PORTEOUS, Ian Guildford (1933-2016)
Born on 9 November 1933, the son of H W Porteous, Ian Porteous was enrolled at Geelong College from 9 February 1950 to December 1950. He had previously attended Scotch College, Melbourne from 5 February 1946 to December 1949.
Interested in the army, he commenced officer training at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, graduating in 1954.
Pegasus magazine of June 1958 reported: ‘Captain Ian Porteous (1950) has returned to Australia from active service in the Malayan jungle.’ He spent two years in Malaysia from 1955 to 1957 and a further period in New Guinea.
He was posted to the Directorate of Military Intelligence in 1959, then served with the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AAATV). AATTV was the most decorated unit to serve in Vietnam, members winning four Victoria Crosses, which were the only such awards to be presented to Australians in Vietnam. Ian served with C Company AATTV. In addition to Unit Citations awarded to AATTV, Ian was awarded the US Bronze Star for Service, the Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star and the Vietnam Armed Forces Honour Medal 1st Class.
The Department of Veterans’ Affairs lists him with Vietnam Service (No. 335066) as a Major with the Royal Australian Infantry Corps (Australian Army Training Team Vietnam) from 4 March 1968 to 4 March 1969. From 4 March 1968 he was in Nam Hoa sub-sector, Thua Thien, then from April 1968 to February 1969 with HQ Intelligence Corps, G3 Training, Danang. After his return from Vietnam, Ian was posted to Bangkok, Thailand working for the Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO) before once again returning to Canberra in 1973.
In 1975, Ian left the army and started working with the peak business group, Associated Chambers of Manufactures, developing business links between Australia and the countries of Southeast Asia. During the 1980s, he headed the ACT Australia Day Council and in the early 1990s assisted on the Council of the ACT Branch of the Australian Institute of International Affairs. He also had an active role with the Woden Valley Sub-Branch of the RSL, Probus, the Canberra Hawks, the Royal Canberra Golf Club and the Canberra Bowling Club.
Ian died at Canberra on 2 January 2016 age 82 years.
Sources: Pegasus June 1958; Department of Veterans’ Affairs (Nominal Roll); ‘Geelong Collegians at the Second World War and Subsequent Conflicts’ compiled by J. Affleck pp570-571 (citing The Pegasus; Australian War Memorial); Canberra Times 6 January 2016; ‘A Military Man with a Full Life’ by Clinton Porteous in ‘The Serviceman: Official Magazine of Woden Valley Sub-Branch RSL’, April 2016 p8.