Taking 103 Signal Squadron to War
By Duncan
Spencer
By Duncan Spencer
Raising the New Squadron
Having completed a short story on the
early days of 103 Signal Squadron (103 Sig Sqn), I thought I would
be sacked from any further writing of my ‘memoires’, but this was
not to be and here I am again.
This story is about my memory of my
time in the Army. As this happened a long time ago (47 years
or so), and my memory may be a little imperfect, I apologise in
advance for any errors and or omissions. It is however,
as close as I can remember to the facts.
It all started for me when in 1965, I
arrived in 1 Signal Regiment (1 Sig Regt) having completed four
years at the Royal Military College (RMC), two years at the Royal
Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), and attending two courses
at the School of Signals. Finally, after some six and quarter years
in the Army, I was joining a unit, with the rank of Lieutenant.
At that time, 1 Sig Regt had two major
sub-units, Command Operations (Command Ops) Squadron and Combat
Operations (Combat Ops) Squadron. Major Stan Smith was
the OC of Command Ops, and Major Ken Taylor was the OC of Combat
Ops. I was attached to Command Ops, and after several months
was promoted to Captain by the CO Lt Col Bruce Rogers. Also
promoted was Graham Arnold, a class mate of mine at RMC.
In about June 1965, we were advised
that a new squadron would be formed which would be an independent
unit, reporting to the newly formed 1st Task Force (1TF).
While it was common knowledge in the Army that 1TF would be going to
South Vietnam (SVN), this information was classified, and the
civilian population were not to know that we would be sending a Task
Force (or Brigade minor) to South Vietnam.
The new squadron had to fulfil both
the role of Combat Ops and Command Ops, with the main role being
Combat Ops. Accordingly, the majority of the squadron was selected
from Combat Ops, but for some reason, the SSM (Cliff King) and I
were transferred from Command Ops. The Sqn 2IC of Combat Ops at the
time, was Captain Reg Elder (I believe), and he provided me with
tremendous advice and support before moving on. Reg was quite
senior, and was due for promotion, hence the reason for his not
staying with the Sqn.
Lt Bill Elliott took over as the OC of
the Radio Troop, and while only graduating from RMC in 1964, he very
quickly picked up the reigns and did a good job. A new
graduate from OCS Portsea, 2Lt Bill Lawrie joined the unit as the
2IC of Sigcen Troop. Just to finish off a pretty hectic year, our
OC, Major Ken Taylor was promoted to Lt Col and became the CO of the
1 Sig Regt. His replacement, Major Peter Mudd was not
due for a month or two, as he was attending Staff College, so I
became the acting Sqn OC.
Although we knew we were going to SVN,
we could not mention it, but needless to say we were working flat
out to get ourselves ready.
Moving to South Vietnam
In early March 1966, the Prime
Minister (Harold Holt) made the announcement that Australia would be
replacing the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR) then in SVN with a Task Force
comprising two Battalions and supporting units. At the time, we had
about 80% of our staff, but none of the new radios we were supposed
to have, and only about 20% of our other equipment. As we had to
have all our vehicles and virtually all our equipment on HMAS Sydney
which was sailing to SVN on about ANZAC Day, time was not on our
side.
Fortunately, I found that Army HQ
could really move when they had to. Typically, when I could not get
any idea where the new equipment we were going to get actually was,
I rang a Major Fegan in the Directorate of Communications (DCOMMS)
at about 0830, explaining what the problem was. At 1000hrs, I
had received a signal from him, stating that the gear was at
Bandiana, and if I got a couple of trucks there by the following
day, I could pick it up. That night, two trucks with four drivers
headed out of Ingleburn on the way to Bandiana. They
returned a couple of days later loaded to the gunwales.
