GUNNEDAH Water Tower Museum has a new display featuring Vietnam veteran, the late Phillip Gregory Barwick.
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The Barwick family donated Phillip’s uniform and a citation as well as an artwork of Trooper Barwick riding in the open top of an army tank. It was painted by one of his army mates.
A new mannequin has been purchased by the Gunnedah and District Historical Society to display the uniform which is the start of a new section featuring Vietnam veterans.
The late Phillip Gregory Barwick was a conscript who became one of the many long-term casualties of the Vietnam War.
The son of Harry and Ruby Barwick, of Carellan, Kelvin, Phillip was called up for national service in 1969 and was sent to Vietnam on the last day of September 1970. He was attached to A Squadron, 1st Armoured Regiment, from October 10, 1970 to December 16, 1970 and was then transferred to C Squadron, 1st Armoured Regiment, from December 17, 1970, until his medical discharge on July 12, 1971.
Trooper Barwick returned to Australia with shocking injuries, including the loss of both eyes, from a rocket-propelled grenade onto the machine gun he was operating on his army tank.
His devastated parents saw him through 18 months of pain and rehabilitation at Concord Hospital before he recovered enough to be trained in the use of a switchboard.
Once a talented sportsman, Phillip Barwick returned to his former place of employment, at Peel Valley County Council, Tamworth, with his guide dog Donna.
He also learned Braille and was soon in demand as a speaker for the Guide Dogs Association.
In 1983, Phillip received a life-saving kidney from his sister Helen but the long-term effects of his war injuries took a toll on his body and he died from kidney failure in 1988, leaving a wife Kath and a son Rohan.
The Barwick family erected a memorial on the hill above their home at Carellan where the once carefree child roamed as a boy.
When the new Kelvin community hall opened in May 2005, third-generation Kelvin resident, John Barwick, presented a plaque in memory of his brother Private Phillip Gregory Barwick, a casualty of the “not-talked-about war”.
GUNNEDAH men who are listed as Vietnam War veterans on the Honour Board in the Soldier’s Vestibule at Gunnedah Town Hall include:
IT (Ian Barbato), Phillip G. Barwick, RR Beasley, T. Carlyon, DR Chadfield (I have feeling this name should be Chatfield, you can either check my files for stories or look on the honour board at the Town Hall, I think a couple have been missed off the list in The Way We Were but they will be on the honour board).
Colin J. Clarke, AJ Court, GJ Davidson, B. Downes, LJ Downes, R. Dryden, CR Everett, Ian T. Finlay, RB Foster, DJ Foster, TJ Griffen, PB Hall, Michael W. Howard, IR Hosie, WJ Hyland, KG Jackson, A (Tony) Kingdom, WT Lamb, J. Lilllis, J. Paton, J. Molenkamp, DJ Saunders, GK Seaton, HC Spradbrow, BJ (brian) Warren, LN Thurston, SC Smith, BH Stokes, B. Philpot.
The Gunnedah and District Historical Society is keen to expand its Vietnam War display and is seeking photographs of all local veterans. Anyone who can assist is asked to email a high resolution image in a large file to Marie Hobson at mhobson5@bigpond.com or deliver to the Water Tower Museum during opening hours on Saturday from 10am-2pm or Monday mornings.
