Historical Overview of Aerial Delivery in the Australian Defence Forces.
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Quicklinks to Sections

1. INTRODUCTION	2. THE BEGINNINGS	3. WORLD WAR 1
4. BETWEEN THE WARS	5. WORLD WAR II : THE EUROPEAN THEATRE	6. WORLD WAR II : THE PACIFIC THEATRE
7. POST WORLD WAR II: AUSTRALIA, KOREA, MALAYA AND BORNEO	8. POST WORLD WAR II: VIETNAM	9. POST VIETNAM

INTRODUCTION

ECN 099 is the trade-stream in which the majority of soldiers of 176 Air Dispatch Sqn are employed.
As we all know, those destined to be Air Dispatchers are normally drawn from soldiers undergoing driver training at the Army School of Transport at Puckapunyal, Victoria.

For these soldiers to effectively carry out operations, they are dependent on the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and parachute riggers of the Royal Australian Army Ordnance Corps (RAAOC).
The RAAF provide an aerial platform from which our loads are dispatched and the riggers supply the parachutes that enable the loads to reach the ground safely.

In the 1900s our generation, who has seen man set foot on the moon and have coloured images and sound beamed directly into our living rooms, tends to take things for granted.
We hardly even bother to take notice when an aircraft flies overhead, yet in our parents day and age, the spectacle of a flying machine passing overhead was a thing to be marvelled at.

This document takes a look at Aerial Delivery from its earliest beginnings through the Australian Defence Forces to the modern day.

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THE BEGINNINGS

As parachute descent is reliant on height, we must look at some historical facts on which this presentation is based.

Man has always had a fascination with flying. Myths and legends tell of flying phenomena, such as Icarus who made a set of wings of wax and feathers, but who flew too close to the sun. His wings burst into flames and he fell into the sea and drowned. There is also the story of the winged horse 'Pegasus' and many more, all dealing with the fascination of flight.

One of the first recorded attempts of flight took place in the year 852 AD, when a daring young man, Armen Firman, donned an oversized cloak and leapt from a tower in Cordoba, Spain. His assumption was 'that the outspread cloak would support him and allow him to glide to earth'. Instead of gliding to earth, he plummeted, but it was duly noted 'there was enough air in the folds of his cloak to prevent great injury when he reached the ground'.
This is probably the world's first primitive parachute descent.

One man who had an impact on our story was an Italian painter and inventor, Leonardo da Vinci, who lived some 500 years ago. He has been credited with inventing both the parachute and helicopter, two items on which our trade depend for its existence.

During the 1700s many tests and flights were carried out using balloons, most of these occurring in France. Also in 1783, another recorded primitive parachute descent was made by Sebastian Lenormand, when he jumped off a tower in Montpellier in France.

On 22 October 1797, Andre Jacques Garnerin made the first recorded parachute descent from a balloon and although it was considered merely a stunt, it has far reaching implications in both the sporting and warfare fields.

Actual flight in a 'heavier-than-air' craft still eluded man. Yet tests and trials still continued, usually with devastating consequences. On 24 July 1837, the world's first parachute death occurred in Greenwich, England. One intrepid inventor, Robert Cocking, invented a parachute shaped like an inverted umbrella. It was carried aloft tethered below a balloon to an altitude on 5000 ft, where Cocking released the chute. For a few seconds it floated steadily downward, but then collapsed. Cocking died within a few minutes of hitting the ground.

Experiments in balloon, dirigible, glider and 'heavier-than-air' craft continued, when at 10.35am on 17th December 1903, Orville Wright made the world's first manned, powered, sustained flight, lasting 12 seconds and covering a distance of 120 ft at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

From this point, the science of aviation took off at breakneck speed. All over the industrialized world, inventors were making quantum leaps in design and materials and with Air Races held in Europe, the bounds of technology were amazing.

Most armies, at this stage, already has a Balloon Corps of some description and with the advent of the powered flying machine, a new and more manageable weapon was to be added to the world's armouries.

