August RSL Monthly Newsletter

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Angeles City Sub Branch Philippines www.rslangelescity.com ‘Lest We Forget’ President Vice Presidents Secretary Treasurer

James Curtis-Smith Noel Roach Vivien Hart Dallas Drake Bob Young

Editor

Larry Smith

Email address’:

Clubhouse: Ponderosa Hotel president@rslangelescity.com

secretary@rslangelescity.com treasurer@rslangelescity.com

editor@rslangelescity.com

Newsletter # 41 ** August 2010 AUSTRALIAN VIETNAM VETERANS DAY 18TH AUGUST 2010 Angeles City RSL will be conducting a commemorative service at Clark War Cemetery commencing at 1100 hrs with after service refreshments at Ponderosa Hotel, Mountain View Angeles City.

Raffle tickets are for sale on entry to the pool area of the Ponderosa Hotel for ₱300.00 per book.

This is to affray the cost of lunch and local refreshments plus dozens of chances of winning prizes.

There will also be an auction of donated prizes held. A good day is guaranteed.

PRESIDENTS REPORT August 2010 Angeles City Sub Branch continues to be a vibrant busy Sub Branch involving so many of our members in the various activities of the RSL here in the Philippines.

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August 18 in each year marks the anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan in 1966 when Australian army personnel of D Company 6RAR was engaged in a fierce battle with Viet Cong in a rubber plantation known as Long Tan near Nui Dat in Vietnam. The battle wasn’t the biggest or most protracted battle that Australian troops experienced in the Vietnam war but it was so significant that its anniversary is now recognized by Australians as Vietnam Veterans Day. This Sub Branch will honour the memory of those who served and who paid with their life by a commemorative service commencing at 11.00am at Clark War Cemetery and followed by a light luncheon and refreshments at the Ponderosa Hotel following. This year we are honoured to have the recently appointed Defence Attache` to the Australian Embassy, Group Captain Craig White RAAF give the keynote address at the service. A meaningful day in the diary of the RSL and I invite all who can make it, to attend.

It seems that every President’s Report now contains a report on medical missions conducted monthly for underprivileged children by this Sub Branch in and around Angeles City.

On Saturday morning, August 7th, 1463 children from Mountain View, Barangay Balibago were examined by doctors and senior nursing staff, and we filled prescriptions free from out of our Charity Fund for each child. Photographs of the mission appear on our web page. My thanks to the senior nurses from Holy Angel University and Angles University Foundation Medical Centre who assisted with the examination of each child, prescriptions and recording. What is so satisfying to our members who have become involved in our medical missions is that not only do we have a lot of fun and fellowship in raising funds through our weekly chook raffles (without chooks) at The International Sports and Gaming Bar, Emotions Club and the annual Australia Day Fiesta, but we actually purchase the medications and hand them to the recipients. Unlike so many other charities these days, not one centavo of the funds raised is spent or applied for administration and the entire fund is applied to the missions. A wonderful and satisfying feeling. Go to the web page at www.rslangelescity.com for details of the next mission on September 4, and which will appear in the week preceding the mission.

The Australia Day Fiesta Committee has been meeting and as advised in my last report our program for 2011 has been fixed. We kick off with our Beauty Pageant and dinner on Wednesday January 26 (Australia Day), Bell Ring on Friday 28, darts and pool competition Saturday 29, street party and curry cook off on Sunday 30. In conjunction with the week’s activities our Giant Raffle will take place and we are putting together prizes for the raffle at the moment. We are looking for prizes to be donated and if you can assist please contact us and let us know.

JAMES E. CURTIS-SMITH President

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The picture above in our Presidents report shows some happy children who have been through the examination process and are in possession of their RSL bag with their prescribed medications and the mandatory vitamins that all children get. Just to illustrate how the locals respond to our medical missions and see the satisfaction on the faces of our volunteers who do the work, please go to our website www.rslangelescity.com and scroll down the left side to ‘image gallery’ and look under ‘medical mission 08/07/10’ and see the many pictures shown there. Ed

We Welcome the following new members: John Hircock (QLD) * John Bence (A/C) * Mark Cupitt (A/C) * Neville Chandler-Cross (A/C) *Geoffrey Hindley (A/C) * Beverly DeGuzman A/C) * Trevor Norris (A/C) * David (Peter) Francis (England) * Kenneth Watson (A/C) * Michael Dillon (A/C) * Ron MacDonald (A/C) *

Location codes: QLD = Australia * A/C = Philippines * England = United Kingdom * SOME ADMINISTRATION MATTERS

What’s coming up in September September Schedule events .