Major Mudd, meantime, was selected to
go with Brigadier Oliver Jackson as one of the Advance Party to SVN,
leaving me behind to make sure we actually got to SVN. Once the
Advance Party had gone, I received a Signal from HQ Eastern Command
advising that the whole Squadron had to attend a pre-embarkation
course at Canungra. The timing of the course was such that we would
still be at Canungra when most of the Squadron were supposed to be
in SVN. This time, I enlisted the aid of the CSO, Lt Col Rogers,
and he suggested I call a Lt Col Hardiman (I think), who was
responsible for such matters. After all I, as a Temp Capt,
told him (Lt Col) we would not be going to Canungra, he "suggested"
I come and talk to him. This I did, and after some vigorous
discussion we agreed that I would send the National Servicemen
(about ten), a competent NCO, and a 2Lt I could afford to go.
While we got new communication
equipment, our vehicles were shockers. The TF units including
us preposition down at the Sydney docks among other units with our
trucks, vehicles, artillery and the rest for loading into to HMAS
Sydney. It was to some extent farcical for us as we had to tow
three vehicles to the docks and push four of them on-board. Our
advance party consisted of all the drivers and shotgun essential
personnel. The Sydney set sail four days before ANZAC Day.
The remainder were to fly out over the next two weeks.
Somehow, we got to SVN as a unit, and when I arrived there with the
rear party, I found that Peter Mudd had taken over what had been
"my" Squadron for the past six months. While I knew this had
to-happen, it did come as a shock. However, after an extremely
hectic time, we had raised essentially a new unit from a strong
base, trained it and deployed to SVN.
To quote the then Major General Ken
Taylor, AO, first unit OC, who put it in a memo dated 30 March 2001
to the OC of 103 Sig Sqn on the occasion of the unit’s birthday in
Townsville,
“We
were the first task force unit to be raised in Australia. I
have always thought of this unit and its soldiers as ‘The First and
the Finest’. This Squadron was formed from the best that the
First Signal Regiment had to offer. We didn’t take all
their good guys, but we got most of them. That initial bunch
of chaps then set the high standards for the rest of the Army to
follow”.
When the Unit arrived in South Vietnam
our Squadron was located with the Logistic and Support Group on the
back beach of Vung Tau. It was not until we had relocated from
‘Vungers’ that we realized how good we had it for a few short weeks.
Soon after we assembled the full
Squadron, it was then time to move the now 1 Australian Task Force
(1ATF) up the main supply route to our predetermined Area of
Operations in Phuoc Tuy Province about 70 km north of Vung Tau and
just north of Hoa Long. The site was called Nui Dat or ‘Round
Hill’ and from the top of the hill, one had a commanding view of the
Province and hence the reason for its selection as a Base.
Lcpl Ivan Ward
(OKC)
and Sig Mick Meehan (Swbd Op).
Prepare to line-up for move to Nui Dat - 6 June 66
103 Sig Sqn camp Back Beach
Moving to Nui Dat
While the 1ATF was being formed in
Vung Tau, 1RAR operating as part of the US Army 173 Airborne
Division, conducted a sweep of the area and secured the area
ensuring we would not be deploying into an ambush. This worked
well, and after successfully locating and clearing the Task Force
base camp, 1RAR handed the area over to the 1ATF and returned to
Australia.
As any serving and ex-military person
knows, time spent in reconnaissance is never wasted.
Accordingly, prior to our Unit moving to Nui Dat, a small Recce team
from Headquarter (HQ) Company (Coy) and our Squadron were helo’d up
to Nui Dat area to undertake a recce of the site and plan the layout
of the TFHQ because the Squadron was to be co-located with the HQ.
This happened few days in advance of the main body of our Squadron
and TFHQ arriving by road. Myself, Sgt Gary Fizzell and a
Radio Operator were part of the Recce team. On landing on the
ground we were met by a protection party from 5RAR led by a Captain
Bob O’Neill, a Signals Officer who had been a Rhodes Scholar and was
then functioning in an Infantry role.
Practice Nui Dat deployment for the Sqn HQ.
