Forgotten Diggers

Sean Arthur
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This is the story of the Australian Rifle Company Butterworth (RCB) and our long fight with our own government over recognition for war service. The RCB served in the Second Malaysian Emergency in Butterworth Air Force Base in Northern Malaysia between the years 1970 to 1989. The Australian Government and the Defence Department have been trying to suppress the historical record for over 50 years. The RCB veterans are having none of it. If you are interested in the twists and turns of Australian foreign policy during the Cold War years, tune in to the Forgotten Diggers podcast and learn how the Australian Public was deceived back then, and still are to this day.

Episodes

  1. 02/08/2025

    8. Vital Points

    Vital Points - VPs. VP has a special meaning to the Australian soldiers who were deployed to Rifle Company Butterworth. VPs were the numbered Vital Points that were scattered all about the huge airbase that were particularly vulnerable to CT attack. While the CT may target any isolated military infrastructure, some had a very high value rating. But these last vital points I am making are all about answering questions on RCB service and operations. Questions like, why wasn't the airbase attacked when so many other bases were? What was the enemy's attitude to us? Why is the Defence Department, and the Australian Government so committed to the peacetime deception? And, why are the RCB veterans so committed to the recognition fight? Tune in to the concluding episode to find out.

    8. Vital Points

  2. 02/07/2025

    7. The RCB Tribunals

    RCB service as been investigated many times, and many times found to be peacetime service. Apparently, to the Australian Defence Department, and the Australian government there was no civil war in Malaysia during our deployment. This is news to the Malaysian government who have formally thanked the Australian servicemen who served during this difficult period. In this episode we shall concentrate on the 2023 DHAAT tribunal which sought to kill or capture the essence of RCB service for the last time. This Tribunal was supposed to expose the truth, as none previously even came close. Did the Australian Diggers get their recognition, or did the 1973 deception remain in place. Listen here to find out.

    7. The RCB Tribunals

  3. 02/06/2025

    6. The CT Enemy

    This episode describes the opposing forces to the RCB Digger. We shall go into some historical detail about the enemy - ours and especially our Malaysian allies. When we were on station at Butterworth we were continually updated on enemy operations, but the average private soldier remained completely ignorant as to who they were and what motivated them to live in the jungle and strike out seemingly at random. Theirs was a difficult road, but they were very committed to taking it.

    6. The CT Enemy

  4. 02/05/2025

    5. RCB - A Day in the Life

    The digger arrives in Butterworth Malaysia during the height of the Cold War so as to protect a joint Malaysian-Australian air base. How does he do that? What are the issues? How are operations conducted? What were the risks and threats. This episode puts you in the drivers seat at RCB for a single day.

    5. RCB - A Day in the Life

  5. 02/04/2025

    4. Australia's National Anxiety

    In this episode we slide all the way back to 1788, and examine in detail just why Australia experiences the political nervousness in its own region. We will explore why we pick the fights that we do, and how, sometimes, the fights pick us. The trail to our little conflict in Malaysia begins in the early history of our country, and even in the very first days of settlement.

    4. Australia's National Anxiety

  6. 02/04/2025

    3. Australian Infantry Training & the First 12 Months

    In this episode we shall complete infantry training and slide through the first 12 months in the battalion. All this preparation is in readiness for your deployment to Butterworth Malaysia so as to protect the joint RAAF-Malaysian Air Force Base in Butterworth Malaysia. The process is slow, but it ensures that only trained and prepared professional soldiers are sent into the armed conflict in Malaysia.

    3. Australian Infantry Training & the First 12 Months

  7. 02/03/2025

    2. Australian Army Recruit Training in the 1970s

    Before the Australian Digger can go to RCB he must first be trained. The most elemental of all the martial arts is recruit training. The Australian army sends its raw civilians to the 1st Recruit Training Battalion (1RTB) Kapooka, in Wagga, NSW. Here they shall be torn down and rebuilt - at least to the point where they begin to think and act like the warriors they will one day become.

    2. Australian Army Recruit Training in the 1970s

  8. 02/02/2025

    1. RCB - An Introduction

    The Rifle Company Butterworth story in a complicated one. This episode gives the listener a valuable overview and sets the scene for the rest of the podcast. You will discover that Australia had a little Cold War problem 7000 km away. and certain political promises put a iron wrench in the Government's gearbox

    1. RCB - An Introduction
  • 8 Episodes

About

This is the story of the Australian Rifle Company Butterworth (RCB) and our long fight with our own government over recognition for war service. The RCB served in the Second Malaysian Emergency in Butterworth Air Force Base in Northern Malaysia between the years 1970 to 1989. The Australian Government and the Defence Department have been trying to suppress the historical record for over 50 years. The RCB veterans are having none of it. If you are interested in the twists and turns of Australian foreign policy during the Cold War years, tune in to the Forgotten Diggers podcast and learn how the Australian Public was deceived back then, and still are to this day.

Information

  • Creator
    Sean Arthur
  • Episodes
    8
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Sean Arthur
  • Show Website
    Forgotten Diggers