Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

4718855 Second Lieutenant David Paterson, 3rd Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment
The Story of Davids Paterson's Life
Presented at the Last Post Ceremony 5th June 2021
Refer: Tony Cox http://www.3rar.com.au/patersondavid.html


Today we remember and pay tribute to Second Lieutenant David Paterson.

David Paterson was born on 4 January 1945 in Port Adelaide, South Australia, the second of two sons born to Ernst and Dorothy Paterson.

Paterson attended Port Adelaide Primary School and later Woodville High School. He enjoyed swimming, played basketball at the St Claire Recreational Centre, and was a member of the Ethelton Swim Club, where, in 1966, he met Christine Weber, his future wife.

When Paterson graduated from high school he began teacher training at Western Teachers’ College, receiving his diploma days before his 20th birthday. On 11 January 1965 he was accepted as the sole teacher at Mount Hill Rural School on the Eyre Peninsula. His students, of which there were 20, came to admire him for his unstinting efforts to guide and challenge them to achieve their best.

He settled quickly into the local community, assisted in organising local swimming carnivals and played Australian Rules football for Wharminda Football Club. He also played basketball in Cleve for the teachers’ team. With an imposing height of 6 feet, 6 inches, he could not be missed on field or court.

During his two years at Mount Hill he continued his studies and was twice given a deferral from his National Service obligation. Paterson began his National Service training in 1967. During initial training at Puckapunyal he was selected to attend an officers’ course. He became a member of Class 1/67 at the Officer Training Unit, Scheyville.

One of his fellow graduates later recalled, “during intensive training [Paterson] proved to be an outstanding leader and a highly competent commander, and his boys loved and respected him immensely.”

After successfully completing the course, Paterson was commissioned as second lieutenant on 14 July 1967 and posted as platoon commander to the Pacific Islands Regiment in Papua New Guinea. Here he played a vital role in educating local soldiers, particularly in the areas of civic and civil responsibilities.

Paterson completed his National Service commitment in January 1969 and despite his desire to return to teaching, he extended his commission, expressing a desire to serve in South Vietnam. He was posted as an instructor to the Jungle Training Centre at Canungra in Queensland where he spent the next year training men for service in South Vietnam.

On 4 October 1969, during a period of leave, Paterson married his long-time sweetheart Christine at Mount Carmel Catholic Church near Port Adelaide.

At the beginning of January 1970 Paterson was posted to the 3rd Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR) based at Woodside in South Australia. He was sent to C Company and was made officer commanding 8 Platoon. At this time 3RAR was being brought up to strength and undergoing extensive training in preparation for deployment to South Vietnam.

In September, Paterson and Christine welcomed their daughter Sarah into the world. But time at home was limited as 3RAR continued to train for its deployment. Paterson was part of 3RAR’s advance party that flew out of Australia on 11 February 1971 landing in Saigon the following day. The remainder of the battalion arrived later that month and began operations almost immediately after.

Paterson collapsed with heat stroke during the first patrol and his boots began to fail him. The size of his feet meant that he had to have boots made especially for him. With no spares available, he was forced to use tape and rubber bands to keep them intact.

On the morning of 20 March, after a five-day ambush operation, Paterson led his platoon back out on patrol. After an uneventful morning, a track with signs of recent of use was found, and a forward scout noticed an enemy lookout sitting on a rock. The lookout also spotted the Australians and ran into the bush.

Paterson decided to split the platoon. He led half of the platoon towards the noise while the other half, led by his platoon sergeant, approached from a different direction.

Paterson’s group dropped packs and advanced cautiously. As the men moved forward, they came under fire from automatic rifles, machine-guns and rocket propelled grenades.

Three men were immediately hit. Privates Alan Gould and Martin Macanas were wounded, and Paterson was shot in the head. Gould later recalled Paterson rolling over to tell him that he was ok but when he checked on Paterson again, he was dead.

The remaining members of the platoon engaged the enemy for several hours. Air support was supplied by gunships of No. 9 Squadron, RAAF, but locating positions on the ground was almost impossible. The diggers had used their only smoke grenade early in the contact and in an attempt to drop more smoke grenades to them, one of the gunships, was badly damaged.

It was not until close to 6pm when the wounded from 8 Platoon were evacuated. Paterson’s body was flown out separately. His men described him as an “exceptional human being… fair, sensible and enormously popular.”

His remains were returned to Australia. After a funeral service conducted by Chaplain Gavan Kennare, he was laid to rest with full military honours in Centennial Park Cemetery, Adelaide. He was 26 years old.

Paterson’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, along with more than 500 others from the Vietnam War, and his photograph is displayed today beside the Pool of Reflection.

This is but one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Second Lieutenant David Paterson, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.


Details supplied Tony Cox www.3rar.com.au
Reviewed By: Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section
(Story supplied by www.3rar.com.au & Service Records)
Last Post Ceremony 4th June 2021
Australian War Memorial

I arrived at 3RAR Woodside in January 1977, straight out of Officer Cadet School Portsea as a Second Lieutenant. I was posted to A Company and quickly settled in to what became one of the best jobs I had in the Army, as OC of 1 Platoon.

There were a series of small cairns in the barracks, each comprising the base of a 105mm artillery shell case, with a Regimental badge and an inscription honouring members of the Battalion killed in action in Vietnam.

The one that caught my eye was dedicated to 2LT D Paterson.

I often paused as I passed that cairn and reflected on who David Paterson was. I found out the bare details from Battalion records.

I never dreamed then that one day we would have the capacity to tell his story in this way, and indeed the stories of the other men thus commemorated.

Bob Woods has put a very personal slant on the story of a young man who died in the service of his nation. The personal anecdotes and impressions of his colleagues are powerful additions.

It also connects directly with the story of another man who lost his life that day, Pilot Officer Ron Betts who was the co-pilot of a 9 Squadron helicopter gunship flying in support of the patrol.

We can but speculate on the grief and pain inflicted on both families.

At last the story can be shared, his service and the price paid by his family can be acknowledged and remembered in perpetuity.

"Duty First" - "We WILL remember them"

The patrol was following a track when it heard sounds of digging and chopping and after firing an M79 Grenade and a rifle grenade in the direction of the sound, the Platoon Commander and Machine Gunner (Pte A N Gould) moved forward. The enemy, in bunkers, engaged the patrol with small arms RPG and hand grenades mortally wounding the Platoon Commander and seriously wounding the Machne Gunner . The remainder of the patrol, (CPL PG Manoel) was forced to withdraw with another seriously wounded soldier (Pte MS Macanas and called in a Light Fire Team (Editors note: 2x Helicopter Gunships) which could not engage the target because the patrol was unable to mark the target having run out of smoke grenades. One "Bushranger" (Pilot FlgOff DC Freedman) attempted to drop more smoke grenades when it was hit some 25 times by small arms fire as it hovered 50 feet above the patrol. One round hit the co pilot (FlgOff RS Betts) killing him and forcing the aircraft to land at Fire Support Patrol Base Beth. Eventually the patrol was joined by the Assault Pioneer Platoon (LT Peter Abigail) mounted in Armoured Personnel Carriers and a troop of tanks which forced the enemy to withdraw, Thebunker system (20 bunkers) which had been occupied by elements of D445 Battalion Headquarters and one of its Recce Platoons was subsequently destroyed by a tank dozer.

"extract from "A Duty Done" by Lieutenant Colonel Fred Fairhead. Used with permission