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WORLD WAR 1

Australian troops has already seen military balloons in use in the Sudan in 1885 and, later, in the Boer War. But it wasn't until 1909 that Australian defence planners were really concerned about the development of aviation for the military and on 8th Sept that year a prize was offered for "a flying machine for military purposes". Unfortunately, none of the entries met the requirements of the competition. So the competition was cancelled.

On 20th Sep 1912, the Government approved the formation of "a Flying School and Corps" and on 26th Sep 1912, the Australian Army issued Order No. 132/1912 which officially established a flight. A manning table was established, aircraft purchased and land on Port Phillip Bay was acquired and finally No. 1 Flight of the Australian Flying Corps took up residence at Point Cook, Victoria.

17th Aug 1914, a fortnight after war had been declared on Germany, the first serving members of the Army entered Point Cook to be trained as pilots. Amongst the instructors was an Englishman, a CAPT H.A. Petre. This man was to be the first Australian serviceman to drop supplies from an Australian aircraft in support of troops.

On 31st Oct 1914, Turkey made a Declaration of War against the allies. Fighting began in Mesopotamia (now know as Iraq) in late 1914. A force of British and Indian troops were sent to the Persian Gulf to protect British oil interests. The Indian government requested support in the form of airmen, flying machines and motor transport for service in Mesopotamia. The Australian Government said they could supply all but the flying machines. With that, the Rajah of Gwalior offered money for the purchase of two modern aircraft and Australia offered Half Flight led by CAPT Petre with three other officer pilots and 41 other ranks of service in Mesopotamia.

With the reconnaissance support given by Half Flight, the joint Indian and British Force, under command of Major General C. V. Townshend, made significant advances throughout the operation, however this was all about to change.

On 29th Sep 1915, Townshend's forces captured the town of Kut-al-Amar (Kut) where he consolidated for a push to Baghdad. On 22 Nov 1915, Townshend attacked Ctesiphon, only 16 miles from the capital. The Turks in the meantime had sent fresh reinforcements to the area, unbeknown to Townshend and although the Turks had losses of 9000 and Townshend's half that, his troops were so badly mauled he was forced to withdraw to Kut. The Turks pursued him and the siege of Kut began.

Relief forces were unable to break through and reinforce Townshend's garrison and with supplies critical, Capt Petre, the only surviving pilot of the original Half Flight struck upon the idea of dropping supplies to the besieged garrison.

Capt Petre described the first form of military aerial delivery as such:

We put corn in large sacks, two large sacks, and put each of these sacks in another sack bigger still and sewed it up. The idea was that the sacks were to be dropped by themselves and when they hit the ground the inner sack which had the corn in it, would burst and the outer sack which had the inner sack as a loose fit would not burst. The idea worked perfectly in practice. We dropped the sacks from these biplanes, two sacks, one on each of the lower wings beside the fuselage just fastened to them with string. We would fly over a flat area within the boundaries of Kut, cut the string pull the sack off and let it drop to the ground.

Within the boundaries of the besieged city were nine members of Half Flight, one of whom was a CPL Jim Sloss. He erected mills for grinding the corn, but more millstones were required. These could not be free dropped as the stone would shatter, so an inventive CPL Jack Stubbs another member of Half Flight acquired a quantity of linen and manufactured a number of small parachutes. Although the initial tests were a failure, a satisfactory canopy was finally made and the millstones were parachuted in. Resupply sorties were carried on for some time and other items such as food, spare parts for wirelesses, cigarettes and tobacco and other equipment were air dropped.

Unfortunately, the air drop programme was to no avail, and on 29th April 1916, the unconditional surrender of Kut took place with some 13 000 troops becoming prisoner.

This was the first time resupply had been conducted by air. The next recorded air resupply was also by an Australian just over two years later.

On 4 July 1918, three Australian brigades with American infantry support and British tank support, advanced on Hamel. The attack, planned by Monash was supposed to take 90minutes. It took 93. For the first time, ammunition was dropped to Australian troops by parachute. The idea was that of Capt L.J. Hackett of No. 3 Sqn, AFC. Canisters containing one box of ammunition (1200 rds) were fitted to the bomb racks under the aircraft. These were dropped from an altitude of 1000 ft and total of 93 boxes were dropped with each aircraft flying four sorties. It was so effective, General Monash the Corps Commander later wrote:

In this way at least 100 000 rounds of ammunition were successfully distributed during the battle with obvious economy in lives and wounds. The method thus initiated became general in later months.

