Gallantry awards issued to members of the Australian Defence Force should reflect true courage and grit, and honestly meet the Australian public’s perception of honour and bravery in the military.

The gallantry award issued to Sgt Robert 'Bob' Buick after the battle of Long Tan in August 1966 in which half of Buick's platoon were killed and many others wounded does not satisfy those requirements in any sense, and I call on the Minister for Defence to rescind it.

The citation for Buick's award was written by an officer who wasn’t present at the battle and states that Buick, ‘..rallied the remaining members, fought off further enemy attacks’ and (when he considered the platoon was in danger of being over-run) ‘…fought his way back to the Company position.’

In the first instance, as far as rallying his men was concerned, Buick (as platoon sergeant) only did what was expected of him once his platoon commander had been killed and there was nothing extraordinary about it. It’s why he was a sergeant. He did nothing more than what was expected of him.

As for Buick's actions during and after the battle, the facts are entirely in dispute, and even Buick concedes this. .

For example, other soldiers from his platoon (and even Buick himself in his autobiography ‘All Guts and No Glory’) admit that at an opportune time Buick suddenly stood and ran from the battle, without ensuring that all his platoon members were aware he was running. One of his section-commanders, Cpl Magnussen, states that the first he was aware that the platoon was disengaging was when Buick ran past him, yelling out, ‘Every man for himself’! ('Long Tan and Beyond', Major Charles Mollison)

Every soldier regards running from the enemy during battle as desertion, and punishable by court-martial. It is regarded as the most despicable act a soldier can do- and not something a soldier should be rewarded for.

In is also important to note that Buick made no attempt to ascertain the well being of any of the remaining platoon members, including those already wounded (like Private Jim Richmond) before he ran. And not only did he leave the wounded behind, he did not stop to assist others who were wounded alongside him as he ran- including Private Mellor. He ignored their plight and just kept running to save himself.

It has caused great divisions within the veteran community that Major Harry Smith (Buick’s commanding officer) later acknowledged Buick's cowardice and his abandonment of his wounded men- yet still recommended him for a gallantry award.

Secondly, in radio tapes, Buick is heard to cry, 'I must withdraw! I must withdraw!' rather than using he pronoun 'we' indicating that he was only concerned with himself.

Thirdly, and contrary to the citation, rather than fighting his way out of the battle and back to the Company position, Buick describes the 'withdrawal' thus:

“This was no planned withdrawal, no fire and movement covering each other, this was a ‘run like hell’ move for about 150 metres. I ran back, ducking and weaving. I zigged and rifleman, Private Ron Carne zagged, and we crashed into each other, falling over into a tangle of arms and legs and sliding about five metres in the mud……..Gasping for breath we leapt up and ran to catch up to four or five others ahead of us. ….during the withdrawal our radio operator Vic Grice was killed and another couple of men were wounded.”

Hardly heroic. Hardly Anzac. And hardly the actions of a man regarded as a hero.

(Incidentally, the Buick citation can be read at:

https://www.facebook.com/356733427799224/photos/pb.356733427799224.-2207520000.1447583939./364850640320836/?type=3&theater

Buick’s actions the day after the battle of Long Tan brought him (and the Australian military) no glory either, and tarnished both his and the 6th Battalion’s reputation forever. On returning to the battlefield, Buick came upon a wounded, unarmed enemy soldier and put two bullets through the man’s heart- in direct contravention of the Geneva Prisoner of War Conventions of 1949 (which Australia adhered to) and which declared that ‘mistreatment of any captive is a criminal offence’; that prisoners ‘must be protected against violence and reprisals’; and that prisoners must ‘not be denied medical treatment if required and available’.

Buick put that wounded soldier ‘out of his misery’ despite not having any medical expertise to ascertain just what the man’s condition really was, without consultation with his superior officer, and did so while an Australian medical helicopter was just 10 minutes away- en route to pick up two of the wounded Australian soldiers Buick had left behind the night before.

In the Australian Army (as it is in civilian life) this was nothing short of murder- and Buick should have been court-martialled for it- as barrister James Fergusson Thomson opined in a letter to The Weekend Australian in August 2000.

Buick not only boasted of this murder in is autobiography, but repeated it later in an interview on the ABC’s ‘7.30 Report’.

Further, and this goes to character, Buick also dishonoured himself after the war when he accepted, and wore, the LS&GC Medal which he knew he had not qualified for and which had incorrectly been awarded to him (an award that no officer has ever admitted to being part of administering)- and only handed it back many years later when fellow Warrant Officers upbraided him for wearing it.

I contend that such a man - a demonstrable coward and medal cheat -  was not worthy of being awarded the Military Medal in the first place, and that the integrity of the gallantry medal system is degraded by him wearing it.

I request that the Minister of Defence rescind it.