The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
Shoalwater Bay, Qld. February 1968. Corporal Phillip Buttigieg of Cilles Plains, SA, dressed as a Vietnamese peasant, performs the Buddhist custom of shaking fortune sticks. Second Lieutenant John Neervoort of Wollongong, NSW, dressed as a Vietnamese peasant woman, prays at a wayside shrine. Both are members of 6th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (6RAR), and are taking part in Exercise Grass Parrot in the Shoalwater Bay training area of Queensland. The Battalion provided the enemy force and `villagers' for the exercise which is aimed at preparing soldiers of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR), for service in Vietnam later this year.
Shoalwater Bay, Qld. February 1968. Members of 6th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (6RAR), dressed in authentic vietnamese dress specially made for exercise purposes. The 6th Battalion provid
Shoalwater Bay, Qld. 8 February 1968. Army Sioux and Royal Australian Air Force Iroquois helicopters were used extensively on resupply missions for the 1st Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (1R
Lance Corporal Trevor Skinner, of Redcliffe, Queensland, adds authenticity to Exercise RIFLE BIRD in the Army's Shoalwater Bay training area as he lods along a village street with his "how da". Lance
Shoalwater Bay, Qld. September 1968. Villagers are brought in under guard for questioning after the cordon and search of Ap Giang (Raspberry Vale) during Exercise Riflebird by 9th Battalion, The Royal
Lance Corporal Laurie Connor, of Preston, Victoria, a member of the 7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, keeps radio tabs on activities from his "radio room" at "Ap Giang" (Rasberry Vale) during
Shoalwater Bay, Qld. September 1968. Not a scene from Vietnam, but a village being kept under close guard during cordon and search operations by the 9th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (9RAR)
