Anofficerin Malaya
Bornin 1933in Hobart,Tasmania,Smithwas
a metallurgistapprenticebeforehewascalled
upfornationalservicein January1952,“Bythe
timeI gotbackto myoldjobtheysaid‘Mate,
sorryaboutthisbutyourjob’sgone.Wecouldn’t
affordto keepit vacant’.I saidto myfather‘I’ve
beenin thecadetsanddonenationalserviceI’d
liketo jointheregulararmy.Hewasn’tterribly
pleasedbutI said‘That’swhatI wantto do’and
hesaid‘OK’.”
Smithenlistedasa
privatein theAustralian
Armybuthisfather
encouragedhimto
widenhisambitions,
“Hesaid‘Son,if
you’regoingto stay
in thearmywhydon’t
youtryandgetyourselfa
commission?’.I said‘OK’,
gotselected,wentto Portsea
OfficerCadetSchoolin Victoria
andgraduatedasanungodly
secondlieutenantin
December1952.”
Aftera fewyears,
Smithgained
hisfirstcombat
experiencewhenhe
participatedin theMalayanEmergencybetweenOctober 1955
andJuly1957.The‘Emergency’wasactuallya
bloodyguerrillawarwhereMalayancommunists
foughtagainstBritishrule.Commonwealth
troopsweredeployedalongsideBritishforces
andSmithwaspostedasa platooncommander
with9 Platoon,C Company,2 RAR.
Fightingprimarilyin thejungle,Smith’s
experiencesin Malayawerevaluableforwhat
wasto comein Vietnam,“Weusedto betaken
byBritishSaracenAPCs[ArmouredPersonnel
Carriers]andgoup3,000-4,000metrehillsthat
werecoveredin jungle.Weusuallystayedthere
forat leasttendays.We’dmaybegetanairdrop
byparachutefromNewZealandaeroplanes,
whichI thinkincludedBristolBlenheims.They’d
comeoveranddroptherationswheneverwe
calledforthemandtheBritishwouldgiveusa
bottleof rum,whichwasgreat!”
Asplatooncommander,Smithwoulddistribute
specialrationsto keepupmorale,“I’dgoaround
thelinesat ‘StandTo’at nightanddoleouta
capfulof rumintotheirchocolate.Wedidn’thave
coffeein thosedayssoweusedto meltour
chocolatedownandadda bitof milkandrum,
whichbecameournightcap.”
UponhisreturnfromMalaya,Smith– who
wasalreadya qualifiedparatrooper– trained
to earnhisgreenberetasa commandowhile
remainingin theinfantrycorps.ByJuly 1965
hewasa majorandpostedto command
D (Delta)Company,6 RARat Enogerra,
Queensland.Smithwassoonadvisedthatthe
battalionwouldbegivena newdeploymentin
June 1966 – Vietnam.“Asuicide mission”
Ascompany commander, Smith trained
hismenhard for the forthcoming conflict
to helptheir future performance, “I had one
attitudeto my soldiers, which was ‘one singer,
onesong’.Whatever I wanted it had to be
done.Forinstance, where other companies
mighthave ran in sandshoes, I ran them in
boots.Some of them fell by the wayside but in
themainthey got through it. I’m sure that the
resultingconfidence they had in their ability
to dothings under pressure certainly helped
themoutat Long Tan.”
Amongthe soldiers of D Company were large
numbersof inexperienced but determined
conscripts, “They were very keen to show
theregularsoldiers what they could do and
I thoughtthey were a very good bunch. I
ultimatelyhad 68 national servicemen in my
companyat Long Tan, which was a majority of
thoseI commanded.”
Despitethe vigorous training Smith admits
thatheand his fellow Australians knew little
aboutthewar in Vietnam, “We didn’t know a
lotexceptthat we thought it would be similar to
Korea.Thecommunists had tried to take over
SouthKorea and we thought they were trying
to dothesame in South Vietnam. However, we
werebasically going on a suicide mission.”
Although Vietnam now seemed like a
dauntingprospect, it was a challenge that
SmithandD Company were willing to accept,
“I usetheold story that if you have a pack of
racehorses you’ve got to give them a run and
that’swhat we were doing.”Smith leads D Company in a marching
rehearsal for a parade in Brisbane prior to
embarkation to Vietnam, 1966“THE COMMUNISTS HAD TRIED TO TAKE OVER SOUTH KOREA AND WE
THOUGHT THEY WERE TRYING TO DO THE SAME IN SOUTH VIETNAM.
HOWEVER, WE WERE BASICALLY GOING ON A SUICIDE MISSION”
Smith pictured as a platoon
commander during the
Malayan Emergency in 1956ANZACS AT LONG TAN