Mannequin of the Month - Infantryman, 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, Vietnam, 1966
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.ย. 2024
- This month's mannequin recreating a soldier of 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment part of the then newly deployed 1st Australian Task Force, Phuoc Tuy Province, Republic of Vietnam in the Summer of 1966.
/ riflemanmoore
/ riflemanmoore
This is a pretty good video. You have obviously put some research into this topic. As a former rifleman member of 6RAR (which served alongside 5RAR from 1966-67) I would respectively add the following points.
First, the basic pouches (Bren gun pouches) were usually worn low on the (US) web belt, due to the lack of a suitable means of attaching them to the 56 Pattern shoulder straps. To do this, we cut slits into the backs of the pouches and threaded the belts through them.
Second, we rarely went bush with only the 56 Pattern bum bag. It wasn't big enough to carry all our gear with the huge increase of individual ammo loads following the Battle of Long Tan (when our senior officers suddenly realised that we were involved in a real war and not just an extended Malaysian type of operation). We also carried 37 Pattern large packs, which were bloody uncomfortable!
Third, our bayonets were carried on our belts, behind the left hand canteen (two canteens on our belts and another two in our packs - later serving units carried six, as four were not always enough).
Third, the bush hats (which I am sure were made in Australia?) were usually known as "giggle hats" or, sometimes, as "hats, ridiculous."
Thanks very much for the kind words, all the information and recollections! If I may I will respond to each point in turn.
I understand the basic pouches were usually worn low on the belt but working from period photographs the method shown here seems to have been fairly common with 5 RAR in 1966 and I thought it was an interesting oddity to show. I'd be happy to share the photographs if you'd be interested to see, they are from the Australian War Memorial archives.
Again the period photos I am basing this on showed men with the field pack alone so I am assuming the men photographed were out on one day or even perimeter patrols as opposed to anything requiring a greater load, as mentioned in the video.
Regarding the bayonet, again none of the photographs I used in the research for this mannequin showed bayonets. I am not sure why. I have heard Veterans of Long Tan mention they should have had bayonets but didn't so I'm not sure if it was an individual choice not to carry them?
As for the jungle hats Australia did indeed manufacture them as I say in the video but British made examples (identified by the large mesh-covered vents compared to the small eyelets of Australian made hates) were certainly very common in the early days of Vietnam and would show up into the post Vietnam War years though of course getting less and less common as they wore out. I have always imagined this was sort of an old soldier thing, keeping a piece of kit dating from the Malayan Emergency of Borneo.
Thanks for your response. I've never seen pouches worn high up, but I'll check some of the AWM photos and see how they managed to attach them. 5RAR tended to do their own thing, so they may have had some unique system. I often came into contact with 5RAR guys in the field, but it was a very, very, long time ago and I don't remember this aspect of their gear. I do remember that they all wore yellow (Battalion colour) silk cravats with tigers' heads emblazoned (they called themselves the "Tiger 5") and we used to give them a hard time about it. A lot of guys didn't carry bayonets and this led to an awkward situation on "Operation Bribie" (17/2/67) when two platoons of Bravo Coy (including mine) were ordered to fix bayonets and attack a machine gun position. Heavy fire drove us back with casualties, so no one ended up being embarrassed "sans bayonet." You are quite right about British equipment being retained by ex Malaysia vets. Some of the Brit gear was better suited to the tropics than our outdated stuff and lightweight British shirts and canvas boots were common (and probably served as old soldier reminders of prior service to humble national servicemen like myself.
@@RiflemanMoore You're absolutely right. What diggers wore depended very much on SOPs. What went for one unit or even sub-unit did not necessarily apply to the others. eg. One company of 9RAR binned their packs as soon as they got in-country and procured ARVN packs which were perceived to be better. Only with meticulous study of period photos or interviews with vets themselves would these small nuances come to light.
