RAAF at war in Vietnam

As part of its overall re-equipment plan for the RAAF, Australia purchased a number of twin-engined Caribou transport aircraft from Canada, and in July 1964 three of these on a ferry flight to Australia had reached Butterworth in Malaysia when they were diverted to South Vietnam. On 28 July the Vietnam Transport Flight was established at the United States Army air base at Vung Tau, thirty-five miles south-east of Saigon, and so the RAAF began active operations in its fourth conflict.

Less than two months later a further three Caribou aircraft were added to the Flight, which was under the operational control of the 7th United States Air Force.

Within a matter of weeks the distinctive kangaroo roundel on the fuselage and the 'Wallaby' radio call-sign was to become familiar at numerous sprawling air bases, and even more numerous primitive air strips in the jungle or on the top of mountain ridges throughout the length and breadth of South Vietnam. In a brief space of time the Transport Flight became commonly known as the 'Wallaby Airlines', a soubriquet which, over the space of several years and increased effort by the Australian Caribou pilots, became identified with an operational proficiency unequalled by any other air transport unit in South Vietnam.

The RAAF Transport Flight gained its seventh aircraft ten months after the kangaroo roundel was first seen in the Vietnamese war zone, but it was not until June 1966 that it was elevated in status and was henceforth known as No.35 Squadron.

The term 'transport squadron' covers a multiplicity of duties when applied to operational requirements in a war zone such as South Vietnam and, right from the start of the RAAF participation there, the small band of young pilots found that in some areas they had to develop entirely new flying skills.

A new technique of spiralling into and out of small airstrips, often hemmed in by hills occupied by the enemy, was only one of the measures introduced to reduce the dangers of being hit by enemy small-arms fire. Even on the ground, loading and unloading was continually attended by the dangers of possible mortar or rocket attacks, and whenever possible these tasks were performed with engines running to allow for emergency take-off in the event of enemy action.

Because of their strict adherence to sensible operational rules, the pilots of No. 35 Squadron, although operating in dangerous areas, in the course of more than six years flying chalked up a safety record unequalled in Vietnam.

Only one Caribou was totally destroyed due to enemy action in the six and a half years up to the end of 1970, and this occurred early in 1970 when the aircraft, loaded with aviation fuel, landed at a small strip in the Mekong Delta region to restock an American army helicopter fuel dump. just as Unloading was about to begin an enemy mortar blasted off the Caribou's port wing, and subsequent mortar rounds set the aircraft on fire.

Although the Australian Caribou aircraft were flying only 1.4 per cent of the scheduled total Caribou sorties in South Vietnam, the statistics for freight carried averaged between seven and eight per cent of the total effort, an indication of the effectiveness of the Australian contribution to the effort in the field. Early in 1970 one of the Squadron's aircraft established an individual record for freight carrying on a single day when in the course of 28 sorties spanning a flying period of eleven and a half hours, it airlifted a total of 84,870 lb of aviation fuel between two airfields in the Southern Delta region.

Much of the freight carried by the Squadron was mail, an item accorded the highest priority, but in addition the aircraft also transported ammunition, rations, building equipment, livestock and captured weapons. For the six year period from their first arrival, the Squadron's aircraft carried more than eighty million pounds of freight and additionally more than eleven million pounds of mail.

For many of the small airstrips scattered throughout the country the only link with major centres such as Saigon was through the regular flights of the Australian Caribous which managed to maintain a schedule, irrespective of weather conditions, almost as regular as a bus run.

In the course of six years of operations, in addition to its freight responsibilities 'Wallaby Airlines' carried a total of almost 6oo,ooo passengers - Australians, New Zealanders, Americans, South Vietnamese, Koreans, Thais and many North Vietnamese prisoners of war.

Leading Aircraftman Ron Wilson, a medical orderly with No. 1 Operational Support Unit, prepares his medical kit by the 'dust-off' chopper of No. 9 Squadron at Vung Tau.

LAC Wilson was Mentioned in Dispatches for bravery in action when, as a crew member of an aero-medical evacuation helicopter, and with complete disregard for his own safety, he searched at night for Australian soldiers wounded in an enemy mine explosion.

He gave first aid, then assisted the wounded back to the aircraft.

No. 9 (IROQUOIS HELICOPTER) SQUADRON

Early in 1966 the Australian Government decided to increase the RAAF active commitment in Vietnam and, as a preliminary, a detachment from No. 5 Airfield Construction Squadron was moved to Vung Tau to prepare for the arrival of No. 9 Squadron, equipped with eight Iroquois helicopters, on 12 June

1966. This Squadron, which at the time was operating the early 'Bravo' model Iroquois (UH-1B) was posted to Vietnam with the specific task of operating in direct support of the 1st Australian Task Force which was based at Nui Dat, a rubber plantation situated almost in the centre of Phuoc Tuy province, about eighteen miles due north of the Vung Tau air base.

