| Place | Asia: Vietnam |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | VN/67/0021/08 |
| Collection type | Photograph |
| Object type | Negative |
| Maker |
Ward, Barrie Thomas Burrill |
| Place made | Vietnam: Phuoc Tuy Province, Vietnam: Phuoc Tuy Province, Nui Dat, Luscombe Airfield |
| Date made | 17 February 1967 |
| Conflict |
Vietnam, 1962-1975 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
|
Iroquois crews of No 9 Squadron, gather around their Commanding Officer (CO), O33062 Wing ...
Description
Iroquois crews of No 9 Squadron, gather around their Commanding Officer (CO), O33062 Wing Commander (Wing Cdr) Roy Stewart Royston, of Canberra, ACT (in centre, holding a pencil), for a briefing before the airborne assault in the initial stages of Operation Bribie. In one of the biggest Australian airborne assaults of the Vietnam War, the RAAF and United States (US) army helicopters flew men of the 6th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (6RAR), into attack against the hard core Viet Cong (VC) units about eight miles from the Task Force Base. Others shown are A33785 Sergeant (Sgt) James Henry (Jim) Roche (top left corner), O37553 Flight Lieutenant (Flt Lt) Geoffrey Alfred Banfield (partly obscured, sunglasses, behind Sgt Roche), A17445 Leading Aircraftman (LAC) John Alexander Henson (centre rear, next to Flt Lt Banfield), A21702 Sgt Gordon Dudley Buttriss, George Medal (GM) (arms folded, top right corner), A315814 LAC Paul Michael Covington (partly obscured, behind Sgt Buttriss), O310798 Flt Lt Philip Kenneth Cooke (face obscured, with hat, centre left), O43428 Flt Lt Bruce Ivan Lane (leaning, above Wng Cdr Royston), O214552 Flt Lt William John (Bill) Shepherd (face obscured, bottom left corner) and O216204 Flt Lt Francis Patrick (Frank) Riley (back of head, centre bottom).