Born in
Innisfail, North Queensland, Australia 2 March 1939.
Lex was
interested in aviation from an early age, given that in WW2 there
were constant flights of war planes overhead and one uncle was a
pilot killed in the RAAF.
There was no
flying school or aero club within 60 miles of Innisfail, so there was
no prospect of riding a bike to and from as in the legends of
aviation.
Any hope of
becoming a pilot were dashed at a high school cricket match when Lex
was hit in the left eye by a fast-moving ball that inflicted damage.
Lex joined
the Regular Army June 1960 to see more of the world. The eye damage
to his left eye was not bad enough to affect shooting and he scored
‘Marksman’.
Lex opted
for infantry; in 1962 volunteered for language aptitude tests;
accepted for RAAF School of Languages, Point Cook; 1 year fulltime
study 1963; graduated as Vietnamese linguist.
Lex and two
other Vietnamese linguists in 1964 were sent to 4th
Battalion The Royal Australian Regiment (4RAR), preparing to fight
Indonesians, in defence of Malaysia. The Australian presence in
Vietnam was a small number of advisers at this time. Being young and
bullet-proof, Lex and the others did not care who they fought.
When
Australians were committed to South Vietnam in April 1965, Lex
received an immediate posting to the first Australian infantry
battalion to serve there. This was 1st Battalion RAR
(1RAR), and with additional armour, artillery, signals and support
elements, joined the US 173rd Airborne Brigade (Separate)
at Bien Hoa, north-east of Saigon.
With the
brigade, 1RAR experienced actions against the Vietcong over much of
the Corps area and into the Mekong Delta.
A high-light
of this tour of duty was the capture of the Vietcong headquarters for
the entire region of Saigon and district.
After a year
in SVN Lex returned to Australia in 1966 and was played a major role
in establishment of a short colloquial Vietnamese course taught in
Sydney.
In late
1967, Lex went back to Vietnam on the staff of the Military Attache,
Australian Embassy, in time for the Tet Offensive and was for a time
the only Australian with access to General Westmoreland’s
operations room.
On return to
Australia in 1968, Lex taught Intelligence subjects and returned to
Vietnam in 1970, eventually taking charge of the Interrogation and
Document Translation Section at the Australian field HQ.
Having
returned from SVN in April 1971, Lex was asked to go again later in
the year, and agreed, but the Australian involvement ended in
October.
These
postings allowed him to experience the war in Vietnam at the highest
and lowest levels – out in the weeds and tunnels, at the field HQ
and with access to General Westmoreland’s operations room.
In 1977 Lex
went to Germany on exchange with the British army and was able to
travel extensively there and in the UK, especially to battle-fields.
Lex retired
from the Army in 1982 and researched and wrote the following:
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