Singer Patricia “Little Pattie” Amphlett was performing in front of thousands of Australian troops in South Vietnam when an officer made a gesture she would never forget: he drew his fingers across his throat.
She had to evacuate the Nui Dat base – immediately.
“We were put very hurriedly into jeeps which took us to a waiting Iroquois helicopter. It was panic. We flew over the battle and it was the Battle of Long Tan,” Amphlett says.
Major Tom Willington, Officer Commanding the Eastern Command Amenities Unit with performers Col Joye and Patricia “Little Pattie” Amphlett in 1966 as they prepare for their tour of Borneo and Vietnam.Credit: Australian War Memorial
The Viet Cong attempt to overrun the Australians in August 1966 was defeated, but 18 Australians died.
The next day Amphlett was reunited with performer Col Joye, who was trapped on the base overnight. He urged her to accompany him to visit injured soldiers in hospital and sing them songs. “That is when I did some crying.”
The Australian Forces Sweetheart was just 17 at the time.
Facing the Vietnam War frontline taught her a life lesson. “You can walk and chew gum at the same time,” says the performer, who still mentors entertainers heading overseas to perform for Australian Defence Force troops.
“You can be terribly against war and be a pacifist ... but be a million per cent supportive of our forces.”
At the Australian War Memorial, singer Little Pattie arrives in a jeep of the kind used during the Vietnam War.
Amphlett followed up her formative Vietnam experiences with a tour to Iraq in 2005.
“It is a terrific feeling to have. It will absolutely change your life, you grow up. You will feel, even if you are a terrible pacifist like me, you will feel so proud.”
The lived experiences of Amphlett and other performers form the basis of a just-opened exhibition at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne.
Tours de Force: Entertainers on the Frontline uses posters, photos, video and text to document concert tours organised by the ADF unit Forces Entertainment, and staged in conflict zones including Vietnam, East Timor, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Solomon Islands.
Amphlett will join others including singer and Vietnam veteran Normie Rowe and comedians Anthony “Lehmo” Lehmann and Tom Gleeson for a live event at the Shrine on Tuesday.
Dili AllStars band member Gil Santos, comedian Anthony “Lehmo” Lehmann and Dili AllStars singer Paulie Stewart.Credit: Jason South
In 1999 impresario Glenn Wheatley and Forces Entertainment organised the Christmas Concert for East Timor, headlined by John Farnham and Kylie Minogue, for peacekeeping troops sent to quell violent uprisings after East Timor voted for independence.
The lineup featured the Dili AllStars band, which included Timorese guitarist Gil Santos and Painters and Dockers singer Paulie Stewart.
Gil Santos (second from left) and Paulie Stewart (yellow shirt) with fellow Allstars band members and with Peter Cosgrove, commander of the International Force for East TimorCredit: Reproduced courtesy of Paulie Stewart
Stewart’s brother, journalist Tony Stewart, was one of the Balibo Five group killed by Indonesian troops and Timorese auxiliaries while reporting from East Timor in 1975. That very same day, Santos’ father died in the East Timor capital Dili.
“It was the first time I had gone to Dili in about 20 years,” Santos said of the 1999 concert. “It was very emotional after trying to promote the struggle.
“It was amazing. I couldn’t ask for anything better. We were in a free country for the first time after 500 years of occupation and 24 years of Indonesian occupation.”
Stand-up comedian and Utopia star Anthony “Lehmo” Lehmann has vivid memories of his time in Afghanistan, particularly of the dust in Tarinkot.
Anthony “Lehmo” Lehmann performs a comedy set at the Al Minhad Air Base, United Arab Emirates in 2019. Reproduced courtesy of the Australian Defence ForceCredit: LSIS Craig Walton
“I was in Afghanistan for less than a week and I was still washing it out of my hair and eyes six weeks later,” he said.
“Aussie troops on active deployment in Iraq or Afghanistan are the single best audience. They are ready for some fun.
“It can get very boring on the bases, so they are happy to see someone else.”
When Amphlett returned to the frontline in 2005, Camp Smitty in Baghdad was a huge contrast to 1960s Saigon, where she walked the streets and met locals so fascinated by her blonde hair they offered to wash it.
“We could never have walked the streets of Baghdad. The only locals we met were people who worked for the military.”
Now Amphlett is an ambassador for Forces Entertainment and a mentor for younger generations of performers. “Most of the time I go to the airport see them off. I say to them their experience will be unique and stay with them forever.”
The performer, who is touring Australia next year as part of the Good Old Days of Rock and Roll concert, made three life-long friends among the injured soldiers she met while touring.
“They are still alive and they are mighty,” she said.
“In recent years I have taken Vietnam veterans and their wives back to Vietnam on a ‘get rid of ghosts’ trip.”
The free exhibition Tours de Force: Entertainers on the Frontline runs until October 2023 at The Shrine of Remembrance.
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