THE BRIAN ‘BULL’ WALSH TROPHY

This prestigious trophy is awarded annually to the most outstanding junior in the Valentine Eleebana Cricket Club.


BACKGROUND

Following planning, preparation and the introduction of the Valentine Eleebana Junior Cricket Club into the Newcastle Junior Cricket Association (NJCA) in 2001, the VEJCC’s founding Club President’s father Peter ‘Pop’ Walsh made an announcement that he would like to provide a trophy to be given out at the end of each season to the club’s best cricketer.

“I would like the trophy to be named after my late brother Brian” he was noted to say, “he was sadly killed in Vietnam in 1969 and this would be a great memory of him”. In 2001 the trophy was made and presented to Peter Hiscock the eventual winner for that season 2001-02. It was decided by the VEJCC that all players would be eligible for this award, in 2001 the club entered only two teams, this number was well exceeded in the following years. Since the 2001/02 season point formats have changed to incorporate a fairer system which rewards all players. From 2008/09 players points for the award were made up in the following manner:

Runs scored = 1 point per run
Wickets taken = 5 points per wicket
Catches taken = 5 points per catch or stumping
Run outs = 5 points for an unassisted runout
Half century = 25 points
Century = 100 points
5 wickets in an innings = 25 points with additional wickets = 10 points
Individual bowler hatrick = 100 points


Photograph 2006/07 Brian "Bull' Walsh Shield Winner DOMINIC BIZARRI

At the moment the club does not keep a progressive point score for this award on the website.

Since the introduction of this award there have been a number of winners, it is now recognised throughout the club as the number one award to win and players who have achieved this honour should be very proud of their achievements throughout the seasons. Although this is an individual award it is hoped that the winning player forms part of a bigger picture within the club, that being a true team member and player.



Photograph Brian "Bull" Walsh proud soldier prior to his first tour in Vietnam

BRIAN “BULL’ WALSH: Who was he & what did he stand for?

When I took over the Presidency of the VEJCC in August of 2006 this was a question that was very much on my mind. As a good friend of this man’s (Brian "bull" Walsh's) brother and nephew, embarrassingly I knew little about the man who’s name was on the trophy. I, like many people, had an interest in the Vietnam War built mainly on it’s history and knowing a few ‘ex-vets’ that had been there. I was too young (thankfully) to have encountered the ballot and the fears and expectations of what was then known as National Service. This age barrier did not extinguish my interest. I listened to their stories; the war ones were interesting, but the mateship and larrikinism were even better. In the early 80’s armed with a head full of stories backed up by some heavy reading I started to get involved in the Vietnam movement. Whilst the war was over a number of years before, these men deserved more. A welcome home parade was discussed (and warranted), I was very interested in the support for these modern day diggers.

As I read about "Bull" I wanted to know more so I made a trip to Canberra to visit the War Museum to see this man’s plaque and read and learn more about him, the units he was involved in and what they did in Vietnam.



Photograph: Brian "Bull" Walsh's name like so many others is placed permanently on the wall with other fallen Comrades in the War Memorial in Canberra.


No matter how many visits to memorial the names and the waste never cease to overcome me from all wars Australia has been involved in, so many young men, so many lives lost.

I learnt a lot about Brian. The visit to Canberra was supplemented by a casual conversation with ‘pop’ Walsh who is always willing to give up information. After considerable thought about this man I concluded the following. In a time and age where the word hero is thrown around way too commonly, this man defines every aspect of the word courageous; committed to himself, his fellow men and his country. In times of adversity a willingness to put his own safety and life at risk trading these comforts to support and help his fellow mates. There were aspects of larrikinism that seem to go hand in hand with the word hero. A willingness to share a joke, a story and in true Walsh form, a beer. Although I never met Brian and sadly he died in 1969 when I was only 4 years old I feel I have met (like all of us) a number of Brian’s since. I concluded from all the information that Brian would be very reluctant to accept the word hero, opting for a humble explanation to his bravery as simply ‘helping a mate out’. Teamwork, leadership and a true desire to succeed evidenced by his rapid rise in rank from private to Warrant Officer in 7 short years justifies this statement, in every way, shape or form a proud Australian.