SSM Cliff King and OC in foreground with
SIGCEN Sgt Bob Evans (smoking) and STT Barry Hubble
As Captain Dave Holford of HQ Coy
(leader of the Recce) and myself had been given clear instructions
on how the HQ and the Sqn were to be laid out, we dutifully followed
these instructions and placed the appropriate markers (TAC Signs) in
the appropriate places for the units to deploy. During this
phase, we suddenly saw military personal heading in our direction
from the other side of the rubber plantation. Fortunately, we
discovered they were from the Artillery recce team. We had not
been briefed that they would be in our area, and as both teams
checked before shooting, there were no casualties from friendly
fire.
That night, with our protection party,
we became the front line for the Australian Task Force! Good
Grief! ME! When the 1ATF Commander Brig
Jackson arrived, we briefed him on what we had done and not
surprisingly, he turned the whole layout through ninety degrees.
Over the next few days, the main body of the TFHQ and our Sqn moved
into what became our home for the next 11 months.
Consolidation
Once the squadron had taken up
"residence" in Nui Dat, the hard work commenced. As well as setting
up and maintaining the communications for the Task Force HQ, we had
to build our base from a "green-field" site. Our location was
several hundred metres to the south of the hill called "Nui Dat,"
and was in a rubber plantation. The squadron was adjacent to the
Task Force HQ, and later a laterite road between the rubber trees
separated the HQ and us. In addition to our squadron on the
site, 547 Signal Troop (547 Sig TP), the radio intercept unit joined
us not long after we had settled in. The OC of 547 Sig Tp was Capt
Trevor Richards, an old acquaintance of mine. While 547 Sig Tp
undertook their very necessary "comms" work, we essentially provided
the services and admin work for them. This added to the effort we
had to undertake, and we had not really been given the facilities to
do this extra role. A further unit to join us was a US Signal Troop
which was the link to HQ 2 Field Force Vietnam (FFV) in Long Binh.
The Australian Task Force reported to this American HQ for tactical
control.
Construction of our Kingstrand SIGCEN.
Self help with a little guidance.
The work load for the squadron during
this consolidation period was enormous, and to try to avoid
"bum-out," Major Mudd stated that once we had set up the critical
items, the troops would be restricted to a 16 hour working day, 7
days a week, plus 2 hours during the night when they were either on
sentry duty or manning the communications facilities. During
the initial deployment to Nui Dat, I had working alongside me an
Liaison Officer (LO) from HQ 2 FFV, a Capt David (I think) Butler.
He was a very competent officer and a pleasure to work with. We
had a good working relationship, which came in very handy later. In
the consolidation phase, apart from some Military Police and a few
infantrymen in the Task Force HQ Company, we only had 5RAR, located
a kilometre or so to the north to provide combat support. Our
perimeter was the front line!
The role of the 103 Sig Sqn was to
provide communications from the HQ 1ATF to the units within the Task
Force and to work with 145 Sig Sqn who provided communications from
Australia to the Task Force via HQ Australian Forces Vietnam (AFV)
in Saigon. It was envisaged that our unit’s role would all be
handled by VHF and HF radios, so we had virtually no "fixed" line
comms except for a few SB-22 telephone switchboards which handled
about 10 lines each. Well so I thought at the time. The
unit subscriber list just grew and grew and we managed to fill an
SB-86 telephone switchboard (60 lines). Because the Task Force
was taking up a fixed base at Nui Dat, with units patrolling
throughout Phuoc Tuy Province, but based in Nui Dat, this was not
very efficient.
My digs
Fortunately Major Mudd had been to the
Royal Australian Corps of Signals Base Signal Park at Kingswood in
NSW, and had seen that they had portable "telegraph" poles, and
telephone switchboards which would allow us to put in a telephone
network throughout the HQ 1ATF. He contacted DCOMMS, and in no
time, we had the OK to get these items transported to SVN post
haste.