The arrival of the Squadron marked an important milestone in the concept of army-air co-operation. For the first time in the history of the Army, Vietnam produced a situation which involved the RAAF Iroquois helicopters as an integral part of virtually every operation embarked on by the Task Force Battalions.

The Army was quick to appreciate the value of the RAAF helicopters which lay in the extremely wide variety of roles they were able to fulfil when requested, often at short notice in an emergency. The obvious benefit, of course, was that they provided the Army with a rapid mobility undreamed of in wars previously fought by Australian servicemen, and because of this possibility for quick reaction, the Army on numerous occasions was able to upset enemy strategy and keep him off balance.

New techniques consistent with operational requirements in war zone had to be developed by the Australian helicopter pilots, many of who although only in their early twenties had all had previous jet experience in addition to their helicopter training at Fairbairn in the Australian Capital Territory before arriving in Vietnam.


Sergeant Gordon Buttriss, winner of the George Medal while serving as a helicopter crewman with No. 9 Squadron in South Vietnam. The award was made for bravery in rescuing four injured Australians from a burning Iroquois helicopter after a crash in which himself was also injured.	Winner of the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal, the highest flying award other than the Victoria Cross available for non-commissioned members of the RAAF, helicopter crewman Corporal John Coughlan is shown after return from an operational sortie in South Vietnam.
Corporal Coughlan was winched to the ground to give assistance to survivors of an American helicopter which had crashed in thick jungle deep in known enemy territory. Besides the threat from the enemy he was also faced with the hazard of exploding ammunition, being frequently forced to take cover as rounds struck trees in his vicinity. The Corporal's C.G.M. was the first to be awarded to a RAAF man since the 1939/45 War.

Landing in tiny clearings which under Australian conditions would be regarded as almost suicidal, became a routine affair although on numerous occasions operations into and out of these primitive 'pads' became more hazardous because of enemy opposition. Particularly was this so when the No. 9 Squadron pilots were called on to insert patrols of Special Air Service troops in remote jungle areas of the Phuoc Tuy province.

Among the tasks the 'chopper boys' were called on to perform were 'hot extractions' of S.A.S. patrols in contact with superior enemy forces. With overhead cover from other Squadron machines, and in the latter stages of the decade with active support from the Squadron's specially fitted 'Bushranger' helicopter gun-ships, the extraction aircraft would 'go down the mine', its own M6o side-door machine guns blazing at the surrounding jungle holding the enemy, pick up the patrol and fly off to safety.

In the history of the Australian Army in Vietnam, one of the most glowing pages of bravery was the epic action of 'Delta' Company, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, at Long Tan when it was attacked by an estimated 1,500 North Vietnamese regulars and Viet Cong - odds of more than ten to one against them. It was an action which deservedly drew wide acclaim, but what was not so widely acknowledged was the vital role played in this battle by No. 9 Squadron. With a third of the 120-man Company either killed or wounded, and ammunition in some cases down to only one magazine per man, the Squadron was called on to resupply the survivors. In a blinding monsoon storm with visibility well below the accepted safety standard the RAAF pilots flew out at treetop level, hovered above the troops still in contact, and dropped vital ammunition which meant the difference between disaster and triumph. Later in the battle, when Delta Company had received ground reinforcements, No. 9 Squadron helicopters moved in to take out the wounded and dead.

Last light and a No. 9 Squadron helicopter lands on a remote jungle hilltop to lift out Australian troops before nightfall.

Although not on such a large scale as the Long Tan action, this close and vital support for troops in contact was performed many times by the Squadron. On one resupply mission to troops in contact a Squadron helicopter was holed eighteen times, but despite this the pilot remained overhead until he had completed his task before nursing, his crippled machine back across the jungle to the safety of Nui Dat.

An area of particular notoriety, the Long Hai mountains, some five miles to the north-east of the Squadron's Vung Tau base, was the scene of numerous operational sorties by the Squadron aircraft in conjunction with ground troops attempting to flush Viet Cong guerillas from a complex of caves which literally honeycombed the entire area. Operating over the Long Hais produced some of the trickiest flying conditions encountered by the No. 9 Squadron pilots, because not only was there the ever-present danger of enemy small-arms fire, but wind vagaries and limited landing pads in narrow defiles called for above average airmanship successfully to carry out tasked missions.

In mid 1968 the Squadron replaced the ageing Bravo model Iroquois with the more highly powered 'Hotel' model (UH-1H), an aircraft which, among other things, had a greater troop carrying capacity. The Squadron strength was increased from eight to sixteen aircraft, enabling it to take over almost completely the entire range of air support tasks for the 1st Australian Task Force. Prior to the build-up of aircraft, many of these tasks of necessity were performed by American helicopters.