Friday Raffle Draw at Emotions 6.00pm every week Saturday Raffle at the International 6.00 pm every week (formerly Shanos) Medical Mission Saturday 4th at end of Teodoro St (Riverside) Santa Maria 1 Balibago.

Tuesday 7th Sept, Australia Day Fiesta Committee Meeting 12.30, followed by Sub Branch Committee 1.30pm Social Tuesday Emotions 4.00pm Tuesday 14th Sept. Social Tuesday 3.00pm Walkabout, LaBamba, Body Shop.

Tuesday 21st. Monthly General Meeting 2.00 pm Social Tuesday 4.00 pm Sunshine, Bare Assets, Splash.

Tuesday 28th. Social Tuesday 3.00 Eruption, Coyote Ugly, Strawberry.

A couple of reminders If you damage or lose your RSL membership card, there is a $A5 replacement fee applicable.

A trip to Subic on 31 August. See Dallas Drake for more info and accommodation requirements.

Garfields Last Stand now has a blood register for those who wish to donate in emergency situations.

Minister for Veterans’ Affairs Mailing List.

VA047

Friday, 16 July 2010

VETERANS ENCOURAGED TO GET HEALTHY FOR LIFE Veterans and their families are encouraged to take part in the many activities happening across the country next week during Veterans’ Health Week, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Minister for Defence Personnel Alan Griffin said today.

4 Mr Griffin said Veterans’ Health Week, 19 to 25 July, focuses on good nutrition and encourages members of the veteran community to think about their overall health and wellbeing and to lead a stronger, healthier and happier life.

Visit Website “Good nutrition is essential and has important health benefits – eating a balanced diet can help lower the risk of chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes, improve heart health and energy levels and ultimately make you feel better,” he said.

“Veterans’ Health Week is an opportunity for veterans to get involved in some entertaining and educational activities, reflect on their diet choices and learn how to make some positive changes that will improve their health and fitness in the long term.”

Mr Griffin said more than 130 fun and interactive activities will be on offer across the country including celebrity chef demonstrations, BBQ cook-offs, nutrition expos, organic gardening, fresh food markets, and Indigenous food exploration.

“Veterans’ Health Week activities will be held in local areas and towns all around Australia not just capital cities. From the Art of food in Melbourne to Ettalong’s Beach Walk & Vegetarian Lunch; from Healthy Food Preparation in Goonellabah and Eat well to feel great in Launceston to a Nutrition expo in Brisbane and an Eat well, live well expo in Adelaide.

“I encourage all members of the veteran community and their families to take part in Veterans’ Health Week activities happening in their local community between 19 and 25 July.

Nutrition is an essential part of healthy living and it is important for veterans and the wider community alike to get healthy for life.

“Veterans’ Health Week demonstrates the Australian Government’s ongoing commitment to veteran health care,” Mr Griffin said.

For a full list of Veterans’ Health Week activities visit www.dva.gov.au/health_and_wellbeing/vhw or contact the Department of Veterans’ Affairs on 133 254 (for metropolitan callers) or 1800 555 254 (for non-metropolitan callers). Northern Territory callers please call 1300 551 918.

Visit Website

August being the month we commemorate Australian Vietnam Veterans gives me the opportunity to do a couple of articles on our involvement in that war. I hope they give non Vietnam Veterans and our international members an insight into what we did and where we were. Ed

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Australia and the Vietnam War Nui Dat - Australian Task Force Base The first Australians deployed to Vietnam were members of the Australian Army Training Team who were dispersed throughout the country. They were followed by members of the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR) who served in Bien Hoa Province with the United States 173 Airborne Brigade. However, Australia’s Chief of Army, Lieutenant General John Wilton, was keen both to field a force that could operate independently of United States forces, and to provide additional troops in support of the fight against the Viet Cong.