Needless to say, the laying of quite a
few kilometres of telephone poles and cables did not lower the
squadron's workload. At the same time that we were laying
lines, the Engineer Squadron was building roads, and there was one
group of lines that went from the Task Force HQ to the top of Nui
Dat. These were the rather important lines that connected the
radios on top of the hill to the remotes in the HQ. For some
reason, the Engineers managed to "accidentally" bring them down
reasonably often, and we believed they used to conduct a sweep on
the time taken for our "linies" to fix them. Nothing was proven
however! After we had been at Nui Dat for a month or so, 6RAR
arrived, and the Task Force was up to the planned numbers.
OR's Canteen and Kitchen
on right
Sqn Orderley Room. Red Post Box on
the FS table
I mentioned before that we were to
have a US Sig Tp attached to us, and they arrived a short time after
we had moved in. Their OC was a 2Lt, and I must admit he did
not fill me with confidence. Typically, as our perimeter was the
front line, I explained to him that they had to do sentry duty and
showed them what part of the perimeter they were to guard. His
response was that they were "Signals Corps" and they did not do
sentry duty. I "gently" persuaded him that they were going to
do sentry duty, and they proceeded to do so. Being somewhat
concerned about their level of training, we did a check on how they
conducted such duty, to find out that on conclusion of the evening
"stand-to," they would assign 2 soldiers to a weapon pit. These two
would stay in the pit until morning "stand-to." Needless to
say, they were actually asleep very early into the night, so we had
to have our own people nearby doing the real sentry duty.
Because of the foregoing, plus several other instances of
incompetence, we decided that the 2Lt OC had to go.
I contacted Capt Butler who was then
in Long Binh, and suggested that it would be in Everybody’s interest
if this person was replaced. This is where the US Army can
perform. The above 2Lt was gone within a couple of days and a very
competent replacement was in charge of the US Sig Tp.
In parallel with the setting up of the
fixed communication capabilities, Lt Bill Elliott, as OC Radio Troop
was deploying his radio operators to the various units and
undertaking what training they could fit into the busy days.
One new capacity that we now had was to provide automatic
rebroadcast using "rebro" radios mounted in Army Cessna’s. Because
of the heavily wooded terrain which made VHF comms difficult, and
intense wet season storms which virtually stopped HF comms, this
airborne "rebro" was of great assistance for all patrols/operations
more than a "click" or two from the base.
As the establishment of the base
proceeded, apart from the Task Force HQ, we welcomed new neighbours,
namely the SAS, the ARU (Reinforcement Unit), Military Police and
the APC's. The ARU caused quite a bit of concern when they
managed to send a fair number of M60 bullets into our unit because a
new trainee became a bit trigger-happy on hearing a noise in the
surrounding bush. Fortunately there were no casualties!
Shortly after, their M60s were
replaced with shot guns as their pellets were expended by the time they reached us.
When we first arrived in Nui Dat, we
were all in "hutchies," and at the end of three months, we received
tents, showers and finally, floorboards for the tents. In
addition, due to knowing the right person in the Engineer squadron,
we were about the first unit to get a deep-trench latrine. It
is amazing what can really excite you!
The SIGCEN was in a 16 x 16 tent, and
as it had to be "blacked-out" at night so meaning no airflow, it was a very hot, humid,
uncomfortable place to work. In fact we had a significant
number of online cryptos unserviceable, so I flew up to the US
Maintenance Battalion in Saigon to get them fixed and complain about
their reliability. As well as fixing them, they gave me a
thermometer to check out the temperature in the tent, and I found
that it was well over 50 degrees C, the maximum operating
temperature for the equipment.
During all this consolidation period,
our operators, linesmen, cooks and indeed virtually all our troops
were doing a great job under difficult conditions. While we were in
the process of moving to Nui Dat, the "wet season" started and in a
month or so working conditions was abominable.
Typically, the Engineers dug a huge monsoon drain through our unit
area to take the rain from daily downpour away. From memory, this
drain was about 3M wide by 1.5M deep. When the
rain came, it was full in half an hour.
Sqn HQ tents looking down Mercury Lane
from outside the SIGCEN on the right.
My 11x11 on the right. October/November 1966 (approx)
Our area was one big mud-bath, and
there were rats and mosquitoes and snakes everywhere.
