Series number

AWM316

Series title

Records of 55 Engineer Workshop and Park Squadron (EWPS), Vietnam

  

Contents date range

1966-1972

Extent

2.1 metres

Access conditions

Subject to the Australian Archives Act (1983)

Agency controlling

Department of Defence

Custodial agency

Australian War Memorial

Function and provenance

The 1st Australian Logistic Support Group Company (1 ALSC) which accompanied the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR) to South Vietnam in 1965 included 23 members of the Royal Australian Engineers (RAE) whose main role was to provide engineer support and maintain engineer stores.  For the first two months engineer stores were received from Australia and issued to units.  From August 1965 most of the stores used were construction items from local contractors and included sand, gravel, cement and timber.

Members of the RAE detachment of 1 ALSC who had spent from 10-12 months in South Vietnam returned home between March and April 1966 and were not replaced.  Engineer stores were handed over to an advanced party of 55 Advanced Engineer Stores Squadron (AESS) and led by Captain E. R. McKenzie on 14 April 1966.  They moved to Vung Tau with 1RAR and joined the 1st Australian Logistic Support Group (1 ALSG).

Their main role was to act as a liaison element to obtain stores from the United States Army.  A bilateral agreement between Australia and the United States allowed the Australian forces to draw stores from United States agencies with 55 AESS continuing to provide stores not obtainable through this method from other sources.  McKenzie established an excellent rapport with the engineer staff of the United States Logistic Command and with the civilian contractors who all gave him whatever assistance they could.

An increase in the establishment of the detachment of 55 AESS of one officer and 22 soldiers and a theatre supplement of a further three soldiers was granted in January 1967.  The unit also recruited around 15 local Vietnamese as clerks, carpenters and labourers.  In mid 1968 the name of the unit was changed to 55 Engineer Workshop and Park Squadron (EWPS).

With the announcement of the withdrawal of Australian troops from South Vietnam known as ‘Operation Interfuse’ the workload of the unit increased.  As well as being involved in the completion of Project 399, a civil affairs project constructing Vietnamese military dependant housing, there was an increased demand for stores for other civil affairs tasks along with an increased administrative load due to the return of the unit and its stores and equipment back to Australia.

To overcome this situation a further increase in the unit strength was proposed with numbers coming from the mainland unit stationed at Penrith.  As this resulted in more men being stationed in Vietnam than in Penrith a change in the unit designation occurred in May 1971.  The detachment in Vietnam became the unit and the unit in Penrith became the detachment. 

Initially the unit had been under command of 1 ALSG.  On 9 December 1971 the unit was placed under command of the 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF) and its emphasis changed from support of Project 399 to preparing the unit to be ready to leave Vung Tau by 29 February 1972.  During ‘Operation Interfuse’ the unit backloaded 1300 tons of stores, processed $A90,695 worth of stores to the Gift Program and $A1,022,902 worth of stores was processed by a Board of Survey for disposal in theatre.

The records of 55 EWPS 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.

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 55 EWPS were added to the RecordSearch database in April 2003 and the series was redesignated AWM316.

Content

55 EWPS created its files to document its activities, to record events and to enable efficient retrieval for future reference.  The files in this series include the following categories: vehicle accidents, accounting, correspondence, depot stock takes, establishment, movements, orders and instructions, returns, stores and equipment 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, AWM316 Series dossier

AWM98, R310/1/7/2, [Headquarters, Australian Force Vietnam (HQ AFV):] Establishments and Equipment - 55 EWPS [Engineer Workshop and Park Squadron]

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