RAAF at war in Vietnam Page 2

RAAF at war in Vietnam Page 2

Blindfolded and bound, a 19-year old Viet Cong prisoner is flown by No. 9 Squadron helicopter to the First Australian Task Force base at Nui Dat for questioning.

It all adds up to an amazing amount of ordnance. A No. 9 Squadron helicopter gunship, commonly known, because of its radio call sign, as a 'Bushranger' has an amazing hitting power and has performed outstandingly in support of ground troops in South Vietnam. The 'Bushranger' is equipped with two multiple rocket pods, two fixed forward-firing mini-guns and two twin-mounted side-swivel 7.62 mm machine guns.

Generally the Squadron's operational role was limited to the confines of the Phuoc Tuy province, inside the Tactical Area of Operational Responsibility allotted to the Task Force. But on the few occasions that the Squadron was called on to move outside the province boundaries, and work in close conjunction with its American allies, its pilots proved conclusively that they were thoroughly proficient in the art of helicopter warfare.

Early in 1969, to provide it with more 'teeth' and to reduce Its dependence on American aerial fire support, the Squadron introduced its own 'Bushranger' helicopter gun-ships, designed within its own resources, for direct support of Australian ground troops, or as cover for other Squadron helicopters carrying out dangerous missions. The three Bushrangers, a continuous light fire team, were each equipped with two mini-guns, individually capable of firing 4,800 rounds per minute, fourteen rocket tubes in twin pods firing 2.75 in H.E. rockets, and two twin M60 machine guns mounted on either side of the aircraft.

So effective were these aircraft that on many occasions when under extreme pressure from the enemy, Australian ground commanders would call for the Bushrangers to lay suppressive fire as close as twenty metres from their own front lines.

The American concept of helicopter warfare in South Vietnam provided for specialisation, with pilots on their twelve-month assignment being confined to troop and resupply missions, gunship roles, or the medical evacuation of wounded troops, the last task being most commonly known as the 'dust-off' role.

For the Australian pilots, however, such specialisation was considered a luxury the Squadron could not afford and in consequence the aircrew could at any time be called upon to perform any one of the wide number of roles assigned to helicopters within the Phuoc Tuy province. In the dust-off field the pilots and crewmen were responsible for saving the lives of many 'Diggers' because of the rapidity in moving them from the jungle where they had been wounded to the Australian Field Hospital at Vung Tau. It was the boast of the Squadron that in the majority of cases it would not exceed thirty minutes from the time the soldier was wounded to the time he was on the operating theatre table at the hospital - a time lapse which would seldom be equalled for a traffic accident victim in Australia.

Besides its RAAF pilots, the Squadron had for a sixteen month period from early 1968 eight helicopter pilots from the Royal Australian Navy flying with it, and from about the same time thirteen pilots on loan from the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

Although in the thick of the action on numerous occasions, in a four and a half-year period in the war zone No. 9 Squadron lost only five helicopters completely destroyed, and not all of these were the result of enemy action. In addition thirty-seven aircraft were damaged to varying degrees from enemy small-arms fire, mortar and rocket fragments, or from exploding mines activated by main rotor wash. Twelve aircrew during this period were either wounded or injured, but the Squadron lost only one man killed on an operational mission.

No. 2 (CANBERRA BOMBER) SQUADRON

Bombs away! A No. 2 Squadron Canberra jet drops its load of six 750 lb bombs on a target in the Delta area, southwest southwest of Saigon. This squadron is based at Phan Rang, approximately 170 miles north-east of Saigon.

The last major build-up in RAAF strength in South Vietnam came in April 1967, when the Government decided to commit No. 2 Squadron, flying Canberra bombers, to the war. The Squadron was transferred from the RAAF base at Butterworth, Malaysia, to the sprawling United States Air Force base at Phan Rang, about 165 miles north-east of Saigon. Here the Squadron of eight aircraft and less than 300 men joined five American squadrons and more than 5,000 men to become part of the U.S.A.F. 35th Tactical Fighter Wing.