Fortunately, there was no time to
complain, so morale stayed high. Unfortunately, there were, in the
Task Force several cases of cerebral malaria and encephalitis, so
the Hygiene Officer (known as Capt Blowfly), decided to spray the
area with DDT. He obtained a "fogging" machine, filled it with
DDT and away he went to get rid of the mosquitoes. As it was a
serious problem, and time was of the essence, he had not checked the
tank, and we subsequently found out it was half-full of Agent
Orange. He was then pumping quite a dangerous mix of chemicals
throughout the Task Force HQ and 103 Sig Sqn.
The one positive was that the rubber
trees dropped all their leaves, so some of the mud hardened.
The sun came out and dried up the ground and it was an opportunity
for the troops to take their shirts off and clear up sweat rashes
and infections. It was also a positive for the Viet Cong, because
they had a great view of our location-luckily, they did not have
planes!
Of particular benefit, was the work of
547 Sig Tp who had learned the ‘sending signature’ of just about
every Viet Cong operator in Phuoc Tuy. This was to play an
important role in the future.
By now, the SAS and Infantry units
were patrolling the area, lengthy tunnels from Hoa Long just south
of the TFHQ had been found, local roads opened for the farmers and
we were moving into what appeared to be a comfortable, and
hopefully safe routine. How wrong we were!! We now felt we had
consolidated our position in Phuoc Tuy Province.
The Hard Slog
As mentioned in the Consolidation
write-up, it looked as though we were fully set up in
Despite this, we kept monitoring the
VC, and took whatever precautions we could. Shortly after Bob Keep's
collapse, on the night of 16/17 August 1966, the Task Force HQ
received a sustained mortar and rocket barrage from the VC. It
appears that this was standard VC tactics ie. before attacking their
enemy, they would mortar and rocket the target, and the following
day, they would undertake the actual attack.
The amazing thing about this barrage
was that no shells actually landed in 103 Sig Sqn area. We did take
some shrapnel, but most importantly, we took no casualties.
This luck stuck with us for the whole tour of duty. What the
VC did not realise, was that unlike their other enemies, our
Infantry went out to find the enemy after being mortared.
Accordingly, on the 17th of August, Alpha and Bravo Companies of 6
RAR, headed out to find who had the temerity to mortar Australians.
They did find base-plate positions, equipment and traces of blood,
but no enemy.
By the 18th of August, they were
heading back to base so they could enjoy the Col Joye concert,
having been relieved by Delta Company. But they didn’t make
it. They ended up turning around to support their sister
Company in battle a few short hours later. Back in 103 Sig Sqn,
everything appeared quiet in the afternoon, and we reverted to our
normal routine.
Typically, I knew that if I went to
the showers at about 1600, I could have a shower, and just get back
to my tent before it rained: This time, at around 1700hrs however,
instead of rain, there was the tremendous roar of the guns and the
noise as the shells going overhead broke the sound barrier.
The Sqn stood-to. I quickly found out that what became known as the
Battle of Long Tan was underway. And the rain came down!
There are many books written on this battle, so I will not repeat what is now general knowledge, but I will mention a couple of things that I have not seen written up elsewhere.
The first incident occurred in the
Task Force HQ Command Post (CP), and was relayed to me by one of the
Duty Officers. It appears that by about 1900 (or thereabouts),
detailed information about the status of our forces was limited, and
in the worst case, 11 Platoon, if not a large proportion of Delta
Company, was wiped out.
Weapons left behind on the battle field at Long Tan
Meanwhile, the Australian Officers
were concerned that the aim of the VC was to get our forces into an ambush, and the fleeing
VC were just the bait! Sometime after this, I was the Duty Officer
in the 103 Sig Sqn HQ, and an American Naval Liaison Officer (as
well as Artillery, we obtained fire support from Australian and US
ships), said he needed to contact his ship to give them an update,
and asked if he could borrow a radio. This I provided, and I was
about 8/10 metres away from him when he called his ship. Before I
could race across the intervening space, he outlined, in clear, what
5RAR were doing the following morning. By this time I had ripped
the handset out of his hands, but if the VC were listening, they
knew far more than they should. I then went over to the Task Force
CP, and spelled out what had happened. The powers that be decided to
take no further action, and 5RAR followed the plan that had been put
over the airways. The next morning, no VC was found, and I have
always wondered if this incompetent US Naval Officer was the reason.