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BETWEEN THE WARS

Although the precedence had been set, there was no great reliance placed on resupply by parachute.

At the close of World War I, the largest aircraft available to Allied Forces was the Handley Page V/1500 bomber This aircraft had the ability to carry five tons (11 200lbs) of crew and disposable payload and although the ability to carry was there, the ability to deliver a load of supplies, by parachute, was not.

One ambitious plan presented by U.S. Gen William "Billy" Mitchell was to lift part of the American 1st Division, over the German lines and parachuting them into the Metz sector. For this operation he would have required the entire Handley Page bomber force. Planning reached an advanced stage, but Armistice occurred before the operation could be effected.

Between the Wars, although there was little thought to the Science of Logistics in airborne warfare, there was some thought given to airborne insertion. Italy became the first country to try practical military parachuting and in 1927 the first formation drop was made. By 1930, there were complete battalions being trained in parachuting.

1928 seemed the year in which experiments with parachute troops were started throughout Europe and the United States. The Russians were a leading force in the development of this form of warfare, yet only six countries had airborne units prior to 1st September 1939, they were: Germany, Russia, Italy, Spain, Poland and France.

Aircraft design had advanced rapidly and with aircraft such as the Ford Trimotor and the Junkers W34 meant that military air transport was an effective medium to move troops from one airfield to another, but resupply by air drop was still a long way off and was limited by the side-door loading design of transport aircraft.

Germany had organised numerous glider clubs, between the world wars. The glider, would become extremely important as a means of delivering heavy supplies and troops. It also became a way in which Hitler could avoid the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

During the Ethiopian campaign in 1935, the Italians again experimented with the use of airborne troops and it is believed that there was a certain amount of resupply by air drop, however this cannot be confirmed.

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WORLD WAR II : THE EUROPEAN THEATRE

On 1st September 1939, Hitler invaded Poland, crushing the pitifully weak Polish armed forces. Within hours of the German invasion, Britain issued an ultimatum to Berlin demanding the withdrawal of German armed forces from Poland.

Germany failed to comply with the ultimatum and on 3rd September 1939, Britain and France declared war. On the same day at 9.15 pm, radio listeners throughout Australia, heard the following historic speech:

Fellow Australians, it is my melancholy duty to inform you officially that in consequence of the persistence by Germany in her invasion of Poland, Great Britain has declared war upon her and that as a result, Australia is also at war. No harder task can fall to the loss of a democratic leader than to make such an announcement.

On September 15th 1939, it was announced that the 6th Division would be raised for service at home and overseas, and in November compulsory militia service was reinstituted, for men to serve only within Australia and in January 1940, the first convoy of Australian troops from the 6 Div left Sydney for Palestine.

The German Blitzkrieg of 1940 was a momentous year of World War II and a year of great importance in an airborne warfare sense. German paratroops were at the forefront of the German advances into Denmark, Norway ,Holland and Belgium.

The Dutch army capitulated on 15th May and the Belgians followed on 27th May and finally the French signed an armistice on 22nd June after a humiliating defeat.

1941 saw probably the most ambitious German airborne operation of all time. At 0900 on 20th May 1941, 500 Ju52s and numerous gliders began Germany's largest and costliest airborne invasion of the war. "The invasion of Crete". Although Crete fell, Germany would never attempt anything this bold again. Of the 22 000 men who attacked Crete, 6000 died and nearly half of the 500 Ju52s were destroyed.

Hitler reacted by declaring: "the day of the parachutist is over."

The Germans never again used paratroops in a major operation from the air.

The use of gliders is significant in the tale of aerial delivery, and were used by both the Allies and Axis powers. Pictured here is the Airspeed Ltd - Horsa glider used by the British Glider Pilot Regiment to carry Paratroops and heavy equipment.

