DESCRIPTION
The Engineers had cleared a substantial area on the old FSB Ballarat area YS 434714. This month was to see the re settlement village laid out and pre fabricated houses assembled ready for those relocated in Op Ainslie.
click to play video of scenes from operation Ap Suoi Nghe. Video courtesy S Boutlis. Redigitised courtesy of AWM.
131 SURVEY
Act Svy Sgt Hopper and Gnr Fuhrmann "getting to it" at Ap Suoi Nghe. Photo courtesy P S Hopper.
Gnr Follington securing a marker. Ap Soui Nghe. Photo courtesy P Endicott.
Gnrs Brooker and Fuhrmann. Ap Suoi Nghe.
Bringing in the Pre Fabs. Ap Suoi Nghe. Photo P Hopper.
At the beginning of Sept. Act Svy Sgt Hopper and 5 surveyors were handed the task of laying out the village grid of Ap Suoi Nghe.
When we arrived, there was a lone US bulldozer pushing back the vegetation from a cleared area the size of a football field. I was given a rough map of the layout by my officer and told to “Get to it”. Our officer then joined the company of higher brass and left.
I put a stadia rod in the mud and took a line directly west. This was the main road. We worked there for several weeks setting out the streets in rectangular fashion. Each house was sited on a 15m x 30m block of land.
Act Svy Sgt Hopper Sept 1967
above:The original plan of Ap Suoi Nghe relocation village handed to Act Svy Sgt Hopper.
The site was pegged during the day then surveyors drove back to Nui Dat on dusk. Protection for the site wasn’t possible over night. It was ideal for booby traps! The site had odds and ends from other units working there at different times. Topo Survey, The Australian CA Unit, elements of 7RAR and the Engineers were often present. It was up to every unit to provide for itself and keep an eye out for trouble. Units moved out when they’d finished for the day. Being last on dusk was not comfortable.
The 131 surveyors were being pressed to have it laid out so the other units could start assembling. Surveying the site wasn’t complicated you just needed more hands on deck to cover the ground. Towards the end of the month surveyors were pulled off Op Ainslie to help speed up the lay out.
It wasn’t uncommon in the latter stages to be the last to leave the site. We were forever resiting and levelling the theodolites, chaining and bashing in pegs. You tried to get as many in as possible while you had daylight. Often it was just 2 survey pairs and a driver left to stew late in the afternoon at Ap Suoi Nghe!
Gnr McFadden Aug 1967
Xa Bang residents and produce relocated to Ap Suoi Nghe. Photo courtesy B Follington.
When it was completely laid out as per the plan, 131 surveyors felt they had achieved something for the indigenous population. The plan had provided for streets, dwellings, garden blocks and a water supply.
131 surveyors had contributed something positive.
This was a different type of task for the surveyors but they worked on this project throughout the whole month and as a result of their work they made a good name for themselves and for the detachment. Sect Comd.
131 Bty Reports Survey Section Sept 1967.
Drinking Sarsaparilla at the completion of Ap Soui Nghe survey. L to R, UK, UK, Gnr Follington, Gnr Saunders, Gnr McFadden, Gnr Bruce. Photo courtesy B Follington.
Collecting Water, Ap Soui Nghe. Photo courtesy B Follington.