

© By Jack Bradd
C Company 2nd Tour |
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He was a big bloke for a gunner and as far as is
known the only digger allowed to wear a Slouch
Hat in the 5th Battalion in Vietnam, his name;
Tex Nevins. He was at home in the bush with a
total awareness of his surrounds, the essence of
a skilled Infantryman, always had a smile ready
even after lugging an
M60 and ammo around all day.
Once when we were in the 'weeds' (jungle) it came time to
retire his tattered Slouch Hat so he left it on
a stump with a note written on it for the 'Nogs'
(VC). It didn't take him long to train his new
hat so after a few days it looked battered and
worn and normal. I don't know where he got the
hats from and didn't ask, he most probably had a
trunk full of 'em.
He was proud of his ability with the
M60, and he had
every reason to do so, as the gun's only
stoppages were to load a new belt. However on
one occasion, in an assault, myself and the
scout moved forward to firing positions so Tex
could move up, but he didn't. I looked behind me
to see him standing up swearing and kicking the
cocking handle of the
M60. It may
have been the sight of a tall 'Uc dai loi'
(Vietnames for Australian) in a
Slouch Hat standing swearing which amazed the
nogs or perhaps they were just rotten shots but
he was able to walk away to the rear. An angry
Platoon Commander,
Lt. Ian Hosie,
appeared wanting to know why my machine gunner
was wandering around in the middle of an
assault, he gave me the depth Section machine
gun and we continued the assault. We found out
that the feed mechanism of the gun had jammed
while Tex was giving covering fire for me and
the Scout.
Many retired Slouch Hats later we came to the
last battle of 5 RAR (excellent coverage of this
in
"Year of the Tiger" by OC C Company Captain
Dave Wilkins) I like the way Tex tells the
story; 'In the Killer Group that night were
myself, the Platoon Commander, (Lt.
Ian Hosie), Jack (Corporal Jack Bradd) and
Andy (Lance Corporal Andy MacDougal). We heard
the nogs come into the Killing Ground then the
Platoon Commander fired the Claymores (12) the
ambush belonged to us and we hooked in!
40 years later Tex is telling me things he
should have told me way back then, for example;
he always hated the nickname 'Tex', when he came
home he transferred to RAE (Royal Australian
Engineers) and took the nickname 'Digger' he has
been known by that name since. He also told me
he wore the Slouch Hat in honour of the diggers
of the 39th Battalion of Kokoda Track fame. He
reckons that it's about time he was in Tiger
Tales (5RAR's Newsletter) but we'll have to
leave that to the Editor.
ONCE WE WERE SOLDIERS
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