May 2015

Viet Cong Soldier Describes Life in War

QURA member, Bill Beach, received the following and thought it would be of interest to other QURA members.

From: Maryborough Military & Colonial Museum [mailto:mbhmus@bigpond.net.au]
Sent: Saturday, 11 April 2015 2:56 PM
Subject: VIET CONG SOLDIER DESCRIBES LIFE IN THE WAR

Hello all.... Passed on by Bill Roche who was one of the soldiers in D Coy 6RAR at the Battle of Long Tan on 18 Aug 1966.

Viet Cong soldier describes life in war.

8 Things Vietnam War Movies Leave Out (By an Enemy Soldier)

By Evan V. Symon, Nguyen Hoa Giai March 27, 2015

Even if your knowledge of the Vietnam War comes exclusively from Hollywood films and Texan textbooks that only refer to it as "that one the good guys lost," you've probably heard about the Viet Cong.

They were a bunch of jungle-fighting guerrilla warriors who killed American boys via night-time ambushes and terrifying traps. Well, that's one side of the story.

Here's another: They were a bunch of scared (mostly) young kids fighting in a massive conflict for very personal reasons. We sent a writer out to Vietnam to speak with Nguyen Hoa Giai. He fought as a Viet Cong from the late 1950s to the end of the war in the mid-'70s.

Here's what he told us.

#8. We Weren't All Communists; We Just Wanted Independence, or Revenge

I became a Viet Cong guerrilla in the late 1950s, when I was 15. It wasn't because I was a Communist, or because I ran away to join the circus and just got wildly sidetracked. My uncle actually fought on Ho Chi Minh's side of things during WWII when the resistance against Japanese occupation was actually funded by the Americans and Brits

"EVERYBODY STOP THE COLONIAL EXPLOITATION FOR A MINUTE AND SCRUNCH UP

I was just mad at how the South was pushing all of its excess money into the major cities like Saigon. The South Vietnamese government seemed to ignore small towns and villages, like mine. Ngo Dinh Diem (the leader of South Vietnam at the time) even took away our farms and put them under the control of a single rich guy who'd supported the French in World War II. This happened all over South Vietnam and was called "land reform," rather than the far more accurate "serious, deep, and exploratory boning."

The French, who had controlled Vietnam since the 1800s, always saw the locals as "lower," and we never forgave them for refusing to give us independence. Ho Chi Minh was snubbed twice, and after the second time he reacted. My uncle also wanted independence and would do anything, including support Communism, to get it.

Once the fighting started, a lot of people died, well over a million on our side alone. For the war to continue, a constant stream of new fighters had to join up, and they didn't have the benefit of such luxuries as "functional equipment" or "the slightest idea what to do." Over 90 percent of these new recruits were teenagers or younger. Many of them weren't even particularly invested in the "cause" itself. Supporting Communism or the dream of a united Vietnam was less a motivator than wanting revenge for the death of a parent, loved one, or child. The Viet Cong (literally: the National Liberation Front or just "the front") were just a means for securing that revenge.

Most of them were aware that Stalin and Mao each had movements named after them (Stalinism and Maoism), so they just assumed Socialism was named after a guy named Social and Communism was named after a guy named Commun. A distressing number of my co-soldiers still thought we were fighting France. They knew of Ho Chi Minh, but only in vague propagandistic terms, not the man's actual history. When we told them we wanted a Socialist society, they just said yes because they were mostly poor, grieving peasants living through a shortage of damns, and thus had none to spare for politics.

#7. We Were Just as Scared of the Jungle as the Americans Were

Your movies tend to portray the Viet Cong as deadly jungle warriors, blending into the foliage and melting out of the wild to launch continuous surprise assaults on various Rambos. That's all a big load of crap: Many of us (including me) came from border towns and grew up in the hills or the mountains. We had no more mastery over the jungle than a kid from Oregon has over Death Valley.

Your bamboo-frame bicycles and gluten-free kale fritters won't help you here, fellas. So the jungle was alien to many of us, and unlike most of the American soldiers, we were stuck spending our entire war there. My uncle and I didn't trust the tunnel systems many of the other VC used. They were prone to collapse, and if that happened over a barracks or a mess hall it was likely to kill more people than an air

raid. So we did most of our moving around outside, under the questionable cover of grass mats. This meant we were not only completely open to rain storms ... but also to murderous animals. It's easy to forget, amid all the drama of war, that there were tigers in that jungle. Easy to forget until you met a goddamn tiger

Despite what The Jungle Book may lead you to believe, alpha predators are very rarely interested in singalongs.

Tigers may be shy, but every once in a while one of us would disappear in the middle of the night, and we'd all just sort of understand why. Tigers don't exactly do end-zone dances after every kill, after all.

And so many people were killed by snakes. There were also rats as large as cats, mosquitoes, spiders, and centipedes to contend with. While you won't usually die from a centipede bite,

Armed adversaries give you comparatively good odds of survival. Mother Nature has things uglier than bullets in her arsenal.

#6. The Fighting Looked Nothing Like the Movies

Movies always make the fighting between Viet Cong and American soldiers look like gruesome, close-up gun fighting. That kind of stuff happened, sure, but only when absolutely everyone fucked up. In reality, even when we were shooting at the enemy, we usually couldn't see them. There'd be muzzle flashes or tracers in the distance, and we'd just fire at those. During more than a decade of fighting, I saw living enemy soldiers up close only three times.

The first time was right after a firelight, and we were shocked to see how blackened the bodies were. We thought they must have been charred by an explosion until we realized their skin was naturally black

It's almost enough to make you wonder if the human psyche might not be built for life in a war zone.