Tactical radio communications at this
time during the battle lost its composure, and became very difficult
to control. The Artillery nets worked by strict operational
procedures while our TF VHF Comd and Admin nets could only deal the
best way they could with the urgency of the situation.
Communications Security and procedures at times went out the window
with the criticality of the situation. Our SIGCEN later in the
early hours after the battle became inundated with Flash and
Immediate signals that had to be dealt with. Our boys
worked non-stop for days after the action, clearing traffic of all
sorts and including the NOTICAS and FATALCAS and Public Affairs
Officer reports.
This battle did turn the tide in Phuoc
Tuy province, and activities by the VC in this province did drop
dramatically, however the Infantry continued patrolling and they and
the SAS were moving further out. In fact the overall number of
patrols and minor operations were expanding.
As the role of 103 was to provide
communications from the Task Force HQ to and from the units, we had
insufficient personnel to accompany the 5RAR and 6 RAR forces. To
overcome this problem, Radio Operators were loaned to 103 from 145
Sig Sqn, and operations continued.
I mentioned before that we had had
quite a degree of luck when the Task Force was mortared, as no
shells landed in our area, and this luck stayed with us.
During the time we had Radio Operators on loan from 145, an APC
carrying troops, including a 145 Radio Operator hit a mine, and
sadly, among the fatalities was the Sig Barry Logan. This was the
only fatality our unit suffered during our tour in SVN, and he was
not one of our personnel. This was quite amazing, as our
Operators were involved with every operation undertaken by the
Battalions.
Despite the large number of operations
underway, the routine daily work to be undertaken in Nui Dat had
dropped to a level wherein the troops could be freed up to initially
have a couple of days Rest and Convalescence (R&C) in Vung Tau.
Shortly after this, HQ AFV, set up the Rest and Recreation (R&R)
program which provided transport to and accommodation in, a variety
of locations, including Hong Kong, Penang, Taipei and Bangkok. Some
months later, Australia was added to the list, and our SQMS, who had
married a Japanese girl when he served in Japan after the 2nd World
War, actually organised a trip to Japan for his R&R.
Around the end of September, we had
found out that the VC were using an island in the Saigon River for
their own version of R&C. Accordingly, it was decided to move
the Task Force including the HQ, to this island, Long Son, to remove
the VC, but essentially to train the Task Force in a forward TAC HQ
in such operations.
As with the initial move of the Task
Force HQ to Nui Dat, a small recce team comprising Dave Holford and some troops from HQ
Coy, plus the 103 team of me, Gary Fizzell (I think) and an operator
were helicoptered into Long Son early in the morning. The remainder
of our Sigs Support group arrived in the later chalks. This
was quite an interesting deployment, as we were using US Iroquois
UH-1 helicopters, which did not have doors, nor seat-belts, so
sitting on the side with nothing between you and the ground, was
quite exhilarating!
On arrival on Long Son, we planned the
layout of the Forward TFHQ, and completed same several hours before
the HQ were due to arrive. As we now were in the sun, something we
had missed while in the Nui Dat rubber plantation and rain forest, I
took the opportunity to take of my shirt and introduce my white skin
to this yellow orb.
According to the plan for the
deployment, prior to our moving into Long Son, a company of 6RAR
were supposed to undertake a sweep through the area, and
"stand-guard" to protect we non-combatants. Somehow this went
amiss, because as I was lying in the sun, a section of our troops
came up from behind us. Having told me they were our
protection party and asking me where they should go, I "suggested"
exactly where they should go and that they should get there quickly.
