Old Collegians Rugby Union Club
Malcolm McQualter
Malcolm Bruce McQualter known to his Army and rugby colleagues as "Bruce" graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon on the 11th December 1957. After several Regimental postings he was posted on promotion to Captain to the 1st Battalion Royal South Australian Regiment on 23rd August 1961.
He took up residence at Keswick Barracks and played rugby for the Old Collegians Rugby Club until his reposting to the Officer Cadet School, Portsea as an Instructor at the end of 1963. He played in the First XV as fullback, was a committee member and also Club Captain in 1962/63.
In June 1965 Bruce was promoted to Major and posted to the Fifth Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, which was warned out for duty to South Vietnam. He was appointed Company Commander of B Company and he led his company on operations with courage and conviction.
On the 21st February 1967 Bruce and B Company were involved in one of the worst enemy mine incidents of the Vietnam War. An Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) patrolling ahead of the Company with troops on board was blown up by a command-detonated bomb which killed and maimed most on board. Bruce McQualter, travelling in an APC to the rear of the incident, immediately alighted with his Headquarter team and another Platoon to lend assistance and clear the area of further enemy when this element stepped on an M16 anti-personnel mine which created further casualties, including Bruce McQualter. Bruce was seriously wounded and evacuated with all of the other casualties but unfortunately died of his wounds in the 3rd Field Hospital, Saigon on the 5th March 1967. There were nine killed and 22 wounded, many seriously, on that fateful day which is now referred to in the Battalion's history as the "Long Hai Hills Incident".
Although Bruce was not a South Australian, he, in his short time in South Australia as a member of the Old Collegians Rugby Club, endeared himself to that rugby community as a team player and a leader with strong rugby values. His appointment as club captain is testament of his qualities and his leadership on active service was recognised through the posthumous award "Mentioned in Despatches" citation below.
"Major McQualter has served as a rifle Company Commander with 5th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment in Vietnam, for eight months. At all times and particularly when in contact with the enemy Major McQualter set a fine example by his courage and disregard for his personal safety. He placed the welfare, morale and safety of his men above all other requirements and has unselfishly devoted his entire energies to the requirements of his soldiers. The high standard of efficiency attained by the company is attributed directly to Major McQualter."
Michael von Berg MC OAM
Life and Hall of Fame Member
The South Australian Rugby Union
19th March 2012.
Former First XV fullback.
From the newspaper clipping, possibly the Advertiser:
Malcolm B McQualter 29, Braidwood, NSW. After graduation from the Royal Military College Duntroon, Major McQualter served in Malaya before he became a Company Commander with 5RAR in Vietnam. Seriously injured when his APC struck a mine and exploded just after sunrise on February 21 1967 in Phuoc Tuy, he died of his wounds in 3 US Field Hospital Saigon March 5 1967.
Extract from Army Confidential Report
Malcolm McQualter played for Old Collegians Rugby Club in 1962 (reported July 1962) and was a Committee Member and Club Captain untuil re-posting 29th July 1963
Excerpt from CROSSFIRE, An Australian Reconnaissance Unit in Vietnam
Peter Haran and Robert Kearney, New Holland Publishers, 2001, ISBN 1 86436 721 0
"By 21 February Operation Renmark was up and running. .....Mid afternoon and Bravo company was moving into position to search the southern half of the Long Hai hills. In the heat and dry of the February day, the company had been working its way through jungle alongside a track and the leading APC turned to cross the track towards the Long Hais. At that moment - 1407 hours - there was an enormous explosion. The detonation had the power of a 500-lb bomb: it blew a two-foot-wide hole in the bottom of the machine and lifted the 11-ton vehicle 10 feet into the air...... The blast immediately killed some of the men sitting inside the APC, while the shock blew others out onto the ground........Bravo Commander Major Bruce McQualter alighted from his carrier, rallied his men, then moved to the wrecked APC with stretcher-bearers to offer assistance.......Suddenly someone in McQualter's group trod on a jumping jack. The effect of the main charge as it bounced into the air and exploded was devastating: McQualter was struck in the head and collapsed instantly. His medic party was also flattened........ For the next hour men performed acts of bravery, struggling to recover and save the lives of their wounded mates, constantly aware that every square metre of ground around them was seeded with jumping jacks....... The massive blast left a crater six feet wide and four feet deep. The number of dead and wounded was at first overwhelming ........ McQualter lay on his back, reaching his arms upwards, wanting to be helped to his feet. But he could neither hear nor speak as a result of the wound to his head, and he lapsed into a coma...... Nine men died and 31 were wounded in this, Australia's worst mine incident of the Vietnam War to date."