@@oldigger7060 The Tiger mascot of 5 RAR was an actual tiger named 'Quintus' which was housed at Taronga Zoo; he was enrolled with a service number and the Regt contributed to his upkeep. On the subject of mascots, 7 RAR which supplanted the 5th Bn in 1966 was aka the Pig Battalion (so called as after the battalion was raised their new CO called them "nothing but a mob of pigs" after a particularly hard weekend on the grog) When the 5th and 7th amalgamated as mechanised infantry in 1973 they would end up with a beer-drinking pig named Willy someone smuggled in during the late 80s.
@@zhukie Thanks for that info. I didn't realise that they had a tiger mascot housed at Taronga. The weak buggers! He should have been housed in the Orderly Room. Would have kept the number of trivial complaints down to a minimum. Might have even eaten the RSM! Our 6RAR mascot (a blue heeler dog) was housed that way (usually absent scrounging for food around the lines). "Corporal Blue Dog" did disgrace himself at one (post Vietnam) Trooping of the Colour ceremony when he slipped his collar and tried to round up the Colour Party. Didn't go down too well! I did in fact serve with 7RAR as one of the first ex 2RTB drafts in order to do (battalion based) Corps Training and was transferred from there to 6RAR. I think the latter transfer must have predated the "pigs" reference from the CO, but I've certainly heard of it. Apparently a lot of the diggers started "oinking" as they marched off, which did little to improve the CO's humour!
I love that stencil where the US was just Australianized by adding an A and T
Agreed, that canteen cover is particularly interesting as at one point it had the US scribble out and RAAF written above. This then faded, it can barely be seen now and it seems it then had the AUST added across the front.
Rifleman Moore i love stuff like that as a collector I want either mint or stuff that has a story behind it. Just like you I also particularly like mash ups of countries in gear
That 'amended' water bottle pouch is my favourite thing of this loadout
Likewise, one of my favourite items.
People might be interested in the movie 'Danger Close, the battle of Long Tan' out on 8 August. A Australian film on the battle between 'D' Coy 6 RAR (about 108 men) and well over 2,000 main force Viet Cong in August 1966.Trailers are on TH-cam.
It does look promising. I've spotted some minor issues with kit but they are, as I say, minor, overall it looks like it might live up to expectations.
@@RiflemanMoore The Producer of 'Danger Close' made a very good documentary on the battle where he interviews lots of the men who fought there. You can find it on TH-cam, look for 'Sam Worthington Long Tan documentary'.
I'm well aware of it, a superb piece of work. Again, nitpicking, som of the kit in the early reenactment scenes is anachronistic but that is a tiny nitpick. It was actually refreshing how little narration and recreated footage there is in the documentary and how much face to camera time the veterans are given. Conveying the narrative in such a manner is very effective in my opinion.
@@99IronDuke The Worthington documentary is far superior to Danger Close. I saw it with an ex-Digger from 5RAR and he was ready to lob somethng at the screen by the end...too many glaring inaccurcies for the sake of "Hollywoodisation" and he regarded what they did to Major Smith's character was a travesty.
@@zhukie not to mention the disservice they did to Gordon Sharp making him out to be an undisciplined moron and the tripe attributed to Paul Large. The Long Tan story didn't need 'embellishments' for whatever idiotic reason Stenders needed to include that crap. It just detracted from the film ... I have to FFWD those bits when I re-watch.
Hahaha septic 😂 not heard that in a while
Indeed, a term I've heard used by Australian veterans on more than one occaision to refer to their North American brethren.
@@RiflemanMoore yeah it's also well used by the british army too
In the Aussie way, usually mutated to 'Seppo'
Proud to say my dad was in Vietnam 5 RAR in 66
Jealous Jealous, so Jealous
Looks great as with everything you have!
Many thanks!
Hey mate, just a quick heads up, it's said a little differently to the usual British way. It's 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment or 5 RAR for short.
Thanks for the heads up! I have heard Aussies say '5th Royal Australian Regiment' but I guess they were similarly not in the know!
That is the British way.
Not many people know about the ANZACs in Vietnam, it's a shame really.
Fun fact the British fought against communist Vietnamese guerrillas 1945-1946 but apart from that the British stayed out of the conflict.