David Jackson
VECC President June 2008

The Vietnam Memorial in Canberra a place for rememberance of fallen men and women on the Vietnam War

THE BRIAN ‘BULL’ WALSH SHIELD

Now, to the players of Valentine Eleebana Cricket Club. To all the juniors who pull on the hat and take the field under the club name. All players competing for the club at a junior level will be eligible for this award. Throughout the season your runs scored, wickets accrued,and catches taken will all be tallied and points allocated accordingly. At the end of the season the player with the most accrued points will be awarded the Brian ‘Bull’ Walsh shield.

When you are playing for the club, the VECC committee trusts you take on board some of the history learnt within these pages. Nobody likes to glorify war, however characteristics such as team work, honesty, commitment and hard work are what Brian ‘Bull’ Walsh was about and what the Valentine Eleebana Cricket Club will constantly strive for.

Good luck

The VECC Committee 2007

VALENTINE ELEEBANA CRICKET CLUB

WINNERS OF THE BRIAN’BULL’ WALSH SHIELD

2001-2002 PETER HISCOCK
2002-2003 BRENDON BINKS
2003-2004 BEN HARRIS
2004-2005 TIM EDDON
2005-2006 ADAM SEWARD
2006-2007 DOMINIC BIZARRI
2007-2008 SAM DAVIES
2008-2009


Photograph Sam Davies wineer of the 2007/08 award accepts the shield from VECC President David Jackson

WO2 Brian ‘Bull’ WALSH
Army Service No 214468
7 RAR & AAATV
Vietnam Tours 1967-67 & 1969-69


Photograph Brian "Bull" Walsh

The experiences of Brian Walsh were related by his brother Peter “Pop” Walsh

Brian was born on 3rd of October 1939, in a shack built by his parents, Elvin Bailey Walsh and Sarah ‘Dolly’ Irine (nee Wicks) in Merriwa At birth Brian weighed in at a hefty 14 pounds 10 ounces (6.4 kilograms). Brian’s father had won a ‘selection’ on a soldier settlement farm in 1951, in Martindale Creek, Denman. Brian was one of 10 children; Noel, Moira, Patricia, Kevin, Peter, Brian, John, Anne, Dorothy and Allan.

From the time ‘Bull’ as he was known to everyone was nine years old, he worked for a carrier and a woodcutter after school and on weekends. However, he still managed to complete his Intermediate Certificate (now known as the School Certificate) at Muswellbrook High School and then went on to complete an apprenticeship in painting and decorating.

From the age of fifteen Bull played rugby league for Denman, with a great deal of success, until he joined the regular army on the 18th on January 1962. Following the completion of his basic training Bull was sent to Malaya and served there with both the 2RAR (Royal Australian Regiment) and 3RAR.

Bull’s first tour of Vietnam commenced on the 27th October 1967 where he was involved in search and destroy missions. By the 18th November 1967 he has risen in rank to Sergent Brian Walsh, appointed to the 7RAR.

In one incident, Bull and another soldier, both fully armed, perhaps on a short R&R (rest and relaxation) away from their camp, decided to check out a local massage parlour. As night fell their base camp (which was located at the edge of town) came under heavy bombing from enemy fire. Both men knew if they tried to get back to their camp they would be killed either by their own buddies or the V.C (Viet Cong), so both men got onto the roof of the shed at the rear of the parlour and watched the fireworks. They decided that they would take the opportunity to get back when it came. To their amazement four V.C. soldiers came down an open drain, climbed out and walked into the shed that the two Aussies were standing on. The two men looked at each other, quickly pulled the pins on two grenades and threw them into the shed, blowing off the roof as well as themselves!

When they recovered from the shock, they realized how lucky they were to be alive! By then, the parlour girls had dressed their wounds and put them to bed and somehow cared for them. The next morning they checked what was left of the shed, finding no dead bodies but there was a manhole covering a tunnel.

Back in Australia, Bull was training recruits and regular soldiers, with all types of enemy weapons. Early in 1969 he was asked by army command, if he would do a second tour of duty with the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV).
The Hunter Valley man did not know how to say “No”! Bull was promoted to acting Warrant Officer Class 2 and on arrival back in Vietnam, he was sent to the Ben Het area, to train Montagnard tribesman into regular soldiers. These tribespeople were from the mountains and had little communication with others. They learnt to love and respect this Australian leader of men.

