THE FORGOTTEN REGIMENT

28 ANZUK FIELD REGIMENT

28 ANZUK WHO?

By Ian Ahearn

Blank looks are the common response from most of today’s Gunners when in answer to a question “in which regiments have you served” the reply is 6th Field Regiment, 12th Field Regiment, 4th Field Regiment, 8/12 Medium Regiment and 28 ANZUK Field Regiment. It is the last-28th ANZUK-that elicits the blank looks. It is the forgotten Regiment since only two Australian artillery batteries served as part of it; 108 Field Battery served for less than two months and 106 Field Battery from January 1972 until January 1974.

Until 1971 the British Commonwealth maintained a presence in Malaysia in the form of the 28th (Commonwealth) Infantry Brigade. In 1971 it was announced that a new arrangement would see Australian, New Zealand and British troops remain in Singapore and Malaysia under an Australian commander of two star rank. The troops were to operate under the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) which stated that Singapore and Malaysia were to be responsible for their own defence, with Australia, New Zealand and the UK committed to “immediately consult” with the Malaysian and Singaporean Governments should any attack or threat of attack be made against them. The creation of an ANZUK Force on 1 November 1971 provided the tangible military commitment to the FPDA .

The ANZUK Force consisted of 7,500 uniformed personnel from the three services as well as 4,750 locally employed civilians. The Force was tri-service and structured as follows:

Naval Component based in Singapore-two Royal Navy (RN) Frigates, Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) frigates and a submarine drawn from either the RN or RAN.

Army Component based in Singapore- 28th ANZUK Brigade:

• Infantry - 6th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment, 1st Battalion Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment, 1st Battalion Royal Highland Fusiliers,

• Artillery – 28th Field Regiment comprising an Australian field battery, a British light battery and a combined Australian/British HQ Battery.

• Engineers-28th Field Squadron • Army Aviation Squadron • Brigade Signals Squadron

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Air Force – mainly concentrated in Butterworth, Malaysia. No 3 and No 75 Squadrons Royal Australian Air Force (Mirages). Based at Tengah were Royal Air Force Shackletons and Wessex helicopters as well as Royal New Zealand Air Force Bristol freighters and 41 Squadron RNZAF Iroquois helicopters.

ANZUK Support Group comprised 24 integrated units (UK, NZ and Australian service personnel) and provided all logistic support to the Force.

ANZUK Force Units consisted of 9 ANZUK Signal Regiment, ANZUK Traffic and Management Agency, ANZUK Intelligence and Security Unit and 65 Ground Liaison Section. All were integrated units.

The Gunners

The Regiment

The 28th ANZUK Field Regiment had been raised officially on 1st August 1971 with an Australian battery (108 based at Selarang Barracks) and a British battery (1st Light) and an integrated Headquarters based at Nee Soon Barracks. The arrival of 106 Field Battery RAA in Singapore in January 1972 to join 1st Light Battery RA “The Blazers” in Nee Soon Barracks marked the formation proper of 28th ANZUK Field Regiment The Commanding Officer was a British scholar and gentleman Lieutenant Colonel Trefor Jones-not a misspelling; his name was Trefor. His Second-in-Command an Australian Gunner of reputation, Major Noel Delahunty, MC with Major Bill Hills RA commanding 1st Light Battery and the loquacious Major Jim Townley commanding 106 Field Battery RAA. HQ Battery was a polyglot mix of Brits, Australians and the odd Kiwi.

28th ANZUK Field Regiment “All present and correct” at Punjab Square Nee Soon Barracks

The first order of business, as in all Armies, was to sort out the standards of dress for the Regiment. Brits wore stable belts, Aussies didn’t-solution –all wear stable belts in walking out dress. The Aussies wore medal ribbons on walking out dress the Brits didn’t. Brits wore berets, Aussies slouch hats. Major Delahunty suggested that both nationalities should wear their ribbons and that to provide a lead to the Regiment the Commanding Officer should begin to wear ribbons. Lieutenant

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Colonel Jones thought it a splendid idea but raised a minor technical issue in leading from the front; “Noel, I don’t have any decorations”.