Wilton believed that deploying an Australian task force would achieve both these aims as well as allowing Australian soldiers to fight the war according to their own doctrine and techniques. The Government agreed and the expansion of Australian forces in Vietnam to a task force was approved Visit Website on 8 March 1966.

Phuoc Tuy province was selected as the site of the task force base. Lying on South Vietnam’s southern coast, three quarters of Phuoc Tuy, in 1966, was covered with rainforest and grassland. There were hilly and mountainous areas but much of the province was flat. Those areas under farmland were mainly used to cultivate rice, Phuoc Tuy’s main industry, along with rubber. From a military point of view, the province was a suitable size for task force operations and it had access to the sea through the port of Vung Tau, which could serve as a logistics base.

The South Vietnamese Government’s authority over Phuoc Tuy was limited almost entirely to the provincial capital Ba Ria. In the countryside, the Viet Cong had built up an extensive cadre and political organisation that reached into every town and village. The province’s roads were dangerous, subject to ambush and passable only with heavy escort.

The Viet Cong had established bases in Phuoc Tuy’s mountains and jungles. Military estimates placed the number of communist troops in the province at about 5,000. These troops relied on the support of many of Phuoc Tuy’s villages.

Australian forces shared responsibility for Phuoc Tuy’s defence with the South Vietnamese Government and its military, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), and the United States. The ARVN were responsible for guarding the province’s towns and villages while the Australians were responsible for the countryside. United States forces operating in neighbouring provinces also frequently crossed into Phuoc Tuy, often calling on Australian support when they did so.

Visit Website Once Phuoc Tuy had been selected as the provincial site for Australia’s task force, a location for its base had to be chosen.

There were three possibilities: Ba Ria, Phuoc Tuy’s capital; the port of Vung Tau; and an area in the province’s central region known as Nui Dat, Vietnamese for ‘small hill’.

Removed from population centres but close to Viet Cong base areas, Nui Dat was considered ideal for the type of counterinsurgency warfare that Australians waged in Phuoc Tuy. Its location in the centre of the province meant that Nui Dat was in the middle of Viet Cong territory. Therefore, security was of prime importance. The villages nearest Nui Dat – Long Tan and Long Phuoc – were both considered Viet Cong strongholds and the Australian task force’s first commander, Brigadier O.D. Jackson, with the agreement of the

6 Province Chief, had the people and livestock of the two villages forcibly resettled. The removal of the local people from the vicinity meant that the chances of the Viet Cong gathering information about the base and the movement of Australian troops were significantly reduced. However, attempts to win the support of Phuoc Tuy’s people were compromised by the decision to remove people from their homes without compensation.

The base was established by members of the United States 173rd Airborne, the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR) and the newly arrived 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (5RAR). The first soldiers to occupy it lived in tents and worked to establish defences. Every soldier at Nui Dat had a fighting pit. Elevated bunkers, manned 24 hours a day, were constructed around the base’s perimeter which was further defended by wire obstacles and belts of anti-personnel mines. Vegetation was cleared from a 500-metre wide area outside the wire to provide fields of fire and a clear view of approaching Viet Cong.

At its peak the base at Nui Dat was home to some 5,000 Australian personnel, but for much of the time most of them were deployed on operations outside the base.

Visit Website

AUSTRALIA AND THE VIETNAM WAR (courtesy of the Department of Veterans Affairs) Vietnamisation - pulling out

Overview

The Tet offensive of February 1968 is regarded as a turning point in the Vietnam War. The Viet Cong mounted a series of attacks on major centres throughout South Vietnam. Although the Viet Cong suffered enormous losses, it was a psychological and propaganda victory for them. Surprised at the Viet Cong’s ability to orchestrate such major attacks across the country, including an assault on the American embassy, many in the United States began to disbelieve assurances that the war was being won. ← In November 1971, the Australian 4RAR and Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment flags at Nui Dat base were lowered for the last time

by New Zealand Regimental Policeman Private Tai Whatu and Australian Regimental Policeman Private John Skennar of Grafton, NSW. [AWM CUN/71/0536/VN] The fallout from Tet also led the United States President, Lyndon Johnson, to announce that he would not seek re-election. He was succeeded by Richard Nixon who won office in November 1968. In 1969 Nixon announced that the withdrawal of American troops was a priority. In a policy known as ‘Vietnamisation’ the number of United States combat troops was gradually reduced and their places were taken by soldiers in an expanded South Vietnamese army. But the United States continued to provide assistance by supplying weapons, further training for the South Vietnamese army, and naval and aerial support for South Vietnamese soldiers on operations.