On the 11th of May 1969, Bull as the Commander of the 231st Coy, was leading a Montagnard soldier Strike Force group, which was part of a search and clear operation in Kontum Province. The whole battalion came under heavy fire from close range in an ambush. The American battalion commander, Captain Green USSF, was killed while trying to help a wounded Australian; Warrant Officer A.M. Kelly. By this time Bull’s company was now at the front and the fire power from the enemy was extreme – to say the least! He tried to rally his indigenous soldiers, but in vain.

Bull heard W.O. Kelly calling that he was wounded and the V.C. and regular soldiers were getting closer. Under heavy fire, Bull went alone, found Kelly lying in the open, was joined by an American Sergeant and they moved the wounded man to a safer area. During all that time, W.O. Ray Simpson was creating Havoc for the enemy. Moving alone, having the same problem Bull had with the indigenous soldiers, he was crawling, throwing hand grenades and then running. He actually forced the enemy to move back and re-group. When Bull and Simpson got together, Simpson said “Did you get the documents from Green’s body, Brian?” Bull looked at Simpson and said “cover me” and went it alone. The enemy were waiting this time and so was Simpson who stood in the open inviting the enemy to fire at him and not at Bull – he stood behind a large tree only to change his magazine. Bull got the documents and returned to safety, his knife still dripping with blood and his clothes shredded from enemy fire.

Simpson and Bull, in very hazardous circumstances, continued to assist in the evacuation of wounded soldiers, until the arrival of other friendly soldiers.

Bull was awarded the Military Medal for his rank – second only to the Victorian Cross, which was awarded to the great Australian soldier Ray Simpson, Warrant Officer 1st Class. The soldier was a veteran of WW11, Malaya and now Vietnam and beat them every time!

Bull continued to train and work with these Montagnard people, that he cared for until June 27 1969 when he was killed from ambush, during a security sweep of his camp perimeter. Normally, following a kill the V.C. would take a solders clothing, weapon and boots, with Bull they pulled his hat over his head wound, folded his arms across his chest and left him fully intact, some soldiers say this is a mark of respect for a Hunter Valley hero.

This information came to my mother and I directly from W.O. Kelly who visited us after his wounds had healed. Bull’s medals can be viewed in the Denman RSL Club House and include: a Military Medal, two General Service Medals and Bar, the Malaya and Borneo Star, the Vietnam Medal with bar, the Australian Active Service Medal and the Meritorious Unit Commendation for the Australian Army Training Team, Vietnam.

The Other Ranks Command Post Canteen at Myambat was named after Bull, officially nominated by Major General D.M. Mueller A.M. on the 29th November 1994 – a mark of respect from the Army. The Myambat Club has copies of the medals and a photo of Brian.

One memento of Bull’s that I still have is the wooden police baton and kung fu numb chuck he owned.

In a little over seven years Bull rose from joining the army as a Private, to the rank of Warrant Officer 2nd Class. Some say he was the most decorated soldier from the Hunter Valley to be involved in the Vietnam War.

My condolences, pride and respect to all Australian soldiers, living or dead, including their families.


Photograph Of the War Memorial in Canberra



Photograph


Vietnam War 1962–72

Australian support for South Vietnam in the early 1960s was in keeping with the policies of other nations, particularly the United States, to stem the spread of communism in Europe and Asia. In 1961 and 1962 Ngo Dinh Diem, leader of the government in South Vietnam, repeatedly requested security assistance from the US and its allies. Australia eventually responded with 30 military advisers, dispatched as the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV), also known as "the team". Their arrival in South Vietnam during July and August 1962 was the beginning of Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War. In August 1964 the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) also sent a flight of Caribou transports to the port town of Vung Tau.
By early 1965, when it had become clear that South Vietnam could not stave off the communist insurgents and their North Vietnamese comrades for more than a few months, the US commenced a major escalation of the war. By the end of the year it had committed 200,000 troops to the conflict. As part of the build up, the US government requested further support from friendly countries in the region, including Australia. The Australian government dispatched the 1st Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR) in June 1965 to serve alongside the US 173rd Airborne Brigade in Bien Hoa province.

