Series number
AWM290
Series title
Records of the battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment (RAR) - Vietnam,
1965-1972
Date series created
May 2001
Series contents date range
1961-1972
Access conditions
Subject to the Australian Archives Act (1983)
Agency controlling
Department of Defence
Custodial Agency
Australian War Memorial
Function and provenance
The Royal Australian Regiment was formed in November 1948, and comprised
three infantry battalions, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd. With
Australia’s increasing involvement in Malaya, Borneo and then entry into the
Vietnam War, the strength of the regiment grew to a total of nine battalions by
1967. The personnel of the battalions were a mixture of regular soldiers and
after 1966, national service conscripts. The nominal strength of a battalion
was 790 men (all ranks).
In June 1965, the Regiment’s involvement in Vietnam commenced, with 1
Battalion RAR serving with the US 173 Airborne Brigade. By March the following
year, an Australian Task force (1 ATF) was formed and charged with securing
Phuoc Tuy Province, Southeast of Saigon. This task force comprised initially
two and later three battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment. The battalions
usually operated in Vietnam for approximately one year and were then replaced
by other battalions, and rotated back to Australia for rest and further
training. Most of the nine battalions served two separate year-long tours of
Vietnam, the exceptions being 8 and 9 Battalions, who only toured once, being
the last battalions raised.
The last battalion to serve in Vietnam was 4 RAR. They returned to Australia
in March 1972, largely ending Australia’s troop commitments and involvement in
the war.
The battalions created their files to document their activities, to record
events, and to enable efficient retrieval for future reference. The records
were usually created and maintained by the battalion Chief Clerk and his staff,
who were part of the Headquarters Company.
Following the war, the battalions’ records were sent to the Department
of Defence (Army) archives. Four
additional boxes of after-action reports are believed to have previously been
held by the Department of Army Information Management (DAIM). In 1984 the records were transferred to the
custody of the Australian War Memorial (AWM) as part the consignment
accessioned as OW84/5. Many of these records including those of the infantry
battalions, were incorporated into series AWM100. In May 2001, the battalion
records in AWM100 and the small number still sitting in OW84/5, were removed to
form this series, AWM290. Arrangement and description was completed by June
2001.
Content
The content and quantity of material in this series varies greatly from one
battalion to the next, therefore it is far from being a complete set of all
nine battalions’ records. 2, 4 and 7
RAR have much more complete sets, which may reflect less extensive culling than
other battalions, or simply that these units forwarded their records to Army
archives or DAIM, while other units retained more. 3, 5, 6, 8 and 9 RAR have only a handful of records in this
series, while 1 RAR is not represented at all.
Commonly, the battalions kept files on subjects such as:
Combat experiences: after-action reports of both small engagements
and large planned operations
Intelligence: information gathered on the activities of enemy
units
Orders: including communication between the battalions and the
higher echelons of command
Casualties and Accidents: including records and incident reports of
battle and non-battle casualties
Discipline: reports on incidents leading to disciplinary
action, e.g. offences and charges
Personnel: transfers, promotions, postings, reinforcement intakes,
discharges, training courses and field exercises
General: routine administration, supplies, equipment,
operating procedures, and social functions
System of arrangement and control
The system of arrangement and control is the original Department of the Army
filing system, as used when the records were created. Since each of the nine
battalions raised much the same categories of registered files, the same item
numbers recur continually throughout the series. To avoid confusion and aid
retrieval, the AWM added an imposed prefix number, being the number of the battalion
that created the item. For example item number R569/1/1 created by 3 Battalion
RAR is now recorded as 3/R569/1/1. This system of prefixing is consistent in
both registered and non registered files.
Registered files
The registered items have a three-part file number conforming with the Department
of the Army registry classification of correspondence catalogue. The first
number represents the primary topic of the file, the second number refines the
topic further and the third number represents the sequence of files raised
under this classification. File numbers are preceded by the letter ‘R’,
although this was sometimes omitted or overlooked.
Non registered files
Non registered files (not having registered file numbers), were given
imposed control item numbers by the Australian War Memorial (AWM), beginning at
1 and continuing serially. They are single numbers, not two or three-part
numbers like the registered files. They retain their original titles. Where no
title was found, the AWM has imposed one that best describes the file’s
contents. All imposed information is enclosed in square brackets.
Using the series
Each item is recorded on the RecordSearch database which
researchers can access via the internet. Further assistance in finding relevant
information may be gained from related series of records (click on Series
Links at the bottom of this page).
Sources
Hall, Robert A 2000, Combat battalion: the Eighth Battalion in Vietnam,
Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, N.S.W.
Dennis, Peter ... [et al.] 1995, The Oxford companion to Australian
military history, Oxford University Press, Melbourne