There were critics of the introduction of the ageing Canberra bombers into a Vietnamese war style of fighting. They argued that the aircraft were not flexible enough, nor could they compete -nor add significantly to the work being done by American tactical fighter-bombers.

In a period of a little more than three years it has been a matter of quiet satisfaction to the bomber crews to prove their critics wrong.

Pilot Officer Mike Haxell, typical of a great many Iroquois helicopter pilots who have served with No.9 Squadron in South Vietnam.

The winner of a Distinguished Flying Cross for gallantry on operations, Pilot Officer Haxell on several occasions operated his aircraft in the face of enemy fire, and on one occasion saved the lives of an Australian long range reconnaisance patrol after it had encountered a superior-sized enemy force, when with skill, courage and determination he carried out a 'hot extraction' while under fire.

A smile of satisfaction from Wing Commander Dave Evans when he returns from his sixty sixth bombing mission against Viet Cong strongholds in South Vietnam.

Wing Commander Evans spent a year in Vietnam as the Commanding Officer of No. 2 (Canberra bomber) Squadron at Phan Rang

Surface finisher Corporal Tony Portlook (Brisbane) paints a miniature bomb on a Canberra aircraft to signify that the Canberra has completed 513 bombing missions. Watching his handiwork is Flying Officer Barry Sullivan (Emerald, Victoria) and Squadron Leader David Middleton (Sydney), members of No. 2 Squadron which is based at Phan Rang.

Although originally designed and built as a high level bomber the Canberras in Vietnam proved their worth as a stable bomb platform with the ability to level-bomb beneath low cloud cover on targets which under poor weather conditions would be immune from attack by the more sophisticated and faster American fighter-bombers.

As a matter of operational safety the Australian Canberra crews preferred to carry out their bombing missions from the 3,000 ft level, for it had been established that at this height they were outside the range of enemy small-arms ground fire. But these were the optimum conditions not always encountered; on occasions because of deteriorating conditions the bombers were forced down as low as 1,000 ft to drop their bombs on enemy targets.

In their Australian training the two-man crews of the Canberras considered a bomb dropped within fifty metres of a target as very respectable aiming, but once they arrived in Vietnam they discovered that, to be effective against the deep bunker complexes occupied by the Viet Cong and the North Vietnam army, their bombs had to be within twenty metres of the target.

That this was achieved is now a matter of record, with the Squadron scoring a tally of thousands of bunkers destroyed or damaged, together with the destruction of military structures, tunnel complexes, trench lines and sampans.

Although aerial assessment of bomb strikes could not be made with a firm degree of accuracy, No. 2 Squadron was credited in its first three years of operations with hundreds of enemy killed.

A navigator flying in Canberra bombers, Pilot Officer Jim Aked (Murwillumbah, New South Wales) bout to set off on another mission against Viet Cong strongholds in the Delta region.

Its aircraft also worked in close support of ground troops, an unusual role for a high level bomber. During these operations, eleven of the bombers were damaged by enemy action.

Although its mission in the war zone was to destroy the enemy and his positions, No. 2 Squadron also achieved considerable acclaim from both Vietnamese and Americans for its humanitarian efforts in providing civil aid to refugees, orphans and displaced persons who had been resettled by the Government in areas relatively free from Viet Cong control. In this field of endeavour it was a labour of love by members of the Squadron, a large number of whom devoted a great deal of their spare time to make the lives of these unfortunate people a little more bearable.

FORWARD AIR CONTROLLERS

In the 1939-45 War to a small extent, and later in the Korean conflict, a relatively new concept of waging the air war by the use of highly-skilled pilots acting as Forward Air Controllers proved successful. As the air war in South Vietnam developed the United States Air Force wisely reintroduced the technique. Because of the nature of the Vietnamese countryside, much of it carpeted by thick tropical jungle, accurate pinpointing of targets by high speed jet fighter-bombers was virtually impossible. If friendly troops happened to be in the vicinity of the target area, pinpoint accuracy was essential.

