| Accession Number | P04671.260 |
|---|---|
| Collection type | Photograph |
| Object type | Digital file |
| Maker |
Gibbons, Denis Stanley |
| Place made | Vietnam: Phuoc Tuy Province |
| Date made | 13 December 1969 |
| Conflict |
Vietnam, 1962-1975 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: AWM Licensed copyright |
During Operation Atherton, members of 1 Platoon, A Company, 8RAR, place 1734701 Private (Pte) ...
Description
During Operation Atherton, members of 1 Platoon, A Company, 8RAR, place 1734701 Private (Pte) Neil John Robinson in a harness chair known as a jungle penetrator so that he can be winched up to a medical evacuation helicopter hovering out of sight overhead. Pte Robinson is one of six platoon members who were wounded by a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) round fired by one of two Viet Cong soldiers who walked into a platoon ambush the previous day. The soldier crouching and holding the harness in front of Pte Robinson is 213121 Sergeant Leslie Ernest Fielding. At centre, 216790 Corporal Raymond James (Ray) Armstrong is holding the weapons that belong to four of the wounded who were evacuated by dust-off chopper the day before. He will hand some of the weapons to Robinson to take with him back to base. The soldier at left is probably 55703 Pte Robert Bernard Osborn. Operation Atherton, the battalion's first in Vietnam, is a reconnaissance and ambush operation in the northwest of the province. (This image has been published in Major A. Clunies-Ross, The Grey Eight in Vietnam, p. 35.)