Australian War Memorial Honour Roll
Australian War Memorial Honour Roll
Service number: 235136
Rank: Captain (Temporary Major)
Unit: 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment
Service: Australian Army
Conflict: Vietnam, 1962-1975
Date of death: 5 March 1967
Place of death: South Vietnam
Cause of death: Died of wounds
Cemetery or memorial details: Northern Suburbs Crematorium, New South Wales
Source: AWM153 Roll of Honour cards, Vietnam
Bruce McQualter with Marshall Ky
http://www.5rar.asn.au/gallery/mcqalter.htm
The Crossfire site
Mike von Berg
5RAR
There is an excellent site of Ted Harrison's, dedicated to 5RAR within which a search on 'mcqualter' reveals some additional information. http://5rar.asn.au
A Vietnam Minefield Experience
an address to the Institute on 30 August 2011 by Dr Tony White, AM, RFD2
From the club newsletters:
The first reference in the earliest newsletters, starting in 1962, to Bruce McQualter at Collegians' is in the 26th April 1962 edition of "Old Collegians Rugby News" when he was listed to play in the 2nd XV the following weekend against the Edinburgh club. In the edition for the 10th May 1962 he was listed to play fullback in the 1sts for the following Saturday. He shows up regularly as a player, or as being unavailable. On the 25th of August he played inside centre, again against Edinburgh. The club ultimately lost to Edinburgh in the Finals.
The 12th March 1963 edition of the "Old Collegians Rugby News" announced that he took on the job of Assistant Editor, address c/- Officer's Mess, Keswick Barracks, of the newsletter to Howard Clay
The newsletter of 9th April 1963 announced that Bruce would be transferring to Victoria in "about 3 weeks". There was a farewell Club party held on Saturday 20th April at Stan Jordan's at Somerton.
However, Bruce continued to play for Collegians, was the Captain of the 3rds, playing five-eight on the 22nd June, but there is no record of him after that.Note about the information sources:
I was given a pile of boxes of club minutes and endless profit and loss statements for the early 1970's by Peter Bird a few years ago. When I got around to opening the boxes I came across a very yellowed press clipping of 'Malcolm B McQualter' and put it aside to include in the website when I got around to putting one together.
I had a quick read through the copies of "Old Collegians Rugby News" that Bob Stafford-Lee gave me a few months previous to see what could be immediately useful and then put them aside to concentrate on some documents from the 1970's because I'd come across a few oddities, such as the names of our very first Club Presidents. When Crossfire was published I managed to order a copy and was immediately engrossed by it. I mentally registered the name McQualter but assumed that they were two different people, a Malcom and a Bruce.
Then when putting in some information on Mark Auricht and his tragic death on Mount Everest something else reminded me of McQualter and how the years were the same in the clipping and in the book. Then another read of the newsletters.
I was saddened then to be reading of his rugby days in 1962 and then of his death 5 years later in Vietnam.
Paul Horne, 27th May 2001
Mentioned in Dispatches
Major Malcolm Bruce McQualter MID. (Posthumous)
http://www.5rar.asn.au/history/cite_mcqualter.htm
Citation accompanying the award of Mentioned in Dispatches to Maj. McQualter.
MMajor McQualter has served as a rifle Company Commander with 5th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment in Vietnam for eight months.
At an (sic) [all] times and particularly when in contact with the enemy Major McQualter set a fine example by his courage and disregard for his personal safety.
He placed the welfare, morale and safety of his men above all other requirements and has unselfishly devoted his entire energies to the requirements of his soldiers.
The high standard of efficiency attained by the company is attributed directly to Major McQualter.
AUSTRALIAN CEMETERIES INDEX
http://austcemindex.com/inscription.php?id=8240486
Reference to the incident of 21st February 1967
http://www.tunnelrats.com.au/pdfs/newsletters/Holdfast_20.pdf - p35
The OC, B Company, Major Bruce McQualter was killed in the incident. He is seen here (left) in September 1966 with the Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant General Tom Daly (right) and Private Stanley English (inside the tent) while on Operation Toledo
Photo copyright Australian War Memorial reference FOR/66/0784/VN
Group portrait of officers of 5RAR
http://cas.awm.gov.au/photograph/P02177.001
Australians at War Film Archive
http://www.australiansatwarfilmarchive.gov.au/aawfa/transcripts/837.aspxRobert O'Neill, 2441, 5RAR
Q: And you were, as the company 2IC what was your role in that situation?
