Reconnaissance Winter 2019 issue

Editor's comments from the Winter 2019 issue of the Society's quarterly magazine Reconnaissance, which is available to Society members.

Welcome to the Winter 2019 edition of Reconnaissance.

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of that eventful year 1969, which some regard as climactic in the history of the Vietnam War. In honour of the occasion we present a special Vietnam themed issue of Reconnaissance. 

Our cover article is by Lieutenant-Colonel (retd) Steve Hart, who served in every commissioned rank at 101 Wireless/7 Signal Regiment of the Australian Army in Cabarlah between 1962 and 1976 and completed a two year attachment to British Army of the Rhine (BOAR) in Germany for Electronic Warfare (EW) training in 1964 to 1966. He was Commanding Officer of the Regiment when it undertook the first Army EW Courses at Cabarlah  in 1975 and he raised the first EW  Unit, 72 EW Squadron, in 1976. He also undertook a posting to Washington and left the Regular Army in 1980 after 25 years' service. Most importantly for present purposes, he was Commander of the Regiment’s 547 Signal Troop during a 12 month tour of duty in Vietnam in 1969.

In a reflective mood Steve recently delivered a 50 year retrospective address on the Vietnam War at the University of the New Age. He has kindly agreed to convert this to a 3 part article exclusively for Reconnaissance. The first instalment appears in this edition, covering the background to conflict and the preparation and deployment of soldiers. The second instalment will deal with the typical daily routine while on war service. The third will explain the 547 Signal Troop’s role in Australia’s Task Force in Vietnam. Parts 2 and 3 will appear in forthcoming editions of Reconnaissance. Steve offers rewarding perspectives on the war and Australia’s particular contribution.

Also in this Reconnaissance, Steve and his colleague Brigadier (retd) Ernie Chamberlain provide a fascinating behind-the-scenes insight into how Signals Intelligence, SIGINT, helped tip the balance against the Vietcong in a dramatic clash at Loc An in June 1969.

Then Dennis Weatherall explains why the practice of claiming there were three IndoChina wars, against the French, against the Americans, and in Cambodia, mis-numbers the actual conflicts since there was another war in 1945-46 when Britain was the western protagonist. During this little known episode, British military units in south-east Asia were tasked with rounding up and deporting the surrendered Japanese troops in IndoChina with a view to returning the region to French colonial administration. Unfortunately the nationalist Viet Minh under Ho Chi Minh had other ideas. The British found themselves suppressing a bloody insurgency with Japanese assistance! They did eventually handover suzerainty to the French but this short interlude had longstanding and tragic repercussions.

Finally on the Vietnam theme, our President Robert Muscat writes a comprehensive review of the great Max Hastings’ magisterial Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy 1945-1975, published last year. Robert highlights the enduring themes and historical constants identified by Hastings in his account of a thirty year upheaval which was, above all, a terrible tragedy for the Vietnamese people.  

In a non-Vietnam vein, I review Romain Fathi’s new book on Australian Great war commemorative sites at Villers-Bretonneux in France, an informative but heavily ideological work which may exasperate many readers.

As always feel free to send me your feedback.

The Society's website is here: militaryhistorynsw.com.au

Why not join the Society?  Visit the website's membership page here: http://militaryhistorynsw.com.au/home/membership/