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Vietnam War memories: artillery, napalm and massive pythons

By Monique Preston

Nov 8, 2024

Trevor Begley can still clearly recall the sound of artillery shells as they whistled in close over his head and landed all around him during a battle in the Vietnam War.

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“They come in like a train,” he said.

It was the beginning of February 1967, and his 6th Battalion Delta Company was involved in a battle.

The platoon came under fire from the Viet Cong.

The Australians stopped and went to ground and called the artillery in, but a mistake was made and instead of firing 1000m in front of the Australians, the artillery landed right on top of their position.

“It landed right in the middle of us,” Trevor said about the New Zealand artillery shelling.

“There were four or five of them. They came in pretty quick.

“They frighten you, I tell you.”

By the time the artillery shelling stopped, four Delta Company men were dead.

“When we got shelled, that’s the worst thing ever,” Trevor said.

On Remembrance Day, Trevor Begley with remember his mates who died in the Vietnam War. Photo by Monique Preston

The same month, Trevor was part of Operation Bribie where Delta Company was flown in by helicopter to a battle where B Company was battling with Viet Cong.

As part of the battle, the Americans dropped napalm on the battlefield, while the Australians lay on the ground in rice paddy fields.

“You could feel the heat on your face,” Trevor said.

“It (the napalm) explodes and burns all the oxygen out of the air.

“I said to my mate ‘I think I’ve been shot in the head’ because I could feel something dripping.”

Thankfully, it turned out to just be his water bottle dripping on him as he laid on the ground.

Trevor Begley in camp during the Vietnam War. The soldiers slept in the tents behind him.

The next day, when the Australians troops went into where the enemy had been, they found one of their own who had been injured in the battle and had dug himself down into the ground enough that the napalm rolled over him.

“He survived. But it burnt all the hair off him,” Trevor said.

He recalls other times walking in the jungles of Vietnam when he came across a python “rattling in the bamboo” that he said was probably nine metres long.

He wanted to shoot it, but his mate wouldn’t let him, as the noise of the gunshot would give away their position.

Vietnam veteran Trevor Begley’s medals. Photo by Monique Preston

Trevor also recalls coming across “a couple of tigers” as well as big scorpions while out bush.

“Lots of stuff was not humanly friendly,” he said.

When Trevor went to Vietnam in 1966, like many others, he was only young.

He had joined the Australian Army in 1965 at the age of 18 “for the experience”, and after completing training, was sent to Vietnam for 10 months when he was only 20.

It was to be a 12-month stint, but his mother died just before he was due to be shipped out, so he stayed two months longer in Australia.

The view from Trevor Begley’s tent at one point during the Vietnam War.

Trevor’s role while he was in Vietnam was as a forward scout.

There were six people in his section, which would normally run with 10 people.

“As a forward scout, you were the eyes and ears of the group,” he said.

As for what he was looking for — it was mainly the enemy, but Trevor said he had to look for “anything”.

And if he spotted anyone, he would report that to his forward commander.

Trevor was the only forward scout in his section — a role he was nominated for, but a scary one, nonetheless.

One of Trevor Begley’s many photos taken during his time in Vietnam.

“Somebody’s got to do it,” he said.

“Everybody’s got fear, but you overcome it to a certain extent.

“You’re there to do your job and everybody behind you relies on you.”

Much of his time was spent in the “bush” on patrols in banana and rubber plantations.

While out from base camp, they would sleep on a rubber mat on the ground with only a plastic sheet — or hoochie, as they were called — over them as shelter.

Trevor Begley in the camp in Vietnam where he stayed when he wasn’t out in the jungle on patrol.

By June 1967, Trevor was only too pleased to be on his way home to Australia after 10 months in Vietnam.

Having turned 21 in May, he celebrated on the HMAS Sydney — or what the soldiers referred to as the ‘Vung Tau Ferry’ — for the 16-day boat ride back to Australia.

He remembers being given a stubby of beer every day on the boat, but because four of the six men in his section didn’t drink alcohol, they would give their beers to the two who did.

Once back in Australia, Trevor left the Australian Army after having spent three years in it, but soon enough missed the mateship that it had involved.

Trevor Begley inspects a weapon while at camp.

So, six months later, he joined the Army Reserve.

“It’s hard when you are with people who your life depended on, and then you’re suddenly back in civvie street,” Trevor said.

“It was a way of life. And when you came back, it was gone.”

In the Army Reserve, Trevor did what was known as full-time duty, where he would go away for three or four months at a time working as an instructor.

All up, he spent 35 years in the Australian Army.

“You always need your country to be protected somehow,” he said.

When he was not away with the army, Trevor ran the squash courts at Nathalia for seven years, drove an interstate truck with his brother, and became heavily involved in camp drafting.