Photos courtesy of David Brook, 'The Eagle' - Journal of the Glider Pilot Regimental Association

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WORLD WAR II : THE PACIFIC THEATRE

Tension had been mounting in the Pacific Basin for some time, and on 8th December 1941, Japans armed forces struck with such force and audacity the force of their multiple strikes shocked an already war ravaged world. Using Australian Eastern Standard time as a common denominator the attacks were as follows:

Malaya & Sthn Thailand 3.05 am 8 Dec 41

Pearl Harbour Hawaii 4.25 am * 8 Dec 41

Philippines 8.00 am 8 Dec 41

Guam 8.25 am 8 Dec 41

Hong Kong 10.00 am 8 Dec 41

Wake Island 1 10.00 am 8 Dec 41

* It should be noted that because Pearl Harbour is on the other side of the International Date Line, the date was Sunday 7 December. Elsewhere the attacks occurred early morning on Monday 8 December 1941

With the attack on Pearl Harbour, the United States, was drawn into the war and with it a new chapter in aerial delivery opened.
The Japanese advance through the South Pacific was a well co-ordinated push towards Australia, and the 1942 Pacific campaign went as follows:

23 January Rabaul fell.

15 February Singapore falls,

19 February 1st raid on Darwin

20 February Dili and Koepang (Timor) falls

By the end of April 1942, Japans intention to seize Port Moresby was known to the Allies.

3 May Japanese invasion force sails from Rabaul for Port Moresby

7-9 May Battle of the Coral Sea

21-22 July Japanese landings at Buna and Gona.

23 July Japanese first contact with Aust 39th Bn. at Awala on the Kokoda trail.

Lt H.T. Kienzle of Australian New Guinea Administration Unit (ANGAU), was the man with the foresight to request air drop as a form of resupply. In civilian life, he was a rubber planter from Yodda Valley, and was familiar with the area, probably the main reason his task was to take charge of all ANGAU personnel and native labour working on the construction of a road from Ilolo to Kokoda.

Kienzle also set up small food dumps using native carriers. In his journal he noted:

The establishment of small food dumps for a small body of troops was now under way as far as Kagi. This ration supply was being maintained by carriers over some of the roughest country in the world. But with the limited number of carriers available maintenance of supplies was going to be impossible along this route without the aid of droppings from planes. The Kokoda track takes 8 days so the maintenance of supplies is a physical impossibility without large-scale cooperation of plane droppings.

28 July 1942, the first air drops began on the Kokoda Trail. These were free drops of rice at Efogi and Kagi, but both DZs were not sufficiently close enough to the front. On 4 August 1942, an area called Myola was selected and again a drop was made.

To this point no effective air drop technique had been developed, and most supplies were packed as they were during the World War I (cargo inside two sacks inside a larger sack) resulting in a recovery rate of only 25% on some drops. Nevertheless Myola was quickly established as a main base in the mountains. Despite this, however, there was still a long carry of two or three days forward to the front.

Every ounce of food, ammunition and other supplies had to be manhandled up the trail or dropped from the air. But it wasn't always the packers fault if the loads didn't arrive intact, for it was reported sometimes whole aircraft loads of supplies had been dumped into some other part of the Owen Stanley jungles. The Americans were responsible for air transport, and it was suspected that their notoriously bad navigation had made them drop supplies in the wrong areas. From then onwards, more and more Australian aircrew were used on flying the "Biscuit Bombers", as the supply aircraft were called, and a more businesslike approach taken to the problems of supply by land. These two factors gradually began to improve the situation.

As the campaign dragged on through September and October drop zones were scattered all along the Kokoda trail, anywhere a load could be dropped it was. The 1st November 1942, saw Kokoda recaptured by the Australian troops of 25th Bde and the strip secured, the first transport landed on the strip on 4th November. This allowed supplies to be air landed, without loss or damage.

The Allied advance continued towards Gona, Sanananda and Buna through mid November and the air drops also continued until more landing grounds were captured at Popodetta and Dobodura. This leap-frog method of supplying the troops by air until they had secured a landing ground proved the best method to keep the troops supplied and set the precedent for the rest of the war, throughout the South West Pacific Area.

