Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Trevor Bryant was a National Serviceman drafted into the Australian Army in February 1967. He was posted to the Artillery Corps and did his Corps training as a Battery Surveyor at the School of Artillery at North Head, after which he was posted to 102 Field Battery based at Holdsworthy Barracks, NSW.

The Battery was sent to South Vietnam as part of the 12 Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery in February and March 1968.

During its tour of duty, the Battery spent 90% of its time in the field, operating from Fire Support Patrol Bases in or near Phuc Tuy Province. During this time, they saw considerable action and fired 60,000 rounds of high explosive shells from their 6 105mm M2A2 howitzers.

In May 1968 during the second wave of the TET Offensive, 102 Battery was deployed to establish a new FSPB in Bien Hoa Province about 15 miles north of Saigon. Arriving late at the position, the gunners did not have time to properly dig themselves in and to set up adequate defences. Just after midnight on 13th May, the FSPB was attacked by two divisions of the North Vietnamese Regular Army and the gunners were required to defend themselves against an all-out ground attack while still conducting fire missions with their howitzers to assist elements of 1RAR who were themselves under attack.

For its actions that night, the Battery earned an Honours Title and was also awarded a Unit Citation for Gallantry along with the rest of the Australian task force deployed around FSPB Coral.

As a Battery Surveyor, Gunner Bryant's role was to take the grid references radioed into the Command Post by units in field requiring artillery cover, and converting that into the correct setting for the barrel of the guns that would ensure the fired shell would land on target. The calculations were complex and had to be done with only maps and charts and a slide rule. There were no computers,.

Later in the tour, Gunner Bryant took a field course in Signals and gained qualifications as a radio operator. This combination of radio and survey skills lead to him being appointed to the Battery Commander's Party operating with elements of 1RAR as an FO.