Fi-Cord 101 mini reel-to-reel tape recorder : D S Gibbons, Photojournalist

Mini reel-to-reel battery operated tape recorder stored in a black leather case with separate compartment for the boxed microphone. There is a small clear plastic window set into the case to allow the user to view the recorder's counter. A separate leather case is threaded onto the carrying strap, and houses the plastic-cased speaker. This can be removed and clipped into the base of the recorder for playback. The player is in gold anodised aluminium with a gray plastic coated metal case, with an opening clear plastic window for viewing and accessing the mini tape reels. There are three plastic buttons on the top of the player, labelled 'FORWARD AND BACK WINDS', 'RECORD' and 'LISTEN'. The playing head is impressed 'Made in Switzerland 24524'. The tape reels are labelled Agfa Magnetonband 2 x 24 min.

Born in Sydney in 1937, Denis Gibbons had undertaken army training and work as a news photographer in Sydney before he arrived in Vietnam in January 1966. For the next five years, Gibbons recorded the tours of nine Australian infantry battalions for Fairfax press and United Press International. Australian readers could regularly view his photographic essays in People magazine. In all, he took tens of thousands of black-and-white and colour photographic that together provide a very comprehensive view of the activities undertaken by Australians during the war.
The extended period spent by Gibbons in Vietnam was highly unusual among Australian photographers. Most official photographers and other photojournalists tended to spend just a few days photographing an operation before moving on. They were also based in Saigon, a city that remained far removed from the gritty reality of the war. However, Gibbons lived at the 1st Australian Task Force base at Nui Dat and was able to spend months with a particular unit. In this way he could record all areas of the work of Australians in great detail.
Gibbons was flown out of Vietnam in November 1970, after being wounded when an Armoured Personnel Carrier he was travelling in hit an enemy mine; he was wounded six times over the course of his five years in Vietnam.