Thanks to Hollywood, you probably picture the VC as constantly popping out of holes in the ground like deadly gophers. But like I said before, my group avoided those cramped, rickety tunnels full of death traps like, well ... like cramped, rickety tunnels full of death traps. You don't need an analogy to understand why that sounds like a bad idea. But sometimes we'd have to go really far south, or there'd be exceptionally clear skies and we'd decide that the tunnel sounded like marginally more fun than a bomb. The tunnels were essential for a lot of the VC, though, especially around Saigon.

Unlike living under the mats, tunnel living was a whole different world. The big ones had a kitchen area, with a smokestack jutting out sideways so the smoke would billow out far away. There was always rice, usually along with a vegetable or meat (rat or monkey).

YOU MAY NOTE THAT THE RUMPUS ROOM IS CONSPICUOUSLY ABSENT.

But, as always, the great outdoors was the best bathroom. We generally had to wait for nightfall to relieve ourselves, but if it was an emergency, well ... you just kind of hope the bomb hits you direct, so nobody sees that you died squatting with your pants around your ankles. Once, in a tunnel near the Laotian border, we even made a fun game: The goal was to be the person who could finish their business outside first. We all got pretty good at this, but once a guy panicked when he heard the distant drone of a plane's engine. He leapt back in, spraying piss everywhere.

It turned out the plane was North Vietnamese. Everyone laughed, except the guy who'd sprayed us with his pee: He'd been the record-holder prior to that point, and now his record was irrevocably tarnished. With pee.

#5. We Were the Biggest Threat to Our Own Safety

On a day-to-day basis, enemy soldiers weren't our biggest threat. We saw more American leaflets and trash piles than actual combatants::

My group's job was mainly to observe troops near the Ho Chi Minh trail. Again, we only got into fights when someone screwed up. But we didn't need any help, American or otherwise, to get ourselves killed and mangled: Recruiting undisciplined kids and giving them more responsibility than a Tamagotchi will see to that.

Sure, there were VC training centers, but local recruits rarely attended. For every trained person we got through a camp, three more came from the surrounding area with only the vaguest idea of what a gun was. We provided on-the-job training to our guerrillas, and that led to disaster. I remember teaching one recruit, about 17 years old, how to throw a grenade. He pulled the pin then asked us what to do next. We were shouting at him to toss it, but he just waved at us, and watched the fuse burn up to the shell. It exploded. So did he.

Another recruit was given a Chinese AK to stand guard with, and then later that day he was asked to cut down a tree branch to give us better visibility for the night. Instead of asking for a saw, he flipped the AK on automatic and proceeded to shoot the branch down. The branch came down, but a bullet ricocheted off and killed him. So we had to bury him, as well as find a new position. His shooting had given us away.

BEFORE YOU GO RAMBOING UP THE YARD WORK, REMEMBER THERE'S A REASON YOU DON'T SEE THESE AT THE HARDWARE STORE.

#4. Our Best Gear Was Old Junk, and It Usually Came From America

Because we were on the front lines of South Vietnam, we were pretty far down the food chain when it came to getting weapons. Some came in through the Ho Chi Minh trail, but most of those went to the VC outside of Saigon. With the NVA above us and more critical Viet Cong below us, the guerrillas in the middle got the "short bus" weapons.

It worked like this: The Soviets would make a bunch of AK-47s and send them to China. The Chinese would keep the Russian AKs and replace them with inferior knockoffs that they'd produced. The North Vietnamese Army got the Chinese weapons, along with whatever WWII-era crap they had left over. Since all of the "good" weapons from this already-bad lot went to the NVA and VC near major cities, we mostly wound up with antiques -- and not even the nice, collectible antiques that old ladies build nests out of. Just old junk.

WHICH MAY EXPLAIN WHY SOME OF THE MOST FEARED WEAPONS OF THE WAR LOOK LIKE THEY CAME FROM A SCRAP YARD.

Ironically enough, most of them were originally American made. M1s (I remember the iconic "ping" sound) and Thompsons were the norm in the early years. After fights, there were always enemy M16s scattered about, but we didn't touch those -- they never worked right. In one of the few true close-in fights we had with the Americans, they were actually using AK-47s against us

Your tax dollars at work..

Toward the end of American involvement, we were just getting mortars and mortar shells. The North Vietnamese army was stockpiling everything else for an invasion of the South. In the jungle where we were, fired mortar shells could hit a tree branch and go off prematurely, killing us. So we had to find a way to use them, which required a lot of trial and error. I was in my late 20s by this time and by far the oldest living guy in my squad, so everyone else (all but one a teenager or younger) asked me to figure out something that worked.

"COULD WE JUST ELIMINATE THE TUBE ALTOGETHER AND LAUNCH THE SHELLS OUT OF A BIG SLINGSHOT?"

And yes, we made traps, including those iconic tiger traps with spikes on the bottom. Those actually were made more with tigers in mind than any hope of spearing American GIs. It's, uh ... it's right there in the name, really. Seriously, tigers are fucking terrifying

#3. Our Side's War Crimes Were Often Glossed Over

Whenever "Vietnam War crimes" are mentioned in the West, people think of My Lai or Agent Orange being dumped over large swaths of forests. Those are both awful things. But, for whatever reason, my own side gets to walk away whistling suspiciously.

