The 5RAR Association President, Roger Wainwright, has placed a notice on this website’s Notice Board concerning the plan to publish a revised edition of our book, “The Year of the Tigers”. I have been asked to coordinate this project.

As indicated by Roger this will not be a complete rewrite but will be limited to correcting aspects of the current book (such as the list of and citations for decorations and awards, the nominal roll, etc) and include a new supplement of pictures.

Would members of 5RAR who served in the battalion’s second tour of South Vietnam in 1969-70 please commence gathering photographs for inclusion in the revised edition? Photos should preferably have captions identifying people and if possible, the occasion.

I will notify you later about how and where to send these photos.

I would also appreciate your thoughts and ideas for inclusions in the revised edition, as well as the identification of any mistakes, misspellings, etc, in the current edition.

In addition to your comments on this forum, you may contact me by email on dwilkins@bigpond.net.au. However it is likely my responses won’t be until after 8 May as I shall be away till then.

In the meantime, thinking caps on and delve into the old trunk under the house for those Vietnam photos.

After going through your great web site I was wondering if you a list of deceased veterans. My first husband Alfred Thomas (tom) Harris served with 5RAR 69-70 and passed away 1980 from cancer. He left a 2yr old and a 7 month old behind.My youngest son s the one who found this site and is very interested in all the history of 5RAR

Hi Veronica,

There is no definitive list. We rely on our members to inform us and are added to the 'Vale Page' as they come to hand.

Cheers,

Ted.

Dave, I have heaps of photos and slides from 2nd tour, I was in 1 pl A coy. Will not be back from trip to Canada till 24 May, will this be too late to submit them?. Cheers Neville Thompson

Thanks Nev,

I am also away at present and won't be back in Oz till May so will make arangements when you RTA.

Regards

Dave

Served with 6Pl B coy 5RAR both tours. Have some old 8MM "in base" films and some slides from 2nd Tour. Pls advise how to transfer to you (semi-computer literate)
Regards
J F

G'day all,
I've been away for a while but am back into things again. I will get back to you all shortly as to what will happen in gathering the info and photographs, the format of the pics (hard copy or electronic and so on).
As I understand things, there is still some preliminary action to be finalised by the 5RAR Association committee with the publisher- contract terms etc. When that is sorted out I will meet with the publisher and ascertain what he requires. In gathering the info and pics I will then try to get assistance from some of our 2nd tour blokes and then put it all together.
Watch this space.
Best wishes,
Dave

Jim Fitzgerald and Neville Thompson, could you please email me? I am at
dwilkins@bigpond.net.au

A new notice has been placed on this website's “Notice Board” but in summary, any photographs should either be the original photo or a glossy photographic copy, or alternatively, a digital image. If scanning your photos to be sent to me by email or CD, please scan at 300 dpi in either TIF or JPG format, preferably TIF.
Please send any material and photos to me NO LATER THAN 30 June 2008.
For details see the the Notice Board.

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD.

Hi
Will the book be made available outside of Australia ?

Thanks in advance for any reply .

G'day son of a Tiger (which one?),

I anticipate the book will be available towards the end of the year but I am unsure what the publisher intends as far as overseas marketing and sales. However the 5RAR Association will have stocks (or at least access to them) and I'm sure will take orders in due course. It should appear for sale in the "memorabilia" part of this website, at
http://www.5rar.asn.au/assocn/sale.htm

I am the Son of W Herbert .

And I was talking to him on the phone just this afternoon!!

OK folks, time is getting short to respond to my request for photos, suggestions, correction of errors, etc.
Not much in from A and D Coys, or from Assault Pioneers, Mortars, Sigs or Medics.
Even if you have just one or two pics, send 'em in and they will be considered.

Please get your photos and suggestions to me BY 30 JUNE.

See details on the Notice Board of this website.

Gentlemen,

Time has passed and I have been swamped with over 2,000 photos, which has been most gratifying. I am now in the process of sorting them and arriving at a "short list" for consideration. I will then decide on which ones actually make the new edition of the battalion book.
BUT FIRST I need captions and names of people in many of the photographs. Some of the photos on the "short list" are now posted on this website. See the notice on the home page. Click on the link and survey the photographs.
PLEASE get back to me if you can assist.
Now that will test the old memory boxes!

Hi Dave...

We're sure the enormous task you are undertaking is with the right man. I've forgotten if you were nominated for the task at hand or you were game enough to have volunteered.......either way mate, never think for a moment that your committment goes unnoticed, because I know many of us appreciate your skills & efforts.

You're sure testing our memory boxes with the ID's.
Maybe the pics that don't get used in the YOTT could later grace our website. I have often looked forward to pics sent to me for ID. Although not always very successful...with a bit of help, we seem to manage a pretty good strike rate.

You sound like you're on a roll Dave.......A big thanks from our association, and feel sure we're all looking forward to the end result.

Any space available for your 'Anatomy of a Bunker Contact'?

I thought it was fantastic. Congratulations!

Finally, have you ever thought of writing a book?

I've had no luck in ID-ing the pics you've posted.
Hope others have had better luck for you.

Cheers Mate

Bill

Thanks for your words of encouragement and appreciation Bill. They are much appreciated, as a lot of effort has gone into this very worthwhile project.
Apart the nightmarish nominal roll, which I am still working on, the material for the revised edition is now in the hands of the publisher.

IF ANYONE IS AWARE OF ERRORS IN THE NOMINAL ROLL PLEASE EMAIL ME ASAP.

I hope we will see the new book on the streets before the end of the year. I'll be placing a bit of detail on this website's notice board shortly.

hey,

Just wanted to say thanks for the extra info on Pte Brines. Just wondering how did you know what company he was in??

thanks

Since the last post on this forum the draft 3rd edition of The Year of The Tigers has gone backwards and forwards several times between the publisher and myself, when printer errors have been discovered. It is now in the hands of the printers, hopefully for the last time, for the scanning of the pages ready for the final printing process. We are anticipating the book will now be published and available to Association members and the general public by next month, April 2009.

Essentially a pictorial record, this extensively revised and expanded 3rd edition of a hardback book originally published in 1970, is about 400 pages in length and contains over 550 photographs, diagrams and maps, with many of the latest photos contributed by 5RAR veterans from previously long-forgotten collections.

It records the actions and achievements of “The Tiger Battalion” during its second tour of duty in the Vietnam War in 1969-70 including some new information about its involvement in the War (e.g., bunker systems, land clearing, the “Vietnamisation” or pacification programme, mine incidents, the Tracker Platoon, the Assault Pioneer Platoon, MAT teams etc). The background history to the war has been updated, as has the battalion’s honours and awards including the citations for those who were mentioned in dispatches. 5RAR’s 1969 victory over 1st Battalion 33rd NVA Regiment in the Battle of Binh Ba is the subject of more commentary, photographs, maps and diagrams. To the best of my ability I have also corrected the nominal roll (from conflicting data). An index is now included.

I believe the book will be a worthwhile addition to the military historian’s library as well as an essential record of 5RAR’s deeds for the veterans themselves, their immediate families and generations to come.

Dave Wilkins
Editor

Hi
When the book does go on sale what methods of payment will be available ?

I am informed by Blue Schafer, our memorabilia man, that payment for the book may be by cheque or money order, payable to:
5 RAR Association

All orders should be sent to:
Ron Hamlyn
31 Kenilworth Street
BONDI JUNCTION
NSW 2022.

Please see the memorabilia order form on this website.
I am unsure of the price and postage costs for the new edition. They will be notified shortly.