The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
3177505 Private (Pte) Donald Stanley (Don) Greentree, Mortar Platoon, 5th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (5RAR), checks the magazine of his L1A1 self-loading rifle (SLR) while sitting in the crew commander’s position of an M113A1 armoured personnel carrier (APC), 30 May 1969. The weapon to his front is an M2HB Browning .50 calibre heavy machine-gun. Behind Pte Greentree in the photograph, members of 2 Troop unload a resupply of ammunition and rations from a RAAF Iroquois helicopter. Private Greentree, of Dandenong, Victoria, was part of a four-man mortar section from 5RAR attached to 2 Troop, B Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment on Operation Garry Owen in Xuyen Moc District, in eastern Phuoc Tuy province in late May 1969. The combined-arms force also included a section of infantrymen from the Defence and Employment Platoon (D&E Pl) and combat engineers. During the previous night, 29-30 May, the Australians had ambushed a party of 50 Viet Cong (VC), killing eleven and capturing seven AK-47 assault rifles plus an RPG 2 rocket launcher and large quantities of ammunition, medical supplies and equipment. On the afternoon of 30 May enemy forces attempted to ambush the Australians as they travelled to Xuyen Moc village. Five VC were killed, and two RPG2 (rocket propelled grenade) rocket launchers were captured. There were no Australian casualties.
3177505 Private (Pte) Donald Stanley (Don) Greentree, Mortar Platoon, 5th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (5RAR) in the crew commander’s position of an M113A1 armoured personnel carrier (APC)
Three bare-chested soldiers from the 5th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (5RAR), examine captured Viet Cong (VC) weapons near Thua Tich, fifteen miles north east of the 1st Australian Task Fo
Thua Tich, South Vietnam. 1969-06. Two armoured personnel carriers (APCs) from 2 Troop, B Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment push their way through dense jungle in the north east of Phuoc Tuy Province. Th
Thua Tich, South Vietnam. 1969-06. The District Chief of Xuyen Moc, Major Le Van Que (left), and 235254 Captain (Capt) Tom Henry Arrowsmith of Campbelltown, NSW discuss the two successful actions of a
Thua Tich, South Vietnam. 1969-06. A crew commander of 2 Troop, B Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment rakes the undergrowth with his .50 calibre machine gun after Viet Cong (VC) tried to ambush an Australi
Thua Tich, South Vietnam. 1969-06. Exhausted after a successful night ambush and an attempted Viet Cong (VC) ambush earlier that day, 235254 Captain (Capt) Tom Henry Arrowsmith of Campbelltown, NSW, r
