5 RAR farewell parade at Nui Dat DPR/TV/1247

The 5th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment, which returns home to Australia on February 27 from Vung Tau, held a memorial parade in honour of its soldiers killed during the unit's present 12 month's tour of Vietnam. A complete battalion parade, led by the Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col) Colin Khan of Woollahra, NSW, was attended by the Task Force Commander, Brigadier S. P. Weir of Braddon, ACT, and all senior Vietnamese Provincial officials from Phuoc Tuy. A special memorial was built from a design drawn by one of the battalion members, with a concrete base and a sword embedded in the concrete. Chrome plaques listing the names of all 5 RAR soldiers killed in the unit's two tours of Vietnam, during 1966-67 and the present tour, are mounted on the memorial. During the current tour 25 soldiers have been killed on operations against the Vietcong and North Vietnamese, while the unit has inflicted 353 deaths on the enemy. The memorial was the focal point of the parade in which addresses were given by the Battalion's Chaplain, Father Tom Shanahan of Tamworth, NSW; other Task Force Chaplain Ian Paull of Puckapunyal, Vic (PD) and Alan Greenshields also of Puckapunyal, Vic (CE); the Commanding Officer, Lt Col Khan and the Deputy Province Chief, Lt Col Doan Van Lieu. The soldiers broke ranks and formed up around the memorial for the addresses. Lt Col Khan told his men they had given of their best during the last 12 months and congratulated them on their outstanding success in the Vietnamese Government's fight against communism. After the addresses and lament, played by the Pipe Major of the battalion's sister unit, the 6th Anzac Battalion, the soldiers re-formed and marched off in companies. The CO then led them back past the memorial again and members gave the "Eyes Left" to the memorial in special honour to the fallen. The 7th Battalion is sailing to Vietnam to take over from 5 RAR aboard the HMAS Sydney. The Sydney will then take most members of 5 RAR aboard and on the unit's arrival in Sydney will march through the streets of the city. A large number of spare jungle green uniforms will also be aboard the ship for members of the unit who served with the unit and are now discharged. These men will be invited to march with the battalion through Sydney. Also waiting on the wharf will be the unit's mascot Quintus, the tiger, who lives at Taronga Park, while the battalion is on duty. However, Quintus will not be marching through the streets as the Zoo Director does not think he would stand up to the crowds. The battalion is known as the Tiger Battalion in Vietnam. Also identified: RSM WO1 J. Vagg; Pipe Major, WO1 Alex McLeod-Lee of Clayfield, Qld; Private (Pte) Terry Bateman of Bankstown, NSW; Pte Allan English of Toowong, Qld.