"HUE"

That shouldn't be the case: We committed war crimes on a regular basis. How do I know? I saw them. The North Vietnamese Army would purposely target hospitals and medical areas, because that was where they could do the most damage. I wouldn't have believed it if somebody had just told me back during the war -- but I saw it happen at a base in the Quang Tri area and heard the order given when we briefly came to an NVA area to get new orders. We were also occasionally called away from the trail to watch over a VC or NVA firefight -- having long-range rifles as support was effective. But many of us would stop firing when we saw villages going up in smoke or villagers being shot. The VC and NVA weren't always sure if people near the border were pro- or anti-American, so rather than take chances, they went by the "atrocity them all and let god cry it out" philosophy.

#2. No One Really "Survives" a War Intact

In 1974, with the U.S. out and South Vietnam operations winding down, my VC group was allowed to go home. I took the trails up to my village. As I approached, I started noticing odd things. Signs were gone, no kids came begging, no travellers walked the paths to and from the town. It all seemed too quiet. I remember running up to my village to find nothing. It was literally all gone..

I FOUND THE REMAINS OF MY NEIGHBOURS AND FAMILY INSIDE.

To this day I have no idea if the North Vietnamese, the Americans, or someone else was responsible. But the way everything was just covered by a bulldozer indicated the North Vietnamese. Everyone but my youngest brother was gone (and he would die during the Chinese War five years later). I'm not special. Ask any older Vietnamese person: They've all lost many, many loved ones. And not always due to America or its allies. I never expected to survive 10 years at the front. And, to be honest, I still don't really feel like I survived.

#1. Only Time and Support Can Heal Wounds

After the war, I moved to Saigon. At that point I'd never lived in a city and had spent half my life utterly detached from society. All I knew was how to hide, kill, and drill. It came out everywhere I went. I fought people because of the way they were carrying a loaf of bread, because it looked like they were smuggling a radio. I had the bathtub taken out of my apartment and built a custom one out of metal, tarps, and dirt -- to simulate bathing in a river. In hip U.S. neighbourhoods, they'd call that something like "paleo bathing" and charge you a fortune for it, but I just knew no other way to be. I had to be reminded constantly to pay for things, because I was just so used to taking them. I struggled with PTSD and depression. I thought a lot about suicide.

Go figure. Many of them had similar experiences: They'd lived, but they had lost their family and friends in horrific ways. Over months and years of breaks, lunches, and trade meetings, my group of co-workers turned into a "Depression Anonymous" support group.

Life is much better now. By the 1990s, the U.S., Australia, and South Korea all more or less apologized for their role in the war. Today, the U.S. is actually viewed favourably by over three-quarters of the population

I went back to the site of my village a few years ago and found it to be a forest. The sunken area with the grave is still there, but there is a small memorial with trees growing over it. It made me feel oddly at peace: Death had been covered by new life.

Evan V. Symon is the interview finder at Cracked and was honoured to talk with Nguyen.

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Albert Jacka VC

ALBERT JACKA VC

Being the first can bring rewards. For being the first soldier in the Australian Imperial Force to receive a Victoria Cross Lance-Corporal Albert Jacka, 14th Battalion, also received a gold medal and a purse of £500 from Melbourne business identity John Wren. Jacka gained the award for a brave and determined bit of soldiering at Anzac during the night of 18- 19 May 1915.



After the establishment of the Anzac line at Gallipoli in early May 1915, the Turkish commanders began making plans to force the Anzacs off the peninsula. New divisions were brought in and a great attack was scheduled for 19 May. In the words of Kiazim Pasha, Chief of Staff to the German commander of all Turkish forces on Gallipoli, Liman Von Sanders: 'The plan was to attack before day-break, drive the Anzac troops from their trenches, and follow them down to the sea'.

On the morning of 19 May, in the hour before dawn, the Turkish attack went in all along the Anzac line. Eventually, with terrible loss of life by the Turks, it was beaten back. One spot, however, where the Turks did succeed in driving the Australians out of a part of their front line trench was at Courtney 's . Post, defended by the 14th Battalion from Victoria. The approach to Courtney's was up a gentle rise from the Turkish side, relatively well covered with undergrowth. In one spot, the attackers reached the lip of the Australian trench and, hurling bombs into it, killed some of the defenders and drove the rest off. As the Australians pulled back, Turkish soldiers occupied a few metres of the trench. The enemy, however, were unable to move up or down the trench because shots were being fired at them from connecting communication trenches. Some of these shots were coming from Lance-Corporal Albert Jacka who was occupying a fire-step in a firing bay. Two officers who ran into the trench, trying to get sight of or drive back the Turks, were both killed.

From battalion headquarters there now came another officer, Lieutenant K Crabbe, whom Jacka warned not to step out into the firing line. Crabbe asked Jacka if he would charge the Turks and Jacka replied that he would with some support. Jacka then led three men around the comer of the trench against the Turks but all three were quickly hit and he was forced to retreat. A new plan had Jacka taking a circuitous route through back trenches to get in behind the Turks. Once he was in position , another party would occupy the enemy with a bomb attack. As the bombs exploded, creating much noise and smoke, Jacka jumped out into no-man's-land, ran to where the Turks were, and leapt in among them. He quickly shot five men dead and bayoneted two more; the remainder fled. As Lieutenant Crabbe entered the position Jacka, his face 'flushed with the tremendous excitement he had undergone during the previous hour' , greeted him saying, 'Well, I managed to get the beggars, Sir!' He was recommended for and received the Victoria Cross.

