FILM AUSTRALIA COLLECTION

ANZAC Day, 1966. Soldiers of the 1st Battalion Royal Australian Regiment recently returned from duty in Vietnam march down Martin Place, Sydney. Crowds of spectators lining the footpath cheer and applaud. GS confetti floating in air and yellow & green streamers. Quicktime clip available.

Tilt to underside of flying Australian Army helicopter on patrol in South Vietnam. POV from inside of helicopter looking out with soldier holding machine gun. Australian 1st Battalion soldiers on search and destroy mission in Vietcong stronghold south of Saigon. American soldiers walk alongside their moving armoured vehicles. Australian soldiers patrol jungle area. Australian Army engineer (sapper) clears area for Vietcong booby traps. Quicktime clip available.

Soldiers clear jungle for bivouac and wait in camp while soldiers patrol perimeter. Soldier reads magazine. WS of explosion in country field. Australian soldiers on patrol. Australian Defence Force. Soldiers in bunkers setting off explosives. Australian Chinook helicopters delivering artillery prepare to land. US Air Force jets fly over. Chinook and helicopters fly above jungle. Australian soldiers load and fire artillery guns. WS of explosions. Soldiers sit around camp cleaning their guns. Quicktime clip available.

Sunrise at camp site. Soldier shaving in orange sunrise light. Soldiers by camp fire with billy boiling. Soldier by tent eats from cup. Australian soldiers on foot patrol in rubber plantation. Australian Defence Force. Soldiers board armoured personnel carriers. Carriers with armed soldiers on top drive past a village. Flying Australian Army spotter plane (Bird Dog) makes check of possible enemy ground movement. Troops alight from carrier and search local Vietnamese. Burnt out building in South Vietnamese village. Vietnamese woman carrying baskets. Dug out ground hole in village, probably Vietcong. Quicktime clip available.

Medical Clinic is set up in village by 1st Battalion Medical Platoon. Vietnamese woman is given a check-up. Soldier questions and checks identification of Vietnamese man with small boy. Armoured soldiers sitting on top of carrier drive through deserted villages. Group of soldiers examine a cache of abandoned Chinese made antitank rockets. Australian soldiers swim in lake while US jets fly overhead. Quicktime clip available.

Soldiers line up for dinner at their camp site. Their meal of iced water, roast chicken, tomato juice and an apple has been delivered by helicopter. The soldiers eat their meal and then relax with either sleep, writing or reading. Colonel of the Battalion instructs his platoon. He uses a map to describe their movements. A group of helicopters fly towards camera, soldiers look on. Helicopters land and VS troops quickly boarding. Helicopters taking off and in flight. Aerials over Bien Hoa air base POV helicopter. Quicktime clip available.

WS helicopters arriving at Bien Hoa Air Base and soldiers alighting. Soldiers read their mail, newspaper and take a shower wearing thongs. A group of shirtless soldiers drink beer and smoke cigarettes in base tent pub. Jets fly over and take off from air base. Soldiers dressed in civilian clothes board a truck for a day's leave in Saigon. MS shirtless soldiers in drill training. Soldiers sitting at desks do school work in preparation for matriculation. Soldiers play a game of touch football. Quicktime clip available.

Small group of soldiers receive their orders for their next operation against the Vietcong. MS tattoos on troops forearm. Radio equipment and weapons are checked. VS armorer firing off magazines of bullets into a dirt hole. Quicktime clip available.

Sun shining through branches of trees. Various shots of Australian soldiers in combat with Vietcong in jungle location. Soldiers with rifles lie on ground behind logs. A soldier uses radio communication. Soldiers on foot move further into the jungle. CU of soldiers faces as they wait behind tree branches. Stretcher is carried through jungle. Ambulance helicopter flies over and lands in cleared area. Soldiers place stretcher with dead or injured soldier on board. Helicopter takes off. Quicktime clip available.

Australian soldier silhouetted against dawn sky. WS bright orange sunrise. Australian and US soldiers in trucks and on road prepare to leave Bien Hoa Military base. Australian soldiers board helicopter. Good shot line of helicopters preparing to take off with propellers turning in soft dawn light. They start to take off row by row. Shots of helicopters in front of sun in orange sky. End credits. Quicktime clip available.