Capt Charles Allerdice was involved in the initial air resupply operations. Air dropping was conducted by an infantry platoon from the 53rd Battalion, with the loads being prepared by the 1st Supply platoon, Australian Army Service Corps. In early 1943, it was resolved that air supply was to be an AASC responsibility and with that 2 Air Transport Supply Platoon was raised with 1 Supply Platoon still packing the supplies. From there, 1 Air Maintenance Company was raised and stationed at Port Moresby , with 2 Air Maint Coy at Dobodura.

As the Allied advance pressed onwards, through Wau and Salamaua, planning was well under way for operations on the Huon Peninsula. In a two pronged advance by sea and air the Allies were to capture Lae and the Markham Valley.

On 5th September 1943 a milestone in Australian airborne history was reached with the airborne prong of that advance. Paratroopers from the US 503 Parachute Infantry Regiment with gunners of the Australian 2/4 Field Regiment and their guns were dropped onto Nadzab Airfield in the Markhan Valley as the spearhead of the airborne phase.

The remarkable thing about the Nadzab drop was few of the gunners had ever jumped before, and those who had, only had one training jump. The 25-pounder guns were rapidly converted to air dropping and were carried in bundles under the C47 Dakotas. The unit was made parachutable in just two days, an extraordinary performance, the more so when one remembers that the 25-pounder had never been dropped by parachute before, and the method of drop was worked out on the airstrip by the ground crews.

On the Nadzab drop, 302 aircraft took part, of which 96 carried a total of 1700 paratroopers, the remainder were bombers, fighters and follow-up transports carrying supplies and ammunition in underwing bundles ready to be dropped once the objective was secured.

With the success of the Nadzab drop and the Markham Valley secured, Nadzab airfield was used as an airhead for further air resupply with all stores being air-landed in and distributed by both air-land and airdrop, under the control of 3 Air Maintenance Company. In a nine month period from July 43 to March 44, the total weight of stores air dropped 4 600 000 lbs and total weight air landed was 46 500 000 lbs. This must show the importance of resupply by air throughout the New Guinea campaign.

In regard to Australian air supply techniques, Major Don Esplin, OC 1 and 3 Air Maint Coy said to following:

Australians pioneered effective air maintenance techniques, so much so that the Americans sent out three observers and a film crew. The UK also sent out three observers and Burma one. Subsequently, these countries modelled their organisation on ours.

A continually arising problem faced by Air Maint Coy commanders was the lack of personnel and for some time it was necessary to use personnel drafted from staging camps. These men had no training and less experience. It is believed that some of the dispatchers were lost whilst dropping supplies, but it has been impossible to obtain any reliable figures on casualties. It is known that some members who were shown on the strength of advanced reinforcement depots, are shown as "Killed in Action" whilst employed on air dropping duties. Still others are shown as "Killed Accidentally", having been members of air dropping crews on RAAF aircraft that crashed. Two examples are Dakotas that crashed at Aitape on23 July 1943, and at Wau on 3 March 1945.

Although ninety five percent of air drop missions were carried out by Douglas C47 aircraft, other aircraft were used such as: B17 Boeing Flying Fortress, B24 Consolidated Liberator, B25 Nth American Mitchell, Lockheed Hudson and Loadstar, A24 Douglas Dauntless Dive Bombers and Australian built Commonwealth Boomerang and Wirraway fighters.

Once again, Australians had been faced with a situation, adapted and overcome. Air drop continued to be the most effective means of resupply throughout the South West Pacific theatre. With the Americans, the British and numerous other countries watching the events that had taken place on the Kokoda Trail, the die was cast for resupply techniques that would be used in every major conflict from then on. It must be remembered that the techniques employed on the Kokoda Trail were used in Europe and in Burma with great success.

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Australia as a leading force in Aerial Delivery ceased with the end of the New Guinea campaign, and on 2 September 1945, the Allies accepted Japans surrender. World War II was over. The three air maintenance companies were disbanded and once more servicemen returned to civilian life.

