MIDDLETON, Sinh (Badcoe Club 1968-72)

Sinh (Nguyen Thi Sinh) was employed at the Badcoe Club (Back Beach Vung Tau) which was with the R&C Centre (downtown Vung Tau) made up the Australian Forces Vietnam Amenities Unit.
She commenced work as a waitress in 1968 when 15yo. However due to her grasp of English (she had completed a 3 months course about a year earlier) she was soon moved into the Orderly Room to be trained as a typist /clerk and interpreter. She also took on the role of coordinator of about 300 Vietnamese employed at both the Badcoe Club & the R&C Centre. Whilst this caused angst among the local staff at first (who were all older than her & didn't think she would cope) she soon proved them all wrong.
Sinh worked at the Badcoe Club until it closed when the Australians withdrew from Vietnam in1972. She was overcome with sadness when the Australians left.as Sinh and most Vietnamese employees enjoyed working for the Australians very much.
Sinh then worked for the Americans for a while until they left. This was followed by work for the Peace Commission in Vietnam (Hungary, Poland, Inonesia & Canada were on the Commission). She then worked for an orphanage in Saigon and was involved with many of the babies flown out of Vietnam on "Operation Babylift". Many of the babies she cared for the and women she knew from the orphanages were killed in the "Babylift" plane that crashed in Saigon in April 1975. Sinh & other staff took many of the survivors back to the orphanage to care for them.
Sinh had lost her first husband (who was a South Vietnamese soldier) when he died at the end of 1973. She had 2 small children and one due when he died.
Life became very difficult when Saigon fell in 1975.
(to be continued)