The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
The versatile and highly trained 42nd Royal Marine Commandos this week made an assault craft landing on Pearl Bay, at Clinton Peninsula, during Exercise "Barra Winga". The assault landing was originally planned in Wessex Helicopters from the commando carrier HMS Bulwark but at the last moment they were grounded following the crash of one of the Wessex. Plans were changed and all the men and their equipment were landed in beach assault craft. The marines then had the hard task of man-handling the 105mm Howitzer guns and other equipment through the surf and up the high sand dunes. The assault landing coincided with a cordon and search operation by the 6th Australian Task Force. The 42nd Royal Marine Commandos are a highly flexible force which operates permanently from HMS Bulwark. They are specially trained for short notice and quick assaults, such as the assault at Pearl Bay this week. Their Commanding Officer, Lieutenant-Col. P. de Burgh, said the marines had demonstrated their flexibility by quickly landing every man and piece of equipment in assault craft after a sudden change in plans. The marines' enemy for the landing was the 1 RAR which was not long back from Vietnam. From Exercise "Barra Winga" HMS Bulwark will sail to Singapore for another large exercise and will then go to Hong Kong for Christmas.
The 1 Divisional Army Aviation Regiment aircraft which will act as support in Exercise Barra Winga in the Shoalwater Bay area arrived at Raspberry Creek on Monday. The unit operating on the exercise i
After two days of determined defence in hilly scrub covered country around the enemy base of Manifold during exercise "Barra Winga", Queensland Cong forces were forced out of their base camp, which th
A spontaneous farewell gesture by Alpha Company of 1 Battalion of the Pacific Islands Regiment, at the end of Exercise Barra Winga, has filled a gap in the ranks of the Victorian based 7th Battalion,
The Battle for Manifold, a "Queensland Cong" stronghold was the climax this week of Exercise "Barra Winga", which has just ended in the Army's Shoalwater Bay training area in Queensland. It was a batt
Army Engineers of the 21st Construction Squadron are playing a major role in the preparations for Exercise "Barra Winga" at Raspberry Creek, in the Army's Shoalwater Bay exercise area. The main exerci
British Army Gurkha troops have begun arriving at Rockhampton in Central Queensland for the land phase of Exercise "Coral Sands". More than 5-hundred of the Singapore-based troops will be engaged in t