Jacka's award was only the start of a military career that saw him become a 'living legend' within the AIF. Moreover, it was a reputation earned by his personal qualities of leadership in the only area really respected by front-line soldiers, that of the battlefield itself. While Jacka could be outspoken and bloody-minded, attributes which many of his superiors saw as insubordination and which may had held back his promotion beyond his eventual rank of captain, everyone within the AIF came to know of Albert Jacka. In France, he was twice awarded a Military Cross for actions that even that judicious evaluator of men, the official historian Charles Bean, felt should have earned him two bars to his Victoria Cross. At Pozieres on the Somme in 1916, arguably the most terrible battle the AIF was ever involved in, Jacka's presence of mind and courage virtually saved the day when a German counter attack had broken through the line. As forty Australian prisoners were being led by the triumphant Germans, Jacka, at the head of seven men, burst among them. Despite being hurled from his feet several times by explosions and wounded in the head and shoulder, Jacka killed nearly a score of Germans on his own and bayoneted others. The 14th Battalion's historian, N Wanliss, described this as a 'brilliant counter-attack' and Charles Bean was also lavish in his praise describing Jacka's action as 'the most dramatic and effective act of individual audacity in the history of the AIF'. From an official historian, who personally read over the stories of thousands of brave men that he included in his battle narratives, this was exceptional praise.

Albert Jacka died in 1932 and at his funeral his coffin was carried by eight Australian VCs. On his grave these words were cut:

'Captain Albert Jacka VC MC and Bar, 14th Battalion, AIF.

The first VC in the Great War 1914-1918.

A gallant soldier. An honoured citizen.'

For years his old comrades of the 14th Battalion held a memorial service by his grave. After they passed on, that annual   act   of   remembrance   was continued   by   St Kilda Council, Melbourne. But perhaps the greatest tribute that was paid to Jacka was by another battalion historian , E J Rule,who called his book Jacka's Mob, a title he explained in these words:

Not we only, but ... the whole AIF came to look upon him as a rock of strength that never failed. We of the 14th Battalion never ceased to be thrilled when we heard ourselves referred to in the estaminet [French public house] or by passing units on the march as 'some of Jack's mob'

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JERRY CANS

During World War II the United States exported more tons of petroleum products than of all other war material combined. The mainstay of the enormous oil-and gasoline transportation network that fed the war was the oceangoing tanker, supplemented on land by pipelines, railroad tank cars, and trucks. But for combat vehicles on the move, another link was crucial—smaller containers that could be carried and poured by hand and moved around a battle zone by trucks.

Hitler knew this. He perceived early on that the weakest link in his plans for blitzkrieg using his panzer divisions was fuel supply. He ordered his staff to design a fuel container that would minimize gasoline losses under combat conditions. As a result the German army had thousands of jerry cans, as they came to be called, stored and ready when hostilities began in 1939.

The jerry can had been developed under the strictest secrecy, and its unique features were many. It was flat-sided and rectangular in shape, consisting of two halves welded together as in a typical automobile gasoline tank. It had three handles, enabling one man to carry two cans and pass one to another man in bucket-brigade fashion. Its capacity was approximately five U.S. gallons; its weight filled, forty-five pounds. Thanks to an air chamber at the top, it would float on water if dropped overboard or from a plane. Its short spout was secured with a snap closure that could be propped open for pouring, making unnecessary any funnel or opener. A gasket made the mouth leak proof. An air-breathing tube from the spout to the air space kept the pouring smooth. And most important, the can’s inside was lined with an impervious plastic material developed for the insides of steel beer barrels. This enabled the jerry can to be used alternately for gasoline and water.

Early in the summer of 1939, this secret weapon began a roundabout odyssey into American hands. An American engineer named Paul Pleiss, finishing up a manufacturing job in Berlin, persuaded a German colleague to join him on a vacation trip overland to India. The two bought an automobile chassis and built a body for it. As they prepared to leave on their journey, they realized that they had no provision for emergency water. The German engineer knew of and had access to thousands of jerry cans stored at Tempelhof Airport. He simply took three and mounted them on the underside of the car.

The two drove across eleven national borders without incident and were halfway across India when Field Marshal Goering sent a plane to take the German engineer back home. Before departing, the engineer compounded his treason by giving Pleiss complete specifications for the jerry can's manufacture. Pleiss continued on alone to Calcutta. Then he put the car in storage and returned to Philadelphia.

Back in the United States, Pleiss told military officials about the container, but without a sample can he could stir no interest, even though the war was now well under way. The risk involved in having the cans removed from the car and shipped from Calcutta seemed too great, so he eventually had the complete vehicle sent to him, via Turkey and the Cape of Good Hope. It arrived in New York in the summer of 1940 with the three jerry cans intact. Pleiss immediately sent one of the cans to Washington. The War Department looked at it but unwisely decided that an updated version of their World War I container would be good enough. That was a cylindrical ten-gallon can with two screw closures. It required a wrench and a funnel for pouring.

That one jerry can in the Army’s possession was later sent to Camp Holabird, in Maryland. There it was poorly redesigned; the only features retained were the size, shape, and handles. The welded circumferential joint was replaced with rolled seams around the bottom and one side. Both a wrench and a funnel were required for its use. And it now had no lining. As any petroleum engineer knows, it is unsafe to store gasoline in a container with rolled seams. This ersatz can did not win wide acceptance.

The British first encountered the jerry can during the German invasion of Norway, in 1940, and gave it its English name (the Germans were, of course, the “Jerries”). Later that year Pleiss was in London and was asked by British officers if he knew anything about the can’s design and manufacture. He ordered the second of his three jerry cans flown to London. Steps were taken to manufacture exact duplicates of it.