The following year the Australian government felt that Australia's involvement in the conflict should be both strong and identifiable. In March 1966 the government announced the dispatch of a taskforce to replace 1RAR, consisting of two battalions and support services (including a RAAF squadron of Iroquois helicopters), to be based at Nui Dat, Phuoc Tuy province. Unlike 1RAR, the taskforce was assigned its own area of operations and included conscripts who had been called up under the National Service Scheme, introduced in 1964. All nine RAR battalions served in the taskforce at one time or another, before it was withdrawn in 1971; at the height of Australian involvement it numbered some 8,500 troops. A third RAAF squadron (of Canberra jet bombers) was also committed in 1967 and destroyers of the Royal Australian Navy joined US patrols off the North Vietnamese coast. The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) also contributed a clearance diving team and a helicopter detachment that operated with the US Army from October 1967.
In August 1966 a company of 6RAR was engaged in one of Australia's heaviest actions of the war, near Long Tan.

After three hours of fierce fighting, during which it seemed the Australian forces would be overrun by the enemy's greater numbers, the Viet Cong withdrew, leaving behind 245 dead and carrying away many more casualties. Eighteen Australians were killed and 24 wounded. The battle eliminated communist dominance over the province.

The year 1968 began with a major offensive by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army, launched during the Vietnamese lunar new year holiday period, known as "Tet". Not only the timing but the scale of the offensive came as a complete surprise, taking in cities, towns, and military installations in South Vietnam. While the "Tet Offensive" ultimately ended in military defeat for the communists, it was a propaganda victory. US military planners began to question if a decisive victory could ever be achieved and the offensive stimulated the US public opposition to the war. For Australian troops, the effects of the offensive were felt around their base at Nui Dat, where a Viet Cong attack on targets around Baria, the provincial capital, was repulsed with few casualties.

By 1969 anti-war protests were gathering momentum in Australia. Opposition to conscription mounted, as more people came to believe the war could not be won. A "Don't register" campaign to dissuade young men from registering for conscription gained increasing support and some of the protests grew violent. The US government began to implement a policy of "Vietnamisation'', the term coined for a gradual withdrawal of US forces that would leave the war in the hands of the South Vietnamese. With the start of the phased withdrawals, the emphasis of the activities of the Australians in Phuoc Tuy province shifted to the provision of training to the South Vietnamese Regional and Popular Forces.

At the end of April 1970 US and South Vietnamese troops were ordered to cross the border into Cambodia. While the invasion succeeded in capturing large quantities of North Vietnamese arms, destroying bunkers and sanctuaries, and killing enemy soldiers, it ultimately proved disastrous. By bringing combat into Cambodia, the invasion drove many people to join the underground opposition, the Khmer Rouge, irreparably weakening the Cambodian government. When the Khmer Rouge came to power in April 1975 it imposed a cruel and repressive regime that killed several million Cambodians and left the country with internal conflict that continues today. The extension of the war into a sovereign state, formally neutral, inflamed anti-war sentiment in the United States and provided the impetus for further anti-war demonstrations in Australia. In the well-known Moratoriums of 1970, more than 200,000 people gathered to protest against the war, in cities and towns throughout the country.

By late 1970 Australia had also begun to wind down its military effort in Vietnam. The 8th Battalion departed in November but, to make up for the decrease in troop numbers, the Team's strength was increased and its efforts, like those of the taskforce, became concentrated in Phuoc Tuy province.

The withdrawal of troops and all air units continued throughout 1971 – the last battalion left Nui Dat on 7 November, while a handful of advisers belonging to the Team remained in Vietnam the following year. In December 1972 they became the last Australian troops to come home, with their unit having seen continuous service in South Vietnam for ten and a half years. Australia's participation in the war was formally declared at an end when the Governor-General issued a proclamation on 11 January 1973. The only combat troops remaining in Vietnam were a platoon guarding the Australian embassy in Saigon, which was withdrawn in June 1973.

]In early 1975 the communists launched a major offensive in the north of South Vietnam, resulting in the fall of Saigon on 30 April. In the previous month a RAAF detachment of 7-8 Hercules transports flew humanitarian missions to aid civilian refugees displaced by the fighting and carried out the evacuation of Vietnamese orphans (Operation Babylift), before finally taking out embassy staff on 25 April.
From the time of the arrival of the first members of the Team in 1962 some 50,000 Australians, including ground troops and air force and navy personnel, served in Vietnam; 520 died as a result of the war and almost 2,400 were wounded.
The war was the cause of the greatest social and political dissent in Australia since the conscription referendums of the First World War. Many draft resisters, conscientious objectors, and protesters were fined or gaoled, while soldiers met a hostile reception on their return home.