A: Well, I was the administrative link: when we needed anything sent up it was my job to get in touch with headquarters and say that we need such-and-such supply of ammunition or medical supplies or rope or whatever it was that we needed. It was also my job to see that everyone was properly fed on the ground and, when we occupied a defensive position at night, it was my job to go around and see that the three separate platoons co-ordinated their defences and each could give each other mutual support. And generally be available to help the company commander, Bruce McQualter who had been one year ahead of me at Duntroon, and who I knew pretty well and we had a good personal relationship, and anything else I could do for him.
Q: What did you get up to on your R&R in Hong Kong?
A: I went with Bruce McQualter, and we were winies [wine enthusiasts] and foodies [gourmet dining enthusiasts]. Bruce had a very good palate and a very good knowledge of wines, and me having come from four years in Europe knew a certain amount about it, too. We both had wives of whom we were very fond and we knew each other's wives, so we were not tempted to stray in the direction of the ladies of the town, and what we did was just have a nice, civilised period of self-indulgence with food and good wine.
Q: So you kept each other honest?
A: We did, quite consciously.
Q: And just developed your own little officers' mess over there with Bruce?
A: Yeah, right. We were lucky, we both got rooms in the Hong Kong Hilton. You sort of went into a sort of lottery when you arrived there, and the Hong Kong Hilton was definitely the pick of the bunch.
THE AUSTRALIAN INVOLVEMENT IN VIETNAM
Sunraysia Vietnam Veterans
http://users.mildura.net.au/users/marshall
"The 21st of February was the 33rd Anniversary of the biggest land-mine incident involving Australian troops in the Vietnam War. Nine died when an Armoured Personnel Carreir ran into a mine-field. Tony White, now a Sydney dermatologist, was the medical officer.
On this day's patrol there was to be a sweep through the Long Hai hills, a Vietcong stronghold known to be full of bunkers and well defended with mines. Mounted on APCS, the battalion headquarters group and B Company of the Fifth Battalion ground out of the village and halted an a gravel road to bolt down a quick lunch and finalise plans .........
B Company set off across the paddies, into the scrub at the base of the hills. Fifteen minutes later, just as we were about to follow, we were startled by the sound of a massive explosion. Already a dark mushroom had formed over the bush in their line of travel. Four minutes later there was a second, smaller explosion. A radio report of casualties followed but there was no clear picture as to what had happened......
By chance, an army Sioux-helicopter was in the area. The battalion commanding officer called me over......
It was a two-minute skim to catch up with B Company. Banking to find a cleared area in the bush to land, we saw the astonishing sight of the lead APC on its side........
I jumped out and the chopper took off. The chatter of its rotor faded, to be replaced by a soundtrack of suffering, groans, cries and mutterings. I was led over to Major Bruce McQualter, Officer Commanding B Company. He had a head wound. With rifle in one hand and map case in the other, he was appealing for a hand to help him to his feet, but his eyes were closed and he could not respond to either questions or instructions. Close by, also with a head wound, lay the lanky form of Lieutenant Jack Carruthers. He was unconscious, stretched out on his side as though at the end of a rowdy night in the mess. His trademark, bulky ginger moustache, was drenched in blood.
The third member of the group was Sergeant 'Tassie' Wass, sitting propped up against his backpack...... Jack Carruthers died three days later and Bruce McQuatter after two weeks. Neither regained consciousness.
From - The Canberra Times Saturday February 22 1997"The 5th Battalion
The Royal Australian Regiment, 1966/67
Robert J. O'Neill
"..... After depositing my kit I had a chance for a few words with Bruce McQualter. I had just received in the mail a photograph of him which had been taken during our leave in Hong Kong in December. It was a bad time to give it to him as few things stayed clean on forward operations. He was about to give it back to me when he quipped that I would be sure to lose it amongst all my papers and maps. He ran off exuberantly and climbed into his company headquarters vehicle. At 1:41 p.m. he called up on the radio to announce that his company was on its way with the APC's to the southern sector.
