Francis William Dean BEM as the staff sergeant Company Quartermaster Sergeant D Company 1st Battalion The Royal Australian Regiment (1 RAR), Korea 1952-1953, South Vietnam, 1965-1968, interviewed by Bill Fogarty

Dean speaks of his family background and enlistment in the 2nd AIF in 1943; training and posting to 2/2nd Australian Pioneer Battalion near Cairns (with the 2nd Beach Group) and in the Atherton Tablelands; landing at Morotai and later at Balikpapan in 1945; the role of 2/2nd Pioneers and his own as a machine gunner; post-war, volunteering for the newly-formed 65th Australian Infantry Battalion at Morotai for Occupation Force duties in Japan; the battalion renamed as 1st Battalion The Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR), after returning home in 1949; 1RAR sending reinforcements to 3RAR, committed to the Korean War; his posting as a company quartermaster sergeant (CQMS); 1RAR preparations for deployment to Korea in early 1952 and transit through Pusan to a position near the 38th Parallel; living conditions in the line ; the resupply system; severe winter weather, including clothing aspects; casualty evacuation and Chinese Army tolerance of the removal of casualties forward of the line; the leave system; rifle company weapons; living and working in the company echelon; fresh food preparation; impressions of allied troops; living conditions for the battalion out of the line; changes in clothing and equipment from standard Australian issue;1RAR's changed role on its second tour of duty in Korea, located in a peace camp after the end of hostilities; changes in living conditions for all ranks; 1RAR's return home and commitment in 1959 to the Malayan Emergency; operations in Malaya; the CQMS role in company resupply, deployed on operations; 1RAR training in Australia in the early 1960s and the short-lived Army reorganisation into the Pentropic structure; 1RAR preparations for deployment to South Vietnam; in 1965 as the third battalion of the US Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade at Bien Hoa Air Base; the resupply system for the CQMS to his rifle company especially with reference to helicopter lift; comparisons between Australian and American tactical standards on operations; 1RAR's second tour in South Vietnam with the 1st Australian Task Force (1ATF); company resupply during the Battle of Coral; his return to Malaysia with 1RAR after a short period in Australia; posting to RMC Duntroon as his last army posting.