Errol Wayne Noack (1945 - 1966)

Born 28 Mar 1945 in North Adelaide, South Australia

Ancestors

Died 24 May 1966 at age 21 in Nui Dat, South Viet Nam

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Ed Noack [send private message]

Biography

Errol was a good and cheerful man, a dutiful son and close companion to his father Walter, and a caring friend to many. By ballot, he was conscripted as a National Serviceman, to serve in the Australian Army during the conflict in South East Asia known as the Vietnam War (3). Ten days after arriving in Vietnam, he was killed while on active duty at Nui Dat, having most likely, according to eyewitnesses, been accidentally caught in an incident of friendly crossfire (13). He was the first Australian conscripted National Serviceman to be killed in that war (2). His death deeply affected the nation. He was given a military funeral with full honours as announced at the time by the Australian Army:

"The Army will provide a military funeral with full honours for Private Errol Wayne Noack the first national serviceman to die in Vietnam. The funeral will be held in Adelaide".

"An Army spokesman said in Canberra yesterday that the military funeral would include a firing party of a sergeant, corporal and 12 soldiers: An escort of an officer and 20 soldiers: A gun carriage, six bearers, buglers to sound the last post and reveille and an army band with draped and muffled drums" (12).

Errol's life and death stirred emotions and fuelled heated social and political debates throughout the country. The reactions produced much documentation which is summarized in this Profile. Please read through the comments and recollections included in the sources below and if possible, study the well researched books by Mark Dapin. An article written in Veteran SA to remember the 50th anniversary of Errol's death and included as reference (13), provides a very good summary of Errol's life and untimely death.

In 1989, the South Australian Returned Services League honoured Errol with the opening of Errol Noack House in Mitchell Park, South Australia. The facility commemorates Errol's war service and continues to provide emergency accommodation for Vietnam and other war veterans and their families.

Birth and early life:

Errol was born at Calvary Hospital, North Adelaide on 28 March 1945 to parents Walter Henry NOACK Noack-261and Dorothy (Dot) WILSON Wilson-57610. He was given the names Errol Wilson NOACK at birth. However, following the marriage breakdown of his parents and their subsequent divorce in November 1947, he was known as Errol Wayne NOACK.

Errol was cared for by his relatives in Adelaide in particular his father Walter's brother and sister in law, Herb NOACK Noack-263 and wife Loris, at Gilberton, South Australia. The Matthias family at Murray Bridge Edmund MATTHIAS Matthias-202 and his wife Anna Elisabeth LINDNER Lindner-465 and their daughter Betty MATTHIAS Matthias-208 also welcomed Errol into their home for holidays. As Ted and Elisabeth MATTHIAS are my maternal grandparents, I recall as a young child, visiting them with my older sister Elizabeth and brother John, during Errol's stays (pers. comm. Ed Noack).

Teenage years:

Errol had an interrupted secondary schooling. In order to complete his Intermediate Year, he attended Concordia College, Highgate, Adelaide in 1963. He was very keen on maintaining his fitness and, to that end, endured gruelling long distance runs along the slopes of the nearby Mitcham Hills (many as my running companion, pers. comm. Ed Noack). Errol boarded at the College during the week and spent the weekends with his father. His return on Sunday evening in Walter's eye catching 1938 era Hudson automobile, was a memorable moment for his fellow students.

After leaving school, Errol enjoyed the times spent as a commercial fisherman with his father at Port Lincoln. He was physically strong and well suited to the rigours of deep sea fishing.

Conscription and War Service:

On 10 November 1964, PM Menzies announced the reintroduction of national service training for 20 year old males on a birthday ballot basis and lasting two years. The first ballot took place on 10 March 1965 and included persons born on 28 March 1945, Errol's birth date.

This first group of 2.100 national servicemen enlisted on 30 June 1965 and were consigned to Puckapunyal (Victoria) and Kapooka (NSW). Errol was alloted to C Company Infantry based at Puckapunyal. Two months later, on 5 September 1965, he was sent to B Company 56RAR for infantry training at Holsworthy Camp, NSW then to jungle training in Queensland.

On 9 March 1966, PM Holt announced a trebling of forces in Viet Nam including 1,500 national servicemen. And so, at midnight 12/13 May 1966, Errol and fellow national servicemen, flew out from Richmond Air Force Base to Saigon.

On 24 May 1966, while on patrol with fellow Australian soldiers at Nui Dat, Errol was caught in a friendly fire incident and seriously wounded. He was evacuated to Hospital at Vung Tau where he died. He was he first Australia national serviceman to die in the Viet Nam conflict.

