6RAR – South Vietnam – 21st July 1969
Peter Hines graduated from the Officer Cadet School in June 1965. He graduated into the Royal Australian Corps of Signals but later transferred to Royal Australian Infantry.
He was posted to 6RAR and deployed to South Vietnam as a Platoon Commander.
On the morning of 21st July, Hines had stopped his platoon for a morning break. During this break troops were listening to a transistor radio and heard about man landing on the moon. He had informed his men of the historical event and returned to his headquarters where unknowingly he trod on an M16 mine. Peter was killed and 18 others were wounded.
Later, a second mine explosion killed the only NCO not injured in the first incident, blinded the Medical Officer Trevor Henderson and seriously wounded the Commanding Officer David Butler (later Commandant of OCS).
For further information read here:
Australian War Memorial – Peter Aubyn Hines | Australian War Memorial (awm.gov.au)
Department of Veterans’ Affairs – DVA’s Nominal Rolls
Virtual War Memorial of Australia – Virtual War Memorial | Peter Aubyn HINES (vwma.org.au)
The Asia Pacific Journal, 4 June 2007 – The Minefield: An Australian Tragedy in America’s Vietnam War | The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus (apjjf.org)
Canberra Times Wangi Remembers – Wangi remembers the Vietnam war death of Lieutenant Peter Hines who was killed the moment man walked on the moon | The Canberra Times | Canberra, ACT
Channel 9 Vietnam tragedy – Vietnam tragedy echoes through the ages – 9News