Ken Matthews: Malaya, Borneo, Vietnam
Posted on: Mon 13 Jun 2022
In a quiet tree-lined street in a Melbourne suburb, Ken Matthews, a Veteran of both the Malaya/Borneo conflict and the Vietnam War, sat at his dining-room table with Service Voices and recorded his experiences.
Enlisting in 1960 with the intention of becoming a motor mechanic, he found himself graduating from recruit training as an infantry soldier – do you think his Mum was dismayed!! He was soon on his way to the jungles of Malaya and Borneo with 3RAR to fight in a conflict that even today, more than 50 years on, is still little known by the general public.
Ken eventually left the Army and enlisted in the RAAF where he completed aircraft mechanic training and served in Vietnam.
Main image: Sarawak, Borneo 1965. Members of 3RAR boarding an RAF Belvedere helicopter, about to transport the men to a jungle clearing, from where they’ll set out on patrol in search of Indonesian infiltrators. AWM