The Australian authors Mark DAPIN and Paul HAM have researched and published excellent, analytical, authoritative writings on the Vietnam conflict including the role of the conscripts and in particular to the circumstances of Errol's death. (5) (8)

Funeral:

Recollections by Ed Noack. "I was part of a large crowd which assembled within the Lutheran Church and outside on Flinders Street, Adelaide, to pay their respects to Errol, to show support for Walter and to quietly and respectfully show their contempt for conscription and the pro-war actions of the US and Australian Governments . An immaculately polished gun carriage accompanied by military escort, bore Errol's coffin to the church. Pastor G Fischer officiated at the Service. A long cortege of military, family and friends followed his coffin to Centennial Park where he was laid to rest in the beautifully landscaped Derrick Memorial Garden."

"I was, in July 2014, contacted by Mr Elliot Bishop who advised that he proudly and meticulously prepared the gun carriage for the funeral. It was his first task after joining the Regular Army in 1966. It was a pleasure to be able to thank him for a job so well done."

Place of Burial:

Following a funeral service with full military honours at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Flinders Street , Adelaide, Errol was laid to rest in the Derrick Garden of Remembrance, Centennial Park Cemetery, Pasadena, Adelaide, South Australia. (17)

Legacy:

Errol's death was the catalyst for a huge outpouring of anger in the Australian community against the Australian Government and its role in Viet Nam. However, many more ballots were held and atrocities recorded before there was a change of Government. In December 1972, the newly elected Whitlam Government, immediately ended Australia's involvement and withdrew all Australian troops from Viet Nam.

In 1989, the South Australian Returned Services League honoured Errol with the opening of Errol Noack House in Mitchell Park, South Australia. The facility commemorates Errol's war service and continues to provide emergency accommodation for Vietnam and other war veterans and their families.

Errol's father, Walter, suffered profoundly from the loss of his only child and very good companion. His lifelong grief is evident in his Profile Noack-261

Sources

^[1]

(1) WILLOUGHBY, Lorraine. The Noack-Hondow-Schmidt Family History from Tauer to Australia. Willaston, S.A. The Author. 2001. Page 598. ISBN 1 876901 02 0

(2) Transcripts from the Prime Ministers of Australia, FOR PRESS: P.P. NO 45/1966 DEATH OF PRIVATE NOACK STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER, MR. HAROLD HOLT, release date 25/5/1966, Media Release

(2) DUTTON, Geoffrey. "The Night Sir Robert Menzies Died - for Wally Noack." poem published in Nation Review, June 1978 to recognise the sad loss of Errol and to comment on the politics of the war which claimed his life. Former Prime Minister Menzies died on 15 May 1978. https://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/dutton-geoffrey/poems/the-night-sir-robert-menzies-died-0731090

(3) EDWARDS, Peter. A Nation at War: Australian politics, society and diplomacy during the Vietnam War 1965 - 1975. The Official History of Australia's involvement in Southeast Asian conflicts 1948 - 1975 volume VI. Appendix: The National Service Scheme, 1964 - 1972 by Langford, Sue. Crows Nest NSW. Allen and Unwin. 1997. Includes the birth dates drawn in the First National Service Ballot on 10 March 1965. Errol was in this draw.

(4) DAPIN, Mark. "The last goodbye from the first to fall. Letters from Errol Noack, the first Australian conscript killed in the Vietnam War, are heart breaking." The Advertiser, 21 April, 2012.

(5) DAPIN, Mark. The Nasho's War - Australia's National Servicemen and Vietnam. Penguin.

(6) State Library of South Australia. A Father's Loss. Papers of the Noack (Walter) family consisting of photographs, correspondence, survey plan, legal papers and yabbie log book. Extracts from the records: "Errol Noack was the first Australian conscript to die in the Vietnam War. He died at the age of 21 and became a symbol for the growing anti war movement. The photographs and letters of the Noack family are a poignant record of the loss of a young life. Errol Wayne Noack was born on 28 March 1945 in North Adelaide. The only child of Australian born parents Walter and Dorothy, his mother left them when he was just a baby. Errol was raised by his father and aunts and uncles completing his schooling at Concordia College."

"In 1964 the Federal government introduced a National Service Scheme, where 20-year old males were selected via ballot for two years full-time service in the Australian Army. While working as a fisherman with his father in 1965, Errol was conscripted into the Regular Australian Army. He completed basic training in New South wales and was posted as a rifleman to the 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. Not long after his 21st birthday, he left with the 5th Battalion for operations in Vietnam."

"Before Errol left, the family took photographs of him in his uniform....On the 24th May 1966, after just ten days of service, Errol died of gunshot wounds received during an operation in Nui Dat, South Vietnam."

"Understandably there was much controversy surrounding Errol's death. Not only was he the first Australian conscript to die in the conflict but early reports attributed his death to friendly fire.. The official conclusion at the time was death by enemy fire, but it appears that Errol's death was the result of a tragic accident."

