HANDCUFFED IN PIT
Australian Was Awaiting Trial
(N.Z. Frets Assn. —Copyright) CANBERRA, March 10.
The Prime Minister (Mr Holt) said that he regretted the incident in which an Australian gunner was handcuffed in a weapon pit in Vietnam for 20 days. The gunner, Peter Gerard O’Neill, aged 20, of Terang, Victoria, was sentenced to six months’ detention by a court martial at Bien Hoa
He arrived in Singapore by air on Tuesday from Saigon on his way to Australia after the Minister for the Army (Mr Fraser) sent a message to Saigon directing that the soldier should serve his court martial sentence in Australia.
Messages from Vietnam earlier this week described how O’Neill had been handcuffed to a stake in a weapon pit while awaiting court martial on charges of failing to report for two guard duties. He also refused to undertake field punishment. “This episode has given me a great deal of concern,” Mr Holt said. “I am easier in my mind now that I know that such an experienced soldier as the Chief of the General Staff (Lieutenant-General Sir John Wilton) is personally examining the case.
“And I hope this episode will not be allowed to blur the splendid image of the battalion which has been in Vietnam.”
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Press, Volume CV, Issue 31006, 11 March 1966, Page 11
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210HANDCUFFED IN PIT Press, Volume CV, Issue 31006, 11 March 1966, Page 11
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