About 102 Field Workshop RAEME

The Beginning

102 Field Workshop RAEME was raised at Ingleburn, New South Wales in 1966. The Unit was raised as a type A field workshop and its role was to provide Second Line repair and recovery for a Task Force.

The manning of the Unit consisted of approximately 8 Officers and 120 other ranks and was made up of both Regular Army and National Service personnel.

Type A field workshops were designed essentially for rapid deployment and as such were essentially air portable.

To achieve this the Unit was supplied with Technical Landrover and Trailer vehicles that are air portable. Additionally it was supplemented with a number of International trucks to further support Electronics and an Instrument Repair as well as Stores carrying capacity. There was also an M543 Recovery vehicle and a M113 Fitters Track.

The main body of the Unit departed Sydney for deployment with the 1st Australian Logistic Support Group located at Vung Tau in Phuc Thy Province, South Vietnam. The up-lift was in two groups on the 10th and 11th June 1967 and was preceded about a week earlier by the Officer Commanding and an Advance Party.

102 Field Workshop RAEME replaced 101 Field Workshop RAEME that had originally been deployed with the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, battalion group.

The deployment of 102 Field Workshop RAEME into Vietnam was part of an operation called Winter Grip. Operation Winter Grip was carried out between April and June 1967 and involved the deployment of some 2400 soldiers.

The Unit departed from Sydney International Airport flying to Darwin aboard Douglas DC6B domestic aircraft, charted from QANTAS. From Darwin, the Unit was flown by Hercules C130E aircraft belonging to No. 36 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) to the American Airbase at Vung Tau. There was a short stopover enroute for refuelling in Singapore.

After the arrival of 102 Field Workshop in country there were many changes to the Unit including its accommodation, manning and role. Physically, those changes were especially noticeable over the first 12 months as tent accommodation gave way to permanent barracks. The workshop facilities were greatly improved with more hard standing and purpose built accommodation such as air-conditioned workshops for radio and instrument repair.

In 1968, 106 Field Workshop RAEME was raised at the 1^st Australian Task Force (1 ATF) in Nui Dat providing second line repair and recovery and allowing 102 Field Workshop to expand its role.

102 Field Workshop was never replaced as a Unit entity. Instead a policy was introduced where individual soldiers were replaced as they completed their tour of duty and many soldiers passed through the Unit en-route to various units within 1 ATF.

In all approximately 766 soldiers served in 102 Field Workshop RAEME.

The End

On Tuesday, 29th February 1972 the last Australian soldiers departed from Phuc Thuy Province, Vietnam (with the exception of members of the Australian Army Training Team, and soldiers posted outside Phuc Thuy Province).

On that day in 1972, members of the Australian Army, representing: Armour (Detachment A Squadron 3 Cavalry Regiment), Infantry (D Company, 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment), Military Police Detachment, Royal Australian Army Service Corps (Detachment with Diamond Reo semi- trailers), Detachment 102 Field Workshop RAEME and other Units; a total of 483 soldiers, boarded HMAS Sydney (The Vung Tau Ferry) at Vung Tau Harbour and at about 3:00 pm local time, HMAS Sydney weighed anchor, and with HMAS Torrens as Escort, departed Vietnam for Sydney, arriving at Garden Island on the 12th March 1972 at about 8:00am.

The Resurrection

Some years later, on the 1st May 1977, 102 Field Workshop RAEME was resurrected to support Field Force Units in the Townsville area. It was however indistinguishable from, and under command of North Queensland Area Workshop (NQ Area Wksp).

When the Operational Deployment Force (ODF) was established in 1980 it was only a matter of time before 102 Fd Wksp separated from NQ Area Wksp. This occurred in February 1981 when the command status changed to under command Headquarters 1^st Division (HQ 1 Div).

The new 102 Fd Wksp had an authorised strength of 8 Officers and 108 Other Ranks. It was designated a light scales workshop and its role is to provide second line repair and recovery for a light scales brigade and is essentially air portable for rapid deployment by land, sea, air or a combination of these.^**

^** Extracted from an article written by Lt G.E. Harding and appearing in the RAEME Craftsmen Magazine Vol 1, No 8, June 1982.

Web Site and Database

This web site was born in 1998 following a discussion between some 102 Vets in Brisbane.

At that time it was thought that a web page would be an ideal method to provide a list of contact information that could be easily accessed by former members (most libraries in Australia have Internet access the public can use.

Former members of 102 Fd Wksp are able to add their details to the Data Base and Contact Page using the links on the left.

In early 2005 it was decided to register the 102fdwksp.com domain name giving us an easily remembered Web Site address. A major benefit of the new arrangement is that the site can now have interactive pages, such as the Message Board. We are also working on added more photos to our pages.

Note: The information collected is for historical purposes and is held in strict confidence. A backup copy is held by Bob Church. Contact details will only be divulged or published on the web page if permission has been given to do so.

The 102 Reunions at Avondale

Some years ago, a few of the Unit Veterans got together and held a reunion on a farm in Victoria. This came about at the 1987 Welcome Home March held in Sydney. At that time, they decided to get together every couple of years and each time the reunion has been held the attendance has increased.

The reunion is hosted by Noel and Una Lake and their hospitality and friendliness is just outstanding. The reunion is held on their dairy farm Avondale near Koondrook, Vic.

Reunions are held on a regular basis and a Report published on News Letters link