At the close of World War II the Australian Forces proceeded to undergo many changes. With demobilisation and disbandment of units, little thought was given to the lessons learnt in air resupply as it was assumed it would not be needed again. Australia and Australians, had become complacent and although it was now a "principal Pacific power", in arms design and technology we were a virtual desert and in most instances have remained so.

Following World War II the US Army continued to develop its aerial delivery techniques to support its two airborne divisions, but Australia did not advance at the same rate.

Great advances In aircraft design and technology which had been made during World War II were emerging at an astounding rate. Jet aircraft such as the Messerschmitt 262 and the Gloster Meteor, and larger aircraft like the B29 Boeing Super Fortress and the Avro Lancaster had been seen in the skies, flying operational missions, but the aircraft that had arguably the most profound effect on air resupply was the C82 Fairchild Packet and the C119 Fairchild Flying Boxcar. Designed in the US midway through the war, the aircraft was the forerunner of rear door and ramp design which all military cargo aircraft use today.

Korea presented a unique opportunity and proving ground for the United States. Weapons and technology that had been tried and proven during World War II again took a massive leap forward, and again air resupply was due to reach another milestone. In their wisdom US commanders realized an effective alternative for normal modes of transport was essential and to complement the Cll9 Flying Boxcar new and improved items of Aerial Delivery Equipment were introduced, such as A21 and A22 containers, Airdrop Platforms, capable of carrying guns, vehicles or mass loads, and to support them, G11 and G12 Parachutes. In one year, September 1951 to 1952, the US took part in 150 major airdrops, using 118 000 cargo chutes and supplying UN forces with 14 000 tons (31 360 000 lb) of food, weapons, ammunition, gasoline and equipment.

Apart from these new developments in air drop, a new concept in Air Transport was to be trialed, tested and proven. The Helicopter. This new machine set itself apart from conventional air transport and showed its worth as an adaptable tool that could be used in unconventional situation

From 1946 till 1950, there was little or no expertise remaining in the air resupply field within the Australian Army. In 1950, 2 Air Dispatch Coy, a Citizens Military Force (CMF) unit was raised and paraded in Moore St, Sth Melbourne.

In the ten year period from 1950 to 1960, the unit was re-named, re-organised and had a det of platoon strength raised in New South Wales.

The next operational service Australian Air Dispatchers were to see was in the Malayan Emergency when in 1955, two RAASC officers were detached to 55 AD coy RASC to study any new techniques in air drop which differed from that used in New Guinea.

The first Australian Regular Army (ARA) air supply component was a section of 39 Air Supply Pl and was raised in 1960 and had a strength of eight men. In 1961, another ARA section of eight men was raised. Both sections served in Malaya (Butterworth) during the Malayan Emergency with 55 AD Coy, RASC. A member of one of the sections that saw service in Malaya was a fellow named Ray Harvey. He was destined to become the first RSM of 1 ATSR.

During the 1950s, the RAAF still had the C47 Dakota as its workhorse and so had placed an absolute limit on the Size and types of loads, until Army in desperation passed part of its budget to the Air Force to allow the purchase of twelve high payload rear-loading C-130 Hercules transport which began operating in 1959.

In July 1962, the two sections where combined to raise a half strength 40 Air Supply P1 which was brought to full strength in 1963, 36 Air Supply P1 was also formed in 1963. At this time, 40 Air Sup Pl was located in Randwick. In the meantime, 12 man sections were still on a three month rotation with 55 AD Coy, RAS. These dets operated in Malaya, Singapore, Borneo and Thailand,

In 1963, Headquarters One Army Air Supply Organisation (1 AASO) was formed and acted as CHQ for 36 & 40 Air Sup Pls. 1 AASO was situated at Marrickville, with 36 Air Sup P1 (CMF) in Randwick and 40 Air Sup Pl in Holsworthy.

In March of 1964, the RAAF also received its first delivery of De Haviland Caribou aircraft. As the faithful C47 Dakotas were replaced with the Caribous a new phase in Aerial Delivery had been attained. No longer did dispatchers have to struggle with ejector boards and new methods of air drop would soon be trialed.

