Aussie SAS story from Vietnam

[Auzzzie]

These blokes were miles away from any artillery support and on their own in hostile jungle...

Nev Farley recalls...
My task was to carry out a reconnaissance to see if elements of 274 VC Main Force Regiment had moved into an area. Because the infil was a couple of hours before last light, I decided to lie up for the night south of the infil LZ, and the next morning go north, past the LZ towards the recon area. When we left the chopper, we entered the scrub and the place was like Roma Street railway yards. There were tracks everywhere.
While trying to find a way out, my scout, Andy Nucifora, came across an unknown device. It was a snare used by the VC to catch small animals. They were normally placed on a camp perimeter. Luckily, I had been told about them by Des Kennedy, and old soldier who won a military Medal in the fifties and had already had a tour of Vietnam with the Training Team [AATTV].
The patrol was doing a U-turn to move way when a perimeter clearing patrol bounced into us. The light was fading, but you could make out that they were wearing bush hats and webbing. Next thing I know, my 2IC, Bob Mutch – who was the tail-end Charlie – opened up using one in one tracer – tracer and ball – in his first magazine and you could see the strikes as they hit the VC.
Any Nucifora opened up from the flank to give support to Bob, who was caught up in the bush. I was calling out to Mutchy to see if was okay, but getting no reply. When I started moving back to his location I noticed that there were fireflies in the air, the only thing was that these fireflies were tearing the **** out of the foliage around me!
About the time that I had given up hope of seeing Mutchy alive again, this object [Mutch] exploded out of the bush like a Polaris missile and shot past me doubling at the high port. Next thing I know, I’m leading the patrol from the rear. When I caught up with the others, we were tripping over bunkers and getting caught up in black pyjamas hanging on clotheslines. That night we had a ‘sleepover’ with what later turned out to be the whole of the 274 VC Regiment!

Andy Nucifora, the scout, recalls some more...
I saw these muzzle flashes and there was three of them and I fired back a couple of bursts. They stopped – whether I hit anyone I don’t know because they were in the dark and I was in the open. Very uncomfortable. Bob Mutch opened up and I could see where his muzzle flashes were so I was quite happy that he was still okay. Then Nev said, ‘Come on, let’s get out of here’, so off we went and then we got into some pretty heavy stuff and we were running into bunkers and God knows what.
“Break right!” “Break left!” We bumped into a bunker and by this stage it had got dark and it was right on last light when it happened and it was pretty dark in the jungle anyway… I saw someone going into a bunker and I thought I’m not going down there and boom, boom, gave them a couple shots in there but I don’t know if I hit anyone or not.
Bob Mutch got caught up between a couple of trees and Nev raced back and said ‘come on’ and got him going and then we just sort of zigzagged all night. Tripping over graves, bloody clotheslines, I got hooked up in a clothesline with rows of pyjamas and other stuff.
We were told later there was probably upwards of 1500… It was a regimental headquarters plus, but there was just so many of them that we were breaking contact with small parties and there was quite a bit of tracer flying around. No-one in the patrol was getting hit and that seemed quite good. We stopped for a while and we got going and we bumped into a few more and then eventually we got into a cleared area with four huts and I remember the sig was trying to set up the radio and was having problems in the dark and couldn’t get his aerial wire out. So Nev asked me to help him set the aerial up… We set the comms up but we didn’t do any good.
I think it would have been about two in the morning. The initial contact I think was around about 1700 hours and I can’t remember what time it finished – it might have been about ten o’clock… We had a lot of minor contacts. When Nev said, “Andy, help me set up the wire for the aerial”, I said to him, “This is exciting isn’t it?” I remember saying that doing a bit of ****-stirring but he just ignored me completely. Probably thought ‘Dickhead!’
I think we slept with our ears open for sure because you just dozed with your ears open around the big tree, we were just all together. We got mortared’ I think there were four round fired and they were spaced about 50-metre intervals and they were coming close and I reckon one or two more and they would have been right on top of us. I was praying that night. I don’t know whether I was scared or not – I would have been apprehensive. I probably was scared. I know that every time I got off that chopper I was ****-scared. But I was praying and going “God, nor more, let that be the last one”, and it was.
And the boys reckoned they all prayed that night for a little while – until they dozed off. I think we all accepted it until we talked about it later. We didn’t say anything for a couple of weeks actually. I don’t think anything and then we were talking in the boozer one night and I was convinced that we would be dead in the morning and everyone else was but we accepted it, quite frankly. It was probably part of the training that we were mentally very tough because I thought we were going to be dead in the morning, but let’s see how many we can take with us – because we couldn’t see us getting out.