EXCERTS FROM THE AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL CANBERRA

Photograph

Vietnam Veterans gather in Civic Park Newcastle in 2008 to mark the 40th Aniversary of the Battle of Long Tan

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE
AUSTRALIAN ARMY TRAINING TEAM VIETNAM
"It is their war and you are to help them, not win it for them"
(LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, 1917)

The Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV), affectionately known as "The Team", was raised and sent to Vietnam in 1962 initially under the command of Colonel F.P.Serong (then Brigadier, now deceased).
The Unit at this time consisted of 30 Officers and Warrant Officers who were originally to be employed in the training roles of Vietnamese Units. As the war escalated in 1965 AATTV was increased to 100 members (including some Staff Sergeants, Sergeants and Corporals) and they were employed from the Delta areas in the far South to the Northern border of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating North and South Vietnam.
AATTV was both elite and unique. It's members were specially selected, it was small, and for it's size it was one of the most highly decorated Units in the history of the Australian Army. It's claim to uniqueness springs from a number of factors; it existed only in Vietnam where members joined it from Australia, singly or in drafts, it consisted mostly of Officers and Warrant Officers who operated individually, in pairs, or occasionally in groups of normally not more than ten; and it's task was unique- training, advising, or commanding a variety of Vietnamese forces. The first Australian Unit into Vietnam and the last out, it was operational for ten years, four months, and sixteen days, achieving the distinction of being the longest serving unit of any service in any theatre of war. Even if only because of it's name, it is not likely to exist again. The members of AATTV were so spread across South Vietnam that they met as a Unit only on ANZAC day, and once when they paraded in Vung Tau in 1970 to receive a Unit honour from the Commander of the American Forces, General Abrams. Collectively theUnit can claim to have built up a special knowledge of the war as it was fought over the whole of South Vietnam. Early in the conflict the Unit was referred to by a Federal MP as "the expendables".
The AATTV identification shoulder patch is green shield with gold lettering, a boomerang with 'AATTV ' across the top of the shield, a crossbow depiction the Unit's involvement with the Montagnard tribes of the mountain regions who played a large part in"The Team's" operations and below this, a scroll with the word 'Persevere' entered within.

The plaque dedicated to the Australian Army Training Team located at the Australian War Memorial Canberra

SOURCES & FURTHER READING ON THE VIETNAM WAR
Chris Coulthard-Clark, The RAAF in Vietnam: Australian air involvement in the Vietnam War 1962–1975, The Official History of Australia's Involvement in Southeast Asian Conflicts 1948–1975, vol. 4 (Sydney: Allen & Unwin in association with the Australian War Memorial, 1995)
Peter Dennis et al., The Oxford companion to Australian military history (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1995)
Peter Edwards, A nation at war: Australian politics, society, and diplomacy during the Vietnam War 1965–1975, The Official History of Australia's Involvement in Southeast Asian Conflicts 1948–1975, vol. 6 (Sydney: Allen & Unwin in association with the Australian War Memorial, 1997)
Jeffrey Grey, Up top: the Royal Australian Navy in Southeast Asian Conflicts, 1955–1972, The Official History of Australia's Involvement in Southeast Asian Conflicts 1948–1975, vol. 7 (Sydney: Allen & Unwin in association with the Australian War Memorial, 1998)
Ian McNeill, To Long Tan: the Australian Army and the Vietnam War 1950–1966, The Official History of Australia's Involvement in Southeast Asian Conflicts 1948–1975, vol. 2 (Sydney: Allen & Unwin in association with the Australian War Memorial, 1993)
Ian McNeill and Ashley Ekins, On the offensive: the Australian Army in the Vietnam War 1967–1968, The Official History of Australia's Involvement in Southeast Asian Conflicts 1948–1975, vol. 8 (Sydney: Allen & Unwin in association with the Australian War Memorial, 2003)
J. Rowe, Vietnam: the Australian experience (Sydney: Time-Life Books Australia and John Ferguson, 1987)