ROHRSHEIM, Graham Roland
| Service Number: | O1516 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant Commander |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | Port Pirie West, South Australia, 6 December 1931 |
| Home Town: | Port Pirie, Port Pirie City and Dists, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Dementia, Port Pirie, South Australia, 3 September 2018, aged 86 years |
| Cemetery: |
Port Pirie General Cemetery, South Australia |
| Memorials: |
Vietnam War Service
| 1 Jul 1962: | Involvement Lieutenant Commander, O1516 | |
|---|---|---|
| 25 Apr 1966: | Involvement Royal Australian Navy, Lieutenant Commander, O1516 | |
| 25 May 1966: | Involvement Royal Australian Navy, Lieutenant Commander, O1516 | |
| 9 Sep 1968: | Involvement Royal Australian Navy, Lieutenant Commander, O1516 | |
| Date unknown: | Honoured Distinguished Service Cross |
Zork
Lieutenant Commander Graham Roland Rohrsheim DSC
Graham Roland ‘Zork’ Rohrsheim was born in Port Pirie, South Australia on the 6th December 1931 to Oscar and Elsie Rohrsheim (nee Long). He was a motor mechanic living at 1 Duke Street, Port Pirie West, when he enlisted.
‘Zork’ joined the Royal Australian Naval Fleet Air Arm on the 10th September 1955 and qualified as a pilot on Fairey Firefly AS6 and Hawker Sea Fury MK II before moving onto jet aircraft (de Havilland Sea Vampire Mk T22 and de Havilland Sea Venom 53). The majority of his early service was as part of the Carrier Air Group (CAG) which was stationed at HMAS Albatross, (Naval Air Station) N.S.W. when not embarked on HMAS Melbourne, the fleets only aircraft carrier at the time.
The decision to axe the Fleet Air Arm’s fixed wing aircraft in 1959 (a policy later reversed) saw him elect to fly helicopters. In those early days the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) rotary-wing aircraft were somewhat more unreliable than fixed-wing and he walked/swam away from no less than eight engine failures over successive years, including one where he auto rotated a Wessex onto the deck of HMAS Melbourne in Wellington Bay a stunning piece of airmanship.
Zork was probably most remembered for his command of the Second Contingent Flight of the RAN Helicopter Flight Vietnam (RANHFV), a position in which he served with distinction from September 1968 to October 1969; in fact he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC).
Based originally at Vung Tau Air Base, the company moved to Fire Support Base Black Horse near Xuan Loc in December 1967. In November 1968 the unit was moved to Bearcat Base, north east of Saigon. Throughout their service in Vietnam members of RANHFV provided tactical airlift and gunship support for Australian and allied ground forces.
I had the pleasure of meeting Zork as an 84 year ex-veteran at the Port Pirie RSL one day where he came in to check out the Huey; an aircraft he called “almost indestructible.” He shared with me the following statistics which highlight the demands on all company personnel on achieving the below remarkable results.
135th AHC Statistics 1968 – 1969
Hours flown 35,025, Killed in Action 13, Wounded in Action 33
“We never failed to provide 15 combat aircraft every day at the following cost…”
25 aircraft shot down but recovered and repaired
12 aircraft destroyed
30 aircraft damaged at least 9 times
“Additionally, a number of the maintenance personnel took up gunner roles from time to time. When an aircraft could be repaired in the field, a team of maintenance personnel would arrive to see what they could do and it was standard practice for every person to man an M60 Machinegun in the repair aircraft”.
After leaving the RAN in 1983 Zork flew for various civilian operators, mostly for TV filming and in the oil industry.
Zork was one of the great personalities of the Fleet Air Arm, but the affliction from which he suffered (dementia) eventually took his life on the 3rd September 2018. The day before, he had been given his RAN Helicopter Flight Vietnam Unit Citation for Gallantry (UCG) medallion by his daughters, who had received it on his behalf.
Graham’s funeral service was held at the Port Pirie Anglican Cathedral on the 10th September 2018, followed by internment at the Port Pirie Garden of Memory Cemetery.
Submitted 5 October 2020 by Gary Fradd
Biography contributed by Grant Prunster
Graham Roland ‘Zork’ Rohrsheim has finally crossed the bar after a long struggle with dementia.
Born in Port Pirie (SA) on 6 December 1931, ‘Zork’ joined the Fleet Air Arm on 10 September 1955 and qualified as a pilot on Fireflies and Sea Furies, before moving on to the jets (Vampire and Sea Venoms).
The decision to axe the Fleet Air Arm’s fixed wing aircraft in 1959 (a policy later reversed) saw him elect to fly helicopters. In those early days the Navy’s rotary-wing aircraft were somewhat more unreliable than fixed-wing and he walked/swam away from no less than eight engine failures over successive years, including one where he autorotated a Wessex onto the deck of HMAS Melbourne in Wellington Bay – a stunning piece of airmanship.
Zork was probably most remembered for his command of the second Flight of the RAN Helicopter Flight Vietnam (RAN HFV), a position in which he served with distinction from September 1968 to October 1969. You can read the story of the RAN HFV here.
After leaving the RAN in 1983 he flew for various civilian operators, mostly for TV filming and in the oil industry.
Zork was one of the great personalities of the Fleet Air Arm, but the affliction from which he suffered eventually took his life on Monday 3rd September 2018. The day before he had been given his RAN Helicopter Flight Vietnam Unit Citation for Gallantry (UCG) medallion by his daughters, who had received it on his behalf. We like to think that he knew exactly what it was, and it was a source of great pride and satisfaction to him just before his final journey. He leaves behind his widow Margaret, children Michaela, Geoffrey, Heidi, James (deceased) Andrew and David and 14 grandchildren.
A short piece by himself, inaccurately called “Tales of a Dull, Colourless Old Fart” provides a little about his life. As the title suggests, it is written with a directness and humour which were hallmarks of this remarkable individual. You can read it here.
The funeral service was held at the Port Pirie Anglican Cathedral on Monday 10 September 2018, followed by internment at the Port Pirie Garden of Memory Cemetery.
Bio extracted from https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/201661750/
Author: S.G. Williams
[email protected]