Victorians at War - Oral History Project

Living Conditions
Trevor Anderson was a medical student when he joined the army during his fourth year of training on a short service commission. After graduation he became a Captain and ended up volunteering to serve in Vietnam as a Regimental Medical Officer. He arrived in Vietnam in 1969 with little experience of armed conflict. Stationed in Nui Dat, conditions were difficult but they became even more so when he was posted on operations. The Regimental Aid Posts (RAPs) were little more than holes in the ground and were often susceptible to flooding. Trevor recalls that the RAPs 'usually consisted of some sort of a hole dug in the ground, sandbagged and roofed over to give protection against any sort of mortar or rocket fire'.
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Bill Gray was a fisherman whose father had fought in World War I. Given his family history, Bill wanted to join up as soon as World War II began but was under-age. He waited until 1942 and then volunteered for the army. Bill underwent jungle and commando training at Canungra and the Atherton Tablelands in Queensland before he was posted overseas to the area around Wewak in New Guinea. Bill would go out on regular patrols to locate the Japanese as part of a commando force. He explains the type of supplies he carried with him: 'We wore pouches you had to carry… what they called basic pouches hanging down the front of you too, one on each side. You'd put your ammunition, bully beef and dog biscuits in them'.
Hear complete interviews with veterans in the "Personal Stories" section of the Archives