CUN/66/0186/VN Accession Number: CUN/66/0186/VN

Description

Members of the band of the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, holding up their first aid qualifications and a sign for the Wilson Clark Memorial Club. The club was the Medical Platoon's boozer (wet canteen), named after two band members who were killed in action at Ben Cat on 8 January 1966, 213780 Private (Pte) Mervyn Arthur Frederick Wilson and Pte Christopher Clark. Both were serving as stretcher bearers, as were the other members of the band. During the battalion's advance as part of Operation Crimp, the leading platoon came under enemy fire as it emerged into a cleared area. The platoon commander and forward scout of the lead section were both wounded. After treating the platoon commander, 2nd Lieutenant Jim Bourke, Pte Wilson moved forward to treat the scout, Pte Barry Delaney. While treating Delaney, Wilson was shot and killed by a Viet Cong sniper who was hidden within a mound of dirt. Chris Clark was attached to another platoon but had witnessed the events unfolding. Upon seeing Wilson fall, Clark crawled forward to treat his mate and was subsequently also killed by enemy fire. When the mound was investigated by engineers from 3 Australian Field Troop, under the command of Captain Sandy Macgregor, they found they had uncovered what became known as the Cu Chi Tunnels. Also identified in the photograph is 342626 Corporal James Robert Harper (later Warrant Officer 1 when he was bandmaster in HQ 3DIV RAA Band in 1985), fifth from the left, back row. The Bandmaster was 12023 Warrant Officer 2 Thomas Patrick Wahlin, who rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and became Director of Music – Army, and the Band Sergeant was 41885 Sgt Gerrit Bekendam. The club sign features the insignia worn by Army bandsmen, on the viewer’s left, and the corps badge of the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps on the right. In 2004, the band room of the 1RAR Band in Townsville was named the Wilson-Clark Band Hut.