Greg Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 On Ebay there exists an auction for a Lieutenant Colonel's Battledress tunic #370045507713 It got me thinking - how would one go about finding out who this belonged to? Having read through this forum thread, it is obvious that there are people here who know a thing or two about how to go about this. So here's a challenge!! Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Australian Regiment with an Military Cross and an honour in the Order of Australia (Military Division) - probably a Order of Australia Medal or Member of the Order of Australia. Possible that he had a higher award but uncommon but he could have later been awarded a higher level. Australian Service Medal 1945-1975, National Medal, the United Nations force in Cyprus Medal and the Vietnam Campaign Medal. Tunic is dated 1973 (Post War), and Trousers are dated 1968.I have tried the Australia Honours website search and it gives me 136,000 entries. How can I narrow it down a bit more? Greg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger-pie Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 (edited) A quick look through 'Vietnam Veterans Honours & Awards - Army by Alexander M Palmer, which doesn't really turn much up, certainly not a direct match. I will have a look through it for you and put some names here to research. You can then search for an additional award of an OAM. The first thing that strikes me as odd is the lack of the long service ribbon, the National Medal being the only one present.Regards,Johnsy Edited May 12, 2008 by Tiger-pie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted May 12, 2008 Author Share Posted May 12, 2008 RAR Paratrooper with no long service medal. Hmmm.... could he be a Chaplain or other professional officer therefore higher rank with shorter service time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger-pie Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 RAR Paratrooper with no long service medal. Hmmm.... could he be a Chaplain or other professional officer therefore higher rank with shorter service time?I'm not sure. The National Medal indicated 15 years of diligent service by members of the Australian Defence Force, Australian police forces, and fire and ambulance services. That changed in 1982, I have seen many older members and ex-members of the military wearing both the NM and the DFSM. In any case most of the senior officers in Vietnam ended up with DSO's and MBE's and the like, so I suspect that this bloke got promoted to Lieutenant Colonel post Vietnam War, but again I could be wrong. I will have a browse through Vietnam Veterans Honours & Awards - Army and see if anything jumps off the page.Regards,Johnsy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted June 8, 2008 Author Share Posted June 8, 2008 Hi JohnsyAny luck with tracking who our Lt Col might be ? You were going to look up Vietnam Veterans Honours & Awards - Army. Have you had time yet. Another thing - there is an Australian Admiral (Rear Admiral, I believe) who has an homour in the Military division of the Order of Australia AND one in the General Division as well. I have been trying to find out who he is but have mislaid the picture I had... Any ideas ???Many thanks, Greg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger-pie Posted June 9, 2008 Share Posted June 9, 2008 Hi JohnsyAny luck with tracking who our Lt Col might be ? You were going to look up Vietnam Veterans Honours & Awards - Army. Have you had time yet. Another thing - there is an Australian Admiral (Rear Admiral, I believe) who has an homour in the Military division of the Order of Australia AND one in the General Division as well. I have been trying to find out who he is but have mislaid the picture I had... Any ideas ???Many thanks, Greg.Had a look and really couldn't see anyone who fitted. The para wings sort of confuse the issue. 3 RAR weren't a para unit until 1982 when they started training for para ops. Was Shalders your Rear Admiral?Regards,Johnsy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted June 9, 2008 Author Share Posted June 9, 2008 No, I don't think so. Vice Admiral Russ Shalders, AO, CSC, RAN Chief of Navy only has the AO (Mil) where the Rear-Admiral (I think) wears both the ribbon bar of the Order of Australia military division and civil division. The two ribbon bars were separated by another ribbon so I expect he was AO (mil) and CVO (or something) and AM (Civil). It would be within the last 10 years at most. ARRGH !!! It is really bugging me that I can't find out who it is !!! Thanks, Johnsy. Any other information you can dig up would be appreciated. Greg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted June 9, 2008 Author Share Posted June 9, 2008 Ahhh found him !!! Rear Admiral I McL Crawford, AO, AM (Mil), RAN (Rtd). A Korean veteran, he served in the Royal Australian Navy from 1949 to 1987. A Korean veteran, he is Chairman of the Australian Veterans and Defence Services Council, Member of the Council of the Australian War Memorial and a Director of the Company since 2003.It was in the context of the War Memorial Council that I came across him. Now I have to find a photo of him in uniform with his medals. Greg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger-pie Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 Ahhh found him !!! Rear Admiral I McL Crawford, AO, AM (Mil), RAN (Rtd). A Korean veteran, he served in the Royal Australian Navy from 1949 to 1987. A Korean veteran, he is Chairman of the Australian Veterans and Defence Services