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Brian Mayfield was Orderly Room Sergeant and Secretary to the COMRAAFV at RAAF Headquarters in Saigon throughout 1968. His tour of duty included the Tet and May offensives when North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong troops attacked Saigon.
His office was in the Free World Building and he was billeted in the Plaza Hotel, generally travelling between the two buildings in an RAAF Kombi Van. This had its back seat adapted to face the rear to provide additional fire power with weapons facing front and back.
Brian Mayfield recalls that the threat of booby traps in the vehicle was a constant fear. While at the Free World Building it was parked in the compound but at night it had to be parked in the street as close as they could get to their accommodation.
Each morning they would carefully check for booby traps including devices placed in the petrol tank. When a request sent to Support Command back in Australia for a locking petrol cap produced a denial because "they were not entitled to one", an enraged Air Commodore let them know what he thought of their regulations.
Brian Mayfield recalls the Tet offensive vividly: "On the first morning of the Tet offensive we found the foyer of the Plaza filled with Americans, the front entrance secure and no traffic outside (usually chaotic at this time of the morning)," he said. "The streets were empty and although fighting was going on we made it to the Free World Building without making contact with the enemy."
"As the day wore on and the sounds of fighting could be heard, our officers liaised with the Army over our situation. The inter-service rivalry came to the fore and Wg Cdr Johnson told the Army we would defend our own area. At that point the building and surrounds were secured and we set up guard on full alert - meaning no sleep as we waited for a possible attack."
"Over the following two to three days we waited, ate C rations and 'food' (amazing what can be made with bully beef) from the Army Field Kitchen set up in the compound and watched as the fighting increased all around us."
"2 Sqn and 9 Sqn finally came to our assistance with weapons, ammunition, hand grenades, flak jackets and food. We felt we were then in a better position if the enemy attacked us. The Americans kept the compound lit up for us by dropping flares to light up the building and compound."
"They kept guard from the roof of the building and from windows and other vantage points, ever vigilant for an enemy attack."
"The area of Cholon directly in front of us and also to the north and south was subjected to attack by the South Vietnamese Sky Raider aircraft. The population was warned to leave the area which was then bombed in order to move the NVA and Viet Cong out." Brian Mayfield said the May offensive came as no real surprise and they were better prepared. However, it also brought an increase in terrorist activities in the city and mortar and 122mm rocket attacks were commonplace.
They were under constant pressure while living and working in Saigon, according to Brian. "The work load was very great. The pressure to perform was unrelenting and at times extreme," he said.
"We worked and lived in a "killing zone" with the advent of the Tet and May offensives of 1968 when we saw and experienced the onslaught of the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong."
"The very fact that we were contained in the Free World Building for days with the fighting going on around us, that we had to wear flak jackets, arm ourselves and be at the ready with loaded weapons whenever we left the building, not knowing whether we would be ambushed or had to defend ourselves against the unseen enemy that was amongst us, had its effect on us all."
"Having to check underneath our vehicles, carefully checking under the bonnet and then last but not least starting the engine and hoping that it was not booby trapped. This daily ritual was necessary when the terrorist activities started." Brian Mayfield said the attacks when the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong fired 122 mm rockets indiscriminately into Saigon were another factor. "There was a lack of proper diet due to the inconsistencies of and limited food available at the American Batchelor Enlisted Quarters (BEQs) and the workloads sometimes precluded us getting to the BEQs before the dining rooms closed (particularly during 5pm and 7pm curfew)." Medical problems were another concern. The small Army facility they were able to use did not provide proper documentation to Vung Tau, where their medical records were held, for a variety of reasons but generally believed to be due to a general dislike for the Air Force and just plain indifference by the Army.
Stress was constant and unrelenting but the worst part was the indignity of humiliation by fellow countrymen when they returned to Australia. "I would not have missed the opportunity to go to Vietnam, but the experience changed me forever. Having to stand guard in empty streets (24 hr curfew) locked out, unable to move as it would have drawn friendly fire, listening to the scattered sounds of fire fights and waiting for the enemy which I would have had to kill or be killed, will be with me all the days of my life.
"We were not trained for the situation we found ourselves in, were lead by officers who never briefed us properly at any time, and gave the impression they were there to get a 'gong'. Thankfully they never did.
"Vietnam will always be with me with the happy times (I met my wife there), sad times (the death and destruction around us) and above all how we as Australians must protect our precious democracy and freedom.
"I believe the Government of the time was wrong, our people humiliated us on our return, and it changed us forever. May it never happen again." Brian Mayfield returned to Saigon in 1998 with his Vietnamese wife and his children. It was an intensely emotional time as he recalled the horrors of war while visiting the places he had lived and worked in. "When I took my children to the Free World Headquarters (now the Ky Hoa Hotel) I was overcome with emotion.
"The feeling was overwhelming and I cried and could do nothing about it. This was where we boarded ourselves up and waited for the enemy during the Tet offensive. The area was the scene of massive destruction and loss of life over those few critical days.
"Standing in the grounds with my children I think that my war finally ended with the outpouring of emotion."
The material for this article was supplied by Brian Mayfield from New South Wales.
02/01/2002
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