At 2.07 p.m. we were alarmed by a loud explosion from the direction in which B Company had gone. The commander of the APC's announced over the command net that his leading vehicle had been blown onto its side by a mine. The convoy had been working its way through the jungle, parallel to a track running to the south-east, taking care to keep off the track because of the danger of mines. After crossing a creek the leading vehicle came to a long clearing running across its path and linking with the track whose direction the convoy was following. The growth on the far side of the clearing was extremely dense and so the first APC swung right to move along the clearing to the track, intending to cross the track at that point and move through the jungle on the far side. The vehicle traveled slowly and silently in low gear up to the junction with the track, slowing down to a halt before crossing the track, so that the commander could see if the track was clear.
Just as the forward part of the APC reached the intersection a tremendous explosion went off, blowing the twelve ton vehicle into the air and hurling it some ten feet away to land on its side. A circular hole two feet across was blown right through the forward part of the hull. The blast wave inside the vehicle blew the rear door off, which landed on one of the men who had been hurled from the top of the vehicle, killing him. Several of those inside the vehicle were blown out the back door by the blast, and it was very fortunate for them that the door had been blown off first. Most of these men escaped with bruises and shock. Another man who had been on the top of the APC, where it was often safer to ride when mines might be encountered, was thrown to the ground in the same place where the vehicle landed, crushing him.
The APC's immediately swung into counter ambush procedure with alternate vehicles slewing to left and right, giving all-round observation and fields of fire for the .50 caliber machine guns. Four Platoon had been riding on the leading vehicles and most of the leading section of the platoon had been either killed or injured by the blast. The cause of the detonation of the mine was never identified. The only evidence remaining was a crater at the junction of the track and the clearing six feet across and four feet deep, and a home made contact switch designed to be set off by pressure. Careful examination of the surrounding jungle revealed no trace of Viet Cong occupation and no hide of any type.
The force of the blast of the mine suggested that it was far larger than any conventional anti-tank mine. Probably it was an unexploded five-hundred-pound bomb such as the one discovered by D Company.
B Company had been traveling on the APC's in the order Four Platoon, Company Headquarters, Five Platoon, and Six Platoon. As soon as the APC's had gone into their counter ambush procedure Major McQualter dismounted from his vehicle and quickly sized up the situation. The most vital need was to get medical attention to those injured by the explosion. Up to this point, three of B Company and two APC crew men had been killed and nine others had been injured. Major McQualter summoned the company medic, Corporal Nichols, and the stretcher bearers from Five and Six Platoons.
Most of the members of Four Platoon had quickly dismounted and taken up fire positions on the ground alongside and in front of the vehicles which faced out towards either edge of the clearing. Lieutenant Carruthers and Sergeant Wass were standing at the rear of the second APC, commencing to organize assistance to the injured and estimation of the damage done. Major McQualter came forward with the two stretcher bearers from Five and Six Platoons, Corporal Nichols, Corporal Bouse, the company stretcher bearer NCO and his two radio operators, Private Tape and Private Anthony. He was followed by the acting C.S.M., Staff Sergeant Benson, who besides being Drum Major of the battalion, was also a highly trained medic.
Just as the group approached the rear of the second APC where Carruthers and Wass were standing a second explosion from the midst of the approaching group rent the air. Someone had trodden on the pressure switch of a deadly 'jumping Jack' mine. The mine had bounded four feet into the air before exploding with colossal force and hurling large chunks of shrapnel into those nearby. This second explosion occurred at 2:11 p.m. So much had happened in the space of four minutes. All of those in the vicinity of the mine were struck by the flying steel. The most seriously injured were Major McQualter and Lieutenant Carruthers. Sergeant Wass was also extremely badly wounded. Staff Benson received extensive wounds and all of the medics, stretcher bearers and radio operators were both wounded and dazed by the blast.
The survivors of the blast had to then cope with the psychological problem of not knowing where to put their feet next for fear of setting off more deadly explosions. It was obvious that the company was in a Viet Cong mine ambush. The convoy was halted by a large anti-vehicle charge in an area seeded with anti-personnel mines which would be set off by the troops dismounting from their vehicles to avoid any anti-tank rockets which might be fired at the stationary targets.
