7th February 1989 to 7th February 2024

(35 Years On)

When faced with the shocking injuries to their IET colleagues caused by an unexpected grenade explosion during a training exercise at Singleton Army Base, New South Wales, 18 young men acted with complete disregard to their own safety to perform first aid on their injured mates and retrieved vital field dressings despite the danger of standing on more unexploded ordnance.

Using their hands, shirts, and hats, the men immediately started first aid and applied pressure to serious wounds, while several of the number ran across the range to collect bandages (field dressings) from their webbing, which had been left some distance away in the safe area. These men, some of whom later found they had suffered minor to moderate injuries themselves, made two journeys back and forth to retrieve bandages. They knew they could be running across unexploded ordnance (UXO), but they continued to do so before they then assisted their colleagues in applying first aid and reassuring their injured mates.

During this time, the senior platoon staff, including the medic, were reported to have remained off the range and did not provide assistance or leadership until the injured were moved out of the danger zone (impact area) and to the safe area at the firing bays. Many of the soldiers recall very clearly how some staff shouted at them and called them cowards as they ran to retrieve their field dressings off their webbing, which was stacked off the range in the safe area. These taunts only ceased when the staff realised the soldiers were collecting first aid field dressings, with some making repeated journeys across an area that could still have contained unexploded ordnance. The immediate response of their collective act of bravery and care for their mates despite any risk or injury to themselves in circumstances is considered and should be worthy of recognition with a Group Bravery Citation via The Governor General of Australia’s Office

Entire Platoon – 15/88 Amiens Platoon – School of Infantry Singleton NSW – Photo Taken January 1989

More of the story

The incident occurred on February 7, 1989, at 6.05 p.m. (1805 hrs) when the soldiers, who had recently completed a live-fire exercise on the AGR, were directed by a senior member of the platoon staff to walk onto the range to inspect the damage a grenade launcher could cause to the targets, which in this instance were old car bodies. 17 of the 39 new IET’s in 15/88 Amiens Platoon were badly injured, including four with life-threatening wounds, after a recruit accidentally disturbed an unseen and formerly unidentified unexploded ordnance, later thought to have been a 40mm HEDP round.

The resulting explosion blew up the vehicle and jettisoned a shower of flames, searingly hot metal chunks, and hundreds of needle-like slivers of shrapnel into the air as the soldiers were also hurled across the range. The extent of the injuries to their fellow soldiers was terrifying and outside the experience of the platoon members, the majority of whom were teenagers. The average length of service for 15/88 Amiens Platoon IET’s was 6 months at that time. At the time of the explosion, the platoon soldiers were not escorted and were an unformed body, as their commanders and medic were all outside the blast and danger zone.

Pte John Mark has a clear recollection of the incident: “We were advised to make our way as a platoon back over to the AGR M203 and M79 Range, and we were ordered down to where we were landing the rounds during practise to see the actual damage of the rounds we had fired,” he said. “The next thing I heard was a very loud boom.” “I was picked up and thrown like a doll into the only small tree area at least 3 metres away.” “My ears were ringing so loud, and the skin on my arms and neck felt like they were on fire and burning; dust was all over the place.” As he picked himself up, Pte Mark could hear the screams and groans of other soldiers. “We had men down all over the place, and I saw that one bloke near me (Pte Darren Harvey) was in trouble; he’d been hit in the back of the chest.” In this fiery aftermath, hearing their mates screaming in pain and despite the significant danger of more unexploded ordnance being in their vicinity, those members who could move, many of whom were also injured, with complete disregard for their own safety calmly attended to their wounded mates and used their hands, bush hats, and shirts to stem prolific bleeding.

Pte Mark said he and others realised that a grenade had gone off and that there could be further unexploded ordnance nearby. “Regardless, we ran over to Harvey,” Pte Mark said. “We saw him losing lots of blood but could not find an exit wound, so we applied direct pressure with a shirt.” Ignoring their own injuries, these soldiers kept their mates alive and constantly spoke and reassured them that they were going to be OK, while the danger of more unexploded ordnance seemed to keep all platoon staff, including the medic, out of the danger zone (impact area). Pte Mark said that two other mates, Pte Harris and Pte Harvey, were badly injured. “We also saw that Pte Harris had lost almost all his calf muscle; there was nothing to apply pressure to, and some blokes were using bush hats and shirts to stop the bleeding.