7 Tet had had its effect. In May 1968, just 4 months later, peace talks attended by representatives of North and South Vietnam, the Viet Cong and the United States, opened in Paris. Australia’s Government, having followed the United States lead in Vietnam, was now in the position of having to also enunciate a strategy for withdrawal. In April 1970 the Australian Prime Minister, John Gorton, announced that the 8th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (8RAR) would not be replaced when its tour of Vietnam ended in November. This followed a United States Government announcement that more than 180,000 Americans would be withdrawn and, more importantly, that a complete American withdrawal would follow. ← 5RAR troops led by Corporal John Hinchey, instruct ARVN soldiers on the use of the M60 machine gun at the Horseshoe, 1970. [Image courtesy of Mos Hancock] Vietnamisation meant that the Army of the Republic of South Vietnam (ARVN) would double in size, necessitating additional military trainers and resulting in an expanded role for the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV) whose numbers increased in the final phase of the war. However, the ARVN was ill-equipped and unable to match the North Vietnamese Army in the field. Early in 1971 Australia’s Joint Intelligence Organisation, reporting on the progress of Vietnamisation, described the ARVN as ‘uneven in quality’ and suffering from poor leadership.

Australian military officials in Phuoc Tuy and Saigon reported that the local ARVN would meet significant difficulties once the Australian Task Force’s battalions left. To add to the gloomy outlook, few South Vietnamese had any confidence in their own government which was regarded as corrupt and incompetent. (The biggest mistake was the failure to go about a fair dinkum approach of boosting the South Vietnamese Army in the early stages, giving them a fair allocation of helicopters and artillery and the like, and above all else comprehensive training. Subsequently, after the Tet Offensive in 1968 and after President Nixon replaced President Johnson in early 1969, the catch-cry went up that ‘Vietnamisation would turn things around’ and a huge effort was attempted, finally, to boost the South Vietnamese Army. It was too little, too late.’) [ Australia’s last two battalions to serve in Vietnam, the 3rd and 4th Battalions, Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR and 4RAR) arrived in 1971. In August that year the Prime Minister, Billy McMahon, announced that the remainder of the Task Force would be withdrawn at the end of 1971. 3RAR returned home in October 1971 followed in December by 4RAR and the Royal Australian Air force’s No. 9 Squadron.

Some logistics personnel and the last of No. 35 Squadron’s Caribou aircraft left early in 1972.

←SAS Hill looking up from around the area of Kanga Pad Second Lieutenant Bill Denny, 86 Transport Platoon, RAASC, was with one of the last Australian units to leave Vietnam in February 1972. “We were going home… Walking through empty buildings, this seemed a special moment in time – doors banging in the wind and the base eerily deserted. Vietnamese workers were crying and distressed. I lied to them, reassuring them that we

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would be back ‘if the VC come”. As it turned out, the Viet Cong did come – four weeks later – but we were never going to go back. I never really got over the friends I lost in Vietnam, nor the desertion of those we had so comprehensively fought to support and protect. The last of us formed the final convoy and headed down to De Long Pier, then by landing craft out to HMAS Sydney. [Bill Denny, in Vietnam: our war – our peace, Department of Veterans’ Affairs, 2006 pp 48-49 This picture shows Nui Dat HQ area from base of SAS Hill and across Kanga Pad in 2008

Luscombe Field Nui Dat is now a main street in a village.

The far end was where Luscombe Bowl concert centre was. ↓↓

In April Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army forces launched an offensive across the South.

United States airpower, rather than the ARVN, stopped the North Vietnamese. A massive United States bombing campaign against the North followed in December 1972. In 1975, when the North Vietnamese Army again launched a major offensive against the South, the ARVN forces, this time without United States air support or supplies, were overwhelmed. South Vietnam descended into chaos as civilians fled and thousands of ARVN troops and officers deserted.