In essence, our small recce party were
the "forward scouts" of the Australian Task Force. I must admit, it
would have been quite embarrassing to be shot while lying in the
sun! For the few days we were on the island, there were continual
small incursions by VC soldiers. They would get in close, fire a few
shots and then withdraw. Very inconsiderate, as we were about to
wolf down a lovely curry and rice for lunch. On one occasion,
the size of the incursion force caused a Company from 6 RAR to call
for artillery support.
The guns were still located at Nui
Dat, and the VC troops were in direct line between the guns and our
position on Long Son. When the first few Artillery rounds came in,
it was clear that the TFHQ including 103 Sig Sqn were in the beaten
zone of the guns as we had shrapnel flying all around us. Bad
move.
The CO of the Artillery Regiment, as
the 1ATF Commander's adviser, was within the TFHQ. He
immediately radioed to the guns to cease firing, which occurred,
much to our collective relief. As the support fire had been called
in by the Infantry, the Artillery CO did not have the authority to
stop firing. I believe there was quite a degree of tension between
the CO and the Commander, and the Commander "sacked" the CO on the
spot. The following day we returned to Nui Dat.
View from up the side of
the Nui Dat Hill outlook NW towards the Long Hai Hills.
103 Comd Net members preparing to
deploy with 6RAR on ‘Op Bribie’ Feb ’67
From left Sig Jim Leslie (NS), Det Comd Sgt Neil Tonkin and Cpl John
Chenoweth (decd)
Photo taken by Sig Pete Connor (NS) (decd)
By this time, we were about halfway
through our tour of duty, and with the spare time available because
all our communications facilities had been set and were working
well, boredom and indeed morale concerns became a problem. This had
not been of concern when danger always lurked around the comer, or
the troops were putting in eighteen to twenty hour days. It
was around November when the engineers delivered our Kingstrand Hut
complex (all encased in boxes) for our brand new Communications
Centre as per the training manual. Work party after work party
took part in the construction of our new SIGCEN. It was an
exciting time of the modernization of our miserable existence.
Before us the TFHQ Kingstrand went up and we couldn’t wait for
civility to re-enter our lives. The consolidation of all of
our TFHQ communications assets in one place under tin.
Now that they could see they still had 6 months to go before they
could see loved ones and return to normal lives, some very good
soldiers had their demons. Unfortunately, one of the Chaplains
actually stirred up problems with one of our Corporals, and we had
to ensure this Chaplain was isolated from the troops. Earlier, I
had mentioned we had a troop of US troops stationed with us and they
provided communications to HQ 2 FFV based in Long Binh. HQ 2 FFV
were our Operational Commanders. .
After their original OC was replaced,
the troop worked well with us, and despite being not of the standard
that we expect, they were a good group of guys. There was one
concern that we had, and that revolved about their being
"gun-happy." On one occasion, one member of this troop accidentally
(I hope it was accidental), fired an M79 grenade into the air, and
it landed not very far away from the TFHQ Officers' Mess.
On another occasion, from what I can
gather, several of the Americans were effectively playing "cowboys
and Indians" with loaded pistols, when one shot his best mate
through the heart. I got to him just as he was in the
"death-rattle" stage, and despite our people having him at the RAP
in just a few minutes, he was dead on arrival. Both of the
above "accidents" arose from their troops not being properly
trained. Needless to say, we imposed stricter weapons controls on
both their and our troops from then on.
US Army 173
Airborne Division HQ during Nui Dat clearance Operation.
On a positive note, after Long Tan,
and the drop in VC operations, 1ATF opened the main road from the
north of the province to the markets at Baria in the south of the
province. This was the first time for many years that
the peasants in the north could access the markets, and it was a
joyous parade of carts and ancient vehicles on the day the road
opened, that wended their way down to Baria and back again.
