Kim Bayly: Aussie Centurions Vietnam
Posted on: Mon 27 Nov 2023
Australian National Service Conscription in 1970 didn’t really phase young Kim Bayly. He’d served in Army Cadets at school. His father had served in WWII in the Middle East and Burma. But what did the youthful Kim know beforehand about Vietnam, the country he arrived in just a year after being drawn into the Australian Army to serve with C Squadron, 1st Armoured Regiment?
Kim tells us about his experiences, including during the battle of Long Khanh. The Centurion Tank that Kim was in during that battle is now on display at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
Image: South Vietnam June 1971. Sitting astride an Armoured Recovery Vehicle (ARV), his M60 machine gun close by, is Private Frank Jelen of Fairfield, NSW, a member of the 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment. The ARV is followed by a Centurion tank. Australian soldiers of 3RAR and 4RAR combined with C Squadron, 1st Armoured Regiment, in Operation Overlord on the border of Phuoc Tuy and Long Khanh Provinces. AWM Copyright expired
