The latest edition of Army News is now available to view online: www.defence.gov.au/news/armynews
ON THE PROWL: 1 Bde sharpens warfighting skills on Exercise Predator’s Run. – Pages 1 and 13-16
SHOOT TO SKILL: Allied troops test military skills during Exercise Hydra. – Pages 2-3
EXERCISE IN TRUST: Australian and Chinese soldiers work together in Exercise Pandaroo. – Pages 6-7
And in sport:
BRILLIANT BRONCO: Private helps lead NRL Women’s side to grand final. – Pages 27-28
Members and Friends of the RARA SA.
On Friday 23 November, we will be conducting a Regimental Birthday evening from 1600 hours.
This is going to be externally catered by Cheryl’s Cuisine at a cost of $15 per head. An extensive range of finger food will be available.
Casual dress. Please advise via email if you will be attending.
Finally, on Friday 14 December, we will have our Xmas party for members with a BBQ.
From RARA National
https://rarnational.org.au/the-royal-australian-regiment-70th-anniversary-celebrations/
More on the dinner below.
The 2018 Royal Australian Infantry Corps Annual Dinner will be held on Thursday 22 November 2018 in Canberra.
The RAR Foundation and the RAR Association (ACT Branch) have again joined to host the Royal Australian Infantry Corps Annual Dinner, which will be held to celebrate the 70th Birthday of the Royal Australian Regiment.
The Dinner will be held at the Canberra Institute of Technology Restaurant (1st Floor, Building K, Constitution Avenue, Reid) on Thursday 22 November 2018, 1830 for 1900 hours. Dress will be lounge suit, no medals. Cost is $85.00 per head.
The Dinner is open to all Infantry soldiers and officers, serving or retired, ARA or ARES, including Allied Infantry personnel.
All interstate Infantrymen are cordially invited.
To secure your place, please book and pay no later than Friday 09 November 2018 by:
a. advising RAR Association (ACT Branch) by e-mail of your attendance (hq@rarfoundation.org.au).
b. making your payment as outlined below.
c. advising if you have any special dietary requirements.
Payment should be made by cheque or by direct deposit to:
a. Account Name: RAR Foundation
b. BSB: 112 908
c. Account Number: 043368817
d. Description: Surname/Dinner
Cheques should be made payable to the “RAR Foundation” and mailed to GPO Box 3112, Canberra, ACT, 2601.
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See Major Events for the RARA SA function.
This is the current issue of the Infantryman
Below for March 2018
Infantryman final 2 March 2018
Below is December 2017
Infantryman December 2017 Dec 4
Below is the August 2017 issue
Yet again, a highly enjoyable and successful Dinner with fabulous food, great friends and wonderful comradeship.
A selection of photos below
Here is a copy of the 2nd edition of A Duty Done;
ADD 2 Ed Combined MkII (3) posted on 27 June 18.
To order the original book, please view this A Duty Done Order_Form_Sep
If paying by EFT, please ensure you place your initials and surname as the reference. If you have a specific book number, also please insert that ,e.g. VX Smith 591
You can also read the original A Duty Done here.
Greek Night – 4 May 18.
A highly successful evening with more than 65 guests enjoying a feast provided by Tim, Tas, Con & Sia.
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What a great afternoon of eating drinking and generally making merry with wonderful friends along with our two very learned wine experts in William Smidmore and Mike von Berg. Of course without the wonderful team of workers who made it all happen and come together and of course the Caterers who did a fabulous job and making life a little easier for the team – if I mention names then sure as eggs somebody will be left out and we cannot let that happen.
So a great day had by all. Cheers. Mrs. Vice (aka Lynn Graham)
And photos – courtesy of Penelope & Bruce Forster – below, as always, click on photos for better viewing and captions.
Here are a few photos of our highly successful dinner. As always, by selecting a photo you will be able to view a better photo as well as the caption for it.