With Phuoc Tuy province being pretty
much under control, apart from support for the constant patrolling,
103 Sig Sqn, compared to the pressure cooker of the first six
months, had dropped to a lower level of activity. This made
time go slower, and everyone was counting the "days-to-go,". To
assist in overcoming boredom, the squadron was encouraged to play
sports such as volleyball which did help. In fact our team became
so good; we managed to line up a game against the local ARVN
soldiers. My memory is fading, but I seem to recollect that we got
beaten!
Handing Over
Somehow, we managed to get through to
April 1967, when the first members of 104 Sig Sqn advanced party
arrived to replace us, and the handover began. I am sure we did not
endear ourselves to the 104 boys when you would hear the comment
from a 103 veteran "How many days do you have to go??” The troops
were replaced virtually one for one on the job and our unit was in a
state of ‘wind-down’. There was some sadness after the troops
received their posting orders. They learnt that 103 Sig Sqn
was to be wiped off the order of battle (ORBAT) and put into a shelf
somewhere in Canberra. Many of our boys were on their way out
of the Army and that was a definite for our National Service
members.
Time moved very quickly then, until
suddenly it was well into May and there was only the 103 Sig Sqn
rear guard with me as their leader. One evening late in Apirl, in
the Task Force Commander's Orders Group, I had the pleasure of
announcing that the following morning, 103 Sig Sqn would formally
hand over to 104 Sig Sqn at (I think) 0800 hrs. Shortly
after, through no fault of either 103 or 104, the communications
link to Saigon dropped out! This would be the commencement of 104
Sig Sqn tour which would last right up to the withdrawal of
Australian combat troops from Vietnam.
Return to Australian
On return from SVN, I was appointed
the Senior Instructor of the Eastern Command Wing, School of Signals
as this basically entailed welcoming several hundred National
Servicemen and a lesser number of Regulars to the Corps every three
months, and running exams to see what trades they should do.
It was an extremely boring job. The actual training of the
soldiers was done by the Marconi School of Wireless.
As I had a lot of spare time and
Bankstown aerodrome was not far away, I commenced learning to fly
(aeroplanes that is). Six months into this role, I was posted
to Canberra, working in DCOMMS. I got married at this time and
could not afford to continue my flying lessons so I sold my cape.
My main role in DCOMMS was planning
the technical side of Signals units and Projects, and this involved
spending quite a bit of time working civilian companies such as STC,
RACAL, Plessey and AWA. I was then fortunate enough to get job
offers from several of the companies. And I thought I should
give working in Civvy Street a try so I resigned from the Army and
actually got out at least three months later pending a position with
STC. I worked for Department of the Navy for some time and
this was helpful in building up my knowledge of the total Defence
Electronics and Co.
I spent about thirty years as a Gun
Runner during this time, in different companies. I was
appointed to take over, and hopefully fix, the running of several
major Defence Projects. These included DEFCOMMARS, the
communications system at Russell Offices. Then RAVEN, the
development and manufacture of the Combat Net Radio System for the
Army.
My time moved me onto DISCON, the
Defence Fixed Communications System. And then BARRA, the Sonar
Buoys for the RAAF and also the Sonar System for the COLLINS Class
submarines.
Conclusion
In concluding, I can say that I am
extremely proud that I was given the opportunity to serve my Country
as an Officer, and that I had no hesitation in accepting my
responsibilities as a Signals Officer in combat. I won’t say
that I landed on my feet once separating from the service, but it
was probably a fortuitous time for me, to take advantage of the
developing world of communications in our military. My
military experience served me well in this regard.
I remain a proud member of 103 Signal Squadron and also proud to be known as an original member. The Unit of course nowadays has many sophisticated communications roles, and it is with this equipment I lament, that our job in Vietnam could have been so much easier. Who could have foretold or had the ability of remote viewing to see the future of tactical communications?
Former Captain Duncan Spencer, 2IC/OPS Officer, 103rd Signal
Squadron 1966/67, South Vietnam
Compiled by:
Major Christopher Brown, OAM (retd), LCpl OKR, SIGCEN Tp, 103rd
SIgnal Squadron 1966/67, South Vietnam