The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2781899) Private Michael James Birchell, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, Vietnam War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Mathew Rose, the story for this day was on (2781899) Private Michael James Birchell, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, Vietnam War.

2781899 Private Michael James Birchell, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment
KIA 17 February 1967

Story delivered 21 November 2017

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Michael James Birchell.

Fondly known as “Mick”, Michael Birchell was born in Sydney on 2 June 1945, the only child born to James and Alice Birchell.

Birchell’s father was a Second World War serviceman. At the end of the war, the Birchells moved to Coonabarabran, where Michael grew up. At Coonabarabran High School he was a member of the school swimming team and captain of the rugby league team.

After Michael gained his intermediate certificate in 1962, the Birchell family moved to Tamworth. Here Michael became great friends with John O’Halloran, played fullback in the Tamworth City Rugby League team, and was known to enjoy a party. He was working as a spray painter for a local panel beater when he received his call up papers for National Service.

Birchell, O’Halloran, and another Tamworth local, Gordon Sharp, received their National Service call up papers at the same time. After completing their medicals, they were sent to the 1st Recruit Training Battalion on 30 June 1965.

After several weeks of training, O’Halloran and Sharp were selected to join the Officer Training Unit at Scheyville in Sydney. Birchell continued at Kapooka, passing his basic training in September. He was then posted to the 6th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment and allocated to 5 Platoon, B Company.

In late December, O’Halloran, who had recently graduated from Scheyville commissioned as second lieutenant, was posted to 6RAR and took over 5 Platoon. While O’Halloran was now Birchell’s platoon leader, the pair remained close friends. Birchell was never disrespectful or resentful, and on duty referred to O’Halloran as “sir” or “boss”.

In early March 1966 6RAR were told to prepare for service in Vietnam, and build-up training began. The regiment paraded through Brisbane on 21 May, and Birchell’s parents travelled from Tamworth to see their son march.

On 4 June, Birchell and his company flew from RAAF Base, Amberley, to Vietnam. Following familiarisation patrols near Vung Tau, the company travelled to Nui Dat to help secure the 1st Australian Task Force’s recently established base.

Over the next eight months, Birchell was involved in most of 6RAR’s patrols and operations. He was part of a patrol that located the enemy mortar base-plate two days before the battle of Long Tan; and that October, he and another soldier, Lance Corporal Kerry Rooney, were responsible for the capture of a female Viet Cong radio operator in the Nui Dinh hills.

In the early hours of 17 February 1967, the 1st Australian Task Force received a request for assistance: South Vietnamese army compounds had been attacked.

6RAR was tasked to assist. A Company was the first group flown into the area. After moving into the light jungle, the company took fire. Suffering several casualties, they withdrew to the landing zone. B Company followed, but the men were forced to jump from hovering helicopters as enemy fire stopped them from landing.

As the rest of the company began to arrive, 5 Platoon moved into the jungle and regrouped. A reconnaissance party was sent out and soon
came under fire. Believing that they were facing small enemy numbers, the company decided to carry out a quick attack.

With two platoons forward and one in reserve, B Company began their attack. After advancing 150 metres, 5 Platoon was ordered to halt. 4 Platoon had been pinned down by enemy fire. Taking fire from all sides, 5 Platoon began to take casualties. 6 Platoon tried to move to their left, but faltered under heavy enemy fire. 5 Platoon was then ordered to advance another 30 metres to take out a machine-gun that was holding up the rest of the company.

After a brief conversation with his forward section commander, O’Halloran gave the order to advance “on the run”. The men fixed bayonets, rose as one, and ran, yelling, straight at the enemy positions. Three machine-guns on their right flank opened fire, decimating the two forward sections and forcing the survivors to ground.

O’Halloran ordered Birchell and Private Peter Arnold, who were in the rear section, to provide covering fire as they attempted to extract casualties. As Birchell was moving to his covering position, he fell. He had been shot twice and was killed instantly. Private Arnold was also shot and killed.

When armoured personnel carriers were called in to provide fire support and to extract B Company, one was hit by recoilless rifle rounds, killing the driver and wounding the crew commander, a medic, and hitting wounded men in the back of the vehicle. The survivors were taken to their original landing zone where the wounded were evacuated.

The bodies of the dead were recovered the following morning, along with a wounded member of 5 Platoon who had been presumed dead. Seven men had been killed and a further 26 were wounded.
Birchell’s remains were returned to Australia and laid to rest in Evergreen Memorial Park in Tamworth.

Michael Birchell was 21 years old.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on your right, along with more than 500 others from the Vietnam War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private Michael James Birchell, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section