Two years later the United States was still oblivious of the can. Then, in September 1942, two quality-control officers posted to American refineries in the Mideast ran smack into the problems being created by ignoring the jerry can. I was one of those two. passing through Cairo two weeks before the start of the Battle of El Alamein, we learned that the British wanted no part of a planned U.S. Navy can; as far as they were concerned, the only container worth having was the Jerry can, even though their only supply was those captured in battle. The British were bitter; two years after the invasion of Norway there was still no evidence that their government had done anything about the jerry can.

My colleague and I learned quickly about the jerry can's advantages and the Allied can’s costly disadvantages, and we sent a cable to naval officials in Washington stating that 40 percent of all the gasoline sent to Egypt was being lost through spillage and evaporation. We added that a detailed report would follow. The 40 percent figure was actually a guess intended to provoke alarm, but it worked. A cable came back immediately requesting confirmation.

We then arranged a visit to several fuel-handling depots at the rear of Montgomery’s army and found there that conditions were indeed appalling. Fuel arrived by rail from the sea in fifty-five-gallon steel drums with rolled seams and friction-sealed metallic mouths. The drums were handled violently by local laborers. Many leaked. The next link in the chain was the infamous five-gallon “petrol tin.” This was a square can of tin plate that had been used for decades to supply lamp kerosene. It was hardly useful for gasoline. In the hot desert sun, it tended to swell up, burst at the seams, and leak. Since a funnel was needed for pouring, spillage was also a problem.

Allied soldiers in Africa knew that the only gasoline container worth having was German. Similar tins were carried on Liberator bombers in flight. They leaked out perhaps a third of the fuel they carried. Because of this, General Wavell’s defeat of the Italians in North Africa in 1940 had come to naught. His planes and combat vehicles had literally run out of gas. Likewise in 1941, General Auchinleck’s victory over Rommel had withered away. In 1942 General Montgomery saw to it that he had enough supplies, including gasoline, to whip Rommel in spite of terrific wastage. And he was helped by captured jerry cans.

The British historian Desmond Young later confirmed the great importance of oil cans in the early African part of the war. “No one who did not serve in the desert,” he wrote, “can realize to what extent the difference between complete and partial success rested on the simplest item of our equipment—and the worst. Whoever sent our troops into desert warfare with the [five-gallon] petrol tin has much to answer for. General Auchinleck estimates that this ‘flimsy and ill-constructed container’ led to the loss of thirty per cent of petrol between base and consumer. … The overall loss was almost incalculable. To calculate the tanks destroyed, the number of men who were killed or went into captivity because of shortage of petrol at some crucial moment, the ships and merchant seamen lost in carrying it, would be quite impossible. After my colleague and I made our report, a new five-gallon container under consideration in Washington was canceled.

Meanwhile the British were finally gearing up for mass production. Two million British jerry cans were sent to North Africa in early 1943, and by early 1944 they were being manufactured in the Middle East. Since the British had such a head start, the Allies agreed to let them produce all the cans needed for the invasion of Europe. Millions were ready by D-day. By V-E day some twenty-one million Allied jerry cans had been scattered all over Europe. President Roosevelt observed in November 1944, “Without these cans it would have been impossible for our armies to cut their way across France at a lightning pace which exceeded the German Blitz of 1940.”

In Washington little about the jerry can appears in the official record. A military report says simply, “A sample of the jerry can was brought to the office of the Quartermaster General in the summer of 1940.”

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March Get Together

Barry Schmidt (left) chatting with William Ridley over a plate of finger food at the Normanby Hotel March Get Together.

William Ridley still trying to finish his chicken satay stick while Peter Sharwood looks on with Trevor Luttrell in the background looking for his satay stick.

Paul Smith (standing) looking on in `judgment` of Bruce Davis (left), Garry Collins and Barry Schmidt.

Now how do these new fandangle phones work? Trevor Luttrell trying to work out how to take a photo.

Ruth Kassulke getting `up close` with Wayne Barclay at the March Get Together.

NO - It's not President Trevor Luttrell recovering from the QURA March Get Together. Photo taken when Trevor was recovering from recent operation at the Greenslopes Hospital.

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War Quotes

- The conventional army loses if it does not won, the guerilla wins if he does not lose.

   Henry Kissinger 1960

- In terms of discomfort and endurance, the Burma front was the only Second-World-War equivalent of Great- War trench life faced by the British army.

    Correlli Barnett 1970

- France has lost the battle but she has not lost the war.

    Charles de Gaulle 1940

- The problems of victory are more agreeable than those of defeat, but they are still no less difficult.

    Winston Churchill 1942

- To conquer the world with arms is only to make a temporary conquest; to conquer the world by earning its esteem is to make a permanent conquest.

    Woodrow Wilson 1918

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Things to Think About

Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer and wish we didn’t.

Never walk through the office without a piece of paper in your hand.

Always be the one to start rumors, otherwise you wont know if they are true.

If a light sleeper sleeps with the light on, does a hard sleeper sleep with the window open?

If necessity is the mother of invention, how come so much unnecessary junk gets invented?

Charles Dickens walks into a bar. The bartender said: “Olive or twist?”

Did you hear about the new chain of coffee shops in Russia? - It’s called Tsarbucks.

What’s the difference between a lawyer and a herd of buffalo? - A lawyer charges more.

I wanted to be a sea fisherman, but I couldn’t live off my net income.

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Correspondence from Members

Listed below is some of the correspondence received since the last Newsletter. These emails are reproduced here for entertainment and also to keep members informed of other members movements, etc.

