4th Field Regiment 'Old Boys' Association Newsletter

battery. Swifty was a real character and would often catch you walking past the office and say something like; “Hey Pete I signed an application for (this or that) the other day for you and sent it away”. He really kept an eye on all our needs and actioned them when needed. They also arranged rosters for internal (eg work parties for the RSM) and external (eg liaison tasks outside the Task Force, like Van Kiep at Baria and Xuyen Loc) for members of the battery. The HQ Bty BSM was also the artillery technical advisor to the CO and amongst other tasks, was responsible for the calibration of barrels on the guns of the regiment. The orderly room staff also ran the ‘wake up’ system for members going on various shifts during the night. Members of HQ Bty maned Arty Tac including the Artillery and Air Warning Control Centre (AAWCC). Arty Tac was adjacent to the Task Force Operations Centre and the operational domain of the CO. It was the operational home of the Battery Commander (BC) HQ Bty (Keith Hall and later Ken McKenzie). Shifts were run by a duty officer from HQ Battery, including our patron, David Anderson. A clerk – normally an Operator Command Post (Op Cp Fd) or Surveyor and an Artillery Signaller were on duty 24 hours a day. Normal role of the Regimental Surveyors was providing upgraded orientation and fixation to the gun batteies. The clerk was responsible for maintaining operational maps, plotting fire mission clearances and preparing briefs. The Arty Sig maned the Regimental radio net as callsign 95. On this net were the gun battery CPs, the Battery Commanders, Liaison stations, and any attached units eg the 8 inch US Battery or the 155s. There was also a signaller from the Detachment from 131 Divisional Locating Battery to keep in touch with radars, sound ranging posts and listening posts. There was also a US team of Marines, run by a Captain, in our case Ken Phipps, USMC who coordinated naval gun fire in the province. This photo shows the entrance to the bunker containing Arty Tac. The AAWCC was manned by a signaller from HQ Bty 24 hours a day and issued warnings to aircraft of artillery missions in the Australian Area of Operations (AO).