4 Section – 15/88 Amiens Platoon – Photo Taken January 1989

Personal Accounts

They retrieved as many battlefield dressings as they could carry before making the hazardous journey back into the impact area. Private Leary said as they ran across the range to retrieve the battlefield dressings, the platoon staff misunderstood their intent. “As we ran over to our webbing, the platoon staff called us cowards, but we got the field dressings we had come for and went back to help our mates,” he said. “I stayed with John (Private Mark) to look after Darren (Private Harvey) then John said he would go around and look at the others.”

Pte Sullivan also recalled the confusion of their superior officers. “The platoon commander and section commanders said. “Where do you think you’re going? ‘Get back in there and help your mates’, as he was standing out at the concrete bunker.” Private Sullivan said: “We ripped the field dressings off our webbing and ran back as fast as we could.” “There were guys helping give first aid who had also been wounded; you could see the frags and blood on their backs.” Despite the knowledge that every step could result in death from striking more hidden unexploded ordnance (UXO’s), there was no known safe route and no time to make one. The platoon members showed utter disregard for their own safety and ran between the wounded and their helpers, distributing the field dressings to be applied over their rough makeshift pads they had used to stem the bleeding. “We ran up to get the field dressings right past the platoon staff and the medic, who would not come forward into the impact area where the wounded were.”

Private Mark said: “The safe area was about 100 metres away, and we grabbed all the webbing we could find and ran past the platoon staff, and once on the range, we distributed the combat field dressings to all the blokes looking after the wounded.” “I got back to Private Harris and a couple of blokes, and I put dressing after dressing on him, trying to stop the bleeding.” “Then I went over to see Brad Paddon-Jones but Jim Petrie and Reece Dewar had his wounds under control; one was a femoral bleed on his thigh, but they were stabilising him.” At this stage, Private Leary called Private Mark back over to help him with Private Harvey.

“I could hear Harvey screaming in pain,” Private Leary said. Private Mark said he and Private Leary worked as a team to save their mate. “Harvey was in a very bad way,” he said. “He was starting to lose consciousness, and we had to keep him as alert as we could, and there were other injuries from the shrapnel. Apart from his chest wound, his arms and legs were bleeding.” The soldiers took off their already bloody and, in some cases, shredded shirts and created an impromptu stretcher to carry their mate to safety. “We stripped off our shirts and used them as a lifting mechanism and carried him through the area. Although we thought there could be more unexploded ordnance, we had to get him to a safe area where the platoon staff and the medic were.”

Private Mark said: “There, we transferred Private Harvey onto a stretcher, and Private Leary and myself got in the back of a Land Rover with Harvey as we drove back to Singleton Barracks to meet the army ambulance.” However, Private Harvey’s life was hanging by a thread. Twice his heart stopped, but Private Mark Leary and Private John Mark, who were there caring for him, managed to resuscitate him successfully each time in the back of the Land Rover. Holding tight onto their mate to keep the pressure consistent on the battlefield dressings, Private Mark said he and Leary were shocked when they realised Private Harvey was unresponsive. “We started CPR, and he came back, but he faded out again a few minutes later, and we had to start CPR again,” he said. “It was hard because we had to perform CPR without placing him all the way on his back on a stretcher in the back of a Land Rover driving over bumpy ground.”

Once Private Harvey was transferred into the back of the ambulance, Private Leary stayed with the injured man. Private Leary accompanied Private Harvey in the back of the ambulance to Singleton Hospital, and on the journey and again, he performed CPR on the wounded man. Private Leary recalled walking alongside his injured mate from the ambulance into the emergency department. “Then I can remember just sitting there with someone else’s blood soaked through my uniform,” Private Leary said. “I sat outside the hospital in shock, my bush hat and shirt were drenched in his (Private Harvey’s) blood. I felt like we had been in a war zone.”

