We all remember when, if the Airmen’s Bar wanted more beer, we would have to go to the US Navy Commissary in Cholon, a suburb in Saigon, to buy it from them. Do you remember how it went? A couple of blokes would grab the Milk Run to Ton Son Nuit, get off and grab…
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NOTES FROM THE REAR “Who were you with?” asked the bloke about my age at the bar after the parade. “Wallaby Airlines.” I replied “Wallaby Airlines.” he repeated “The Caribous.” I was quite pleased that he was that knowledgeable. Many Vietnam vets I‟d spoken to since the war had to be filled in on the…
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Tuesday, 26th February, 1969. The sound of the four Pratt and Whitney JT3 Jet engines was becoming louder as the speed of the QANTAS 707 decreased as we approached Saigon airport. Looking out the window, I could see the landscape changing from the dark green and shimmering rivers, to more defined shapes, and buildings. Mixed…
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There has always been rivalry between all three military services but as for me, I now wave a flag of truce as I reflect on days gone by in peace and war. There are so many memories, the reliable and beloved Huey helicopter, the seemingly vulnerable Spartan patrol boats and then of course those magnificent…
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As the RAAF is planning to demob Caribous it is an appropriate time that the origins of “Wallaby” are explained. The like most tales of origins the name “Wallaby” Airlines was a combination of different events. To the best of my recollections this is how the nameless form; a name which later became famous in…
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