The South capitulated in April 1975, bringing the war in Vietnam to an end and ushering in an era of Communist rule.

This is where the 1st Australian Logistics Support Group (1ALSG) were located in Vung Tau ↓↓

Visit Website

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Vietnam Forces National Memorial, Canberra AUGUST being the month that we commemorate Vietnam Veterans Day on the 18th, it is fitting that we depict their memorial in Canberra as part of the series of Australian War Memorials. Here it is:

The Australian Vietnam Forces National Memorial is on ANZAC Parade, the principal ceremonial and memorial avenue in Canberra, the capital city of Australia. The memorial was dedicated on 3 October 1992.

From 1963 until 1973 50,000 Australian Army, Royal Australian Navy, and Royal Australian Air Force and associated personnel served in Vietnam in what was called the Vietnam War. �The memorial as seen from ANZAC Parade Three concrete stelae, rising from a shallow moat, form the dramatic centre and enclose a space for quiet contemplation.

A low stone block is both a seat and a place for laying memorial tributes.

Fixed to the right wall are 33 inscriptions, quotations intended to recall events of military and political importance. The photograph etched on the rear wall shows Australian troops waiting to be airlifted to the Australian base at Nui Dat after Operation Ullmarah. The walls offer anchors for wires that suspend a halo of stones: A scroll containing the names of Australians who died in Vietnam is sealed into one of the stones. �The photograph etching on the rear wall including the suspended halo of stones containing the scroll Six seats surround the memorial, each dedicated to an Australian serviceman missing in action in Vietnam. The memorial was designed by Tonkin Zulaikha Hanford in association with sculptor Ken Unsworth AM, and built largely from funds donated from the public to the Australian Vietnam Forces National Memorial Committee.

I was one of the many hundreds of Vietnam Veterans who fortunately made it to Canberra on a very cold spring day, for the march and service for the dedication of our memorial. A second trip after all the ceremonies were finished was needed to clearly inspect the memorial and take in and reflect on what it represented. It is truly a great memorial and compliments the many other memorials which line both sides of ANZAC Parade, which leads up to the Australian War Memorial. Ed

10 For our American Vietnam Veteran members, here is your memorial in Washington DC. I have been there and it is a very humbling place and also a very sad place, due to the 58,627 names listed on its walls. Ed

Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington DC The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a national memorial in Washington, D.C. It honors U.S. service members of the U.S. armed forces who fought in the Vietnam War, service members who died in service in Vietnam/South East Asia, and those service members who were unaccounted for (Missing In Action) during the War. ←One of the walls covered with names with the Washington monument in the background.

Its construction and related issues have been the source of controversies, some of which have resulted in additions to the memorial complex. The memorial currently consists of three separate parts: the Three Soldiers statue, the Vietnam Women's Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, which is the best-known part of the memorial.

The memorial was inspired by Jan Scruggs, an infantryman who served in Vietnam with the U.S. Army's 199th Light Infantry Brigade. In March 1979, he saw The Deer Hunter, which reminded him "of the people he'd seen suffer and die in Vietnam". That night he decided to build a memorial with the names of everyone killed in the Vietnam War.[1] The main part of the memorial, which was completed in 1982, is in Constitution Gardens adjacent to the National Mall, just northeast of the Lincoln Memorial. The memorial is maintained by the U.S. National Park Service, and receives around 3 million visitors each year. The Memorial Wall was designed by U.S. landscape architect Maya Lin. The typesetting of the original 58, 627 names on the wall was performed by Datalantic in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2007, it was ranked tenth on the "List of America's Favorite Architecture" by the American Institute of Architects.

