Extract from an interview with Claire Hall, 21 March 2010
Reproduced with permission of Bruce Goodall
So tell me about that first contact?
Noise. That's all I remember of it, just noise.
What did you have to do as signaller?
Tell them was going on back at the base, but I didn't know what was going on. It was only a very small one, very quick. There was only two VC gone into the area. And we had blood trails and we had to follow them, and we never found them. So that was the introduction. You felt quite elated, ‘Oh Christ we've been in a contact we've done it you know'.
The trouble with contacts is the first one's great. Second one not so bad. Third one you know what's going to happen. Fourth one you're starting to shit yourself. And it goes on from there - you know you start getting very wary, particularly when it's coming time to get out.
Interview extract from Memories of West Auckland at War exhibition held at Waitakere Central Library, 12 April - 21 May 2010
