MHHV member Mostly Unsung will release the first phase of research by Lieutenant-Colonel Neil Smith, AM on Conscription’s Unsung Heroes on 31 May 2011…
Between 1951 and 1972, a total of 287,000 young Australian men were called up in two separate schemes for compulsory training in the Navy, Army and Air Force. Of them, 212 died on active service in Borneo and Vietnam. National Service was part of Australia’s defence preparedness for three decades.
The research covers the Conscription Scheme between 1951 and 1959. Mostly Unsung has established that about 80 young men from the Australian Military Forces died whilst serving as conscripts.
Their sacrifice has no official visibility on honour rolls and appears to have received little or no recognition.
The next phase of research will examine the loss of National Servicemen called up between 1965 and 1973. Already it is clear that, during this period, almost as many men became fatal casualties from training accidents and other causes, as died on Active Service in Vietnam and Malaysia.
Copies of the first episode of research are available from Mostly Unsung
Contact Mostly Unsung about this article.