Please note: QURA receives emails/letters from time to time requesting contact details of members. The current policy is if a fellow member requests contact with another member, the contact details are given without contacting the relevant member.

Where contact is requested by a non-member, the contact is referred to the individual member to follow up the contact if they so desire.

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From: Bond, Michael COL
To: Peter Morton
Subject: RE: QURA May Newsletter

UNCLASSIFIED

Peter,

Please accept my apologies for functions for the next year.

I am deploying as the United Nations Senior Military Liaison Officer in South Sudan. I will double-hat as the Commander of the Australian Contingent. Great jobs for Reservists. Home in April 16.

Michael.

M.D.A. BOND

Colonel

Assistant Commander

11 Brigade

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From:- Peter McCann

To:- Peter Morton

Hi Peter,

Details updated.

I am currently working at AHQ on CFTS, filling in for a deployed member, on a project for modernisation of the Bushmaster PMV . I intend to retire again in September and will be living in the Port Stephens area north of Newcastle. I certainly didn't think I would still be in a uniform aged 64 but they keep making me offers I can't refuse.

I am also living testimony to Army's flexible employment strategy having been in the ARA twice, on a short service commission, an active Reservist, a Standby Reservist employed on DA50 and three periods of CFTS. I am very fortunate to be still serving in my 46th year in the ADF.

Regards,

Peter McCann

LTCOL

SO2 Mounted Combat Development

Directorate of Major Systems Development - Army

==================================================================

From:- Bruce Davis

To:- Trevor Luttrell

From: Colman, Stephan WO1
Sent: Tuesday, 19 May 2015 07:30
To: HQ 7 Bde All Staff
Subject: FW: speech [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

UNCLASSIFIED

Ladies and gentlemen,


        a link to an ANZAC Day speech delivered in Melbourne a very good and different speech.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-25/melbourne-remembers/6420794

Regards,
RSM 7th Combat Bde

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From:- Tim O'Brien

To:- Peter Morton

Peter,
Regarding the photos in the newsletter - the 1986 Sub 1 Cpl camp was held at Wacol.
The tall private standing behind the SI went on to become the CO of the Regt, although with a lot less hair by then.

Regards

Tim O'Brien

==================================================================

From: John Hammond

To: Trevor Luttrell

Subject: Interview - WW2 pilot

Take five minutes to watch this video interview -- and listen carefully to what he says and how he says it. I promise you, you won't regret a second of it.

Ask  yourself, how many of the few surviving WWII veterans kept themselves and their uniform in such good condition for over 70 years and can still proudly wear it?

Notice his superb delivery, no teleprompter, no script -- just a 91-year-old fighter pilot. He has some surprises and a great take on the philosophy of life.

Make sure you watch it to the end

https://www.dvidshub.net/video/395572/jerry-wellin-world-war-ii-veteran-interview

==================================================================

From:- David Fisher

To:- Peter Morton

Hi Peter,

On Saturday morning (ANZAC day) I ran into an ex-QUR member, Toby St George. I'm not sure if he is a member of the QURA, but he was keen to re-connect with QUR. His brief history is below:

I enlisted in May 1950 . I heard about the CMF on the bus out to a St.Lucia lecture. I visited the QUR office in the Domain area of the UQ Gardens Campus and got enlistment papers. Since I was 19 I had to go home on the train to Wynnum to get parents signatures. I was told I could get a medical that evening at 9 Bn at Kelvin Grove Barracks which I did and got my Kings Shilling, literally. QUR was only a 60   strength company. I got uniforms and webbing the following Sunday at QUR and went to camp the next weekend. 9Bn and 25Bn were in camp.   Wacol was a freezing hole. One week’s minor training then on a convoy to Noosa. It took all day. The whole week was live fire exercises.    All officers ,WO were ex WW2. We were based at Golden Beach Noosa . The area to the south was a live firing exercise range. Most of the 25 pounder shoot on the platoon, company and battalion attacks was targeted on Coolum. We had Vickers support. RAAF mustangs dropped napalm, bombs and fired machine guns as we attacked. This was 3 weeks from enlistment.

The lifesaver at an afternoon swim had a Bren and loaded mags.

I was commissioned in QUR in 1953.I later served in 10Bn Adelaide,27Bn Mt Gambier, CSTU Melbourne,1 RVR pentropic, 6RVR Melbourne, 4TF HQ, CSTU Brisbane ,9RQR Sp Coy OC then Bn 2ic. And finished up in CSTU.

In Vietnam I was attached to 7 RAR.

Toby

A reservist that served in Vietnam seemed quite rare.

Kind regards,

D Fisher

MAJ (RAAC)

2IC

Queensland University Regiment

==================================================================

From:- Bill Beach

To:- Peter Morton

Peter

You may be interested esp. in the photographs of the trumpet.

This is a part of my job that is interesting…. Pity more wasn’t

bb

From: Maryborough Military & Colonial Museum [mailto:mbhmus@bigpond.net.au]
Sent: Monday, 9 March 2015 8:48 PM
Subject: Follow up on the trumpet - WW1

Hello all
If anybody can assist Bill Beach, please contact him direct. In 1986, Bill was an officer at the Queensland University Regiment and I was a WO2 instructor/WO Co-ord.
With two other fellows we walked the Kokoda Track/Trail.......a great experience in life!
Thanks and regards
John

-------- Forwarded Message --------

Subject:

FW: Follow up on the trumpet - WW1

Date:

Fri, 6 Mar 2015 02:43:23 +0000

From:

Bill Beach

To:

Maryborough Military & Colonial Museum

John,

I need help from the MHSA Qld boys.

