Australia's Vietnam War

FeaturesUnit Histories

Engineers · September 1965 – December 1971

1st Field Squadron

Helicopter missions
1
Contacts
76
Operations
22
Dead
34
Australian wounded
45
Enemy killed
0

View unit in Battle MapView missions in Battle MapAustralian War Memorial record

Year by year #

76 contacts are recorded for the unit and sub-units, from 23 October 1965 to 11 April 1971. It was the unit in contact in 58 of them, and took part in 18 led by other units.

Year Contacts
1965 5
1966 14
1967 7
1968 5
1969 24
1970 19
1971 2

Unit actions #

In the contacts it led, by the task the report records:

Task Contacts Share
Security 24 41%
Mine incident 19 33%
Land clearance 9 16%
Transport 4 7%
Mine clearance 1 2%
Not recorded 1 2%

Engineer support in 18 contacts led by other units: 1 RAR (13), 1 Armd Regt (2), 1 ATF (1), 5 RAR (1), 9 RAR (1).

Operations #

Air support #

No. 9 Squadron RAAF's unit history records 1 helicopter missions flown for 1 Fd Sqn, from 29 August 1969 to 29 August 1969.

Mission Missions Share
Troop Lift 1 100%

View the missions in Battle Map

Notable contacts #

23 October 1965: Deployment, Operation 13/65 #

First · Engineer support for 1 RAR

Operation 13/65, 1 RAR's search-and-destroy operation north-east of the US 173rd Airborne Brigade's base at Bien Hoa, with a troop of armoured personnel carriers, 3 Field Troop, and 105 Field Battery and New Zealand's 161 Battery in direct support.

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10 January 1966: Installation, Operation 1/66 #

Significant · Engineer support for 1 RAR

Australian: 1 killed.

Engineers of 3 Field Troop pumped smoke and CS gas into tunnels found by B Company, 1 RAR, to reveal other entrances and deny them to the enemy. An engineer corporal inspecting a shaft was overcome by the gas and lack of air, and was dead when rescuers reached him; two of those who tried to reach him were evacuated. Documents, food, medical stores and a booby-trapped trapdoor were found in the tunnels and caches.

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17 March 1966: Mine/Booby trap, Operation Silver City #

Significant · Engineer support for 1 RAR

Australian: 4 wounded.

A Claymore mine went off in front of a small transport vehicle carrying rice out of a captured cache for B Company, 1 RAR, wounding two sappers of 3 Field Troop and an American soldier.

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12 June 1966: Patrol, Operation Hardihood #

Significant · Engineer support for 5 RAR

Australian: 1 killed, 3 wounded.

D Company, 5 RAR, was sweeping the north-east of Hoa Long for enemy mortar positions when its force came under light mortar fire. One Australian was killed and three wounded, from D and E Platoon, 1 APC Squadron and 1 Field Squadron. Radar placed the mortars at Long Phuoc village, and artillery fired on them with unknown results.

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9 May 1967: Security, Operation Leeton #

Significant · 1 Fd Sqn in contact

Australian: 2 killed, 4 wounded.

A sapper of 1 Field Squadron set off an M16 mine while laying it in the barrier minefield. Six were wounded, two of whom later died.

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20 May 1967: Contact, Operation Leeton #

Significant · 1 Fd Sqn in contact

Australian: 2 killed.

Two engineers of 1 Field Squadron were killed when an anti-lift device went off while they were laying M16 mines in the barrier minefield.

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30 May 1967: Security, Operation Leeton #

Significant · 1 Fd Sqn in contact

Australian: 1 killed, 2 wounded.

While laying the barrier minefield, a member of a mine-arming party from 7 RAR's assault pioneers set off an M16 mine, killing one sapper of 1 Field Squadron and wounding two.

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16 December 1967: Security #

Typical: security · 1 Fd Sqn in contact

Australian: 2 wounded.

1 Field Squadron was helping a South Vietnamese battalion repair the minefield between Dat Do and Phuoc Hai when a South Vietnamese soldier stepped on an M16 mine. He was killed; two Australians and four South Vietnamese were wounded.

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1 August 1968: Land Clearance, Operation Lyre Bird #

Typical: land clearance · 1 Fd Sqn in contact

Australian: 1 wounded.

The land-clearing team of 1 Field Squadron was working around the Nui Thi Vai and Nui Dinh mountains when two enemy fired a rocket-propelled grenade and rifles at a D8 bulldozer, setting it alight and wounding the driver in the head, chest and legs. The engineers could not put the fire out, so pushed the bulldozer into a cutting and buried it; it was recovered to Nui Dat the next day.

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24 May 1969: Transport #

Typical: transport · 1 Fd Sqn in contact

Australian: 3 wounded.

Two bulldozers of 1 Field Squadron set off three M16 mines at the edge of a village south-east of Long Dien. Three Australians were wounded, including a driver and a soldier walking behind, and the bulldozers were slightly damaged.

