the RAAF, however the first military type I bumped into was an Army recruiting Corporal who said you don’t look like a RAAF boy, you’re Army mate, so my RAAF career ended and the Army career began. I did the aptitude and medicals the same day and was told I was too young and they would contact me after I had turned 17 (December of 67), so hitchhiked back home. In very early January 68 I received a letter telling me to report to 83a St Kilda Road on the 17 of January 68 as I had been selected to join the Army. Now the first thing immediately after being sworn into the service was the haircut, most of us blokes had longish hair and we thought it was cool however the Army implemented it’s hair cut style and we all looked the same! We were loaded onto a bus for 1RTB. As a regular army soldier attending basic recruit training at 1RTB Kapooka in January 68, I was sure it was going to be a push over, WRONG there was a fair bit to learn! My B Company NCO’s at Kapooka were Bombardier George Gardner and Bombardier Ken Nucanen, these 2 NCOs were very forceful, but fair and if someone was struggling a bit with something they would hang around after hours in their own time and assist in whatever we needed to do or understand. Now nearing the end of basic training, we had to write down our 3 choices of Corps we wanted to join. I can’t remember what my first or second choices were, but I know Artillery was my last… yep, you know the Army drill, first choice is last and last choice is first. So off to the School of Artillery and the beginning of my army career in RAA. Having completed the RAA Corps training I was posted to 106 Battery in WACOL where it was like stepping back to the mid 40’s with the hot water being heated by a choofer, dilapidated 1940s lines and a bunch of blokes who had just returned from Vietnam, so the weeks went by and blokes came and went. Pretty much every day was down at the range shooting stuff. Then Staff Sergeant Daniels announced we were moving to Townsville and we were to take the Guns via Rail to Townsville, I was selected to make the journey up with the guns and armed with an F1 sub machine gun, I guess that was what all the range practice was for, then we were to fly back to Brisbane collect out stuff and go back to Townsville. The train trip to Townsville was a cracker in this man’s real army, you know the old Queensland Rail cars had those open 105mm pipes in the toilet and a big sign say do not use when the train is stationary. Every time we stopped at a station we lined up at the toilet and one by one we did number 2’s. Upon leaving we would look back and see the stationmaster waving his hands and swearing at us. We are now settling into the brand-new lines at Lavarack, my room mates in the beginning were Sharky Clayton, Ross Anton and Allan Foley. As the battery grew in number we all had to shuffle around as we took on more and more National Servicemen the life blood of the Army during the Vietnam campaign. We did all that training at High Range and I ended up being an FO Sig, returning to the school to do the Arty Sig course in 69. We trained with 7 RAR in Sydney and who ever was based at Enoggera in 69. I went on and completed JTC with 7 RAR in 69. Travelled to Vietnam by Qantas, David Gilroy was BC, Allen Singh was the BSM, the FOs were Nigel Evans, Denis Byrne and 2 others whose names escape me now! I thought everything was great Ian McNuaghton and I were on the same page and both attached to D Company 5RAR, what could possibly go wrong! On Day 4 after arriving at 1ATF we were told we were joining our company already deployed in the jungle, to my surprise Maca and I were sent in different directions, with Ian being 24A and his Arty Sig was xxxxxx and me being 24 moving out with Nigel our F.O.
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