Meanwhile, Private Mark had headed back to the firing range with one of the section commanders in the Land Rover. Once back at the scene, Private Mark said, “Private Paddon-Jones called over to me; he grabbed my hand and did not let go as he was in a great deal of pain.” “He slipped in and out of consciousness, and I stayed there and tried to comfort him.” “I stayed there as he was placed in the ambulance headed for the Singleton Barracks makeshift triage area at the Regimental Aid Post.” “But he would not let go of me, so I stayed to help keep him calm and reassured him that he was safe.” It was only when Private Paddon-Jones (Two-Dads, as he is affectionately known) was being treated by medical staff at the RAP, Pte Mark realised he had been hit by shrapnel himself. “He wanted me to stay with him as he was transported to Singleton Hospital, so I held onto him all the way in and the nurses let me stay with him all the way to the operating theatre until they had him stabilised.”

Private George Akee said the sound of the explosion “was something I will never forget.” Private Akee said he witnessed Private Petrie hurled through the air. “When I looked around, I saw one bloke on the ground bleeding, so I started giving him first aid,” he said. “He had blood pouring out of the heel of his boot, so we left the boot on to hold everything in place.” “I saw Jim and some of the others run up and grab the dressings, which we then used.” Private Petrie recalled being one of those who treated Private Malley whom he said “had a 1cm round wound in his lower leg.” “When I pulled up his green trousers, I applied pressure while elevating his leg to stop bleeding.” Once Private Malley was stabilised, Private Petrie then assisted other members to provide first aid to those injured.

For Private Bob Conway the memory of the incident has stayed with him. “I remember the heat and smell of the explosion and then seeing people crawling around hurt and screaming,” he said. “A lot of us ran off to get our field dressings and help with first aid… Everyone did a fantastic job, running out of the range area to get the dressings; there could have been other unexploded ordnance.”

Private Jason Cody said he could remember “a big bang, then the bloke in front of me was jumping up and down; he was hit in the leg.” “I had a little piece of shrapnel to my left shoulder just lodged in the skin, but we were too busy to worry about ourselves; we were treating the blokes with bad wounds,” he said. “We put pressure on them, me and another bloke on Seethy’s leg and Richo’s back. I don’t think I really had time to think; we just did what he had to.”

For Private Philip Breen who had been recently transferred to the platoon, this incident was the moment he realised the calibre of his colleagues. “The explosion occurred behind me; we all got knocked by the concussive force of it,” he said. “The first guy I got to, he had half his calf muscle hanging off, then another guy came over to help give him first aid. “ “Someone went and got some bandages, and we wrapped him up. Then a couple of other guys who were not hit came down, and we put him on a stretcher.”

Private Breen said that together with his colleagues, they applied pressure using shirts, hands, and hats until the battlefield dressings were brought down. “There was a guy with puncture wounds all over his back,” he said. “We wrapped him up as best we could; one of the guys tore his shirt off, and we looked after him as best we could.” Private Hambly was one of those who provided first aid to Private Mahoney, who had suffered serious cuts to his upper thighs. “I remember we put his bush hat over his eyes and said it was to keep the flies off,” he said. “But really, it was so he didn’t see his injuries.” “He was curled up in pain; we applied field dressings to his wounds and moved him to an area to be transported to the RAP.

“Private McAndrew said he initially thought the explosion “was a drill to keep us on our toes, but then a very different realisation occurred rapidly.” “I could hear screams and groans; as my ears were ringing slightly, there was a lot of initial movement around the impact area and quite a few men on the ground,” he said. “I can recall one member of the platoon having to be stopped from running as they had received fragmentation wounds to their back, and it was burning them.” “When I saw Harry (Private Harris) on the ground next to me and the sizeable fragmentation wounds to his calves, training kicked in to stem the flow of blood.” “All I had readily available was my bush hat and my hands, so I proceeded to apply pressure to his wounds, and once the bleeding was manageable, other members of the platoon were obtaining shell dressings from our webbing to assist as best they could and provide further first aid, moving through the impact area at great risk of further Unexploded Ordnance (UXO). “ It was at this stage, Private McAndrew noticed he had a fragmentation wound to his left thigh. “It wasn’t bleeding that much, so I kept looking after Harry,” he said. “With shell dressings available, we were able to further cover Harry’s wounds. I maintained my position with Harry until he could be stretchered out.” “I can recall that it took quite some time to get enough ambulances to treat and transport the wounded, but everyone acted accordingly and remained calm and focused on the task.