The Officers Mess

Dress sorted, the intellectual capabilities of the officers were focussed upon the Officers Mess which was to be shared with the Royal Highland Fusiliers (RHF). The Mess reflected the era of the British Raj and was littered with infantry memorabilia collected over the hundreds of years that the RHF claimed as its lineage. The RHF traced its heritage back to 1689 and the Battle of Walcourt in the Spanish Netherlands and from that time changed designations and names until in 1959 it became known as The Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret’s Own Glasgow and Ayrshire Regiment).

Nee Soon Officers Mess complete with Chinese cannon on the veranda

Negotiations on sharing the Mess began with a meeting of the President of the Mess Committee, a gallant and erudite gentleman serving as Second-in-Command of 1 RHF (2IC), Majors Noel Delahunty RAA, Jim Townley RAA, Bill Hills RA aided and abetted by the Battery Captains (BKs) Ian Ahearn RAA and John Hooton RA. Noel began proceedings by pointing to a stack of paintings and photographs of things Gunner and demanded a place to display them in the Mess. “Absolutely no problem” was the Fusilier’s reply. Noel then moved onto dining arrangements with particular emphasis on Regimental mixed dining-in nights. The Scot’s response was amused-“Oh Noel we don’t have women in the Mess; it doesn’t work. We tried it once...1725 I believe”.

Noel, never lost for words rasped “What, no women but you allow dogs in the Mess!” “Oh Yes” replied the unfazed Fusilier, “After all dogs are a man’s best friend”. At this stage Bill Hills RA sipped on his gin and tonic and observed in a clear voice “Kinky!” Epilogue to the tale; 28 ANZUK Field Regiment allowed women in the Mess and conducted mixed dining-in nights. Dogs also remained.

Sharing the Mess with the Royal Highland Fusiliers was both informative and educational. No one was expected to speak at breakfast and the subalterns did not leave the mess until after morning tea. No cash was used in the Mess; all purchases were made on chits leading to some shocks at the end of the month.

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The Gun Batteries

1st Light Battery RA “The Blazers” were raised on the 1st August 1779. The Battery moved to Ireland in 1821 and then in 1825 moved to Nova Scotia, Canada before returning to the UK and Woolwich in 1832. War with Russia loomed in 1854 and the Battery was sent to the Crimea landing at Balaclava on 27th December. In 1856 the Battery was withdrawn from the Crimea and took up residence in Ireland once again. Reorganisation of the artillery in 1859 led to the Battery being renamed F Battery and as such was posted to India in 1869. Redesignated N Battery in 1877, it remained in India until 1884 when it returned to Ireland then moved to Leeds and in 1889 became 1st Field Battery Royal Artillery.

In 1896 the Battery returned to Kirkee in India with four officers, 155 NCOs and men, 11 women and 22 children. Accompanied postings are not new! Woolwich became the Battery’s home again in 1910. World War 1 found the Battery in France and in action on 16th November 1914 at Aubers. This was followed by participation in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in March 1915. Action followed in the Battle of Loos in 1915, the Somme in 1916, and Ypres 1917 where in February 1918 the Battery position was gassed as a prelude to the German Spring Offensive of 1918

On 27th May 1918, the Battery suffered its worst casualties of the War when five guns in action at Bois de Mines became surrounded and although the order to remove breech blocks was given, none made it back, and only eight survivors reached the wagon lines. The Battery withdrew for the rest of May and thereafter saw no further action till October and the final Allied Advance to Victory. The last day in action for the Battery in the Great War was 27th October 1918.

