Richard Norden VC
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The Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is Australia’s highest honour for bravery in combat, awarded for the most conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy. Bestowed by the Sovereign, it recognises acts of extraordinary courage and self-sacrifice. The medal itself is cast from bronze taken from captured cannons of the Crimean War, symbolising a long tradition of service. Australians have been awarded the Victoria Cross across conflicts from colonial wars to modern operations. Each decoration represents an individual story of bravery, forming part of Australia’s broader military history and national identity.
In August 1968, Bravo Company 1RAR was committed to Operation ‘Platypus’ in Phuoc Tuy Province. 5 Platoon, commanded by 2nd Lieutenant Chris Forde was ordered to push up close to a Viet Cong bunker system and challenge its strengths and weaknesses. They didn’t make it.
After scaling a big fallen tree across the track which approached the bunker system, the platoon was moving cautiously along a well-worn enemy track when there was a large explosion to the front.
The Viet Cong had emplaced an MDH-2 Claymore mine as a part of their defensive plan. The MDH-2 is a circular shaped charge designed to blast hundreds of pieces of shrapnel into their enemy, in a manner similar to the American Claymore mine – the M18A1, except that the MDH-2 was bigger and had more shrapnel and explosive in it by comparison.
The blast wounded most of the forward section which included Private Richard Norden. Richard was the GPMG M60 machine gunner, and his ‘number two on the gun’ was Private Terry Maplesden. Terry recalls:
“the whole platoon was a bit uptight at the time because we had harboured up the night before about 500 metres from the enemy bunker system. We had set an ambush on a well-used enemy track close to our platoon position for the night. Two Viet Cong came into the ambush and we shot and killed one of them but the other bloke got away. But he didn’t go very far because he kept calling out for his mate. Next morning we lifted the ambush and went out and found the dead Viet Cong and searched then buried him. We knew that the rest of his mates were not far away, so we were pretty uptight afterwards when we resumed the patrol toward the bunker system.
We knew that another platoon had approached the same bunker system previously from a different direction and had their arses kicked by the Viet Cong. We had to climb over this big tree that was laying across the track, did a right turn to follow a winding track and began following it when there was a huge explosion. I was flown flat on my back. We were in a single file and when I opened my eyes and looked around I saw a row of wounded blokes behind me and they were all in a row sitting in this shallow drain.
I looked at Dick (Richard Norden) and he was sitting up not saying a word. He never said that he had been wounded even though he had been badly hit in the legs. He never complained or asked for anything. That was Dick.
Chris Forde stopped the patrol, picked up our wounded and went back to an area where we could clear some low jungle with our machetes so that the DUSTOFF could come and collect the wounded. After we were DUSTOFF to hospital, I never saw Dick again after that. He was sent back to Australia for treatment”.
Richard was treated for his leg wounds in Australia and after recovery discharged from the Australian Army in 1970.