Description
Vietnam Campaign Medal, Defence Force Service Medal, Long Service and Good Conduct Medal QEII Type II – Clasp: “AUSTRALIAN”, Meritorious Service Medal QEII, & South Vietnam Star.
Each Medal correctly named to: “27208 M.A. CONNELLAN”. Defence Force Service Medal pantographed, South Vietnam Star engraved, the rest impressed.
Martin Andrew Connellan was born on the 15th of December 1934. He enlisted in December 1955 at New South Wales into the Royal Australian Army Service Corps and underwent training at the Jungle Training Centre at Canungra in Queensland. Connellan served in South Vietnam with the 17th Construction Squadron in the Phouc Vuy Province from the 8th of April 1970 to the 7th of April 1971. He was awarded the Army Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (Comm. Of Aust. Gaz. 4/5/1972) as a Warrant Officer Class 2.
Later, Connellan served with the Royal Australian Corps of Transport, and from December of 1972 to December 1975 served with the ANZUC Force in Singapore. He was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal as a Warrant Officer class 2 with the Royal Australian Engineers (Comm. Of Austr. Gaz. 30/9/1975), and was discharged from the Australian Army on the 15th of December 1975.
Ten years following his discharge, Martin Andrew Connellan was involved in a brawl in July of 1985 at Newcastle, New South Wales – an innocent that resulted in his death. In a report in the Newcastle Herald, 22nd July 1985, it stated:
“Two men were charged yesterday with the murder of a 50-year-old man who died after a brawl outside a roadside café at Doyalson. Police said Martin Andrew Connellan, of anna Bay had become involved in an argument outside the café with three youths on Friday night after accusing them of having sworn in front of his defacto wife Ms Betty Brown. The police were called but the scuffle broke up before they arrived and Mr Connellan had gone home. The next morning Ms Brown found him dead in bed with a fractured skull. Newcastle Police said the two men aged 19 & 20, from Nords Wharf would appear in Newcastle Court this morning charged with murder. Police were still looking for a third male suspect.”
A very tragic end to the life of Martin Andrew Connellan. In hindsight, this tragedy is certainly a reflection of the aftermath of the Vietnam War and the effects it had on those that returned home. Many soldiers suffered from – usually without help – post traumatic stress, and, in addition to this, were treated very poorly by society upon returning to civilian life. The incident that took Martin’s life at the roadside café at Doyalson may have been one of these situations.
Medals swing mounted for wearing. Certainly a tragic end of the life of a man who served his country for 20 years. Extremely Fine.