Council, Member of the Council of the Australian War Memorial and a Director of the Company since 2003.It was in the context of the War Memorial Council that I came across him. Now I have to find a photo of him in uniform with his medals. Greg.The Admiral works 18 floors above me.Johnsy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted June 11, 2008 Author Share Posted June 11, 2008 Wow !! Says Greg trying hard to think of an un-obvious pun or humourous comment ! If you come across a photo of him in uniform, I'd really like a copy. The uniform jacket could belong to Lieutenant Colonel P J Badcock (Retd). A Vietnam veteran, he served in Australian Army from 1967 to 1992. After leaving the Army he was Director of Logistics for the NSW Department of Corrective Services. But once again, one would expect him to have a long service medal unless of course, this jacket was after he was promoted Lt Col but before he qualified for the long service award and was replaced by a new jacket ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger-pie Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 (edited) Wow !! Says Greg trying hard to think of an un-obvious pun or humourous comment ! WTF?The uniform jacket could belong to Lieutenant Colonel P J Badcock (Retd). A Vietnam veteran, he served in Australian Army from 1967 to 1992. After leaving the Army he was Director of Logistics for the NSW Department of Corrective Services. But once again, one would expect him to have a long service medal unless of course, this jacket was after he was promoted Lt Col but before he qualified for the long service award and was replaced by a new jacket ... Well that makes it a bit easier on me, I can at least check that name for you to see if the details fit. I wouldn't rely on what ribbons are worn too much, it isn't uncommon for personnel to not wear their full entitlement on their work uniforms. Usually because they don't want to spend money on getting an additional ribbon, or just can't be arsed. He already has the NM, the long service gong would just be doubling up. JohnsyEdit: Badcock isn't mentioned in the Vietnam tome, the only thing close is P J Badcoe, and he got a VC not an MC, plus he got retired by a Viet Cong MG. Edited June 12, 2008 by Tiger-pie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chippymick Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 Just as an aside, Badcoe actually changed his name from Badcock, for the obvious reasons. You'll find him listed in the Malaya nominal roll as P. Badcock.But, to the work at hand!Commonsense suggests the uniform and ribbons would correspond with an officer who was awarded a Military Cross for Vietnam. So let's work backwards from there. There were fifty four recipients of the military cross in Vietnam. Fourteen of these men were awarded an order of Australia and also additionally qualified for the National Medal. They were: Brian FlorenceMilitary Cross (MC), National Medal, (NM) National Medal Clasp (NMCl) and Member of the Order of Australia(MOA). I have no record of him serving in Cyprus. Ewart O'DonnellMC, NM, NMCl and MOA. Again, I have no record of him serving in Cyprus. Peter PhillipsMC, NM, NMCl, Officer of the Order of Australia, (OOA) and Centenary Medal. I have no record of him serving in Cyprus. Brian HowardMC, NM, NMCl, OOA, and Emergency Services Medal. I have no record of him serving in Cyprus. John KeldieMC, NM, NMCl and OOA. I have no record of him serving in Cyprus. John DeightonMC, NM, NMCl, and MOA. He had previously served in Malaya and no 1918 GSM means you can scratch him Ian CampbellMC, NM, NMCl, and MOA. Nil by Cyprus service, to my knowledge Edward ChithamMC, NMl and MOA. No known service in Cyprus Ray De VereMC, NMl and MOA.Again nothing known with regard to service in Cyprus Adrian D'HageMC, NM and MOA. Nothing known with respect to Cyprus. Murray BlakeMC, NM, NMCl, MOA and OOA. Cyprus unknown. Jerry TaylorMC, NM, MOA.Taylor had previous active service with the British Army in Cyprus. However he retired as a Lieutenant Colonel (McKay 'The Riflemen') That makes him the closest fit with the gongs, but the rest of the uniform doesn't tally Not at all easy and still a mystery to me. Cheers Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chippymick Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 Doh!I thought the rank was Brigadier. With half Colonel you can lock Taylor in Eddie.RegardsMick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted June 15, 2008 Author Share Posted June 15, 2008 (edited) <FONT face=Verdana><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Thank you, Mick. It seems quite sure that the uniform belonged to Lt Col Jeremy (Jerry) Taylor, AM, MC. He is author of a book about 4RAR in the Vietnam War : <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">"Last Out - 4RAR/NZ (ANZAC) Battalion's second tour in Edited June 15, 2008 by Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted June 15, 2008 Author Share Posted June 15, 2008 (edited) Thank you, Mick. It seems quite sure that the uniform belonged to Lt Col Jeremy (Jerry) Taylor, AM, MC. He is author of a book about 4RAR in the Vietnam War : "Last Out - 4RAR/NZ (ANZAC) Battalion's second tour in Vietnam" by Jerry Taylor. 2001 H/C D/J 270pg. History of 4RAR/NZ in South Vietnam.Thank you everyone for helping to track this down. I can see now how interesting and satisfying it is to track down the owner of a set of medals too.Thanks, Greg. Edited June 15, 2008 by Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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