The 102nd Medium Battery was an

artillery battery In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to f ...

unit of the

Royal Australian Artillery The Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery, normally referred to as the Royal Australian Artillery (RAA), is a Regiment of the Australian Army descended from the original colonial artillery units prior to Australia's federation. Australia's f ...

. The battery was formed in 1957, known as the 102nd Field Battery and served in the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation and the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

before being disbanded in 1987.

History

Formed in 1957 at

Holsworthy Barracks Holsworthy military base is an Australian Army military barracks, located in the Heathcote National Park in Holsworthy approximately from the central business district, in south-western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The barracks is pa ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

as the 102nd Field Battery as part of the 1st Field Regiment. The battery served during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation between May and August 1965 and while in Malaysia the battery provided fire support during the Kesang River incursion by Indonesian forces. While serving in

North Borneo North Borneo (usually known as British North Borneo, also known as the State of North Borneo) was a British Protectorate, British protectorate in the northern part of the island of Borneo, (present-day Sabah). The territory of North Borneo wa ...

, equipped with L5 Pack Howitzer, the battery provided defensive support to the

3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment The 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3 RAR) is the armoured infantry battalion of the Australian Army, based in Kapyong Lines, Townsville as part of the 3rd Brigade (Armoured Amphibious). 3 RAR traces its lineage to 1945 and has seen ...

, Ghurkha, and British Regiments undertaking operations and also fire support for secret Claret operations in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

n territory. 105mm gun AWM1

On 18 April 1966, the battery was transferred to the 12th Field Regiment with the 104th Field Battery. Arriving in Vietnam as part of Australia's commitment to the Vietnam War in March 1968, replacing the 106th Field Battery and was equipped with the 105mm

M2A2 Howitzer The M101A1 (previously designated Howitzer M2A2 on Carriage M2A2) howitzer is an artillery piece developed and used by the United States. It was the standard U.S. light field howitzer in World War II and saw action in both the European and Pac ...

. On the night of 12 May 1968, while at Fire Support Base Coral, a M2A2 howitzer was captured by

North Vietnamese North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...

troops who temporarily overran part of the base, however the gun was recaptured shortly afterwards.The M2A2 howitzer captured by the

North Vietnamese Army The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), officially the Vietnam People's Army (VPA; , , ), also recognized as the Vietnamese Army (), the People's Army () or colloquially the Troops ( ), is the national Military, military force of the Vietnam, S ...

is on display at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra. The 102nd Field Battery was replaced in February 1969, and returned to Australia. During its tour of duty the battery had been positioned at 30 different Fire Support Bases, fired 60,000 rounds and received the following decorations: 1 MM, 2 MID, 1 MBE and 1 BEM. The battery became part of the 8th/12th Medium Regiment in November 1973 and in 1983 after being re-equipped with the M198 155mm howitzer was redesignated 102nd Medium Battery before being disbanded in 1987.

Commanding officers

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

G C Andrews

Battle honours

Coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

102 Battery was awarded the Honour Title "Coral" in 1998 and is now designated as 102 (Coral) Battery.

History

Commanding officers

Battle honours

References

Footnotes

Citations

Further reading