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21 October 1969: Contact, Operation Backbone #

Typical: mine incident · 1 Fd Sqn in contact

Australian: 1 killed, 1 wounded.

A small team of 1 Field Squadron clearing a road block on Route 326, working with B Squadron, 1 Armoured Regiment, set off a mine or booby trap. One Australian was killed and one wounded.

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9 November 1969: Contact #

Significant · 1 Fd Sqn in contact

Australian: 4 wounded.

The mine-clearing team of 1 Field Squadron set off an M16 mine 300 metres north of Phuoc Loi. Four Australians were wounded.

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22 April 1970: Contact, Operation Concrete #

Significant · 1 Fd Sqn in contact

Australian: 1 killed, 4 wounded.

Engineers of 1 Field Squadron and A Company, 6 RAR/NZ, set off an M16 mine on a bullock track into a clearing in the jungle seven kilometres south of Xuyen Moc, after at least four men had already walked over it. One Australian was killed and four wounded. The mine had been laid after 8 RAR left the area, beside a Viet Cong marker of a broken branch; the company commander warned that clearings likely to be used as landing zones, and the tracks into them, should be expected to be mined.

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11 April 1971: Contact, Operation Briar Patch 1 #

Last · 1 Fd Sqn in contact

A mine-clearing tank of 1 Field Squadron set off a 60- to 80-pound mine in the jungle off Route 328, which badly damaged the tank. It could not be determined whether the mine was command- or pressure-detonated.

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Roll of honour #

The unit's 34 dead on the honour roll: those on a tour with the unit when they died, and reinforcements killed in the unit's contacts. Each opens their entry on the honour roll.

Photographs #

From the site's collection: pictures linked to the unit's contacts, and others taken near them at the time. Each opens on the Battle Map.

  • B Company 5 RAR entering fence, moving south towards Xa Phuoc Loi 29.3.67 B Company 5 RAR entering fence, moving south towards Xa Phuoc Loi 29.3.67 errol999, 29 March 1967
  • 1 Australian Psychology Operations Unit (! Psyops Unit) printing room with psyops staff. Playboy centerfolds behind then on the wall. 1 Australian Psychology Operations Unit (! Psyops Unit) printing room with psyops staff. Playboy centerfolds behind then on the wall. 1 September 1970
  • 1 ATF Power plant before fire 1 ATF Power plant before fire 1 March 1970
  • 1 ATF Diesel Power Plant fir circa 1970. Plant completely destroyed by fire 1 ATF Diesel Power Plant fir circa 1970. Plant completely destroyed by fire 1 July 1970
  • Remains of Power Plant after the fire. Remains of Power Plant after the fire. 1 June 1970
  • New Power Plant Building after the fire that destroyed the former one. New Power Plant Building after the fire that destroyed the former one. 30 June 1970
  • Engineers laying the new Power lines that burnt down during the fire that destroyed the Power Plant. Engineers laying the new Power lines that burnt down during the fire that destroyed the Power Plant. 28 June 1970
  • Nui Dat looking north. Nui Dat looking north. TBA, 1 August 1966
  • Australian M113 APCs at Laager, the crews having breakfast inside the area that was fenced immediately east of Xa Phuoc Loi. This area became part of the fenced minefield Australian M113 APCs at Laager, the crews having breakfast inside the area that was fenced immediately east of Xa Phuoc Loi. This area became part of the … errol999, 8 April 1967
  • Lt. A.E. (Ted) Pott and Corporal Bobby Harboard walking south out of Xa Phuoc Loi on Route 44. The Australian Engineers had advised us that the barbed wire fence next to Route 44 had been booby trapped by the V.C.. 9.4.1967 Lt. A.E. (Ted) Pott and Corporal Bobby Harboard walking south out of Xa Phuoc Loi on Route 44. The Australian Engineers had advised us that the barbed wire … errol999, 9 April 1967
  • Outline of Line Alpha. This was the line that patrols could work in so they had artillery and mortar fire to support them. This was completed while Nui Dat defences were being built. Outline of Line Alpha. This was the line that patrols could work in so they had artillery and mortar fire to support them. This was completed while Nui Dat … 1 August 1966
  • The Long Hai Hills viewed from immediately south of Xa Phuoc Loi during breakfast in the fenced minefield 6 Pl 5 RAR 8.4.67 The Long Hai Hills viewed from immediately south of Xa Phuoc Loi during breakfast in the fenced minefield 6 Pl 5 RAR 8.4.67 errol999, 8 April 1967

Sources #

  • Tours and arm: the Australian War Memorial's record of the unit.
  • Contacts: the Battle Map's records of 76 contacts, each report citing the archival source (most often the commanders' diaries, AWM95).
  • The dead: the honour roll, with tours of duty from the nominal roll.
  • Helicopter missions: No. 9 Squadron RAAF's unit history sheets (National Archives of Australia, A9186, 736), read into the Battle Map's records, with each report's summary written by an AI model (Claude).
  • Summaries of the reports: written by an AI model (Claude) from the reports, and reviewed.