Going Back (11 page)

We had a sister unit in Vung Tau, the 54th Aviation Company, and they used to do maintenance for us, and if we went to Vung Tau we would stay with them. I went looking for their place and it was hopeless because the whole of Vung Tau has changed so much. I was also amazed at how big Ba Ria had become, monstrous.
¹³

Ron Shambrook recalled his own reaction to visiting Vung Tau after 40 years.

When I first saw Vung Tau there was virtually nothing on those sand dunes, and now there's high-rise resorts and apartments. In our tour [1966–67] we didn't have the Badcoe Club complex and the swimming pool and ALSG, and no more permanent accommodation than tents. Towards the end of our tour, my company—Charlie Company—was given the task of going down and setting up some tents near the beach so we could cycle people through to help their health.
¹⁴

When the 5 RAR pilgrims returned to Vung Tau in 2005 they arrived on the hydrofoil ferry service from Ho Chi Minh City. John Taske recalled his reaction as they entered the port:

It brought back a lot of memories. That was the view that I got because I came up on the HMAS
Sydney
with Charlie Company. And Back Beach—it was a disappointment from the point of view that it looked absolutely nothing like when we first arrived because all it was was just undulating sand hills—it was just tents among the sand dunes. And then when the monsoons came, it all got flooded out and then they had to level it and start again. But it was nothing like what I expected. But it's beautiful; I'm delighted to see it develop.
¹⁵

Roger Wainwright had the honour of commanding the first rifle platoon into the Back Beach area in 1966, which was then a mass—and mess—of empty sand hills. Roger was to a large extent the senior tactical person in the area, and here he recounts his journey after landing at Tan Son Nhut:

We got into a C-123 [Provider] and flew down to Vung Tau airstrip . . . We were put into the back of a cattle truck and went through what were essentially sand hills to Back Beach. There was no population around; we were going through winding little sand hills in that area. We spent the next couple of days essentially putting up [fencing] wire for the rest of the battalion so they could put up their hoochies. I was just racing around making sure the area was secure.
¹⁶

The 5th Battalion did some refresher training as well as the normal acclimatisation runs and physical training to maintain fitness. ‘We were the only battalion that used Back Beach as a firing range, firing mortars and RCLs [recoilless rifles] and small arms out to sea at a few floating targets dumped out there by a boat.'
¹⁷
It was far from pleasant—‘stinking hot and no shade, in the full sun on the sand, and problems with weapons'.

Asked how he felt when he was approaching Vung Tau again, Roger replied: ‘Coming down the river on the hydrofoil and just seeing Cap Saint Jacques and Little Hill and Big Hill in the background sort of gives you a few goose bumps and things like that.'
¹⁸

Posing for a group photo in front of an Iroquois helicopter at the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City are, from left to right, Paul Greenhalgh, Peter Isaacs, Ted Heffernan, Roger Wainwright (rear), John Taske, Ron Shambrook (front), Tony White, Ben Morris and Fred Pfitzner.
Photo courtesy Ron Shambrook

Standing in front of a B-52 bomb crater at the Fire Support Base Coral battle site, visiting veterans and partners listen to tour guide Garry Adams (third from left, pointing) describe the battle.
Photo courtesy Paul Greenhalgh

At the risk of scaring the locals the 5 RAR pilgrimage group pose at Vung Tau in 2005, recreating a photograph taken of their group in 1966. Pictured are, from left to right: Dr Ted Heffernan, Dr Tony White, Ben Morris, Dr John Taske, Ron Shambrook, Roger Wainwright, Paul Greenhalgh, Peter Isaacs and Fred Pfitzner.
Photo courtesy Paul Greenhalgh

The officers of 5 RAR's first tour of duty pose for a Mess photograph in 1966 before leaving on Operation Hardihood to secure the Australian Task Force base at Nui Dat.
Back row, left to right:
2Lt Jack Carruthers, Lt Roger Wainwright, 2Lt John Deane-Butcher, 2Lt Dennis Rainer, Lt Greg Negus, Capt Ron Boxall, Capt Ron Bade, Capt Bob O'Neill, Capt Brian Ledan, 2Lt Bob Gunning, 2Lt Trevor Sheehan, Lt John Hartley, Lt Ralph Thompson, 2Lt John McAloney.
Centre row, left
to right:
2Lt Harry Neesham, Lt David Rowe, Mr John Bentley (Salvation Army), 2Lt Ted Pott, 2Lt Mick Deak, 2Lt Finnie Roe, Lt Bob Supple, 2Lt John Cook, Capt Don Willcox, Capt Bob Milligan, 2Lt Terry O'Hanlon, 2Lt John Nelson.
Front row, left to right:
Chaplain Ed Bennett, Capt Ron Shambrook, Maj Bert Cassidy, Maj Bruce McQualter, Maj John Miller, Maj Stan Maizey, LtCol John Warr, Maj Max Carroll, Capt Peter Isaacs, Maj Noel Granter, Maj Paul Greenhalgh, Capt Tony White, Chaplain John Williams.
Photo courtesy John Cook

The hydrofoil ferry service docking at Vung Tau has become a very popular way to travel to the seaside resort town. The hills of Vung Tau are visible in the background. Veterans will be hard pressed to locate any former R&C haunts, but the town still has the charm it held 40 years ago.
Photo courtesy Ron Shambrook

The harbour and hills of Vung Tau peninsula welcome visitors to the seaside resort much as they did the many Australian soldiers and sailors who came to the harbour aboard the HMAS
Sydney
during the war.
Photo courtesy Roger Wainwright

The 5 RAR pilgrimage group pose in front of the Nui Thi Vais (also known as the ‘Warbies' or ‘Warburton Mountains') on their tour around the old Phuoc Tuy Province. From left to right are Dr Tony White, Roger Wainwright, Peter Isaacs, Ben Morris, Fred Pfitzner, Ron Shambrook and Paul Greenhalgh.
Photo courtesy Gary Mckay

The Nui Dat Medical Association, who had their first and last meeting in early 1967 prior to returning to Australia, celebrate and reminisce 38 years later very close to where they first downed some French pink champagne. Toasting the fact that they are still alive and upright are doctors John Taske, Tony White and Ted Heffernan.
Photo courtesy Tony White