After the Great War the Battery returned to peace time soldiering first in the UK then another tour of India where it remained until the outbreak of World War 2. Another reorganisation including mechanisation of the RA was carried out in 1939 and the Battery was designated as 1/5 Field Battery RA, 28 Field Regiment RA. The Battery was deployed to the Sudan and fired their first shots in anger at Kassala. Action in Eritrea followed and after the defeat of the Italians in Eritrea the Battery took part in many of the principal actions of the in 1942 desert campaign including Gazala (Libya) where the Regiment lost heavily when it was overrun by the Germans. In 1942 all RA Regiments were reorganised into three batteries: 28 Fd Regt RA reorganised with 1st, 3rd and 5/57 Btys. The Battery was posted to India (as part of 28 Jungle Field Regiment) in 1943 and then to Arakan in December 1943 where the Japanese were encountered for the first time. The Battery took part in the offensives of 1944 and the fierce fighting around Imphal and Kohima and the subsequent pursuit of the Japanese into Burma. In November 1944 the 1st Field Battery was flown out to India to refit.

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After refitting it was again committed to the Burma campaign in April 1945 and participated in 14th Army’s pursuit of the broken Japanese Army

As a result of the American atomic bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima on 6th and 9th August 1945, the Japanese forces in Burma surrendered to the Allies on 15th August; thus ended five years of war for 28th Field Regiment and therefore the Battery. They had served with distinction on two Continents, and fought all three of the axis powers: the Italians in East Africa, the Germans in the Western Desert and the Japanese in Burma.

The Battery left India in 1947 and disembarked in Liverpool, marking 21 years of continuous overseas service. Their homecoming did not last long as they moved to Hong Kong in 1949 and then with the outbreak of the Korean War they again came into action in November 1951.

Following Korea the 1st Battery bounced between Hong Kong, Aden and Hong Kong again, UK, Germany and then Malaysia as part of 14th Light Regiment (re-numbered in 1947 from 28th Field Regiment), supporting the 28th Commonwealth Brigade. Returning to UK in 1969 the Battery then saw service in Northern Ireland in an infantry role. In July 1971 1st Light Battery RA (The Blazers) joined 28th ANZUK Field Regiment in Singapore.

The Australian batteries that formed part of the 28th ANZUK Field Regiment, as appropriate in the New World, had no extended pedigree. They were born out of the expansion of the Australian Army to deal with the Vietnam War.

The first Australian battery to serve was the 108th Field Battery RAA. The 108th was raised in 1965 and saw service Vietnam 1967/68 before moving to Singapore in 1969.

In January 1972, 106th Field Battery RAA (The Turtles) replaced 108th Battery. 106th Battery was formed in December 1966 at Wacol, Queensland as part of the 4th Field Regiment RAA. The battery left for its first tour of Vietnam between April 1967 and March 1968. The second tour of duty of Vietnam was between February 1970 and January 1971. As your author was the BK (Battery Captain) of 106th Field Battery this story will be told mainly from that organisation’s perspective.

The third battery was a “ghost “battery that only visited the Regiment in 1972; 161 Field Battery RNZA. Their visit was memorable for the “bazaar” they set up on the square at Nee Soon Garrison, an adventure that had the Regiment’s RSM in a state of apoplexy for a week. The Kiwis fitted seamlessly into the Regiment but their time in Singapore was brief.

The People

An eclectic mix would be the best description of the personalities that made up 28th ANZUK Field Regiment, hereafter called the Regt to simplify reference. The same could be said of the parent formation, 28th ANZUK Brigade ably lead by Brigadier Mike Walsh. Brigadier “Mike”, as he became

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wacol,_Queenslandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4th_Field_Regiment,_Royal_Australian_Artillery

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known to all and sundry was introduced to the unique flavour of 106 Battery when presented with a plaque from the “Bombers”, the battery Australian Rules Football Club.

The photograph above records a bemused Brigadier Mike receiving a Bombers plaque from the President, Sergeant Keith Walton. There will more reports on sport in ANZUK later in this epistle.

The first Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Trefor Jones presents a ”jam butty” to Staff Sergeant Lees (“Q “ 1st Light Battery) during Xmas drinks in December 1971. Several Australian members of the Regt lurk at the rear.

Promoted from 2IC in 1973, the second Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Noel Delahunty, aided and abetted by Captain Ian Ahearn BK 106th Field Battery (see photograph below) “talk tough “ to the Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister, Lance Barnard. The Minister was a Lance Bombardier in the Tasmanian artillery in a previous life.

