The following account of the time spent in Vietnam of WOII Anthony Siggers was passed on to me by Mr. Bruce Prosper. I owe Mr. Prosper a huge favour for his help and assistance as well as the very kind veterans who have also help and replied to my pestering. Thanks Gents.
Lastly but by no means least, I would like to thank all at the Vietnam Veterans Home Page including Deanna who have helped and put me in touch with various Web Sites and other contacts, which included the Australian Veterans War Memorial where I first came across the name of Anthony Siggers whilst trying to trace my family history.
K.I.A. 21st August, 1967
"WOII A.P. Siggers first served in Korea in the Australian Army and upon his return to Australia was discharged and joined the CMF (Citizens Military Forces) and rose through the ranks to Warrant Officer Class 2 serving in the 17th RNSWR stationed in New South Wales. He volunteered for service in South Vietnam early in 1966 and was accepted and granted CMF (full time duty) status.
Together with John Stone, Barry Rust, and Bruce Prosper, Tony attended the Advisor's courses at the School of Intelligence and Jungle Warfare in Queensland; and together, they were all posted as advisors to South Vietnam on 7th September, 1966.
On arrival, they were all seconded to Company C, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) (US Green Berets) and became Platoon Commanders in Det.A-100 Mike Force and MGF 768 (Mobile Guerilla Force). Tony Siggers, along with John Stone and Bruce Prosper, commanded platoons of Koho Montagnards, while Barry Rust had a platoon of Rhade Montagnards. All were involved in combat operations together and when time allowed had RnR times together.
In early February 1967, they volunteered for a US Parachute School, for which they all qualified. Their job now was to retrain their Montagnards in guerilla warfare and afterwards carried out that role with a lot of success. During this time, John Stone was K.I.A. during and 8-hour battle with North Vietnamese troops.
On their return to camp, they were stood down and enjoyed some RnR on Okinawa. Upon their return they were split up. Barry Rust went further south, Bruce Prosper stayed with Special Forces, and Tony Siggers was posted down to Quang Ngai province in MRI (Military Region) and was at either Chu Nai, Hoi An or Lam Ky when NVA units attacked the District/Sector HQ, including the airfield.
WOII Tony Siggers was in an aircraft taking off when it was hit by enemy ground fire, crashed, and all onboard were K.I.A. Tony Siggers was identified by his dog tags and returned to Australia and buried with full military honours."
It has been just over 30 years since WOII A.P. Siggers was killed; and, if it hadn't been for my interest in trying to trace my family history, I would never have found out about this soldier who shares my family name. I hope to continue to try and trace other members of the family and perhaps find a link from us to him. In the meantime his name and a copy of the medals awarded to him will take pride of place in my collection.
My thoughts go out to all who served in Vietnam; and rest assured, not all under the age of 35 will ever forget what you all went through during that time.
DANNY SIGGERS
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