Just at this moment, Captain Tony White arrived on the scene. As soon as Colonel Warr had heard the blast he summoned the Sioux helicopter which had been at Battalion Headquarters and sent Tony off to B Company. In the meantime, the commander of the APC's had called Battalion Headquarters to announce the first group of casualties and request a Dust Off aircraft. Peter Isaacs notified Task Force Headquarters and within minutes an Iroquois was overhead, awaiting the preparation of a landing zone at the point of the explosions. Tony had to cope with an atmosphere of deep shock and fear when he arrived. Some men had responded to the crisis extremely well. Corporals Nichols and Bouse, although wounded themselves began treating the other casualties which had grown to thirty-one in number. Other men had to be handled firmly to shake them out of a dazed condition so they could begin to get on top of the situation by commencing to search for mines and to clear a landing zone for the Iroquois Dust Off helicopters.
Another severe problem for Tony was to ascertain who was to be treated first out of the large group of casualties, several of whom were in danger of imminent death. Fortunately the 36th U.S. Evacuation Hospital at Vung Tau was only five minutes away by Iroquois and the worst cases were on operating tables within twenty-five minutes of being wounded. Major McQualter was still just conscious when Tony arrived and urged him to treat the Four Platoon casualties first. Shortly afterwards Bruce lost consciousness.
Major Carroll was ordered to move through to B Company with the greatest caution and to assume command of the group for the night. After a tense three-hour approach, during which several clusters of 'jumping jack' mines were discovered, A Company reached the remnant of B Company and Major Carroll organized a combined harbour for the night.
Operation Renmark continued in the minds of many for two of the casualties, Major McQualter and Lieutenant Carruthers, who were fighting for their lives in hospital. Despite severe head and body injuries, each man held onto life with great tenacity. Lieutenant Carruthers died on February 24th and Major McQualter died at 5 a.m. on March 5th."
5th Batallion Royal Australian Regiment Website
The Long Hai Hills incident
http://www.5rar.asn.au/narrative/longhai.htm
It was in the early hours of February 21, 1967 when B Company riding in Armoured Personnel Carriers hit mines and booby traps killing nine and wounding 22 others. This article was from an interview by Tony White who was the Regimental Medical Officer of the Battalion 1966-67 and was published in the Canberra Times 22 February 1997.
It was hot and dusty, the height of the dry season. after nine months in country and with three months to go, the troops were weary. They had effectively been on duty 24 hours a day seven days a week apart from five days R&R. They were also intensely wary. Wary from the sporadic inconclusive fire-fights and encounters with mines and booby traps. The jokes were more sardonic. "Lets get a shot of you where you still have two legs," were to be heard from the diggers as they lined up for a photo shoot before setting out on patrol. The boys were only half joking when they talked wistfully about getting a "Homer" a wound decent enough to ensure their evacuation to Australia but not resulting in any great permanent incapacity. On this day's patrol there was to be a sweep through the Long Hai Hills, a Viet Cong stronghold known to be full of bunkers and well defended with mines. Mounted on APC's, (Armoured Personnel Carriers) the Battalion HQ group and B Company ground out of the village and halted on a gravel road to 'bolt' down a quick lunch and finalise plans. Around us stretched rice paddies, grey-brown and quivering with heat haze. Six months ago they were green and brimming with water.
B Company set off across the paddies, into the scrub at the base of the hills. 15 minutes later, just as we were about to follow, we were startled by the sound of a massive explosion. A dark mushroom had formed over the bush in the direction of B Company's line of travel. Four minutes later there was a second, smaller explosion. A radio report of casualties followed but there was no clear picture as to what had happened.
By chance an army Sioux helicopter was in the area. The Battalion CO called me over, "Tony get over there and see what you can do." I grabbed my medical backpack and climbed into the Perspex bubble of the Bell 47 helicopter. It was a two minute skim to catch up with B Company. Banking to find a cleared area to land we saw the astonishing sight of the lead APC on its side. I jumped out on touchdown and the sound of the rotor blades faded. Only to be replaced by a soundtrack of suffering, groans, cries and mutterings. I was led over to Major Bruce McQualter, officer commanding B Company. He had a head wound. With a rifle in one hand and a map case in the other, he was appealing for a hand to help him to his feet, but his eyes were closed and he could not respond to either questions or instructions. Close by, also with a head wound, lay the lanky form of lieutenant Jack Carruthers. He was unconscious, stretched out on his side. His trademark ginger moustache was drenched in blood. The third member was Sergeant 'Tassie' Wass, sitting propped up against his backpack in great pain. Both arms outstretched , both elbows were smashed and his forearms dangled from the butchered joints. Acutely aware that I had seen only a fraction of what lay around, I made him as comfortable as possible, with dressings splints and morphine.