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The Battery Commander of the “Blazers” was Major Bill Hills, a gallant and erudite Gunner with a keen interest in all things artillery and sport. Here he is seen here (right wearing a Garrison Cap) with a visiting VIP (Lance Barnard-Deputy PM of Australia) exploring the mysteries of a Battery Command Post.

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Major Jim Townley the Battery Commander 106th Field Bty RAA (centre) resplendent as he salutes the reviewing officer during a mounted parade. A Northern Queenslander he did deign to wear shoes on parade. Front left is Captain Ian Ahearn and behind is Lieutenant Bob Newton.

The “glue” that bound the 106 Battery together was the Battery Sergeant Major (BSM) –Warrant Officer Class 2 “Bulbie” Gallagher. He is pictured below in his office hard at work making life difficult for somebody

He made an impact by standing behind the 1st Light Battery Commander during a battery parade wearing a tee shirt emblazoned with “All Pommies are Bastards”. He was invited to take his advertisement elsewhere. During a particularly heavy rain he asked the BK of 106 Battery did he have anything for the troops before they knocked off. The BK replied to tell them it was raining. Since the rain was coming down in sheets and buckets the battery was sheltering under barrack’s

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veranda; the BK heard the order to fall in on the square and rushed out of his office to find the battery standing in the pelting rain with the BSM informing them that the “BK wishes to let you know it is raining”.

Exercises

Brigade Exercise “Full Swing” was conducted over sixteen days in April 1972 in Malaysia. It began with a firepower demonstration at the Asahan training range. The exercise proper was conducted at Kluang where the “Blazers” (as the Gun Position Officer put it) “...were to learn a new concept of warfare straight from Vietnam, that of the fire support base.”

Insertion of the batteries was done by helicopter and the Brit Gunners “...discovered the joys of the Iroquois helicopter (and the frustrations of the Wessex).”

Over the period 1972 to end 1973 there were a large number of Exercises, mainly conducted in Malaysia. There were Brigade, Regimental, Battalion and Battery exercises. Movement to the exercise areas was generally by road then internal movement a combination of helicopter and Land Rover gun tractor. For long road moves the guns were carried on the Mark 5 trucks. The photograph below shows 106 Field Battery unloading its guns at Asahan Hutted Camp in January 1972.

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The photographs below record some of the 106 Field Battery RAA exercise moments from a busy two years

Camouflaged gun Ex Cobra” Reconnaissance Party using “Wessex”

Waiting to move Dug in gun position

Alpha Gun moving into position Moving guns by assault boat

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Then there were the live firing exercises. Most were conducted at Asahan, but the final 106 Battery shoot occurred on the Southern Islands, which as their name suggest were south of Singapore. The gun position was on one island and the impact area on another.

Live firing Asahan Range. L to R Gunner Ebeyer L5 in recoil Asahan L/Bombardier Nash and Gunner McKenzie

The two photographs immediately above show detachments at work on the Southern Islands late 1973. In all some 500 rounds were fired in the last live shoot 106 Battery was to undertake in Singapore. The exercise went off although on the return to Singapore one of the Wessex helicopters scattered cartridge cases all over the inner harbour.

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Parades

The first parade of the Regt took place on Saint Barbara’s Day 3rd December 1971at Nee Soon Barracks. At least the Journal of the 1st Light Battery Royal Artillery (The Blazers) reported that the 3rd was Saint Barbara’s day. The parade was both a hail and farewell; hail to the new Regt and farewell to 108th Field Battery RAA which drove off to the strains of Auld Lang Syne.

This first parade was a mounted parade and was followed by many more; all of them were mounted. Punjab Square at Nee Soon was the venue for nearly all the parades except for the final parade of the ANZUK Force which was conducted at Woodlands Garrison in 1973. Gun salutes were also carried out the most auspicious being on the occasion of the visit by the Queen in March 1972.