An aerial photograph of 'The Wall' was taken on April 26, 2002 by the United States Geological Survey. The dots visible along the length of the angled wall are visitors. → The Memorial Wall, designed by Maya Lin, is made up of two black granite walls 246 feet 9 inches (75 m) long. The walls are sunk into the ground, with the earth behind them. At the highest tip (the apex where they meet), they are 10.1 feet (3 m) high, and they taper to a height of eight inches (20 cm) at their extremities. Granite for the wall came from Bangalore, Karnataka, India, and was deliberately chosen because of its reflective quality. Stone cutting and fabrication was done in Barre, Vermont. Stones were then shipped to Memphis, Tennessee where the names were etched. The etching was completed using a photoemulsion and sandblasting process. The negatives used in the process are in storage at the Smithsonian Institution. When a visitor looks upon the wall, his or her reflection can be seen simultaneously with the engraved names, which is meant to symbolically bring the past and present together. One wall points toward the Washington Monument, the other in the direction of the Lincoln Memorial, meeting at an angle of 125° 12′. Each wall has 72 panels, 70 listing names

11 (numbered 1E through 70E and 70W through 1W) and 2 very small blank panels at the extremities. There is a pathway along the base of the Wall, where visitors may walk, read the names, make a pencil rubbing of a particular name, or pray.

Army chiefs' snub to Long Tan sacrifice

By Ian McPhedran From: Herald Sun August 06, 2010 12:00AM HEROES of the battle of Long Tan, who fought for more than four decades for recognition, have been snubbed by army top brass over the presentation of their awards.

Military chiefs appear also to have embarrassed the Governor-General by refusing to cover the veteran Diggers' travel costs to a planned ceremony at Government House, Yarralumla, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory.

August 17 was to have been a day of celebration for the men of the 6th Battalion's Delta Company.

On August 18, 1966, the company engaged in a pitched battle against a much larger North Vietnamese force in a rubber plantation near the Australian Task Force base at Nui Dat. Eighteen died.

Governor-General Quentin Bryce had invited the three officers from D Company - Harry Smith (Star of Gallantry), Dave Sabben (Medal for Gallantry) and Geoff Kendall (Medal for Gallantry) - to receive their medals from her.

The company's other soldiers were also invited, so she could present them with the Unit Citation for Gallantry, awarded in 2008.

Harry Smith, the major who was in command of Delta Company in 1966, felt justice had finally been achieved for the survivors and the 18 who died.

On July 7, the vice-regal office wrote to Mr Smith: "I am pleased to advise that following advice from the Department of Defence, the Governor-General would be delighted to host a special investiture ceremony at Government House, Canberra, to present the individual awards and the Unit Citation for Gallantry to Long Tan veterans in the context of the Long Tan Day 2010 commemorations.

"Given the desirability of enabling awardees to wear your awards on Long Tan Day, 18 August, 2010, we propose that the investiture ceremony ... take place on Tuesday 17 August, 2010, here at Government House."

He was assured by vice-regal staff that Defence would contact him to make travel plans for all his men and their next of kin, at no cost.

But on Monday night, Mr Smith received a letter from the chief of staff at army headquarters, Brigadier David Mulhall, stating that free travel would be provided only for the three officers and one next of kin each.

In protest, the officers are boycotting the ceremony.

Mr Smith has written to the Governor-General: "I cannot stand in front of Your Excellency and accept my medal, which was earned by my gallant men, without them being there and also receiving their UCG gallantry awards. We trained as a team, fought as a team and should be decorated as a team.

"Defence now denies us that right."

12 Dave Sabben, from Mt Eliza, said the "generals' club" and the bureaucracy had always blocked the Long Tan veterans.

Both men have asked that their medals be posted to their homes, so they can wear them on Long Tan Day. A vice-regal spokeswoman declined to comment, apart from saying that getting people to Government House for ceremonies was not the Governor-General's responsibility.

Editorial comment. For those members who are not aware of Australian Military History, the battle of Long Tan was originally commemorated by 6th Battalion The Royal Australian Regiment (6RAR) on 18th August. At the Australian Vietnam ‘Welcome Home’ parade in 1987, the then prime minister declared that August 18 would now be Vietnam Veteran’s Day. David Sabben’s comments above about the ‘generals club and bureaucracy’ has been a sore point since most of the medals for bravery submitted to Army HQ before leaving Vietnam were either not approved or downgraded. Harry Smith has been fighting the bureaucracy ever since to correct this anomaly and succeeded to some degree. The article above is just another kick in the posterior for him and his troops. Ed

Hiroshima marks 65 years since bombing August 06, 2010 3:44PM THE site of the world's worst atomic bomb attack echoed with the solemn ringing of bells as Hiroshima marked the 65th anniversary of the bombing in a ceremony attended by the US for the first time.

