Brian ‘Sailor’ Edwards was the Gun Number 1 of Alpha Sub, 105th Field Battery during its second tour of Vietnam. He was a rough, tough, and thoroughly loyal Senior Non Commissioned Officer (SNCO) who ran his gun like a ‘tight ship’. Sailor could always be relied upon to prevent misdemeanours from mushrooming into charges – soldiers with black eyes seemed to have bumped into doors rather than arriving at the Battery Sergeant Major’s (BSM’s) desk. After retiring from the Army, he bought a few cows and became a quiet, small acreage man of the land in country Tasmania. He visited Brisbane around ANZAC Day a couple of times over his last few years where he marched with and shared the old camaraderie of 105th Battery boys at the reunion afterwards.

Sailor died suddenly on Wednesday evening, 13 March 2002 and his wife Barbara believes that it was from a heart attack. Whilst Sailor suffered from a number of medical conditions he was in good health at the time of his death. 

By his own wishes, he was cremated privately in Tasmania and his ashes scattered off the Shorncliffe (near Brisbane) Pier where he had many happy memories as a child.

Acknowledgements:

• First published in Tiger Rag 19 of June 2002