Series number

AWM309

Series title

Records of 102 Field Workshop (102 Fd Wksp) – Vietnam

Contents date range

1957-1972

Extent

1.6 metres

Access conditions

Subject to the Archives Act 1983

Agency controlling

Department of Defence

Custodial agency

Australian War Memorial

Function and provenance

102 Field Workshop (Fd Wksp) of the Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (RAEME) was raised at Ingleburn, New South Wales in 1966.  The unit consisted of 8 officers and 120 other ranks and was made up of both Regular Army and National Service personnel.

The unit was raised as a Type A Field Workshop and its role was to provide ‘second line’ recovery and repair for the 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF).  It was responsible for the repair and recovery of a diverse range of equipment being used by the Army in South Vietnam including included armoured personnel carriers, artillery guns, helicopters, radar, radios, small arms and trucks.

The main body of the unit arrived in South Vietnam in June 1967 for deployment with the 1st Australian Logistical Support Unit (1 ALSG) located at Vung Tau in Phuoc Tuy Province.  They replaced 101 Fd Wksp which had been in South Vietnam since May 1966.  On its arrival the unit inherited the makeshift tents and temporary facilities that 101 Fd Wksp had occupied but gradually their living conditions improved with permanent accommodation and workshop facilities being built.  The unit operated mainly as a static workshop in the support area instead of the mobile unit that it was originally intended to be.

102 Fd Wksp, unlike other units, was never replaced as a unit entity.  Reinforcements were made on an individual basis as soldiers completed their tour of duty and many soldiers passed through the unit on their way to other units within 1 ATF.  Overall, approximately 766 soldiers served with the unit.  A detachment of 102 Fd Wksp was amongst the last Australian servicemen to leave Phuoc Tuy Province in February 1972. 

The records of 102 Fd Wksp were amongst the first major transfer of records relating to the Vietnam War from the Department of Defence to the Australian War Memorial which occurred between November 1981 and March 1982.  This consignment was accessioned as OW82/11.  They formed part of a large series which was designated as AWM100 in the mid 1980s when the Memorial adopted its new numbering system.

The registry cards which controlled this series of records were transferred in February 1982, accessioned as OW82/20 and later designated AWM104.

Since 1999 Official Records staff have removed subseries from AWM100, and registered each of them as a separate series of records.  The records of 102 Fd Wksp were added to the RecordSearch database in November 2002 and the series was redesignated AWM309.

Content

102 Fd Wksp created its files to document its activities, to record events and to enable efficient retrieval for future reference.  The files in this series cover the following categories: accidents and casualties, discipline, general correspondence, equipment and supplies, finance, movements, orders and instructions, personnel, reports, supplies and training.

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.

Registered files

Registered items have a three-part item number conforming with the Department of the Army registry classification of correspondence catalogue.  The first number represents the primary topic of the item, the second and third numbers refine the topic further.

Non registered files

Non registered items (not having registered item numbers) were given imposed 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 items.  They retain their original titles.  Where no title was found, the AWM has imposed one that best describes the item’s contents.  All imposed information is enclosed in square brackets.

Using the series

Each item in the series 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).

The original registry cards which control this series form part of series AWM104.  They can also be accessed in the Memorial’s Research Centre.

Sources

AWM administrative file, AWM309 Series dossier

Barker, Theo 1992, Craftsmen of the Australian Army: the story of RAEME, Bathurst, NSW, in association with the RAEME Committee

‘102 Field Workshop RAEME: South Vietnam 1967-1972’  [website accessed May 2004]

http://www.users.bigpond.com/ropa210/news002.html