In March 1966, during Exercise SKYHIGH II, Detachment 176 Air Dispatch Coy was raised. It was generally thought that the numerical code of 176 was derived from (1} AASO and (36) P1 and (40) P1, generating a logical amalgamation number

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VIETNAM

Detachment 176 Air Dispatch Company, arrived in South Vietnam as part of the Australian Logistic Support Company, and was initially incorporated into the 173rd US Airborne Brigade, stationed at Bien Hoa airfield.

With Australia's commitment being expanded to a two battalion task force, the Australians were allotted the responsibility for Phuoc Tuy Province and its resident 5th Viet Cong Division. The Task Force set up an operational base at Nui Dat, while 1st Australian Logistic Support Group established itself at the port of Vung Tau.

The "Dat Crew". (First hand information supplied by Bob Hutton.)
This crew originally arrived at "The Dat" around the end of August 66 as a result of the "Long Tan" debrief.

Initially "The Dat Crew" consisted of Sgt. John "JL" Liston (SAD). Cpl. Bob Hutton (Crew Comd AD), Pte Gerry Lieben (one of the original Members of 40 Air Supply Platoon that served with 55 AD Coy RASC in Malaya) Pte Ross "Woody" Woodroffe (1st Intake of National Service) and Pte Dennis Bowden.
We were sent to 1ATF to devise a quicker and more effective method of getting the 105 mm Guns into the field and operational, rather than the system of deployment the RAA was using, which took 6 x CH47 Chinooks sorties to have the guns operational.

The final outcome of our OJT trials was that we could have the first gun of  a Battery laying rounds on a  target within two sorties.

On battery Deployments the CH47 Chinooks  always worked in pairs and by internally loading the Comms vehicle, CP staff and a Gun Crew on the first aircraft and hooking up a the first Gun as a slung load with its first line Ammo (90 Rounds) and Gun Stores on the second aircraft, this allowed the CP to setup, establish Comms & Survey/Plot the aiming points/poles for the first guns to commence its fire mission and then for the remaining guns to progressively come on line as they arrived. Once all guns were in action, using their first line Ammo, the priority then was to fly in the Ammo Reserves/Stockpile and then the rest of the equipment and personnel to maintain the unit in the field.

The Photo is of three of  the "Dat Crew" Bob Hutton, Ross Woodroffe and Gerry Lieben with the final rig for a 105mm Gun.
John "JL" Liston wrote up the specs on the rig and then returned to Vung Tau.   The Cpl and 3 x Pte's were in The Dat from Aug 66 to approx 1 May 67 - the last of the main body of Det 176 Ad Coy RAASC flew out of Vung Tau for RTA on 11 May 1967.    Det 176 AD Coy RAASC was renamed 176 AD Coy RAASC on 12 May 67 and shortly thereafter moved to "The Dat".

Although Air Dispatchers were originally based at Vung Tau, there was a crew sized det operating from Nui Dat in the Task Force Maintenance Area (TFMA). This situation was soon reversed, as most operations were mounted out of Nui Dat and this was where the manpower was required. In addition to the previously mentioned dets, each Fire Support Base (FSB) in the Australian sector had at least one Air Dispatcher attached to it and when an Australian unit went on operations, again an Air Dispatcher went in support.
This normally meant, for every twelve month tour of Vietnam, an AD may spend approximately six months on operations and detachments to forward areas with fighting units. (Contrary to what the current Govt. may think!)

The role of the Air Dispatcher in South Vietnam was basically to load and unload aircraft, and to support helicopter resupply operations. External lift operations was a relatively new concept for Australians, and although they had worked with UH-1H Iroquois helicopters, they had not worked with CH 47 Chinook or CH 54 Skycrane aircraft. These machines had the capability of carrying up to 20 000 lbs of cargo externally far more than the smaller UH-1H. Another interesting point to note is no formal training on external lift was given to any AD prior to leaving Australia. When a new man arrived in country, he received OJT until the SAD in charge felt he was Competent to rig unsupervised.

