| Accession Number | P04655.263 |
|---|---|
| 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, 213121 Sergeant Leslie Ernest Fielding of 1 Platoon, A Company, 8RAR, ...
Description
During Operation Atherton, 213121 Sergeant Leslie Ernest Fielding of 1 Platoon, A Company, 8RAR, gives a thumbs-up signal to a dust-off helicopter hovering out of sight overhead so that it can begin winching up a wounded soldier, 1735523 Private (Pte) Roland Patrick Lister, for medical evacuation. Pte Lister is sitting in a harness chair attached to a cable lowered from the chopper, a device known as a jungle penetrator. He 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. Pte Lister is taking with him some of the weapons that belong to four of the wounded who were evacuated the day before. The soldier at right is 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. 34.)