WW2 DESERTER OR PATRIOT?VIETNAM RAAF CANBERRA IN ACTION
Touching down at Phan Rang, northeast of Saigon, the Magpies
arrived in Vietnam on
April 19, 1967. The first Canberra jet bombers of 2 Squadron
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) were part of the Australias
commitment to the defence of South Vietnam against the communist
Viet Cong guerrillas and North Vietnamese regular forces.
Given the callsign Magpie after 2 Squadrons badge, the eight
Canberra B.20s were integrated into the USAFs 35th Tactical Fighter
Wing to provide support by day and night. Led by Wg Cdr Rolf
Aronson, the Magpies began operations after just four days
familiarisation. Wg Cdr Vin Hill, OC Flying for 2 Squadron, flew
Canberra A84-240 off on the first mission on April 23 to attack a
supply dump.
All the early sorties were Combat Skyspot missions and mostly
staged at night. One navigator described the
process: You would give the details of your bomb load and
ballistics and [the controllers] would compute the release point.
The radar would then guide you to a point in the sky giving a
countdown to bomb release.
Impressive eliteWg Cdr Aronson pressed the Americans to allow 2
Squadron to conduct daylight visual low-level attacks. Despite US
reservations, the Canberras proved successful and accurate and they
became the only tactical aircraft to conduct level bombing from low
altitude. Daylight sorties were also flown under control of a
Forward Air Controller (FAC) in a spotter aircraft, often marking
the target with smoke or flares.
The squadrons reputation quickly grew and when General William
Westmoreland, MACV commander, visited in October he described
the Magpies as: An elite Canberra squadron that has impressed me
very much.
During the Communist Tet Offensive of early 1968 the Canberras
were heavily engaged against enemy troop positions around the
besieged Marine camp at Khe Sanh. Although prohibited from flying
into North Vietnam, the Canberras did occasionally unwittingly
stray across the border, one crew noted an accidental incursion of
at least 100 miles!
On April 27 the new CO, Wg Cdr David Evans, made a daylight
strike along a canal in the face of anti-aircraft fire destroying
several sampans and bunkers and killing 19 enemy troops. He
conducted another successful attack in mid-September under control
of a FAC whose pilot recalled: We were being subjected to heavy
ground fire on the way to a target. I was
Magpies
Tom Spencer describes Australia Canberra operations in
Vietnam
102 FLYPAST September 2015
RightFully bombed up Canberra
B.20 A84-228 heading towards its target in Vietnam. ALL RAAF
VIA
AUTHOR UNLESS NOTED
Far rightBombs from the Wg Cdr
Jack Boasts Canberra exploding on a road
target near Phu Cat in November 1969.
WW2 DESERTER OR PATRIOT?VIETNAM CANBERRA
able to silence heavy ground fire and obtain BDA [bomb damage
assessment] of six enemy killed, plus bunkers destroyed.
Ho Chi Minh TrailStrikes throughout South Vietnam up to the
demilitarized zone (DMZ) were flown daily, often
in the face of heavy anti-aircraft artillery and surface-to-air
missiles (SAMs). At times bombing was carried out directly in front
of troops in contact so accuracy was paramount.
Attacks on fixed bunker complexes, supply routes and direct
support to troops were the normal fare. From April 1970
interdiction on the Ho Chi Minh Trail began and the winding route
through the A Shau Valley from Laos was constantly hit using
1,000lb bombs.
On November 3, 1970, Canberra A84-231 was lost while hitting a
target to the north of Da Nang. The bodies of Fg Off Mike Herbert
and Plt Off Robert Carver were not found until 2009.
Wg Cdr John Downing became the CO in 1970 and with his
navigator, Flt Lt Al Pinches; he was shot down by an SA-2
Guideline
SAM near the DMZ on March 14, 1971. Both ejected and spent an
uncomfortable night in an area infested with enemy troops before
being rescued.
Soon after this Flt Lt Fenton flew one of 2s most successful
missions on a target on the Laos-Cambodia border. Dropping his
bombs just 20 yards ahead of US troops under heavy pressure, 80
enemy personnel were killed.
This raid was almost 2 Squadrons swansong as on May 31, 1970, Fg
Offs Dave Smith and Pete Murphy flew the last Magpie mission in
support of the US 101st Division in the A Shau Valley. This brought
the sortie total to almost 12,000 for the loss of seven men and two
aircraft. The Magpies had been awarded three DSOs, two MBEs, seven
DFSs and an MM. The Battle Honour Vietnam 1967-1971 for 2 Squadron
had been hard won.
Usually, 2 Squadron dropped World War Two vintage 500lb (and
1,000lb bombs in sticks. To increase the load, engineers developed
a wing tip bomb rack to replace the drop tank to supplement those
carried in the bomb bay. In August 1968 HQ 7th Air Force decided to
employ
the Canberra mainly for visual bombing and standardised on USAF
750lb weapons with six being carried.
MAGPIE WEAPONRY
The last bomb dropped by 2 Squadron in Vietnam on the specially
developed wing tip pylon.
Repatriation of the missing crew of A84-231, Fg Off Mike Herbert
and Plt Off Robert Carver, in 2009.
AboveAircrew brie ng for a mission at Phan Rang
in 1968.
BelowCanberra B.20 A84-246 heading back to base in
late 1970. J W BENNETT
Flt Lt Fenton ew one of 2s most successful missions on a target
on the Laos-Cambodia border. Dropping his weapons just 20 yards
ahead of US troops under heavy pressure, 80 enemy personnel were
killed
104 FLYPAST September 2015