Representatives from more than 70 nations joined tens of thousands at the emotional event, held under an azure sky as clear as that on the morning of August 6, 1945 when Hiroshima was transformed into a terrifying inferno.

Washington sent US Ambassador John Roos to the ceremony at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, while America's World War II allies Britain and France, both declared nuclear powers, also sent their first diplomats to the event in a sign of support for the goal of nuclear disarmament.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also attended, becoming the first UN chief to take part in the annual event.

The mournful toll of a temple bell marked the start of a one-minute silence at 8.15am, when the US B-29 bomber Enola Gay had dropped a device that instantly killed tens of thousands in Hiroshima.

"The human race must not repeat the horror and misery caused by atomic bombs," Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said in a speech after 1000 white doves were released in a symbolic gesture for peace.

"Japan, as the only nation to have been attacked by the war-time atomic bombs, has a moral responsibility to lead the efforts toward realisation of a world without nuclear weapons," he said.

"Little Boy", the four-tonne uranium bomb detonated over Hiroshima, caused a blinding flash and a fireball hot enough to melt sand into glass and vaporise every human within a 1.6 kilometre radius. An estimated 140,000 people died instantly in Hiroshima or succumbed to burns and radiation sickness soon after the blast, and more than 70,000 perished as a result of another US atomic attack on the port of Nagasaki three days later.

Japan, a wartime ally of Nazi Germany, surrendered on August 15, ending the war in the Pacific after years of ferocious combat with US Marines on islands strung across the ocean.

The United States has never acceded to demands in Japan for an apology for the loss of innocent lives in the atomic bombings, which many Western historians believe were necessary to bring a quick end to the war and avoid a land invasion that could have been even more costly.

Ambassador Roos laid a wreath to remember the victims, reflecting a shift in policy under Nobel Peace Prize-winning President Barack Obama.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said yesterday that Mr Obama "thought it appropriate" to recognise the anniversary as he vies to rid the world of nuclear arms.

Hiroshima's mayor praised that position.

13 "We are encouraged that our voice is being heard," Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba said in a speech at the ceremony.

"It is the wish of the survivors of the bombing that the voices of peace will be heard."

Hiroshima has invited Mr Obama to visit the city, and he has expressed interest in doing so at some point while he is in office.

Some saw Mr Roos's attendance as an indication that Mr Obama would visit Hiroshima during a trip to Japan later this year, as the sides seek to improve ties following controversy over an agreement to relocate a US airbase in Okinawa.

"For the sake of future generations, we must continue to work together to realise a world without nuclear weapons," the US ambassador said in a statement.

VC CORNER

John Mackey VC

NX 20317 Corporal John Bernard MACKEY 2/3rd Australian Pioneer Battalion, A.I.F. 12 May 1945, at Tarakan Island "Corporal Mackey was in charge of a section of the 2/3rd Australian Pioneer Battalion in the attack on the feature known as Helen, East of Tarakan town. Led by Corporal Mackey the section moved along a narrow spur with scarcely width for more than one man when it came under fire from three well-sited positions near the top of a very steep, razor-backed ridge. The ground fell away almost sheer on each side of the track making it almost impossible to move to a flank so Corporal Mackey led his men forward. He charged the first Light Machine-Gun position but slipped and after wrestling with one enemy, bayoneted him, and charged straight on to the Heavy Machine-Gun which was firing from a bunker position six yards to his right.

He rushed this post and killed the crew with grenades.

He then jumped back and changing his rifle for a sub-machine-gun he attacked further up the steep slope another Light Machine-Gun position which was firing on his platoon. Whilst charging, he fired his gun and reached within a few feet of the enemy position when he was killed by Light Machine-Gun fire but not before he had killed two more enemy.

By his exceptional bravery and complete disregard for his own life, Corporal Mackey 21 was largely responsible for the killing of seven Japanese and the elimination of two machine-gun posts, which enabled his platoon to gain its objective, from which the Company continued to engage the enemy. His fearless action and outstanding courage were an inspiration to the whole battalion."

[London Gazette: 8th November 1945]

John Bernard MACKEY was born on 16 May 1922 at Leichhardt, Sydney. He was buried in Labuan War Cemetery.

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