And so F.A.C.s, flying relatively low-speed light aircraft, became the directors for target evaluation, target marking, fighter-bomber control and bomb damage assessment, bringing a degree of flexibility, efficiency and accuracy that proved invaluable.

At any given time there were approximately 500 F.A.C.s operating from a multiplicity of airstrips scattered throughout the country, and from 1966 when the first Australian joined this band of flyers until the turn of the decade, a total of thirty-one pilots of the RAAF completed tours of eight months.

Flying in Cessna 01 Bird-Dogs, Cessna 02 Skymasters and North American OV10 Broncos, the Australian F.A.C.s in the main worked with U.S.A.F. fighter-bombers, but occasionally managed to control missions being executed by aircraft of No. 2 Squadron, a number of which were in direct support of Australian ground troops in the Phuoc Tuy province.

Although a number of the aircraft flown by the Australian F.A.C.s were hit by enemy small-arms fire, only one was shot down. The pilot successfully ejected and was subsequently rescued by an American helicopter.

Airfield defence guards stationed at V ung Tau move to the Australian Task Force base at Nui Dat occasionally, and under Army guidance set up night ambush positions outside the perimeter wire. These R.A.A.F guards are ready to move out to their overnight positions to prevent possible Viet Cong infiltration into villages near the base.

Australian Forward Air Controllers serving with the U.S.A.F. in Vietnam study a map showing suspected Viet Cong locations. Left to right, they are: Flying Officer Mac Cottrell (South Launceston, Tasmania), Captain Earle Beasley (U.S.A.F.), Flight Lieutenant Roger Wilson (Canberra), and Flight Lieutenant Gary Cooper (Newcastle, New South Wales).

A captured Viet Cong flag presented to the National War Memorial Director, Mr. W. Lancaster, by Wing Commander B. Rachinger, D.F.C., A.F.C. Looking on is Mrs Margaret Drummond, wife of Wing Commander Vance Drummond, who sent the flag to Australia. Wing Commander Drummond was a Forward Air Controller in Vietnam

General George S. Brown, Commander of the Seventh Air Force, presented a Presidential Citation to No. 2 Squadron at Phan Rang in 1969. The Citation, however, was for the Squadron's distinguished actions in 1942 in Timor and the islands in the Banda Sea. With the General are the Squadron's Commanding Officer, Wing Commander J. Whitehead, and two original members of the Squadron when the citation was won, Warrant Officer C. Bolger and Warrant Officer J. Lee

OTHER COMMITMENTS

Although the three squadrons and the Forward Air Controllers provided the most operationally active part of the RAAF commitment in South Vietnam, other members of the service played important roles such as those attached to the No. 1 Operation Support Unit stationed at Vung Tau; the small group who ran the Air Transport Operations Centre at the ist Australian Task Force base at Nui Dat; the overall RAAF command administration organisation at the Free World Military Headquarters in Saigon; and individuals attached to American units, such as photo interpreters, radar specialists and a limited number of Phantom fighter-bomber pilots.

Vital assistance was also provided by Hercules transports from both Nos. 36 and 37 Squadrons based at Richmond, New South Wales. Not only were these aircraft invaluable in carrying cargoes between Australia and Vietnam, but more important, they were the aerial ambulances which carried sick and wounded Australians back home.

In whatever role they were cast, members of the RAAF who were engaged in operations in South Vietnam contributed substantially to the overall effort in spite of their relatively small numbers. They proved, if proof was needed, that their standards of efficiency, proficiency and courage were every bit as high as those of their predecessors who founded and nurtured the RAAF through fifty years of exciting challenge and outstanding achievement.

On a visit to Australian forces in the Phuoc Tuy province, Air Vice Marshal Nguyen Ky is escorted by the commander of the RAAF in Vietnam, Air Commodore J. Dowling

The Golden Years of RAAF 1921-1971. A Digger History Associate site.