A woman turned up with this trumpet the other day.

Captured 1918 as per the inscription.

The name of the German soldier is also inscribed.

Carmel is looking into its history – it will be donated to the AWM along with postcards etc & a diary I believe.

Thoughts about the regimental inscription.

Regards

bb

==================================================================

From:- Bruce Davis

To:- Peter Morton

Dear Peter,

On Saturday 28 February 2015, the Queensland University Regiment conducted a cocktail party at the United Services Club for the initial six First Appointment Course Graduates of 2015.

Lieutenants Russell Fox, RAA, and Chris Rawlinson, RAInf, are posted to 25/49 RQR; Lieutenant Matt Doolan, RAInf, to 9 RQR; Lieutenant Richard Bell, RAE, to 11 ER; and Lieutenant Shane Devries, RACT, and Lieutenant Matt Sokolich, RAEME, are posted to 11 CSSB.

Bruce Davis represented the president at the function and presented personal letters from the QURA to each graduand.

The function was very well attended, with the Commander 11 Bde, Brigadier Bill Date, Deputy Commander 11 Brigade, Colonel Michael Bond, and Commanding Officers of units to which the officers were posted, among those present. OC Jacka Company, MAJ Michael Stone, was Master of Ceremonies and the Platoon Commander, Captain Sam Mitchell, presented the new Lieutenants.

Bruce represented our president, Brigadier Trevor Luttrell, who was in hospital recovering from an operation. A senior NCO at the function noted his absence with surprise - "He's at all our functions," was the comment, and certainly even at Bruce's height, he could not fully represent the president!

A most successful evening, and best wishes to our newest graduates.

Bruce

==================================================================

From:- Bruce Davis

To:- Trevor Luttrell

Dear Trevor,

Have surfaced again after nearly three weeks in the Battle Simulation Centre at Enoggera and hope to see you Wednesday afternoon!

How are you recovering?

Regards,

Bruce

PS Nice Thank You letter from QUR for the Association (attached).

==================================================================

From:- John Hammond

To:- Trevor Luttrell

A wise person once said.

1. We all love to spend money buying new clothes but we never realize that the best moments in life are enjoyed without clothes.

2. Having a cold drink on hot day with a few friends is nice, but having a hot friend on a cold night after a few drinks - PRICELESS.

3. Arguing over a girl's bust size is like choosing between VB, Carlton, XXXX, & Tooheys. Men may state their preferences, but will grab whatever is available.

4. I haven't verified this on Google, but it sounds legit… A recent study found that women who carry a little extra weight live longer than the men who mention it.

==================================================================

From:- Dave Sallows

To:- Peter Morton

Subject:-   QURA March Get Together

G’day Peter.

Regrettably I have had a better offer (of long standing I must admit) – I will be cycling down the South Coast of NSW so I can’t be at the function. My apologies to all.

All the best

dave S

(BTW – I hope to get my OBE later this year – Over Bloody Eighty! Whitlam couldn’t stop that one, but maybe Tony can devise a subtitute?)

==================================================================

From:- Barrie Hayne

To:- Peter Morton

Dear Peter Morton:



Many thanks for your latest invitation to the Regimental Social on 18 March. Over the last few years you have sent me many invitations, most of which I have declined. My last attendance at a Regimental function (and I have attended only two) was some ten years ago when my photograph was taken with one of the few members I knew. I feel that I would be attending your meetings under false pretences, since when I left National Service in 1953, I attended no parades with the Regiment but almost immediately transferred into 3 Interrogation Company, Northern Command. There is almost nobody I know now connected with the regiment, and while thanking you for your continuing attention, I think it best that you remove my name from your mailing list.

Cordially, Barrie Hayne

=================================================================

From:- Richard Gavin

To:- Peter Morton

Subjec:- Why Man are Rarely Depressed

Men Are Just Happier People -- What do you expect from such simple creatures?

Your last name stays put.
The garage is all yours.
Wedding plans take care of themselves.
Chocolate is just another snack...
You can never be pregnant.
You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park.
You can wear NO shirt to a water park.
Car mechanics tell you the truth.
The world is your urinal.
You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky.
You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt.
Wrinkles add character.
Wedding dress $5000. Tux rental-$100.
People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them.
New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet.
One mood all the time.
Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat.
You know stuff about tanks.
A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase.
You can open all your own jars.
If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend.
Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack.
Three pairs of shoes are more than enough.
Everything on your face stays its original color.
The same hairstyle lasts for years, even decades.
You only have to shave your face and neck.
You can play with toys all your life.
One wallet and one pair of shoes -- one color for all seasons.
You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look.
You can 'do' your nails with a pocket knife.
You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache.
You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives nn December 24 in 25 minutes.
__________________________________

Men Are Just Happier People

NICKNAMES
If Laura, Kate and Sarah go out for lunch, they will call each other Laura, Kate and Sarah. If Mike, Dave and John go out, they will affectionately refer to each other as Fat Boy, Bubba and Wildman.

EATING OUT
When the bill arrives, Mike, Dave and John will each throw in $20, even though it's only for $32.50. None of them will have anything smaller and none will actually admit they want change back.
When the girls get their bill, outcome the pocket calculators...YEP!!!

MONEY
A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he needs.
A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't need but it's on sale.

BATHROOMS
A man has six items in his bathroom: toothbrush and toothpaste, shaving cream, razor, a bar of soap, and a towel.
The average number of items in the typical woman's bathroom is 337. A man would not be able to identify more than 20 of these items.

ARGUMENTS
A woman has the last word in any argument.
Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.