” Private McGregor said everyone responded brilliantly. “Some of us ran and grabbed some field dressings; we ran back forward twice,” he said. “Private Harris has a 6cm x 9cm chunk out of the back of his calf, and we put dressing after dressing on him to maintain blood pressure.” “Everyone just helped everyone.” “My uniform was covered with someone’s blood.” Private John Corbett said, “Our training just kicked in.” “We were knocked over; there was dust and smoke and guys screaming,” he said. “All I said was get the field dressings, so we ran across the zone and back up to our webbing, We always had a knife on us, so we cut the field dressings off and ran back and passed them out.” Once the soldiers had stabilised their more seriously wounded colleagues, again with disregard for their own safety, the platoon members moved the wounded through the impact zone to the safe area behind the firing line, where the other platoon staff and the medic could assist. Ambulances from the Singleton Army Base RAP (Regimental Aide Post) along with eight from the Hunter region attended, and army landrovers were also pressed into service to transport the injured.

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In media articles about the incident, the Commandant of Singleton Army Base, Colonel Peter Sibree said, “I am very proud of the way the young recruits conducted themselves.” “I’ve got nothing but the greatest admiration for these young men,” he was reported as saying. “There was no panic.” “In fact, some of those who were badly hit were comforting those who were not so hurt.” The actions of those who acted bravely to assist those injured were deemed to be in the true tradition of Australian Soldiers of The Royal Australian Infantry Corps, who were to soon be proud members of The Royal Australian Regiment.

Click Here for link to an Old TV News Report

Their bravery as a platoon was further emphasised when, on March 12, 2021, a member of the platoon received a formal letter from the Chief of the Australian Army, Richard M. Burr, AO, DSC, MVO Lieutenant General. Below is an excerpt from the letter:

All Members of 15/88 Amiens Platoon have been awarded The Chief of Army Gold Group Commendation

“Based on the evidence you have provided and a review of historical information, I have endorsed the awarding of a Chief of Army Level 3 Group Commendation to the members of 15/88 Amiens Platoon. On that day, 15/88 Amiens Platoon demonstrated superior performance under extraordinary circumstances to deliver lifesaving first aid to injured members of the platoon. I am grateful to all members of the platoon for their actions on the 7th February 1989.”

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However, while all members of the 15/88 Amiens Platoon received this Chief of Army Level 3 Group Commendation, those soldiers who performed the life-saving first aid and who ran through the impact zone to retrieve field dressing and consequently saved the lives of their comrades in arms, deserve a higher level of recognition, hence have been nominated for a higher Bravery Award via The Governor Generals Office Australia.

Afterwards members of the Amiens Platoon reflect on that incident. Bradley Stephen Maley – wounded. “There was a large explosion, dust and a ringing in my ears and a hot burning sensation in my legs and arm. I ran and remembered asking a fellow mate if my leg was still there. Our mates started using field dressings to cover our wounds. Everyone that day of Amiens Platoon went above and beyond of all duties.

” Captain R (Identity protected) “The guys in the platoon did an amazing job that day,” he said. “I have done tours in every theatre of war since East Timor, Iraq, Afghanistan, South-east Asia, Lebanon and I was once asked what was the war that defined me as a soldier. It was not the war that defined me as a soldier, it was my training and I often go back to my time on that range and the injuries I saw that day were exactly what I saw in combat.

” Brian McGregor “As a result of this group action, no life was lost that day…. a platoon of 39 members now with four critically injured, 12 seriously injured, and others with superficial wounds, had only been in the Australian Army for six months and were still undergoing training. I am proud to say I am a member of the 15/88 Platoon.

” Bob Conway “ I served another 26 years in the Army and whilst I served in East Timor twice, Iraq and Somalia what I witnessed at Singleton that day was the worst. I have never seen that many Australian soldiers injured at once, there were that many of our colleagues inured and screaming.”

The actions of these men are deemed meritorious as they ran through a live firing range while seriously injured and having had almost no training other than basic training, which fits the criteria, and all nominees would be worthy of a Bravery Award. Extraordinary circumstances that day should be considered worthy of recognition.”

An application to the Bravery Committee of the Governor General of Australia Office has been made almost 3 years ago.

To date we have had no word back regarding it’s progress!