TRZECINSKI, Paul Zigmund
| Service Number: | 216115 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 7th Battalion The Royal Australian Regiment (7RAR) |
| Born: | Straubing, Bavaria (Bayern), Germany, 3 October 1946 |
| Home Town: | Maitland, Maitland Municipality, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Soldier |
| Died: | Killed in Action, South Vietnam, 27 January 1968, aged 21 years |
| Cemetery: |
Rookwood Cemetery & Crematorium Lawn EE - Grave 576A, Rookwood Military Cemetery, Rookwood, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Memorials: | Adelaide Pathway of Honour - 7th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment , Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Grafton Clarence Valley Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Kallangur Vietnam Veterans' Place, Kurri Kurri War Memorial, Port Pirie Vietnam Veterans Honour Wall, Seymour Vietnam Veterans Commemorative Walk Roll of Honour, Sydney 7th Battalion The Royal Australian Regiment Vietnam Killed on Active Service Plaque |
Vietnam War Service
| 19 Apr 1967: | Involvement Australian Army (Post WW2), Private, 216115 | |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Sep 1967: | Involvement Australian Army (Post WW2), Private, 216115 | |
| Date unknown: | Involvement Private, 216115, 7th Battalion The Royal Australian Regiment (7RAR) |
Help us honour Paul Zigmund Trzecinski's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Robert Kearney
216115 Private Paul Zigmund "Ziggy" Trzecinski, 7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment Age 21 born Strabing West Germany on the 3rd October 1946.
He served in Vietnam with the 7th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment, from the 19th April 1967 to the 28th August 1967 … and …from the 24th September 1967 to the 27th January 1968.
Private Trzecinski was one of the members of the Assault Pioneer section which had been attached to D Company for the operation and he had left the perimeter to relieve himself. The Assault Pioneer section was commanded by Sgt Eric McCoombe. McCoombe recalls reminding Trzecinski to let the appropriate people know that he was leaving the perimeter. He did apparently let someone know but the message was not passed on to the sentry. On his return to the perimeter, Trzecinski was mistaken for a VC and shot dead. Not long after the shooting a Dustoff helicopter evacuated his body. Sgt McCoombe escorted him back to ensure that his body found its way back to the correct Australian destination.
Private Trzecinski had been married on R&R leave five months earlier. His son, born after his death, joined the Army and has served with 5/7 RAR.
On 17th September 1989, members of the 7th Battalion Association were present when a new bridge was opened on Maitland's inner city bypass road. The bridge was called ‘The P.Z. Trzecinski Bridge' in memory of Paul (‘Ziggy'), who was the first Maitland man to enlist for the Vietnam War and the only resident of that city to be killed in that conflict.
He is also remembered by a plaque in the Maitland Polish Association Hall.
A memorial in Newcastle's Civic Park to local soldiers killed in Vietnam includes the names of Private ‘Ziggy' Trzecinski, Corporal Tom Blackhurst and Private Stephen Dickson.
Click images to start slideshow.