FUTURE
A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.
A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.

MARRIAGE
A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't.
A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change, but she does.

DRESSING UP
A woman will dress up to go shopping, water the plants, empty the trash, answer the phone, read a book, and get the mail.
A man will dress up for weddings and funerals.

NATURAL
Men wake up as good-looking as they went to bed.
Women somehow deteriorate during the night.

OFFSPRING
Ah, children. A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favorite foods, secret fears and hopes and dreams.
A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
A married man can forget his mistakes. There's no use in two people remembering the same thing!

==================================================================

Forwarded From:- Bill Beach

To:- Peter Morton



From: Maryborough Military & Colonial Museum
Sent: Monday, 9 March 2015 8:43 PM
Subject: New RSM at Kapooka

Hi all.....

Move over boys we are becoming redundant!!...........

John

The Commandant at RMC recently told me that nearly all her HQ staff are females.

================================================================

*****************************

FUNCTIONS - 2015

March Get Together                    Wednesday 18 March 2015 - 1730Hrs

                                                                    (Normanby Hotel)
Anzac Day                                   Saturday 25 April 2015 - 0430Hrs

                                                                (Dawn Service - No QUR function at Depot)

QUR Birthday Celebration        Saturday 9 May 2015

                                                                (All day - incl displays, etc . Messes will be open)

AGM                                            Thursday 17 September 2015 - ( 1900Hrs for 1930Hrs) (Note change of date)

Officers/SNCO Mixed Dinner      Saturday 10 October 2015 (Unit and QURA members and Partners)

Christmas Function                   Wednesday 9 December 2015 - 1730Hrs (Normanby Hotel)

*****************************

MEMBERSHIP DUES - PAYMENT REMINDER

Please check the Members Page to ensure that your membership is current.

If you pay your membership fees on a year by year basis

payment is now due for 2015

PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO PERUSE THE Members Page AND CHECK THE ENTRIES WITH AN ADDRESS FLAG OF `N`. WE HAVE LOST CONTACT WITH THESE MEMBERS AND REQUIRE EITHER AN EMAIL ADDRESS OR POSTAL ADDRESS TO RE-ESTABLISH CONTACT

Membership status codes are:

SMEMB - Special Member (no fees)

LMEMB - Life Member (no fees)

PUOM - Paid Up Ordinary member (no fees but can transfer to 10 year membership for $50)

NEW - New member (no membership fees received as yet)

2015 - 202? membership fees paid to year indicated

199? - 2014 membership fees due for 2015

Annual dues are $10 however a 10 year paid-up membership is available for $70.

Cheques should be forwarded to:

The Treasurer

QUR Association

24 Walcott Street,

St Lucia 4067

For those members with internet banking, payments may be made direct to the QURA Bank Account.

Details are BSB 064 129, Account 0090 4500, Account Name QUR Association Inc

Please ensure your name is supplied in the payment details.

*****************************

EMAIL ADDRESSES

The Executive Committee encourages all members to provide a current email address to allow quick and easy communication of important notifications and reminders of upcoming events.

If you know of any ex-members of QUR who are not in the association, please contact the Membership Registrar (Peter Morton) with any contact details that you have.

THE ASSOCIATION WILL ONLY CONTINUE TO EXIST BY RECRUITING NEW MEMBERS

For members wishing to provide a new email address, please send an email to Sectretary to ensure your address is received and entered onto our contact list.

*****************************

HISTORY OF QUR

Have you considered purchasing a copy of the History of QUR magnificently complied and edited by Paul Smith?

It contains 128 pages of stories, photographs and has a coloured badged cover.

          COST :            $15 per copy.

What about a CD containing over 100 images of the history of the Regiment.

COST :            $10 per copy.

Why not treat yourself to a copy or buy copies for your friends. These are collectors items so don't miss out.

How to purchase copies:

Ring                        Trevor Luttrell      0437 442 964

Email                   Historian

Send your payment to:

The Treasurer, QUR Association, 24 Walcott Street, St Lucia Q 4067.

For those members with internet banking, payments may be made direct to the QURA Bank Account.

Details are BSB 064 129, Account 0090 4500, Account Name QUR Association Inc

Please ensure your name is supplied in the payment details.

*****************************

QURA EXECUTIVE

Position Name Bus Hrs A/Hrs Email

President Trevor Luttrell 0437 442 964 3345 2754 President

Vice President Col Ahern 0409 616 922 3278 1862

Secretary/Treasurer Bruce Davis 0402 768 142 3878 2920 Treasurer

Committee Members Executive

Greg Adams 3264 5544 0418 744 678

Garry Collins 3359 5993

David Ross 3227 6974 0402 904 204

QURA Administration

Position Name Bus Hrs A/Hrs Email

Membership Secretary Peter Morton 3114 2010 0419 484 736 M/ship Secretary

End of Newsletter

JERRY CANS

March Get Together

War Quotes

Correspondence from Members

President's Report

CO's Report May 2015

Viet Cong Soldier Describes Life in War

8 Things Vietnam War Movies Leave Out (By an Enemy Soldier)

#8. We Weren't All Communists; We Just Wanted Independence, or Revenge

#7. We Were Just as Scared of the Jungle as the Americans Were

#6. The Fighting Looked Nothing Like the Movies

#5. We Were the Biggest Threat to Our Own Safety

#2. No One Really "Survives" a War Intact

#1. Only Time and Support Can Heal Wounds

Albert Jacka VC

Things to Think About

FUNCTIONS - 2015

MEMBERSHIP DUES - PAYMENT REMINDER