Story 88 - Australian Forces Radio
Vietnam (Vung Tau)
By Ian Granland OAM
Introduction
I was walking the dog this afternoon and
listening to some music on Spotify which I found bought back some
memories of Saturday Nights in South Vietnam at the 104 Sig Sqn
Boozer.
Bluey Granland, Barman in the 104
Sig Sqn Sergeant's Mess in 1970.
Photo supplied by Ian Granland
Normally the Headquarter Troop (HQ Tp) which included the clerks, drivers, techs, GDs, etc, would work six days a week, then get Sunday off. This didn’t always happen but it did leave us with a couple of options for a free Sunday. Either travel to the 1st Australian Logistic Support Group (1ALSG) in Vung Tau by vehicle convoy, where we could have a swim in the ‘Harold Holt Memorial Pool’ (I can never work out if the naming of the pool was a joke or just an honest mistake) or in the South China Sea plus get on the grog or stay back at the unit and get some sleep plus get on the grog.
104 Sig Sqn members at the bar in
the boozer AKA Abraham Club.
Photo supplied by Ian Granland
But back to
Saturday Nights. HQ Tp would knock off in the afternoon
at 4:15pm then after donning long-sleeved shirt and always long
trousers, to fend off the mozzies, we would make our way across to
the boozer for a couple of ‘pre-dinner drinks’.
The boozer would
close whilst we dined, then re-open and we would drink, play darts
and drink. At 15c per can who could blame us? But the
beer was allocated, Task Force wide, at two cans per man per day
according to the strength of the unit. The fulltime boozer barman
would take a Land Rover and trailer to the storage and alcohol issue
unit which was behind the PX at Luscombe Bowl, each Thursday to pick
up our unit’s allocation.
What was welcomed by us drinkers, was the few, (a very few) of those who did not drink or blokes who were out with Infantry Battalions, on leave or whatever because their allocation was still counted, so we (just) had enough to go round for the seven days.
104 Sig Sqn members at the bar in
the boozer AKA Abraham Club.
Photo supplied by Ian Granland
Just an aside with
the beer. Our issue would be made up with all brands of beer
from the various states of Australia. The most popular was VB,
so that would be first to be consumed, then XXXX, then maybe
Toohey’s, then Cascade from Tasmania, so by about Tuesday Night we
were drinking Boags from South Australia and way down the list was
that terribly tasting beer from WA. It was this beer that we
were left to drink on the last night before the weekly allocation
was replenished.
Australian Forces Radio
However, and to the point of my story, a little talked about social amusement was the Australian Forces Radio Vietnam (AFRV) based in Vung Tau and broadcasting on 1040KHz Frequency Modulation (FM) with a power output of 500 watts. We didn’t have FM in Australia then - not until 1980 was the first FM radio stations launched.
Volunteer DJ Lt Anthony Roberts (110 Sig Sqn) at AFRV Vung
Tau Radio Station in 1970.
AFRV was put
together in 1969 by the RAAF in Vung Tau and was a great and wonderful support
for the Australian troops throughout the country, even though it was
ultra-small compared to the American Forces Radio Vietnam
(AFVN), which broadcast right across Vietnam 24/7 and was part of
the world-wide American Military Radio Network. We also listed to
AFVN because our Australian station had limited on air schedules.
Overview on AFVN is below.
Well, of a Saturday night when we were
getting on the turps, AFRV had a ring-in request session and because
we were a signals unit, we had no problem contacting the station in
Vung Tau.
I can remember a lot of us used to ring in with the most wacko requests which included:
·
Wichita Linesman
by
Glen Campbell
(Good for a signals unit)
·
Hit the Road Jack
by Ray Charles
(There were covert reasons this was requested)
·
Dirty Old Egg
Sucking Dog
by
Johnny Cash
(This one would regularly be requested and dedicated to
our SSM, Brian
Houston, and although that was announced on air, there was
never
any repercussions from the SSM)
I had a friend who
used to work for the Daily Telegraph in Sydney as a sports
journalist. Un-be-known to me he was called up and ended up in
the Service Corps based in Saigon doing a fair bit of work for army
public relations.
The American
Forces Radio always had a weekly Australian news segment and on this
particular day, around lunch time I happened to be listening.
Who came on to report on what was happening at home, but my friend
from the Daily Telegraph. Trouble was, he was as blind as a
bat (drink wise). As a result, he was never asked to read the
news on AFVN again. I ended up contacting him and he and a colleague
came to see me at Nui Dat.
We used to listen
also to Radio Australia when it was rebroadcast by AFRV, which
incidentally, was a great saviour to the two soldiers in 104 Sig Sqn
who separately operated an SP bookie service each Saturday on the
Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane races. But that’s another
story.
Broadcast Example
For an example of a AFRV broadcast from Vung Tau in the early hours of 13 June 1971, which a number of calls to 104 Sig Sqn members and others click the following slide.
Click
listen to AFRV broadcast 13 June 1971
Note: Some calls to
104 Sig Sqn members. Supplied by Ian Granland
final broadcast
at mid-night 14 February 1972.
Note: Film credits are at
the end
Overview American Forces Vietnam Network
As the American military presence in Vietnam increased, they opened radio and later television stations there. During the Vietnam War, the first broadcasts were beamed to the ground from fully equipped flying studios operated by the United States Navy. Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) stations in Vietnam were initially known by the name "AFRS" (Armed Forces Radio Saigon), but as the number of stations quickly expanded throughout South Vietnam became known as "AFVN" (American Forces Vietnam Network) and had several stations including Nha Trang, Pleiku, Da Nang, Vung Tau with the headquarters station in Saigon. In Vietnam, AFVN had a number of war related casualties. The station staff in Hue during TET 1968 were captured and spent time as prisoners of war. At the height of American involvement in the war, AFVN served over 500,000 fighting men and women at one time.
The movie "Good Morning Vietnam" staring Robin Williams told the story of US Air Force AFVN Radio Announcer, Adrian Cronauer, who used imagination and innovation to make more of a difference with his craft than his superiors felt they could tolerate. The soldiers in the field loved his programs including the Australian Diggers.
Click Good Morning Vietnam (Soundtrack)
Click Good Morning Vietnam AFVN Network (Dawn Busters 9 Sept ?)