Ted Serong

Francis Philip "Ted" Serong

Colonel Serong whilst serving as commanding officer AATTV, c. 1962.
Born 11 November 1915
Abbotsford, Victoria, Australia
Died 1 October 2002(2002-10-01) (aged 86)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Allegiance Australia
Service/branch Australian Army
Years of service 1934–68
Rank Brigadier
Commands held Australian Army Training Team Vietnam
Battles/wars Second World War
Vietnam War
Awards Distinguished Service Order
Officer of the Order of the British Empire

Brigadier Francis Philip "Ted" Serong DSO, OBE (11 November 1915 – 1 October 2002) was a senior officer of the Australian Army, most notable for his contributions to counter-insurgency and jungle warfare tactics, and as commander of the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam from 1962 until 1965.

Early life

Ted Serong was born in the Melbourne suburb of Abbotsford on 11 November 1915, the first son of William and Mabel Serong.[1] His father was of Portuguese heritage from the island of Madeira whose family had first began to settle in Australia in 1824. An apprentice blacksmith, William had served in the Citizens Military Force (CMF) and later the First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF) in France during First World War, before later specializing in the maintenance of weapons and engineering stores, and working for the Department of Defence as a quality control engineer. Meanwhile, Serong's younger brother Raymond, was born in 1917. William believed in physical fitness and discipline, and he later taught both of his sons to box, as well as to scout, shoot rabbits, and to live off the land. Between 1930 and 1932, during the Great Depression, the boys lived for extended periods in the bush, relying on their hunting skills.[2]

Raised in a Roman Catholic family, Ted and his younger brother, Raymond, initially went to school at the local Good Shepherd convent, before attending St Joseph's Primary School at Abbotsford. In 1928, at the age of 13 years old, Ted moved to St Colman's School in Fitzroy and at the end of the year won a government scholarship to continue his studies the next year at Parade College, in East Melbourne, where he completed his Intermediate Certificate in 1930. He subsequently completed Leaving Honours, achieving highly in Maths, Physics and English. He won a scholarship to attend St Kevin's College in 1931, where he was later influenced by its culture of Irish Roman Catholism, notions of Australian—as opposed to British—patriotism, and a belief in the constant struggle between "the forces of freedom and atheistic communism". He also met his life-long friend, B.A. Santamaria, who was two years ahead of him at St Kevin's, and with whom he developed a similar world-view.[3] His politics were further effected by the later events of the Spanish Civil War from 1937, and the coming to power of the Communist Party in China in 1949.[4]

Military career

Early service and Second World War

In November 1933 Serong applied to the Royal Military College, Duntroon, but was initially unsuccessful. He subsequently joined the CMF, serving in the 57th/60th Battalion, and was based in Heidelberg, in outer Melbourne. In a five month period he went from the rank of private to lance corporal. During this time he undertook study in the military and civilian subjects which made up Duntroon's first year curriculum in the hope of gaining entry into the college at second year level the following year. Serong successfully completed the service entry exam in August 1934,[5] entering RMC in February 1935.[6] In 1936 Serong won the welterweight category of the RMC boxing championship.[7] At the end of 1937 he graduated from Duntroon as a lieutenant, and initially served with the coastal artillery, being posted to Queenscliff in 1938. Subsequent postings included Fort Largs near Adelaide, South Australia to help raise and train Militia and develop the artillery installation there, before returning to Queenscliff as an instructor in 1940.[8]

With the outbreak of the Second World War Serong was concerned he might spend the entire conflict in the coastal artillery, and after transferring to Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF) in order to be able to serve overseas, he arranged to be transferred to the Armoured Corps and was posted to the 2/8th Armoured Regiment as its adjutant in July 1941.[9][10] Serong's division, the 1st Armoured Division, had initially been earmarked to deploy to North Africa to fight the Germans and Italians; however, in early 1942 it had been ordered to northern Australia to defend against a possible Japanese invasion instead. During this time Raymond had been serving as a sergeant with the 2/8th Battalion which was part of the 6th Division fighting in North Africa, Greece and Crete.[11] Meanwhile, Serong had married a nurse, Kathleen Blayney on 19 February 1942, and he was later made a temporary captain, returning to Duntroon to complete the first wartime staff course.[11][12] Raymond subsequently returned to Australia, but later died of malaria in Melbourne in May that year.[11][13] Serong deployed to New Guinea in November 1942 as a major, posted to the operations staff of the 6th Division in Port Moresby, just as the Australians halted the advance of the Japanese at the height of the Kokoda Track campaign.[11]

