Series number

AWM312

Series title

Records of Detachment 11 Movement Control Gp (Det 11 MC Group) - Vietnam

  

Contents date range

1965-1972

Extent

1 metre

Access conditions

Subject to the Archives Act (1983)

Agency controlling

Department of Defence

Custodial agency

Australian War Memorial

Function and provenance

11 Movement Control Group (11 MC Gp) was raised in 1961 and became a permanent field force unit in 1963.  HQ 11 MC Gp remained in Sydney and allotted detachments for duty as required.  A detachment of 11 MC Gp was deployed to South Vietnam in April 1966 with elements located at Headquarters Australian Force Vietnam (HQ AFV) in Saigon, the 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF) at Nui Dat and the 1st Australian Logistical Support Group (1 ALSG) at Vung Tau.  From February 1968 a member of the Nui Dat element was located at a fire support base when occupied.

The unit was responsible for:

• the coordination and control of the movement of passengers and freight on RAAF courier flights and other RAAF flights (in conjunction with RAAF Movements)
• the coordination and control of the movement of passengers and freight between Vung Tau, Nui Dat and Saigon on weekly flights by QANTAS
• the coordination and control of air movement of personnel on rest and recreation (R & R) flights out of South Vietnam
• the coordination and control of shipping for passengers and freight
• the coordination of tasks for Landing Ships Medium (LSM)
• the coordination and operation of the Military Forwarding Office

The unit was amongst the last to leave the 1 ALSG area in March 1972.

The records of Det 11 MC Gp were amongst the first major transfer of records from the Department of Defence to the Australian War Memorial relating to the Vietnam War 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.

Since 1999 Official Records staff have removed subseries from AWM100, and registered each of them as a separate series of records.  The records of Det 11 MC Gp were added to the RecordSearch database in October 2002 and the series was redesignated AWM310.

Content

Det 11 MC Gp created its files to document its activities, to record events and to enable efficient retrieval for future reference.  The files in this series relate to the administration and organisation of the unit as well as files documenting various charter flights, RAAF courier flights and shipping movements of vessels including the HMAS Jeparit and HMAS Sydney.

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).

Sources

AWM administrative file, AWM312 Series dossier

AWM312, R310/2/10/1, [Headquarters, Australian Force Vietnam (HQ AFV)] : [Establishments] - Det 11 MC Gp [Detachment 11 Movement Control Group] IV/263/4 TE

Greville, P. J. 2002, The Royal Australian Engineers 1945 to 1972: paving the way, Loftus, NSW, AMHP Publishing Services for the Corps Committee of the Royal Australian Engineers

 

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