James Duff
Stephen LearmonthJim was born on the 21st of March 1950 at Perth in Scotland. He was the eldest child of four children of Frederick Norval and Anne (née Ford) Duff.
On the 6th of September 1959, the Duff family embarked on the MV Fairsea at Southampton, England. Fred had been a farm worker at Lumquhat Farm, in Auchtermuchty, Fife, and clearly wanted a better life for his family. Australian Electoral Rolls show that in 1963 the family were living at Oxton in the subdivision of Holbrook and that by 1968 had moved to the Tallangatta area in Victoria where Fred worked as a station hand on Bingara. Upon leaving school Jim found work in the Upper Murray on a dairy farm and later at the Mitta Mitta sawmill.
In July of 1970 he was called up for National Service, being allocated the Service Number 3799449. After training he was posted to 12 Platoon, D Company of 4RAR (Royal Australian regiment) and sailed with the battalion to South Vietnam on the 22nd of May of 1971. He was described as a cheerful, happy-go-lucky soldier who made friends easily. 4RAR was returning to Vietnam for its second tour, relieving 2RAR.
During its first tour, two Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment Companies had joined the battalion. It became known as 4RAR/NZ (ANZAC) for its two tours. After a week of settling in and further training, 4RAR/NZ (ANZAC) moved to the bush for the remainder of its tour. The ANZAC Battalion conducted nine operations against their main targets, the 274 Viet Cong (VC) Main Force Regiment and the 33rd North Vietnamese Army Regiment.
During Operation Ivanhoe in Phuoc Tuy Province on September the 21st, just prior to the battle of Nui Le eventuating, Jimmy was part of a reconnaissance group led by the platoon commander looking for an ideal place to form a quick all round defensive position. The search ran into heavy opposition. At about 0900 hours, 12 Platoon came under heavy fire from an enemy bunker just 10 metres away. RPG (rocket propelled grenades) rounds exploded in the tree above Jim, killing him instantly and wounding two others, including the platoon commander Second Lieutenant Graham Spinkston. Private Colin Kemp crawled forward and tried repeatedly to retrieve Jim’s body under intense fire until he was ordered to withdraw.
During the following contact 24 soldiers were wounded and four more were killed. This was the last battle fought by Australians in South Vietnam. The task force would return to Australia in early December 1971.
Jim is buried in the Mitta Mitta Cemetery, Victoria. He is also remembered on the 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (Holsworthy Memorial), the Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, the Grafton Clarence Valley Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Kallangur Vietnam Veterans' Place, the Port Pirie Vietnam Veterans Honour Wall, and the Tallangatta RSL War Memorial.
