Our Journey

Three DHC-4 Caribou Mk 1 light transports arrived at RAAF Base Richmond on delivery from the De Havilland Aircraft Company of Canada factory at Downsview in Toronto, Ontario. The Australian Government had placed an order for 18 of these aircraft in May 1963, the intention being to completely re-equip No 38 Squadron (then operating C-47/DC-3 Dakotas) by December 1964. A second consignment of three Caribous was similarly received in June, following a route across the Atlantic to Europe and through the Red Sea, but then the third and fourth batches were diverted to Vietnam instead. In September, seven more Caribous were ordered––six to enable the re-equipment program to continue, plus another to replace one wrecked in a landing accident in July. Eventually a total of 29 airframes of this type joined the RAAF.

Three DHC-4 Caribou Mk 1 transports arrived at Vung Tau, a coastal city 60 kilometres south-east of the South Vietnamese capital, Saigon, marking the start of an Air Force presence during the Vietnam War which would last until February 1972. The aircraft were on their delivery flight from Canada when they were diverted at Butterworth, Malaysia, to equip RAAF Transport Flight Vietnam, a new unit brought into existence at Butterworth on 20 July.

The main party of Base Support Flight departed from Sydney and proceeded to Saigon via Manila, to provide the domestic services (barracks, catering, motor transport, etc) and personnel administrative functions required by the growing Air Force contingent in South Vietnam. Until this point, the RAAF presence at Vung Tau had comprised a single flight of Caribou transports, but the arrival of a second flying squadron - No 9 Squadron operating Iroquois helicopters - meant that the level of support provided needed to be upgraded.

After civil war erupted in Portuguese Timor (East Timor) in August 1975, a DHC-4 Caribou (A4-140) was sent from No 38 Squadron to fly Red Cross personnel and supplies from Darwin. The aircraft was frequently used to shuttle refugees back to Darwin, until the Australia Government stopped the practice. When troops of the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT) heard that evacuation flights had been halted, they panicked and took over the aircraft. The crew was forced at gunpoint to take off with 54 people crammed on board the Caribou, instead of the maximum of 28 it was designed to carry. The aircraft wallowed towards Darwin at just 90 knots at an altitude of 1500 feet (457 metres), and when it landed had just 10 minutes fuel remaining. The soldiers surrendered peacefully, but A4-140 had become the first RAAF aircraft ever hijacked.

The Air Force flew its last operation involving the DHC-4 Caribou light transport aircraft, 45 years after this type first entered service in Australia. The final flight was carried out by Caribou A4-140 from Richmond into Canberra, where the aircraft was handed over to the Australian War Memorial for preservation.