Born Peter Badcock in South Australia in 1934 (he changed his name to Badcoe in 1961), Badcoe enlisted in the Australian Army in June 1950 when he was only 16 – he had long-held ambitions to join the army despite his father’s opposition. Badcoe then joined Officer Cadet School in 1952 and graduated at the end of the year as a second lieutenant in the Royal Australian Artillery. He was promoted to captain in 1960 and, in June 1961, toured to the Federation of Malaysia (after the conclusion of the Malayan Emergency in July 1960 and which had involved troops from Australia since 1950). For a week in November 1962, Badcoe was seconded to observe counter-insurgency techniques in South Vietnam, specifically in Quáng Ngãi Province (located south of Da Nang). Even though he was only there for seven days, he saw combat with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN).
Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War