And some nostalgic memories of our May 2013 Regimental Dinner
Please view the latest news on the RCB campaign here RCB Update
There is an extensive history to this campaign under the Advocacy tab (above).
The Casualty List has been off line for some time, here it is revived.
Note by clicking on the sub-headings, unit or coy/pl for example, you can then filter your searches.
Here is the April 2017 edition Infantryman April 2017
You can view the November 2016 edition here Infantryman November final 16.11.2016
the August 2016 edition here Infantryman August
and the April 2016 edition here Infantryman+April+2016
There are numerous excellent articles and a list of activities at HQ for the foreseeable future.
Archived Infantryman are under the Infantryman tab.
Courtesy of the 5RAR website, here is some historical information which may help revive a number of fading memories
http://www.5rar.asn.au/history/information-book-for-nashos.pdf
An interesting article concerning Jock Buchan, KIA 11 December 1969, his ashes found in Scotland!
You can read it here Buchan Article
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Further to the above article, comments and a link from Paul Jackson, Jock’s Platoon Commander.
Hi Fred,
What a special journey. It is hard to believe that after almost 50 years we have finally completed Jock’s story. We have come so far over the past year or so. A little over 12 months ago those involved in the action, Jock’s closest mates, did not even know where his body had gone after watching him being wrapped in a hutchie, tied on to a jungle penetrator and then winched slowly up to the hovering Dustoff chopper. Due to the tireless and dedicated work of a group of committed brothers-in-arms, Jock’s sacrifice has now been properly recognised, first with a Last Post Ceremony at the Australian War Memorial and now with your special service at his gravesite in far off Scotland.
Most of you reading this email would not be aware that Jock Buchan’s death holds a very special place in our Vietnam war history. On the day of the action, an official Army photographer was moving with the company and took a series of photographs immediately after the contact. Of the many thousands of photographs taken during the Vietnam War, these are the only ones that actually record the death of an Australian soldier. For this reason I believe that Jock’s death has become symbolic of all those Australians who lost their lives in that conflict. Too graphic and politically sensitive to be publicly released at the time, the images are a poignant reminder of the human cost of war.
The importance of this series of photographs is also well recognised by the AWM who have been corresponding with me recently seeking help identifying other members of the platoon captured in those iconic images. With your agreement Fred I would like to send your article to the Head Curator, Photographs, Film and Sound at the AWM. She has already expressed interest in the Dundee ceremony. I believe that this would also be an appropriate place for ‘Jock’s Story’ to be recorded.
On behalf of all Jock’s 12 Platoon brothers, well done and thank you.
Regards
Paul
ps For those interested, the AWM link to those photographs is attached below:
If you have not visited this site yet, it is very interesting and has some current members of the RARA SA on it, including the President, Mike von Berg MC OAM and Robert “Dogs”Kearney.
Chamberlain, Ernest: The Viet Cong D445 Battalion: Their Story (and the Battle of Long Tan). Vietnam Veteran and linguist Ernie Chamberlain has recently written and privately-published a book that would certainly interest all who served in Phuoc Tuy province during the Vietnam War. The core of the work is a translation of D445 Battalion’s history - as written by Vietnamese historians in 2004. In order to provide context – and to analyse and comment upon the Vietnamese writings, the book is comprehensively referenced. The comments cite a large number of captured NVA/VC documents – many not previously translated or available to researchers. Additionally, signals intelligence (SIGINT) material related to the Battle of Long Tan – that was only declassified and released to the author in February 2016, is also included. The work also has 18 annexes covering aspects such as VC personalities, an analysis of casualties at Long Tan, SIGINT, the 275 VC Regiment etc. While the book is not available commercially, the text of the book has been placed on the Internet as –
Perhaps the sections of most interest to veterans include the Viet Cong’s version of the Battle of Long Tan on 18 August 1966 – including the first available VC sketch map of the Battle, and SIGINT aspects.
