5. From 6TTU to Vietnam – An APC for Australia
Posted on: Mon 23 May 2022
Episode 5: Life and work in and around Innisfail. Grasso’s Garage. Bogged or sunk in the Eubenangee Swamp. RAAC Veterans Peter McDonald; Ian ‘Icky’ Smith; and RAASC Veterans David Childs; Fred ‘Blue’ Hickey; and Glen Hutley.
Army Veteran/Journalist Ross Eastgate OAM tells us the background of Major George Lancaster OC at 6TTU and MAJ GEN Timothy Cape who visited the trials.
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Throughout this 8 part series, produced via a Saluting Their Service Major Commemorative Grant, Army Veterans recount memories of heading up to Far North Queensland and the little town of Innisfail in the mid 1960s to participate in tropical trials on wheeled and tracked vehicles. Some travelled by train, some flew or drove their own vehicles and others were part of a large convoy that left Puckapunyal in 1964. Many who participated in 6 Tropical Trials Unit (6TTU) went on to serve in Vietnam.
The series is MC’d by RAAC Veteran Craig Haydock.
Photo: Convoy to Innisfail 1964. Overnight Longreach. Photo provided by Glen Hutley and used with permission
