Kendall Jennings, The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper

When the birthday ballot forcefully selected healthy 20-year-old men for compulsory two years’ military service and a further three years on a reserve list under the National Service Act of 1964 for the Vietnam conflict, it set forth a mateship that has not altered in 50 years.

On Saturday, April 25, former Two Royal Australian Regiment (2RAR) met on the towns located on the banks of the mighty Murray River, Barham and Koondrook, to pay homage at the Anzac Day services.

I had the opportunity to sit down with the group spokesman, Max Ingles. Over a beverage, we chatted about our ration packs of now and then, the mateship that ex-service automatically has, and the struggles with mental illness from the Vietnam era, and now, with service people returning home from Afghanistan. When I was in service, we were taught self-aid, section-aid and platoon-aid, which basically means you look after yourself first, then you look after your mates. I have found that we tend to look after our mates before ourselves.

Max talked fondly of three locals from 2RAR, Eddie ‘Rocky’ Whelan, Tiger Walsh, and Neville Crellin, and it is them who arranged this year’s catch up. After all the years they all get along, and out of 1,000 men who enlisted, as of 2018, there are 394 left. Max also explained that the widows of 2RAR Servicemen are invited and welcomed.

This group is unique. Usually, a soldier would do a recruit course with a group of people and be assigned to a different group of people for deployment. In modern terms, you would be with a group of people for Recruit Course, then another group for Initial Employment Training (IET) and then deployed to another group, and perhaps you will meet up again. These lads from day one, remained together, and even though they live all over the country they talk at least once a week.

“We were very fortunate as National Servicemen. We joined the Battalion when it was just being formed, all conscripts, and remained together. We did a lot for the members who did not return home from Delta Company. We have gone back to their hometowns and held commemorative services where we invited their family and all their relatives, for all the blokes that come on tour,” explained Max.

“Every year since 1987, we have met in a different capital city for Anzac Day. Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Sydney. Sometimes we’d have up to 300 people. 

“Today, because of Corona[virus], there are about 20. We wanted to come up and see ‘Rocky’. He was a great soldier and always held in the highest regard of his Vietnam mates,” stated Max.

On behalf of the area, I would like to thank the 2RAR group for being a part of this year’s local Anzac Day commemorations. We wish them well and hopefully we will meet again.

This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 29 April 2021.