Brigadier W W Cheyne, Commanding Officer, West Brigade, Sarawak, (left), is being shown the ...

Brigadier W W Cheyne, Commanding Officer, West Brigade, Sarawak, (left), is being shown the positions of the Australian units along the
Sarawak-Kalimantan border by 57026 Major (Maj) Ivor Ronald Hodgkinson (centre), of Perth, WA, and 3392 Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col) Bruce Alexander McDonald (right), Commanding Officer of 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR), of Canberra, ACT. The officers are standing in the operations room of a fortified forward base close to the Indonesian border. Lt Col McDonald served as Lieutenant VX146956 with the 2/5th Battalion during the Second World War, where he was awarded the Military Cross. He also served with the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) in Japan and saw service in Korea with 2nd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (2RAR), and the Australian Ancillary Unit during 1954. He made official visits to South Vietnam in 1965 and 1967 and was awarded the Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1966. He then served in South Vietnam as a Brigadier with Headquarters 1st Australian Task Force during 1971, where he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, The United States, Legion of Merit, The National Order of the Republic of Vietnam, The Gallantry Cross with Palm and The National Medal of Merit (Civil South Vietnam). Maj Hodgkinson previously served in Korea as a Lieutenant with 1st Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR) during 1954. He was awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1966. He made official visits to South Vietnam in 1964 and 1971, and served in South Vietnam with 5th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (5RAR) between 1966 and 1967 and later with Headquarters Australian Forces Vietnam and Headquarters 1st Australian Task Force in 1967. He also received a Mention in Despatches in 1968.