Alastair John Sherwood Don

Forenames

Alastair John Sherwood AWMM

Surname

Don AWMM

Also known as

Al AWMM

Service number

• Malaya 37221 AWMM
• Vietnam 37221 AWMM

Gender

Male AWMM

Birth

27 Mar 1938 AWMM

Address before enlistment

Vietnam Te Iringa, Kaikohe, Northland, New Zealand AWMM

Relationship status

1963 AWMM Married/Malaya AWMM
Male child aged 3 AWMM

War

• Malaya, 1960-1964 AWMM
• Indonesian Confrontation 1962-1966 AWMM
• Vietnam War, 1961-1975 AWMM

Armed force / branch

Army AWMM

Service number

• Malaya 37221 AWMM
• Vietnam 37221 AWMM

Medals and Awards

• Gallantry Cross with Palm (South Vietnam) AWMM
• Military Merit Medal (South Vietnam) AWMM
• New Zealand Operational Service Medal AWMM
• Vietnam Medal AWMM
• South Vietnamese Presidential Unit Citation in the Colour of the Cross of Gallantry with Palm AWMM

Embarkation details

• Malaya Sergeant/Military AWMM New Zealand Regiment, 1 Battalion, B Company AWMM British Commonwealth Far East Strategic Reserve AWMM
• Vietnam Sergeant Ministry for Culture and Heritage Royal New Zealand Artillery, 161 Battery Ministry for Culture and Heritage Royal New Zealand Army AWMM
  2nd Embarkation AWMM

Medical notes

Killed in Action, Cause of Death AWMM
14 September 1965 – vehicle hit command detonated mine at Ben Cat. Read citation for Cross of Gallantry with Palm. Buried at Terendak Malaysia on 20.9.1965. Also served in A Coy, 1 NZ Regt Malaya 1961/63. AWMM

Last rank

• Malaya 1963 1NZIR Repatriation Lists R22435553 Sergeant/Military 1NZIR Repatriation Lists R22435553
  New Zealand Infantry Regiment, 1st Battalion 1NZIR Repatriation Lists R22435553
• Vietnam Sergeant AWMM
  Royal New Zealand Artillery, 161 Battery AWMM

Death

14 Sept 1965 Cemetery Record
Age  27 AWMM

Cause of death

Killed in Action AWMM

Cemetery

Manukau Memorial Gardens, Manukau, Auckland AWMM

Memorial name

Auckland War Memorial Museum, Hall of Memories. Vietnam. AWMM

Related objects

External links

• 'The war that never was', 31 January 2009, www.stuff.co.nz
  http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/465078/The-war-that-never-was
  Further Reference
• New Zealand History online. New Zealand and the the Vietnam War.
  https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/vietnam-war
  Further Reference
• Australia's Vietnam War
  https://web.archive.org/web/20241003003021/https://vietnam.unsw.adfa.edu.au/
  Further Reference
• The New Zealand Malaya Veterans Association.
  http://www.malayavets.co.nz/
  Further Reference
• NZ and the Confrontation in Borneo (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 23-Jul-2007
  https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/confrontation-in-borneo
  Further Reference
• NZDF Begins Repatriation Mission in Malaysia
  http://www.nzdf.mil.nz/media-centre/news/2018/nzdf-begins-repatriation-mission-in-malaysia.htm
  Further Reference
• Chin, F. (21 April 2024)."Kāpiti Vietnam soldiers honoured at new memorial", The Post.
  https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/350252059/kapiti-vietnam-soldiers-honoured-new-memorial
  Further Reference

References

• Subritsky, M. (Ed). (1995). The Vietnam scrapbook: The second ANZAC adventure. Papakura, N.Z.: Three Feathers Publishing Co.
  Subritsky, M. (Compiler). (1995). p. 53, 56, 45, 161, 197.
• Gurr, Robert. (2009). Voices from a border war: Borneo 1963-1965. 2nd Edition. Christchurch, N.Z.: Wilson Scott Publishing
  New Zealand Ex-Vietnam Services Association Inc.
• Pugsley, C. (2003). From emergency to confrontation: the New Zealand armed forces in Southeast Asia, 1949-1966. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
• H.E. Chamberlain, Nominal Roll – 1 RNZIR, 8 May 1964, in Gurr, Robert. (2009). Voices from a border war: Borneo 1963-1965. 2nd Edition. Christchurch, N.Z.: Wilson Scott Publishing, pp.139-150
• 1NZR Roll 1961-1963 - Bill Russell, Malayan Veterans Association Scrapbook – 40th Anniversary edition.
• DECEASED, 1 NZ Regiment, 1961-63 – Internet resource.
• This record was partially created from Cemetery research completed by Carol Foster (2021).
• Organisation - New Zealand Army Force - FARELF [Far East Land Forces] - Organisation and formation - [Malaya] [Malaya 1960-1964 1NZIR Repatriation Lists]. Archives New Zealand Wellington, AAYS 8638 AD1/1120 (R22435552)
  List is intended to post personnel of 1NZ Regt on their retrun to NZ with a range of factors in mind.
• Fry, P., & New Zealand. Army. Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment. Battalion, 1st. (1983). The First Battalion Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment : Journal / [P.J. Fry, editor] (25th anniversary commemorative ed.). Singapore: The Regiment.
• Black, E. A. (n.d.). N.Z. armed forces honours & awards : Korea, Malaya, South Vietnam, 1950-1972. Wellington, N.Z.: Defence Headquarters.
• McGibbon, I.C. (2010). New Zealand's Vietnam War: a history of combat, commitment and controversy. Auckland, N.Z.: Exisle