Ten metres away the APC lay on its side. The back door had been blown off and nearbyAPC Totally destroyed lay what at first glance seemed to be a pile of discarded uniforms blackened and dusty. Getting closer I realised that the heap was composed of dead and wounded soldiers. In amongst the carnage, I came across the body of Mick Poole. He had just turned 20 and was a favourite of the village kids because of his cheeky good humour. He played the tenor horn in the Battalion Band. On patrol bandsmen acted as stretcher bearers and provided first aid. I caught up with the B Company medic and three more stretcher bearers all dazed and wounded but getting on with the task at hand. The task was to make a rough order of priority, identifying those in need of first aid and those not in acute need. There was a third group, those mortally wounded and beyond any help. The situation was out of control. The number of casualties was overwhelming. Horror was piled on horror. Close to the APC lay the torso of its driver. The lower part of his body was missing. Protruding from under the APC was a detached arm, its hand still grasping an M16 rifle.
While moving around this slaughter house, I was powerfully aware that we were stalled in a mine field. At any instant I could find myself joining the dead or, even worse, the living mutilated. At one time I spotted the three prong wires of a "Jumping Jack" mine close to my foot. My heart stopped and I felt a bitter chill despite the stifling dusty bush around us. Pathetically I found myself moving among the wounded with one hand over my balls even though I knew these mines could ablate not only the genitals but the legs and more I was amazed by the torrent of weird thoughts that surfaced as I worked. People who are dying or who are terrified are said to see their past life rushing by like a speeded up movie. My mind raced with a stream of images of childhood, home and family. Mixed with these were other bizarre reflections. I thought of 'Tassie' Wass and his shattered, dangling forearms. The absurd line "Look Ma no hands" kept revolving through my head. I had recognised the distinctive features of Barney Gee the only soldier of Chinese extraction in the battalion. He was quite calm as I got him to press on a dressing I applied to the spurting artery in his arm. His skin was blackened by the explosion. "Red on black � very Chinese" I thought. I recalled a movie that I had seen as a child in which the minister was trying to halt the alien invaders. With his congregation cowering behind him, he advanced with open Bible, reciting Psalm 23. He had just mentioned "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil" when he was carbonised by the alien ray gun. After an eternity, sappers were choppered in. They quickly went to work with mine detectors, laying white tape on cleared pathways through the mine field. One sapper spotted me "Do you want to get us all killed? for fuck sake stick to the cleared areas" he screamed! I had to bite my tongue to avoid pointing out that I had been walking around here for the previous half hour or so. A landing zone was cleared for the 'Dust Off' choppers. The critically wounded were shipped out first, then the lesser injured and finally the dead. The evacuation included a macabre audit, matching up corpses with missing parts as they were retrieved. Some parts were never found. Jack Carruthers died three days later and Bruce McQualter after two weeks never regained consciousness.
I remained with the shaken remains of B Company for a short while. On one afternoon'sremoving equipment from destroyed APC outing they had lost their company commander, a platoon commander and numerous comrades. It had been an entirely passive event, with no trace of the enemy and no opportunity to strike back. A more potent prescription for anger and despair could not be imagined. On getting back to BHQ I was too shaken to hold a cup of coffee. I tried to describe the scene and discovered the futility of words for communicating such an experience.
What had happened? It appears that the lead APC had detonated a mine of enormous destructive power. There was a crater 2m wide by 1m deep. The 13 tonne vehicle had been tossed 3metres away and onto its side and there was a large hole in the hull under the drivers seat. The patrol halted and prepared for an ambush. The officers dismounted and summoned the company medic and stretcher bearers. As they walked towards the wounded, there was a second explosion. One of the party stepped on a M16 mine causing more casualties to B Company. For years, like a diminuendo drumbeat, February 21 was to spook most of those who had participated in this calamitous and futile episode.
Did any good emerge from that afternoon? I would offer three positive observations. First,crater formed by mine blast the way the medics and stretcher bearers went forward to provide help for the first group of casualties. Their response was immediate and selfless, as evidenced by the fact that all of them were wounded. Second, the tattered remains of B Company continued to function in the immediate aftermath. Junior officers stepped in to fill the gaps. Morale and discipline were maintained. All this reflects very well on the quality of their training.
Finally, 30 years on, most of the survivors are getting on with life and contributing to the community. These surely are the qualities that Australia needs now.