The following year he served as GSO2 with the combined 6th and 7th Divisions on the Atherton Tablelands in Far North Queensland, where they were resting and retraining prior to conducting further operations.[14] Meanwhile, in 1944 he instructed on the staff course at Cabarlah.[15] However, in August 1944 he moved to Aitape to prepare for the deployment of the 6th Division. He was later attached to American forces for the landing on Morotai Island in the Netherlands East Indies in mid September 1944.[14] In the last few weeks of the war, Serong was mentioned in despatches for his actions fighting the Japanese at Wewak, whilst serving with the infantry in the 35th Battalion.[14][16] During an incident on 21 July 1945 he commanded a force of three platoons and native police on a patrol to destroy a Japanese ammunition dump.[15] Although serving more time in training roles than in combat, during the war Serong had made a number of important contacts with whom he would later work in future postings, including Colonel Reg Pollard, who went on to become Chief of the General Staff, and Colonel Charles Spry, later the Director of Military Intelligence, and subsequently the Director General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).[17]

Post-war

Serong advanced rapidly in the years following the war. In November 1945 he was appointed Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General at the Directorate of Army Personnel Administration in Melbourne. He was subsequently promoted to temporary lieutenant colonel in January 1947, which was made substantive in October 1948. In May 1948 he was posted to Army Headquarters, Eastern Command, in Sydney as a General Staff Officer 1.[18] In January 1952 he was posted to the Directorate of Military Training at Army Headquarters in Melbourne.[18] In 1954 Serong was tasked with redirecting Army training towards jungle training.[19] As a colonel, he headed the newly reopened Jungle Warfare Training Centre (JWTC) at Canungra, in south-eastern Queensland from 1955 to 1957.[20] During this time the centre trained soldiers for counter-insurgency operations in Malaya against communist guerillas.[21]

Following its independence from Britain in 1948, Burma had been fighting against ethnic unrest and Chinese Nationalist Kuomingtang irregulars, and a number of Burmese Army officers had trained in Australia in the 1950s. A Burmese staff officer, Major Muang Muang, later requested the assistance of Serong or another Australian officer, and as a result he was sent to Burma as a counter-insurgency instructor with the Burmese armed forces, lecturing senior officers for a few months before returning to Australia. Serong subsequently advocated the dispatch of a small training team of Australian officers to assist in training the Burmese; however, this did not occur.[22] At the request of Muang Muang, in 1960 Serong returned to Burma, serving as a strategic adviser to the Burmese armed forces.[7][23] Muang Muang had resigned in early 1961, and as a consequence Serong's influence was limited from this time. In April 1962 he returned to Australia, visiting Vietnam on an information gathering tour on his way home.[24]

Vietnam War

In 1962, he was selected to lead the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV) instructors in Vietnam.[25] That year he was appointed as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE),[26] while in 1965 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).[27] From 1965 to 1967 he was senior advisor to the South Vietnamese Police Field Force.[28] Serong left the Australian Army in August 1968, at which time he was granted the honorary rank of brigadier.[29][30] He stayed on in Vietnam as a security and intelligence adviser to the South Vietnamese government for some years. He also prepared strategic analyses for the Rand organisation, the Hudson Institute and other US corporations and was a consultant to the Pentagon. In 1971, Serong declared that South Vietnam had essentially won the war.[31][32] Remaining long after the withdrawal of Australian forces,[33] Serong continued to serve in Vietnam until the fall of Saigon.[34] He departed Saigon the day prior to its capture, leaving by helicopter in the final airlift from the US embassy on 29 April 1975.[35] He received a number of US and South Vietnamese awards, including the United States Legion of Merit, the (Vietnam) Medal of Honour, Cross of Gallantry (with palm), and Chevalier (Knight) of the National Order.[20]

Later life

Following the war, Serong returned to Melbourne.[35] Considered a world authority on counter-insurgency operations,[20] he wrote widely on the subject in the 1970s.[28] Described as major Cold War figure, he was recognised internationally for developing innovative counter-insurgency and jungle warfare tactics.[35] During his retirement, he became involved in various anti-communist organisations and citizen militia groups such as Ausi Freedom Scouts (Australians United for Survival and Freedom). He supported conspiracy theories about the Port Arthur shooting in 1996 and spoke on Australian defence issues.[36] While often a controversial figure, his public reputation remained high and his opinions were rarely the subject of criticism in the media.[37] Serong died of heart disease on 1 October 2002 and was survived by his wife, Kathleen, three daughters, Julie, Elise and Rosemary, and three sons, Michael, Richard and Anthony.[35]

