Veteran recites ode one final time
Reciting the Ode of Remembrance for one last time was a chance for revered Vietnam veteran Bob Davies to reflect on his 30-year career as a soldier.
Davies, of Lower Hutt, who has terminal prostate cancer, stood beside the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in Wellington on Tuesday last week to read the ode, watched by mates from the Returned and Services Association.
‘‘I always wanted to be a soldier,’’ Davies said in an interview this week.
‘‘I grew up immediately after World War II, which was the raging topic at home for everybody. My father and uncle both went away.’’
Originally from Auckland, Davies was a school cadet at Tamaki College and joined the army in 1964, aged 16. By the time he left he held the rank of Warrant Officer Class One, and the position of Sergeant Major of the Army (SMA) – the highest position a non-commissioned officer can achieve in the NZ Army.
‘‘I tried to join at 15, but my mum said ‘no’ and of course, in the 1950s, you did what you were told.’’
It was his job to advise the top brass on all matters relating to the rank and file, a position that often put him into conflict with high ranking officers.
Former colleague Chris McKeen – who now works for
Stuff as a visual journalist – remembers Davies as someone not to be messed with.
‘‘He had an incredible voice on parade, I heard him many times.’’
He was greatly respected by the rank and file, and although he has been out of the army for many years, he is still highly regarded and has been a strong advocate for the rights of former service personnel.
The defining moment in Davies’ career came when he was 20 and spent a year in Vietnam.
‘‘I spent 12 months in the jungle, at the sharp end.’’
The death of his mate, Lance Corporal Donald Imlay Bensemann in 1968 in Vietnam is something he has never forgotten.
‘‘He was in a different platoon from me, but we had both been in hospital with malaria and flew back to the field together.
‘‘The next day he went out on patrol and walked into a bunker complex and he got shot in the neck,’’ Davies told Stuff.
The Vietnam war had more low points than highlights, Davies said.
Living in the jungle, he was never dry and the combat was nothing like that experienced by his relatives in World War II: ‘‘All our contacts (with the enemy) were within 5 metres, so that was quite stressful, and of course there were booby traps and mines.’’
Last week, he made no mention of being wounded, but the service record of the then-Lance Corporal Robert Arthur Davies, 40717, tells a different story: ‘‘Wounded in action, 30 January 1969 – shrapnel wound to face in contact.’’
Looking back on his career, Davies is proud of his years in the army and is philosophical about the rights and wrongs of Vietnam.
‘‘We were professional soldiers and we were there to represent New Zealand’s international priorities,’’ he said. ‘‘Not necessarily win the war but to sell lamb and to reflect the global priorities of the government.’’