BIRSE, Robert Graham
| Service Number: | 215349 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 4th Field Regiment |
| Born: | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia , 11 March 1944 |
| Home Town: | Sydney, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Soldier |
| Died: | Homicide (grenade), South Vietnam, 10 December 1967, aged 23 years |
| Cemetery: |
Palmdale Lawn Cemetery & Memorial Park, NSW *Remains repatriated to Australia in 2016, Palmdale Lawn Cemetery and Memorial Park, Palmdale, New South Wales, Australia |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Grafton Clarence Valley Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Kallangur Vietnam Veterans' Place, Officer Cadet School Portsea Memorial, Port Pirie Vietnam Veterans Honour Wall, Seymour Vietnam Veterans Commemorative Walk Roll of Honour |
Vietnam War Service
| 28 May 1967: | Involvement Australian Army (Post WW2), Lieutenant, 215349, 4th Field Regiment | |
|---|---|---|
| 28 May 1967: | Involvement Australian Army (Post WW2), Lieutenant, 215349 |
Help us honour Robert Graham Birse's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Steve Larkins
Robert Graham Birse was a graduate of the Officer Cadet School Portsea.
He was allocated to the Royal Australian Artillery and posted to the 4th Field Regiment as a Lieutenant.
Robert Graham Birse, 23 from Turramurra NSW. Birse died of wounds at Phuoc Tuy on 10th December 1967, as a result of a grenade incident.
It was investigated as a homicide. An Australian soldier was charged with his murder, convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to five years jail and dishonourable discharge. The sentence was later quashed on appeal.
Like many of the dead from Vietnam, Robert Birse was initially interred at the Terendak Military Cemetery, in Malacca, Malaysia.
An email from his sister Meredith -
The circumstances of his death and the fact that he was evidently not popular with his men have made it difficult for me to attempt contact with any old colleagues. His death of course was devastating for us and I don’t suppose you ever ‘get over’ such a thing.
His parents visited Bob’s grave twice and my husband and I returned to see it in July 2014. Certainly it isn’t easy to get there, but it is possible.
I have mixed feelings about the move to repatriate the remains from Terendak. My brother expressed the wish, should he die whilst in Vietnam, to be buried where he served and although that was not possible, Terendak is a lovely quiet place to rest. His burial there had nothing to do with cost, which my parents would most certainly have met. It was simply a matter of the wish he had expressed prior to his overseas service.
Thanks again
Meredith Ervin (nee Birse)
Notwithstanding this, Robert Birse's remains and those of numbers of his colleagues were repatriated to Australia in 2016. He is now interred at Palmdale Lawn Cemetery & Memorial Park (Central Coast, NSW), NSW Hillside Gardens 4, Position 184
Inscription:
Lieutenant
R.G. BIRSE
ROYAL AUSTRALIAN ARTILLERY
10TH DECEMBER 1967 AGE 23
BELOVED ONLY SON OF
BOB AND GWEN
LOVED BROTHER OF MEREDY
DUTY NOBLY DONE
Information from Find a Grave Memorial
Click images to start slideshow.