Anzac Day with Tiger Five DPR/TV/610

Accession Number F03870
Collection type Film
Measurement 5 min 50 sec
Object type Actuality footage, Television news footage
Physical description 16mm/b&w/silent
Maker Coleridge, Michael
Place made Vietnam: Phuoc Tuy Province, Nui Dat
Date made 25 April 1967
Access Open
Conflict Vietnam, 1962-1975
Copyright Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial
Creative Commons License This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
Description

Nui Dat Apr 25: one of the most stirring Anzac Day services held by Australian troops in Vietnam to commemorate fallen comrades in this and other wars was held by 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. With a tiger as the battalion symbol and a nickname "Tiger Five" 5 RAR troops led by their commanding Officer, Lieutenant-Colonel John Warr of Holsworthy, NSW, went on parade for probably the last time in Vietnam. The 5th Battalion hands over to 7th Battalion from Puckapunyal, Victoria, this week and prepares to return home having completed a year of operational duty. At the Tiger Five Parade the four side drums and the base drum from the battalion band were piled in traditional order on parade, draped with an Australian flag and the cross of Jesus laid on top. Held beneath the flags of Australia and New Zealand the Anzac service was conducted solemnly and with reverence in memory of friends lost over the past year in Viet Nam. Troops with heads bowed in prayer heard three buglers of the battalion band sound the Last Post, followed by two minutes silence, then Reveille. The flags were then lowered from the masthead. After the Anzac Day parade the troops moved off to canteens and messes to toast the Spirit of Anzac and enjoy a barbecue lunch with the best steak available in the country. For the young, average age 21 years, diggers of 5th Battalion whose exploits over the past year have earned them the proud title "Tiger Five", Anzac Day 1967 in Viet Nam took on a new real meaning. As one young soldier put it; "When we get home I will be proud to put on my Vietnam medals and march with veterans of two world wars, Malaysia and Korea."

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  • Video of Anzac Day with Tiger Five DPR/TV/610 (video)