Army - The Soldiers' Newspaper

3RAR’s priority on duty
By Michael Brooke
Volume 11, No. 41, April 20, 2006

Colour party: Lt-Col Ben O’Dowd affixes the Kapyong Streamer to the Regimental Colours, assisted by Pte John Lay and Sgt Anthony Rose.
Photo by Bill Cunneen

Solemn: Members of A Coy observe Kapyong Day.
Photo by Lt Simone Heyer

We remember

THE 55th anniversary of Kapyong Day was particularly poignant for 3RAR soldiers on operations in the Solomon Islands.
A Coy members paraded at Henderson Airfield to observe the important event. They also reflected on the lives of Pte Jake Kovco, recently killed in Iraq, and Pte Jamie Clark, who died on operation in the Solomon Islands in March last year.
LCpl Steven Constantine was in Pte Clark’s section and said his mate would always be in his thoughts.
“He was the best soldier I know, and a good man. I miss him – he won’t be forgotten,” LCpl Constantine said.
Tribute was paid to Pte Clark with the tent lines at the RAMSI base named after him.

THE Royal Australian Regiment motto of “duty first” was on the lips of past and present soldiers when 3RAR commemorated the 55th anniversary of the Battle of Kapyong at Holsworthy on April 24.

The demands of putting duty first reduced 3RAR’s parade strength to only B and Spt Coys, with A Coy on operations in the Solomon Islands and C Coy on operations with Secdet 9 in Baghdad.
The sacrifice that duty involves was evident by the black armbands the soldiers wore to mourn their comrade, Pte Jake Kovco, who died in Iraq on April 21.

3RAR conducts the parade annually to commemorate the Battle of Kapyong, in which “Old Faithful”, along with a Canadian infantry battalion and a company of US tanks, halted an attacking Chinese force and saved the UN force from a crushing defeat. For its extraordinary heroism 3RAR was awarded the US Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation.

Land Commander Maj-Gen Mark Kelly said in the keynote address that the past and present soldiers of 3RAR knew only too well the demands and sacrifices of service. He told the Kapyong veterans that they had set the standard for all battalions in the Army to follow, and that their heritage was in very good hands.

He said the current members of 3RAR were fine soldiers who were ready to deploy anywhere at short notice.
“Sadly, at this time last year, we were mourning, as a battalion family, the loss of Pte Jamie Clark, who died while serving with B Coy in the Solomon Islands. And, unfortunately, today we find ourselves again mourning the loss of another fine young soldier from 3RAR,” he said.

Apart from the parade, 3RAR’s Kapyong Day commemorations featured an exhibition of the unit’s proud history and a demonstration by each Spt Coy platoon. Six veterans of the Battle of Kapyong and several hundred former 3RAR members attended the event. They included former Lt-Col Ben O’Dowd, who affixed the Kapyong streamer to the Regimental Colour; ex-Col Don Beard, who read the Kapyong citation; and former Maj Len Opie, DCM, who read the battalion prayer.

Lt-Col O’Dowd, who described the Battle of Kapyong in his book In Valiant Company, said the battle’s 55th anniversary provided an opportunity to remember the 32 Australians killed stopping the numerically superior Chinese force. Fifty-three 3RAR soldiers were wounded in the action, which prevented Seoul from falling into enemy hands.

“I was OC of A Coy and we lost a platoon almost straight away – overrun by the Chinese human wave assaults,” he said. “It was a savage battle and at one stage I thought we were going to get knocked off because the Chinese just kept coming no matter how much fire we poured into them. Kapyong was an awful slaughter where every digger fought like mad to save himself and his mates from being overrun by the Chinese.”

He took a lot of pride in the fact that “we fought a Chinese division to a standstill and then managed to conduct an orderly withdrawal with some 39 prisoners”.

Maj Opie, who served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, said the 3RAR soldiers had the fighting spirit of Anzac to draw from because the battle was fought on the eve of Anzac Day. He said 3RAR was preparing to host a visit by Turkish Army units for an Anzac Day ceremony in 1951 when the Chinese attacked “and spoiled the party”.

Ken Grills, a Bren gun operator with Spt Coy at Kapyong, said the din of battle was deafening.

“What I remember most about that day 55 years ago is that we lost too many good mates,” he said. Mr Grills said he got upset when historians called the Korean War a “police action” because the Battle of Kapyong was as savage and as bloody as any WWII engagement.