From small town to the battlefront for Vietnam Veteran

Bolton Clarke Westhaven resident and Vietnam veteran Phillip is marking 50 years since the end of the war reflecting on the lighter moments he experienced on the battlefield.

Growing up in the small town of Forsayth, Queensland at the end of the Great Northern Railway, Phillip was born and raised a country boy.

He left school to pursue droving work, but his plans were soon diverted.

“When we got to Pentland, the Porter from the railway station asked my boss if he had a Phillip with him and said I had received a telegram to say my military papers had landed,” Phillip said.

“I was called up on 27^th August 1965 and went straight to Kapooka to do my training and then into the 7th Battalion in Shoalwater Bay when the Battle of Long Tan happened.”

When the news broke, Phillip and some of his comrades were sent home on leave to spend time with their families before being sent off to Vietnam.

“When I returned to the Ashgrove depot, I was told I was late and all my mates had flown out that morning on a Qantas flight, so I had to wait for the next one.

“Qantas ended up going on strike, so I was there for three more months until a huge amount of engineers and a few others were sent over, so I went with them.”

For Phillip, his bush upbringing meant he had different lessons to learn during his service.

“At one stage, I was on guard at the entrance and a recruit came out and said the Sergeant wanted to speak to me, so I went back to the building and had to ask how to use the phone because I had never spoken on one before.

“The Sergeant came up to me later that night and asked what the stunt was that I pulled about not knowing how to use a phone.

“I had to explain to him that we didn’t have phones or electricity in the area where I lived.

“He told me to have my meal, shower and get dressed to come back to his office and said that I’d be on night duty – I tell you what, I hated that bloody little black phone box by the end of it.

“Every time it rang we had to answer it to organise things and I did that every night for a fortnight until someone told the Sargeant that I sounded okay talking on the phone.”

For Phillip, the scars of war haven’t gone away but he was able to take many of the lessons he learnt with him.

“I started as an infantryman in Australia and at the last stage of 7th Battalion when we went to Shoalwater Bay, we started to be trained as a stretcher bearer.

“This is the thing - once you get into a warzone everything is different, you’re doing things you expect professionals to be doing but that’s what happens – everyone has to step in and help out.

“A lot of people lost their lives over trying to protect Australia and me being one of them I really like to go to Anzac Day commemorations.”

Phillip will be laying a wreath at Bolton Clarke Westhaven residential care home’s Anzac Day service on behalf of his fellow residents, commencing at 10:30am on 25^th April.