Battalion change over DPR/TV/1018

In a brief early morning ceremony at Nui Dat this week Vietnam veterans of the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, handed over their responsibilities to the men of the 5th Battalion. The handover was made one day before the 1st Battalion men were due to board the troop carrier HMAS Sydney at Vung Tau to return to Australia at the end of the battalion's second tour of duty in Vietnam. Two platoons - one from the 1st Battalion and one from the 5th Battalion - presented arms as the unit commanders, Lieutenant Colonel Phil Bennett of Perth, WA, 1 RAR and Lieutenant Colonel Colin Cairns of Woollarah, NSW, 5 RAR took the salute at the last lowering of the 1st Battalion's regimental flag at battalion headquarters. Lieutenant Colonel Bennett then handed over his battle maps to Lieutenant Colonel Cairns, after wishing the men of the new battalion all best wishes for the tremendously difficult task that lies ahead. The men of the 1st Battalion will be based at Holsworthy, NSW, after they have taken leave. Later they will again head overseas - this time to Terendak Garrison, Malaysia. (Also identified: Lt Mal Meadows of Auburn, NSW, platoon commander; Sgt Russel Hocking of Ballarat, Vic; Pte Terry Campbell of Maleny, Qld of 1 RAR; Sgt Rusty Smith of Liverpool, NSW of 1 RAR).