Nev Farley tell the story of their eventual extraction...
Just before first light we started crawling – very, very close to the ground I might add. I was very conscious of my arse sticking up and I was really tucking it down but anyway it wasn’t too bad because we could hear them talking and having breakfast and making quite a racket. We were zigzagging through people for an hour and a half or more but they were making a lot of noise, so we were able to get away fairly cleanly. Once we got out of a cleared area back into the thick stuff, reasonably thick, we could see that there wasn’t too much around us – there was a bit of movement over to our rear over from where we had just crawled.
We got in the treeline and then we tried calling our headquarters again, which was very unusual. By that stage they were alerted anyway, they told us later, and we couldn’t get through. So there was a low-winged Yank Bird Dog flying around and Nev got onto the URC-10 and was able to make contact. Scared the **** out of us initially because he had a very loud voice, buy I remember Nev saying to us, he said, “Okay, we’ve got through”. The Bird Dog said, “Can you show us a bit of ID?” and then someone flashed a mirror, he saw our mirror and he said, “Okay, got you”, and then Nev said, “Can you get away a bit because you’re drawing the crabs… Just fly over away from us a little bit”, and he said, “About 50 metres due east of you there is a clearing… I’ll get everything set up for you to get you out, and when I give you the word, run towards the clearing”…
We didn’t have to wait that long probably about twenty minutes to half and hour, and I reckon they would have been quicker because the slicks were all fired up and waiting but they had to wait for American gunships to RV with them. When they came in they said, “Okay, 30 seconds and you start running… Righto, now make for the LZ due east.” So we ran and as we ran the gunships came around and started shooting behind us and then the slick came in and we were on that and out of there.

[digrar]

Been reading 'Sleeping with your ears open' mate? ;)

[Aussie E]

Haven't read Sleeping with your Ears Open yet, it's on the shelf with about 20 other books including SAS Phantoms of War that I Haven't had time to read. But I have read Behind Enemiy Lines and would highly reccomend it to antone interestesd in the SASR in Vietnam.

[Red]

great story

[digrar]

Some more from Gary McKay's Sleeping with your ears open.

The SASR trooper.

From a Viet Nam Squadron Commander

In essence, there are three major qualities: intelligence, mental toughness and physical toughness. Other qualities are self-reliance, responsibility, reliability, confidence, loyalty, moral courage, unselfishness, a sence of humour, honesty, a high degree of integrity; together with an above-average ability to navigate by day and night, to communicate, possess a high level of endurance and leadership; have the ability to shoot accurately and to be able to march with heavy operational loads.

From a Patrol commander with two tours in Viet Nam and a tour in Borneo.

I agree with all of them (referring to the points made above). I think all of those go hand in glove and I think it's very difficult to identify one as being the predominant one without the others being involved, but I do believe that mental toughness should take precedence over physical toughness.

From a Borneo veteran and patrol and troop commander in Viet Nam.

You've got to be able to drive yourself. You're the guy that can't sleep when you're tired. You're the guy that's got to keep his eyes open when you're absolutely buggered. So it's that pushing yourself, it's that mental toughness. it's being able to adapt in changing circumstances. Don't get bogged down with doctrine, look at changing circumstances and apply new thought to it, take other people's advice, have and open mind.

From a SASR squadron commander in Borneo, Military Cross winner in Korea and Battalion commander in Viet Nam.

A team player, physically and mentally fit, a man who grasps the initiative and is a lateral thinker. He has got self and corporate discipline, is efficient in all skills, Infantry firstly and SAS specialist secondly.
I had one of my men who had to operate as a loner when on operations with B Squadron 22 SAS, when he was separated, and he survived as a loner. He had enough initiative, enough know-how to operate as a loner. But being a loner wasn't his basic training; he was a team player. His strengths were being with a team.

From a Military Medal winner and patrol commander in Viet Nam.

He must be determined to achieve a common goal. Secondly, he must show a high level of integrity, and thirdly, he must have a strong self-discipline and the ability to command- if need be- to complete a mission. And fourthly, he is never to give up- even under adverse conditions, whether starving, cold, stuffed, even misplaced.

From a Military Cross winner and patrol and troop commander.

you have got to have somebody who is really able to think for themselves, who has got all the attributes that make good soldiers. He is good with his Infantry-craft; he's good with weapons; good with his field craft; but, beyond that, and regardless of what rank he is, can think independently, can think laterally and can work as an individual and as part of a small group. He must really be able to fit in with a small group and cope with tasks which are both stressful and probably a bit terrifying at times.

From a squadron commander occupied with CT duties.

As far as the officers are concerned, I wouldn't have rated mental toughness as the most important characteristic. I would have been looking for creativity, flair, ability to think 'outside the square'. People skills are very important.
I think a sense of humour is critical and I say that with all sincerity- being able to release yourself from stress and pressure on operations which is fairly intense and a very, very difficult environment in which to work.

From a troop commander.

A sense of humour was absolutely essential. especially when you're sitting out in the middle of the wet season and it's night, it's pissing down rain and you've got nothing but a poncho so you wrapped yourself in it- we never put up tents. They were bloody hot inside and we would sweat. So we were wet no matter what happened. We had to cope with being wet all night, day after day, putting in ambushes and not seeing anybody- and you have really got to see the funny side of life.


Some common themes running through these blokes accounts of what an elite soldier needed to be all about.