Armoured vehicles to Australian War Memorial DPR/TV/1492

Two battle damaged fighting vehicles - a Centurion tank and an M113 armoured personnel carrier - are to be presented to the Australian War Memorial on Wednesday, 19 April 1972. The vehicles will be permanently on display on outdoor stands, near the Japanese midget submarine. The Chief of the General Staff, 231 Lieutenant General Mervyn Francis Brogan, will officially hand over the vehicles to a Museum trustee, Mr Henry Baynton Somer (Jo) Gullett, at a short ceremony. Several officers and other ranks of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps including the Director of Armour, Colonel John Graham Monaghan, and a former Director, 2265 Colonel John Maurice Maxwell will be present.
The Centurion tank is representative of the tanks used by the 1st Armoured Regiment in the Vietnam War. It was originally attributed to a particular crew and displayed with a plaque showing their names, however later research revealed that it is made up of a composite of parts. The hull bears mine damage and is thought to be the original hull of ARN169080. In 1993 this Centurion tank was donated to the Royal Australian Armoured Corps Tank Museum, Puckapunyal by the Memorial.
The armoured personnel carrier was damaged by a mine in Phuoc Tuy Province - on 1 March 1971. Crew at the time was 1732920 Cpl Robert Leslie Abbott, now of 3 Cavalry Regiment, Townsville, Qld; and Tpr D J Handley, now of 4 Cavalry Regiment, Enoggera, Qld, the driver. Because the carrier had been fitted with special belly armour, the men escaped injury. Both vehicles are fitted with brass plaques and have been painted and marked as they were at the time of their Vietnam service. A replica belly armour plate fitted to the carrier conceals much of the damage sustained by that vehicle. Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) were introduced into the Australian Army in 1964. In May 1965 an APC troop accompanied the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, to Vietnam. The troop was first equipped with eight carriers but by September 1965 this was increased to eighteen and included two mortar carriers. With increase of commitment, the troop became A Squadron, 3 Cavalry Regiment, with a total of seventy carriers which included personnel carriers, mortar carriers, command vehicles, ambulances and fire support vehicles. By the time the carriers were withdrawn, one hundred and seventy eight had been used in Vietnam. In six years of operations seventy five received battle damage from mines and rocket propelled grenades, and twenty one hulls were damaged or distorted beyond repair. In October 1967 tanks of C Squadron, First Armoured Regiment, went to Vietnam and by March 1968, twenty Centurions, including gun tanks, command tanks, bridge layers, tank dozers and recovery vehicles were deployed. At the peak of Australia's involvement, thirty tanks were in operation. Altogether fifty eight tanks were used in Vietnam. In three years of operations forty two tanks received battle damage from mines and rocket propelled grenades. Only six hulls were beyond repair.