Notes

  1. ↑ Blair 2002, p. 8.
  2. ↑ Blair 2001, pp. 3–5.
  3. ↑ Blair 2001, p. 5.
  4. ↑ Blair 2001, p. 6.
  5. ↑ Blair 2001, pp. 6–7.
  6. ↑ Dennis et al 2008, p. 490.
  7. 1 2 Blair 2001, p. 18.
  8. ↑ Blair 2001, pp. 7–8.
  9. ↑ Blair 2001, p. 8.
  10. ↑ "Serong, Francis Phillip". World War II Nominal Roll. Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Blair 2001, p. 9.
  12. ↑ Fogarty 1986, p. 5.
  13. ↑ "Serong, Raymond William". World War II Nominal Roll. Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  14. 1 2 3 Blair 2001, p. 10.
  15. 1 2 Fogarty 1986, p. 6.
  16. ↑ Long 1963, p. 382.
  17. ↑ Blair 2001, pp. 10–11.
  18. 1 2 Blair 2002, p. 33.
  19. ↑ Blair 2001, p. 13.
  20. 1 2 3 Fogarty 1986, p. 4.
  21. ↑ Blair 2001, p. 15.
  22. ↑ Davies & McKay 2005, p. 4.
  23. ↑ Selth, Andrew (23 February 1992). "Burma gets another message of disapproval". The Canberra Times (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory). p. 10. ISSN 0157-6925.
  24. ↑ Davies & McKay 2005, pp. 4–5.
  25. ↑ Fairbairn, Anne (31 December 1965). "Australian Initiative". The Canberra Times (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory). p. 2. ISSN 0157-6925.
  26. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 42684. p. 4344. 25 May 1962. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  27. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 43802. p. 10069. 26 October 1965. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  28. 1 2 Dennis et al 2008, p. 491.
  29. ↑ Blair 2001, p. 189.
  30. ↑ Davies & McKay 2005, p. 366.
  31. ↑ Juddery, Bruce (4 February 1971). "Hanoi's initiative in south lost: Brigadier". The Canberra Times (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory). p. 8. ISSN 0157-6925.
  32. ↑ Juddery, Bruce (6 February 1971). "Australian player in the Great Game". The Canberra Times (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory). p. 11. ISSN 0157-6925.
  33. ↑ Blair 1996.
  34. ↑ Davidson, Gay (31 May 1975). "Brigadier who wanted to fight on". The Canberra Times (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory). p. 1. ISSN 0157-6925.
  35. 1 2 3 4 Farquharson, John. "Serong, Francis Philip (Ted) (1915–2002)". Obituaries Australia. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  36. ↑ Farquarson, John (12 November 2002). "Counter-insurgency jungle warrior". The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, New South Wales). p. 25. ISSN 0312-6315.
  37. ↑ Blair 2002, p. 196.

References

  • Blair, Anne (1996). "'Get Me Ten Years': Australia's Ted Serong in Vietnam, 1962–1975". After the Cold War: Reassessing Vietnam 18–20 April 1996. 1996 Vietnam Symposium. Lubbock, Texas: Vietnam Centre, Texas Tech University. OCLC 60822334. 
  • Blair, Anne (2001). There to the Bitter End: Ted Serong in Vietnam. Crows Nest, New South Wales: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1865084689. 
  • Blair, Anne (2002). Ted Serong: The Life of an Australian Counter-Insurgency Expert. Army History Series. South Melbourne, Victoria: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195515927. 
  • Davies, Bruce; McKay, Gary (2005). The Men Who Persevered. Crows Nest, New South Wales: Allen and Unwin. ISBN 9781741144253. 
  • Dennis, Peter; Grey, Jeffrey; Morris, Ewan; Prior, Robin; Bou, Jean (2008). The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History (Second ed.). Melbourne: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195517849. 
  • Fogarty, Michael (1986). "Ted Serong: An Army Career" (PDF). Defence Force Journal. January/February (56): 4–15. ISSN 0314-1039. 
  • Long, Gavin (1963). The Final Campaigns. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 – Army. Volume 7. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. OCLC 1297619. 

Further reading

External links

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