North Vietnamese Army Flag : Flying Officer N A Clarke, RAAF

The flag consists of a faded yellow five-pointed star sewn onto a faded salmon pink or very light red cotton flag. The flag shows signs of battle damage and is stained at the bottom of the flag. With the flag is a small card with 'DAI UY CANH-SAT / KHONG-QUAN / UC-DAI-LOI / TAY-NINHAU 16.5.71'. This translates as 'POLICE CAPTAIN, AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE, TAY-NIN VILLAGE 16 MAY 1971'.

This North Vietnamese flag was presented to Flying Officer Neville CLARKE, Assistant Provost Marshal, RAAF Contingent, Republic of South Vietnam in 1971 by Mrs Nguyen-Thi-Hao, a senior employee of the RAAF at Vung Tau. The flag had been captured by Mrs Hao's son, Lieutenant Phuong Van Banh of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) during action against North Vietnamese regulars north of Quang-Tri in 1969. Her son died of wounds as a result of that engagement. Mrs Hao's husband was an Officer serving with the French Army in Indo China - he was murdered by Viet Minh guerillas near Hanoi in 1950. During the war Mrs Hao lived in the hamlet of Ba-Ria. Neville Augustus Clarke was born on 10 July 1937 in Narango, Queensland. He was raised in Narango and Julia Creek. Clarke initially served in the RAAF in 1956 as part of the National Service scheme. He later joined the Queensland Police and became a detective in Special Branch. Clarke served in the RAAF Citizen Air Force during 1967 and 1968 before being commissioned as a pilot officer in the RAAF in 1969. He volunteered for service in Vietnam and began his six month deployment on 7 April 1971. With his prior police service, he was posted as Assistant Provost Marshal. Clarke was involved in policing the wire after dark, base security and counter intelligence work. He sustained wounds during his service which did not require surgery until later in life. Clarke left Vietnam on 7 October 1971. He remained in the RAAF afterwards and served in many locations around Australia. He also served at Butterworth in Malaya and with the United States Air Force in Hawaii, San Francisco and Washington DC. He spent his career with the RAAF Provost Corps, retiring in 1991 with the rank of wing commander. Clarke was known as a dedicated officer who looked after the men and women in his command. He passed away in 2008.