FSB Toby

Submitted by Editorial team on

While 161 Battery was in South Vietnam one of the best chess players was Sergeant Heta Tobin, (Ngapuhi). As a chess player, Heta was brilliant, and his reputation was well known.

One afternoon, Battery Commander, Major John Masters MC, flew into a Fire Support Base occupied by 161 Battery and challenged Toby to a game of chess.

Toby declined on the pretext that it would be "No contest".

The Battery Commander, so they say, offered Toby a two-day R in C to Saigon, again Toby declined. "OK, Sarge” asked the Battery Commander, "what do I have to offer you so that you'll play a game of chess with me?” "Well, I'll tell you what Sir," Toby replied, "I'll play a game of chess with you on the condition that if I win you name the next Fire Support Base after me." (Officers often named FSB’s after their wives).

He held out his hand..."Do we have a deal?"

They shook hands.

And that, whanau, is how come FSB Toby came to be named after a Ngapuhi from the Bay of Islands.

Reference

Mike Subritzky

How to cite this page: ' FSB Toby ', URL: https://vietnamwar.govt.nz/memory/fsb-toby, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 27-Jan-2014