was that food
would not be resupplied in under 5 days. So, US ‘C’ Rations had to
be broken down into 5 main meals with coffee/tea, sugar, chewing
gum, etc. Otherwise, it was too bulky to carry);
Several Packs of Camel/Lucky Strike Cigarettes
and Zippo lighter;
1 x Shirt spare (in Bed Roll);
1 x Trousers spare (in Bed Roll)
1 x Socks spare (in Bed Roll)14;
Safety Razor and pack of 5 blades;
Shaving brush;
Soap;
Signaling Mirror;
Compass;
Cut-down toothbrush;
Tooth paste 1 x small tube;
KFS set;
Dixies x 2;
Dog Tags on Chains x 2
Handkerchiefs x 4
Towels Hand Green x 2 (also used these to
wrap-up/around anything that would rattle);
Boots x 1 pair;
Boot Brush
Hootchies x 2 (Bed Roll);
Poncho Liner x 1 (Bed Roll);
Mattress Cover x 1 (Bed Roll);
Mattress Inserts x 3 (Bed Roll);
Hat utility;
Sweat Rag, extra long, x 2;
Nylon Cord Green, approx 60 ft;
Karibeeners x 2;
Millbank (Water filter) Bag;
Sewing Kit;
Safety Pins and Fuse
Wire (qty)15;
Camouflage Cream, Black and Green x 2;
Stove Hexamine;
Tablets Hexamine or Trihexene;
Pocket Knife;
Camouflage Raincoat (useless for keeping rain off
but kept me warm at night)
Pliers Sidecutting x 1;
Plastic Tape, 1 Inch, Black - 3 x rolls;
Platoon Rollbook;
Field (Green) Notebook x 3;
Radio Logbook x 2
Message Pads x 2;
Writing Pad and Envelopes in plastic bag;
Pens/Pencils x various;
Paludrin and Dapsone Tablets (Anti-Malarials);
Field/Shell Dressings x several;
Flashlight (Anglehead)
Strobe Light, and
Sandbags x 2
Communications Equipment
Between four of us, we had the following
communications equipment. Thank goodness we didn’t have to carry it
very far!
2 x KAL-55B (KAC) Code Wheels plus Numeral Code
for 7 Days;
1 x Signal Operating Instruction (SOI) x 28 Days;
1 x Set of Operations (Ops) Code x 28 Days;
2 x AN/PRC-77 VHF Radios, with CES16
plus extra H1125GR handset;
2 x AN/GRA-39 Remote Control Units;
2 x LS-166U Speakers
2 x RC 292 Antenna;
8 x BA3386 Magnesium Batteries17;
2 x 12 ‘D’ Cells for
AN/GRA 39, and
1 x ¼ Mile Pack of Assault Cable.
Notes:
1. Both 3RAR and
4RAR/NZ had permanent 104 Sig Sqn Radio Troop detachments of a SGT,
CPL and two 2 Signalmen, assigned to them.
4. WO1 W.T.C (Wally) Thompson was on his third tour of duty in
Vietnam. He was a highly respected and very well-liked RSM. In 1983,
Wally was appointed the first RSM of the Army. He passed away on 19
April 2012.
5.
Rules of Engagement
1. They
are positively identified as enemy
2. They open fire first and are not obviously friendly
3. They fail to stop when challenged and are not obviously
friendly
4. By night they approach a position and are not obviously
friendly
5. If in doubt – do not shoot
The Rules of Engagement were
implemented primarily for our own safety as well as Vietnamese
civilians. These rules were continually emphasized during training
in Australia. And we were constantly reminded of them “In-Country”.
There were large, conspicuously, posted signs listing the Rules of
Engagement in every unit and sub-unit, in Nui Dat.
10. US/AS Aircraft providing ‘Danger Close’ air-support to troops on the ground would always ask for the “Ground Commander’s Initials”. This was a means of confirming that they were actually talking to the ground commander involved, and to ensure that the ground commander was aware and understood that ‘friendly’ casualties may occur.
12. LCE – Load Carrying Equipment, colloquially known as ’Webbing’.
[There was a family connection to this course. My Maternal Grandfather, Sapper William Henry Moran DCM, MM, CdeG did the original version of this course at Casula in 1915, prior to embarking for France during WW1.]
16.
Complete Equipment Schedule – List of accompanying items essential
for the proper operation of a particular piece of equipment