The daily resupply for ADs in the TFMA would he to rig external loads of ammunition, water, rations, defence stores, fuel, etc for the resupply choppers. These were then flown out to the forward base, where the forward AD would receipt and organise distribution of the load, receipt and re-furbish the ADE and control the backload of empty Containers, ADE, unserviceable items and repairable items such as worn 105mm howitzer barrels. Most of these items were flown out in a "Pig Pen" a metal container approximately 12ft by lift and 3ft deep especially designed for "hash and trash loads".

From time to time however, if the availability of helicopters was not forthcoming, airdrop operations were called for and loads such as 105mm ammunition, water and rations were dropped to the forward Fire Support Base from Caribou aircraft using American G12E parachutes and Australian A22 containers.

On one such occasion in early 1970, an Australian SAD had the dubious honour of bombing a Fire Support Base with 105mm ammunition. As the loads exited the aircraft, they all malfunctioned. On impact, some rounds exploded and the DZ caught fire. This caused some concern as not only were three A22s of ammunition lost but the gunners were required to fight the fire and the Fire Support Base was out of action for several hours because of exploding ammunition on the DZ. Although the Australian use of airdrop on South Vietnam was small, the US often resupplied forward teases by airdrop.

As a footnote to the Vietnam chapter, one should remember French Operations in Vietnam from 1946 till 1954. The French records show that there were in all no less than 156 separate and identifiable airborne operations ranging in size from patrol to a brigade insertion with heavy reliance on resupply by airdrop.

The final chapter of French Operations was written over the period 20 November 1953 - 7 May 1954 when in the village of Dien Bien Phu, some 320 kms west of Hanoi, the French military effort was brought to its knees by the Viet Minh.

Dien Bein Phu was captured by a brigade drop on 20 November 1953 and quickly consolidated by a ground force. Not long after this the Viet Minh began cutting roads into the isolated town, forcing the garrison to be resupplied only by air.

By mid-March, shelling from the Viet Minh gunners made the two airstrips unusable and the only way to send in supplies was by parachute. On 14 March 1953, a battalion jumped in to reinforce the garrison. Another arrived on 4 April and a third on the 7th. By this time the ever decreasing perimeter was so small that about 20 per cent of all resupply drops landed among the Viet Minh.

Finally on 7 May 1953 the Viet Minh accepted the surrender of the French garrison. It was the end of French rule in Vietnam and all but the end of the paratroopers. There were usually eight battalions of French paratroops in Vietnam over the French Indo-China War. Of these, seven were dropped into Dien Bien Phu - none came back.

Of approximately 11 000 prisoners from the besieged garrison, some 35 to 40 per cent were paratroopers dropped in as reinforcements.

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POST VIETNAM

In June 1970, 186 Air Dispatch Company, RAASC, was formed from the old HQ 1 AASO and had under command 36 and 40 Air Dispatch Platoons RAASC and 2 Air Maintenance Platoon RAAOC.

In 1973, the unit moved from Wallgrove to Penrith and was renamed 176 Air Dispatch Squadron. There was also two Army Reserve Troops, one at Randwick and the other in Richmond. These were placed under command of 177 Air Dispatch Squadron. HQ 1 AASO moved to RAAF Richmond to assume a strictly technical function.

In 1976, the First Air Transport Support Regiment (1 ATSR) was formed from 1 AASO, having under command 176 and 177 Air Dispatch Sqns and 2 Air Maint Pl.

Since 1972, Air Dispatchers from 176 Air Dispatch Sqn have never seen operational service in any theatre, although in 1979 they were placed on stand-by for UN aid to Namibia and also Fiji in 1984. Despite this they have distinguished themselves in Civil Aid emergencies, taking part in bushfire fighting and numerous flood relief fodder drops and food drops and support to other arms of the ADF departing for and returning from UN service.

On 3 July 1993, 176 (ARA) and 177 (GRes) Air Dispatch Sqns amalgamated in line with the Force Structure Review (FSR) and on 16 August 1993 1 ATSR was removed from the Order of Battle (ORBAT) of the Australian Defence Force.

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