Above: Left section of a saluting made up of the “Turtles” with the right section provided by the The Blazers” (not shown)

Above: 106 Field Battery RAA guns pass the saluting dais at Nee Soon in perfect formation

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The Blazers on parade in all their glory at Nee Soon Garrison

The Commanding Officer was central to the military precision and pomp of the mounted parade. Under Trefor Jones the clear, concise, clipped commands would ring out over the parade ground;

“Regiment-attention shun! Regiment Mount! Regiment Start Up” and finally “Regiment Drive Past!”

On the first order the assembled troops would come to attention and officers would salute. On the “mount “order the officers would come down from the salute, and all would smartly move to their vehicles with officers and Gun Sergeants standing and left arm braced on the windshield. On “Start Up” the drivers would start their engines and when each vehicle was turning over the vehicle commander would raise his right arm to signify the vehicle was ready to move. On the order “Drive Past” the vehicles, by batteries, would move forward in turn. It was a delight to behold.

The new commanding officer, Noel Delahunty, conducted his first mounted parade in January 1973: it did not “go according to Hoyle”. The troops, vehicles and guns were positioned by the RSM; the officers posted by the Adjutant, the parade handed over to the Second-in-Command and finally to Lieutenant Colonel Delahunty, lord of us all. The Colonel took a deep breath and roared out “RRREGIMENT ARRRGH”.

1st Light Battery RA came to attention, half the officers saluted, the other half climbed into their vehicles. 106th Field Battery RAA did not move at all, at least not until the Battery Commander saluted then gazed around-saw that some Brits had climbed into their vehicles and did likewise. Half the battery followed. Half of Headquarter Battery saluted, climbed in their vehicles, started them and began to move. The Commanding Officer stared in disbelief at the events he had put in train, about turned and marched off the parade ground.

A few minutes of general milling occurred before the Second-in-Command plucked up the courage to scamper off the parade ground to seek further guidance. He reappeared from the Headquarter building to call for the Adjutant who scurried off merely to quickly appear again and order “Fall Out the Officers”! We gathered behind the building to be told that regardless of what the Commanding Officer appeared to order on any given parade we were to:

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Come to attention-pause two three

Salute –pause two three-Mount up-pause two three-Start up-pause two three

Wait for the Commanding Officer to mount his vehicle then Drive Off in order.

We did exactly that for the next year.

106th Field Battery RAA on parade with the Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Trefor Jones in the foreground

The final ”combined activity”-a parade-of 28 ANZUK Brigade took place on 23 October 1973 at Kangaw. All ANZUK units were on parade and, as usual the Regiment was mounted.

Sport

Sport there was aplenty. The batteries played the Kiwi infantry, the Aussie Infantry, the Scots infantry, the transport unit, the signallers, Uncle Tom Cobley and all. When they ran out of external competition the batteries had each other in almost all disciplines. To name but a few there was soccer, rugby, cricket, tennis, sailing, hockey, swimming, golf, athletics, tug of war and basket ball. Exercises were looked upon as a holiday!

Gunners RUFC’s Bombardier Chris Read about to score the first try against the

Tankards RUFC January 1972

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The cover of the Blazers’ in-house magazine for June 1972 sums up sport in 28 ANZUK Brigade.

The Humour

As should be expected the amalgamations of Poms, Aussies and Kiwis gave rise to great moments in humour. Luckily, ANZUK Force had its captive cartoonist, a serving soldier, who saw the funny side of all the ANZUK elements. Below are a few of his well aimed shots at the Gunners.

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The End

In 1973 the Whitlam Government signalled an end to “Forward Defence” and the Australian component of ANZUK was warned for Return to Australia. Two years of Commonwealth Gunner integration had come to an end. 28th ANZUK Field Regiment had its moment in the sun and shone. The ultimate compliment was paid to the Regt when, the three second-in -commands of the ANZUK infantry battalions were discussing the success of ANZUK. One offered the opinion that the three nationalities involved in ANZUK had worked well together. A second commented that there were really four nationalities:

“The Brits, the Aussies, the Kiwis and the bloody Gunners!”