"On 1 June a military funeral was held for Errol at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Adelaide and he was buried in the Derrick Garden of Remembrance, Centennial Park Cemetery."

"Walter Noack died on Kangaroo Island in 1996. A great honour for Walter was the opening of the Errol Noack House in 1989. The house, in Mitchell Park, commemorates Errol's war service and continues to provide emergency accommodation for Vietnam and other war veterans and their families."

(7) Personal recollections of Errol's funeral from Edwin Lawrence Noack: I was part of a large crowd which assembled in the Church and outside on Flinders Street to pay their respects to Errol, to show support for Walter and to quietly and respectfully show their contempt for conscription and the pro-war actions of the US and Australian Governments . An immaculately polished gun carriage accompanied by military escort, bore Errol's coffin to the church. Pastor G Fischer officiated at the Service. A long cortege of military, family and friends followed his coffin to Centennial Park where he was laid to rest in the beautifully landscaped Derrick memorial garden. I was, in July 2014, contacted by Mr Elliot Bishop who advised that he proudly and meticulously prepared the gun carriage for the funeral. It was his first task after joining the Regular Army in 1966. It was a pleasure to be able to thank him for a job so well done. (added 27 October 2018)

(8) HAM, Paul. Vietnam: The Australian War. Chapter 16 ISBN: 9780732282370 ISBN 10: 0732282373 Imprint: HarperCollins AU.

(9) KNOTT, John "Noack, Errol Wayne (1945 - 1966)" Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 15, Melbourne University press, 2000

(10) DEBELLE, Penelope "Remembering Private Noack" The Age, April 30, 2005. memoirs of Grant Collins regarding training with Errol and on his death in Viet Nam.

(11) Military funeral for conscript, Canberra Times (ACT: 1926 - 1995), Saturday 28 May 1966, page 1 National Library of Australia, Trove Digitised Newspapers, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/rendition/nla.news-article131775547.3.html

(12) Conscript's Death: Thousands Protest. Tribune (Sydney, NSW: 1939 - 1976), Wednesday 1 June 1966, page 1. National Library of Australia, Trove Digitised Newspapers, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/rendition/nla.news-article236349758.3.html

(13) Veterans SA, Private Errol Noack - 50 years since the death of the first Nasho. Friday 10 June 2016. In https://veteranssa.sa.gov.au/story/private-errol-noack-50-years-since-the-death-of-the-first-nasho/

(14) Wallis< Lauren, Private Errol Wayne Noack, Premier's ANZAC Spirit School Prize, 2013. https://rslvwm.s3.amazonaws.com/I/documents/1229/file/NOACK.pdf

(15) NOACK, Errol Wilson, Family Notices: Births, The Advertiser, Adelaide, Friday 30 March 1945, page 8.

"NOACK (nee Dot Wilson) on March 28 at Calvary to Dorothy and Walter- a son (Errol Wilson). Both well. Thanking Dr Wurm and Hospital Staff."

(16) Photographs of the family of Errol Wayne Noack, his father Walter Noack and grandfather Martin Samuel Noack. https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/find/Noack

(17) Find A Grave: Memorial #32839419 https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/32839419/errol-wayne-noack

Find A Grave: Memorial #249828802 https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/249828802/errol-wayne-noack

(18) NOACK, Errol Wayne Personal Details Service History Personal Stories Service Number: 4717546 Enlisted: 30 June 1965, Keswick, Adelaide Last Rank: Private Last Unit: 5th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (5RAR) Born: Adelaide, South Australia, 28 March 1945 Home Town: Adelaide, South Australia Schooling: Concordia College, Highgate, South Australia Occupation: Fisherman Died: Died of Wounds (GSW), Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam, South Vietnam, Vietnam, 24 May 1966, aged 21 years Cemetery: Centennial Park Cemetery, South Australia Commemorated Derrick Gardens - Path 36 - Grave 214A, Centennial Park Cemetery, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia Memorials: Adelaide Post Second World War Memorial, Adelaide Vietnam War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Grafton Clarence Valley Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Highgate Concordia College Vietnam Honour Roll, Hilton Australia's National Servicemen Memorial, Kallangur Vietnam Veterans' Place, Pooraka War Memorial, Port Pirie Vietnam Veterans Honour Wall, Seymour Vietnam Veterans Commemorative Walk Roll of Honour, Wamuran National Servicemen's Memorial Show Relationships

Biography contributed by Robert Kearney The first National Seviceman killed in Vietnam Errol Wayne NOACK was born on 28th March, 1945 in North Adelaide, South Australia His parents were Walter Heinrich NOACK and Dorothy Muriel WILSON

https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/21070