It is a shame indeed. As for British involvement in Vietnam, you're quite right, the immediate post-war period in Indochina is absolutely fascinating.
Most of the Aussie content I've seen from Vietnam is SAS related. Used to have a hardback The Vietnam War in which apparently about 13 Spanish personnel served in country. These are late Eighties recollections, so I could be wrong or out of date.
@@MANC2311 No, you're not wrong; the Spanish contribution was a medical team.
pte Bruce C Bennett 2791743 5plt Bcoy second tour 1969-10 very spot on, the main reason why we had a mix of British and American gear is before Vietnam War Australia sold nearly all of surplus gear from ww11 and had very little Army gear when Vietnam War started, They started to buy it back from the disposal stores but could not get enough, our field dressing were from 1944. it brought back many memories for me thanks
Very interesting reading, thanks for posting! I didn't realise things were in quite that state...
I think I read in a book about aussi webbing that the early part of first deployment to Vietnam the diggers were issued with the large 08 pattern back pack from WW1 which were still in new condition . But over fifty years old !
Hello， How can I put the p37 pouch with M1956 yoke all together？ thank you。
Your gasmask bag on the bottom shelf at the back I need a strap for one. Any links please.if you look down under the mannequin bottom right.
Light anti gas respirator haversack straps do show up on eBay from time to time but they tend to be the later dark green variety as opposed to the wartime tan.
Fantastic video thanks for uploading!!
Glad you enjoyed!
I enjoy your channel and your passion. Small nitpick on your presentation. Would some type of plain backdrop to display your mannequin against be better visually vs. the books on your bookcase? Maybe some close up visuals on the webbing your talk about? My 2 cents worth from a guy that hardly ever posts any content. Keep up the great work!
Many thanks! I always appreciate critique. The idea of a neutal background has been posited before and it's definitely something I'm considering, I just haven't had chance to experiment with anything yet! As for closeups of the webbing I tend to reserve closeups etc. for looking at the kit in more detail, see my videos on 1944 Pattern or 1937 Pattern basic pouches etc. The idea of these mannequin videos is to bring everything together and look at the kit as a whole whilst linking to those more in depth videos.
@@RiflemanMoore For what it's worth, I quite prefer the bookcase background - it makes your presentations look academic and sometimes I pause the video to see what titles and tidbits you have on your shelves!
How would they fit the 37 pattern basic pouches to the M56 belt? The C clips wouldn't be enough to securely hold it to the belt I'm guessing
C clips work fine, the belts are nearly identical in width.
Awesome setup! Are those P37 pouches blancoed, and if so, did you do it yourself?
Thanks! The pouches are dyed green in this instance but I do blanco other kit.
What no “cardigan?”
Great video! Would Australian troops use the pattern 1944 canteens and covers and what about the Pattern 37 pack I heard that was used early war and what about the p37 canteens from ww2 I'm trying to put together an Australian impression
1944 Pattern components do show up on oaccaision. The 1937 Pattern packs were used a lot from the early through mid war period.
@@RiflemanMoore Did they use the WW2 British canteens? I believe the p37 canteen
Not generally speaking, no.
@@RiflemanMoore thank you I like your videos a lot I just figured they would use WW2 surplus canteens since the marines used the 1910 canteen covers and canteens in Vietnam
So did the US Army early on, use the M1910 canteens that is. Australia had contracted for M-1956 in 1961 and that included deliveries of M1910 canteens and cups. In 1965 Australia started production of their own plastic canteens.
Did the Australian army wear any helmets during the Vietnam war
They did so rarely, the issue helmet at the time was the M1.
@@RiflemanMoore The hats depicted are known as "giggle hats"
Occasionally you will see photos of Engineers in M1 helmets in Vietnam and, again from memory, you might catch a few 1RAR diggers in 1965 wearing them in their very early days at Bien Hoa.
Do you have any ww1 uniforms
I do indeed, I have made videos on them if you care to check out the channel.
often secateurs were used instead of machetes. Quieter
Absolutely, I'm on the lookout for a suitable pair.