Robert Neville Clark as an artillery observer interviewed by Greg Swanborough for 'The sharp end'

Take I: Talks about why he volunteered; 1965 joined CMF (Citizen Military Force). As a CMF Officer he was glad to be a volunteer to ‘serve the colours’. Take 2: Impressions of Vietnam as being hot and dusty. There was a sense of exhilaration to serve abroad. Take 3: Enemy was well armed with small arms – the AK47 was their basic weapon. Take 4, roll 36 [retake of 3] A Company, 7th Battalion ran into wall of automatic fire. Talks about suitability of rifles and arms used. Evenly matched on the ground but Australians could call on artillery and air strikes – enemy didn’t have the same support. Most Australian killed by small arms fire. Vietnam War different because there was no front line. Attack came from any quarter. Soldiers were there for a set time, not the duration (as with First and Second World Wars). There was tension to survive until your service was up. A phrase coined at the time – “sick war” – but it was no worse than any others Australians had fought in. Hardest task was to fire artillery on the enemy without hurting our own troops. There was very little margin for error. One thing remembered most; a tree burst from Major Capes 106 Battery was the turning point in the contact with Vietcong 274 regiment. Enemy fire was less after that. Showed a front to aggressive communism at the time. Take 5: The difference between artillery and infantry soldiers. Overall, the artillery helped the infantry tremendously in Vietnam. On why he joined the artillery and not the infantry: someone else (RSM Burke) made the decision for him after joining the CMF, Sydney University Regiment.