Te Awamutu’s only known fatality in the Vietnam War, Lance Corporal Cecil Richard Fisk, was honoured last week at the unveiling of his name on the Roll of Honour board at Te Awamutu RSA.
Pictured after the unveiling are, from left, Te Awamutu RSA president David Bowler, Cecil Fisk’s nieces Jackie McKenzie and Katharine Fawcitt, and Te Awamutu RSA’s Lou Brown. Photo: Viv Posselt
It is the only name listed on the board related to the Vietnam War.
Te Awamutu-born Cecil Fisk pictured before he served overseas. Photo: supplied
There to help mark the occasion were his Hamilton-based nieces, Jackie McKenzie and Katharine Fawcitt, daughters of Cecil Fisk’s sister. They had fond memories of their uncle, with one of them remembering him bringing teddy bears back from his first tour in Vietnam.
Lance Corporal Fisk was with the Victor 5 Company of 2RAR/NZ (Anzac) Battalion when he died on June 18, 1970, after being mortally wounded by a command detonated mine while on patrol in the Phuoc Tuy province of South Vietnam.
He had turned 24 just 16 days earlier and left behind his three-months pregnant wife Gail, and their 18-month-old daughter. His widow remarried and now lives in the South Island, and their two children, Julie and Andrew, live overseas.
Lance Corporal Cecil Fisk on patrol in Vietnam. Photo: supplied
It was his second tour of duty in Vietnam. Tours lasted six months and the wives of Kiwis serving in Vietnam were billeted in Singapore for the duration of their husbands’ tours. It was there that the news was broken to his young wife.
Fisk was born in Te Awamutu on June 2, 1946, to Lionel and Joan Fisk. His family moved several times, and he attended schools in the Te Awamutu area and in Hamilton.
A story printed in the June 19, 1970, edition of the Waikato Times reported that he was from Hamilton, which contributed to his link with Te Awamutu having been unknown until recently. He is also listed on Auckland Museum’s online cenotaph record. Te Awamutu RSA research helped connect his story to Te Awamutu.
Fisk is known to have served in Indonesia, Borneo and Vietnam. After losing his life in Vietnam, he was laid to rest in Christchurch.
During the solemn ceremony unveiling his name on the Roll of Honour board, Te Awamutu RSA president David Bowler read out details of the operation in which Fisk died.
His nieces said they were very grateful for their uncle’s acknowledgement and said it would have meant a great deal to him.
Lance Corporal Cecil Fisk’s name as it appears on the Roll of Honour board at Te Awamutu RSA. Photo: Viv Posselt
Cecil Fisk’s nieces were there for the unveiling of their uncle’s name on the Roll of Honour board at Te Awamutu RSA. They are Jackie McKenzie, left, and Katharine Fawcitt. Photo: Viv Posselt
