4th Field Regiment (SVN) Association Newsletter aka 4th Field Regiment Old Boys I am also still looking to get some retired Gunners as volunteers at the CRC. I have good team there but there is now no one other than myself who actually knows the difference between guns/mortars and air defence/locating. If there are any Gunners in the Sydney area who may be able to join us at North Fort for a few hours each week (either Wednesday or Thursday) can they please give me a call on 0408029295. Maybe you could include these points in your next newsletter. Keep up the great work! Cheers Tim Tim Ford Manager Cutler Research Centre Royal Australian Artillery Historical Company PO Box 171 Cremorne Junction NSW 2090 Tel 0408029295 managercrc@artilleryhistory.org Anzac Day or VV Day 2026 Back in early February I had a call from Barry Campbell, thanking us for information on the death of George Bindley. George had served in Vietnam with 1st Field Regiment. Again, lack of information about George makes it very hard to write a suitable obituary for him. Disposal of Defence Assets. Much has been written about the proposed sale of Defence assets around the country. I guess there are many sites which no longer fit the purpose they were originally set up for, however, it is disappointing to see prominent barracks like the Victoria Barracks complexes in Melbourne and Sydney on the for-sale list. Sales like this remind me of the decision by some Staff Officer back in the 1960s to sell the 9.2-inch guns at North Head for scrap metal. This decision was regretted by many for years to follow. I wonder if the same sentiment will apply to this current fire sale. Like most things these days, it really depends on the bottom line of the budget. The following had been extracted from “A Chronical of 5 Australian Field Artillery Units 1915 – 1923” produced by the Paddy Durnford, OAM 4th Regiment Historical Collection. This was first produced by Arthur Burke, OAM and updated over time by Paddy Durnford, Steve Wilson and Norm Wheeler, all volunteers at “The Collection”. Vietnam Gunners The Government announced an increase to the Australian commitment of a Task Force (1 ATF) of two battalions, the first elements of which arrived in Phuoc Tuy Province in May 1966. 1 ATF artillery included 1 Fd Regiment (HQ and 103 Fd Bty), a locating battery detachment and had operational control of a battery of US 155 mm self-propelled Ml09 howitzers. After 1 RAR returned home, 105 and 161 Btys came under command of 1 Fd Regiment on 5 June 1966. 101 Bty replaced 105 in Sep 66 and from then on, there was an Australian unit replacement cycle every 12 months—-1st then 4th then 12th Field Regiments in turn. As the Malaysia, then ANZUK (from December 1969) battery commitments also continued, the batteries within units constantly changed. A new 106 Bty was raised from December 1966 and 4th Field Regiment (106 and 108) then replaced the 1st commencing April 1967 and repeated the cycle in 1970 but this time with 106 and 107 Btys.
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