Nui Dat evacuated DPR/TV/1459

Nui Dat - home of the Australian Task Force in Vietnam for more than five years - was finally evacuated by the Australians last weekend with the move to Vung Tau of the 4th Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment/New Zealand (ANZAC) and supporting units. The move was a further phase in the overall withdrawal of the Australian Force from Vietnam. A simple ceremony in the Anzac Battalion's lines heralded the end of an era. The ceremony, in which the Battalion and Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment flags were lowered, was attended by the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Jim Shelton, the Regimental Sergeant Major, Warrant Officer Wally Thompson, the unit's band and regimental police. The bulk of the Battalion was out in ambush positions, standing-to, or carrying out defensive patrols around the base perimeter. Gradually, as the last patrols to be mounted from Nui Dat returned, either by foot or aboard armoured personnel carriers of A Squadron, 3 Cavalry Regiment, they began personal preparations for their move to Vung Tau. Road convoys with men and guns of the Battalion and 104 Field Battery, Royal Australian Artillery, slowly made their way through the main gate of the base for the last time, while other members of the Battalion prepared to move by RAAF Caribou aircraft and Iroquois helicopters. With the Battalion extracted, armoured personnel carriers began their final move along Route 2 to Vung Tau, progressively being joined by other APCs of the Squadron which had been guarding Route 2 during the move of earlier convoys. Their entry into Vung Tau marked the end of the combat role of the Australian Force in Vietnam. Also identified: 220238 Private (Pte) John Chares Whittington of Hurstville, NSW; 1202914 Pipe Major Warrant Officer 2 Douglas Alexander Thoresen of Townsville, Qld; 47001 CO Lieutenant-Colonel James Curnow Hughes MC of Townsville, Qld; 28609 RSM Warrant Officer 1 Wallace Talbot (Wally) Claxton Thompson of Townsville, Qld; 2796254 Pte John Henry Skennar of Grafton, NSW; 56101 Pte Barry John McGlone of Launceston, Tas; 1736712 Lance Corporal Terrence Colin (Terry) Contor of Mackay, Qld; 2794152 Pte Raymond James (Ray) Foster of Griffith, NSW; Pte Jim Hawkes of Geraldton, WA; 2795446 Pte Donald George (Danny) Miers of Cootamundra, NSW; Pte Graham Taylor of Coorow, WA; 219387 Pte Christopher James Hogarth of Morang, Vic; Corporal Peter Skews of Windsor, NSW; Captain Robert Wade of Holsworthy, NSW.