1. Introduction
Vietnam War Overview 1962-1975 (source AWM)
Saluting their Service - Grahame Old
By the time the last Australian combat personnel were withdrawn from Vietnam, the war had become the longest twentieth century conflict in which Australians have participated. It has only recently been surpassed by Australia's long-term commitment of combat forces to the War in Afghanistan. The Vietnam War involved some 60,000 personnel and grew from a limited initial commitment of 30 military advisers in 1962 to include a battalion in 1965 and finally in 1966, a task force. At its peak around 8,500 Australian personnel were serving in Vietnam. Each of the three services was involved, but the dominant role was played by the Army. After the cessation of combat operations in 1972, a limited number of Australian personnel remained in Vietnam, including an Infantry Platoon, guarding the Australian embassy. Elements of the RAAF returned in 1975, carrying out evacuations and assisting refugees almost until the moment of South Vietnam's surrender. Vietnam currently remains Australia's largest force contribution to a foreign conflict since the Second World War and was also the most controversial in Australian society since the conscription controversy during the First World War. Many draft resisters, conscientious objectors were fined or jailed, while soldiers met a hostile reception on their return home. The withdrawal of Australia's forces from South Vietnam began in November 1970 when8 RAR completed its tour of duty and was not replaced. A phased withdrawal followed, and by 11 January 1973 Australian involvement in hostilities in Vietnam had ceased.
Vietnam War - Australia’s Involvement (abridged version)
1962
Australian support for South Vietnam was in keeping with the policies of other nations, particularly the United States, to stem the spread of communism in Europe and Asia. In 1961 and 1962, Ngo Dinh Diem, leader of the government in South Vietnam, repeatedly requested security assistance from the U.S. and its allies. Australia eventually responded with 30 military advisers, dispatched as the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV), also known as ‘The Team’. Their arrival in South Vietnam during July and August 1962 was the beginning of Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War.
1963
AATTV Advisor, Sergeant William Hacking becomes the first Australian to die in Vietnam (accidental death).
1964 The Minister for Defence announced that the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam will be increased to 83 advisers and their role will be expanded. Warrant Officer Class Two Kevin Conway, an AATV advisor, is killed in action, the first Australian battle casualty of the war. In August the first RAAF involvement in the war came with a flight of Caribou transports based in the port of Vung Tau. In November selective conscription is introduced for 20-year-old males by ballot under the National Service Act (1964). In response to requests from the US President and South Vietnam Prime Minister for 200 additional advisers, the Australian Government instead offers to send ground troops to South Vietnam.
1965
By early 1965, when it had become clear that South Vietnam could not stave off the communist insurgents and their North Vietnamese comrades for more than a few months, the US commenced a major escalation of the war. By the end of the year, it had committed 200,000 troops to the conflict. The Australian government dispatched the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR), in June 1965 to serve alongside the US 173rd Airborne Brigade in Bien Hoa province. In November 1RAR fought a major battle with the Viet Cong, two Australian servicemen were posted missing in action presumed dead. 40 years later their remains were recovered and returned to Australia for burial. In a separate action AATV Warrant Officer Kevin Wheatley was killed in action. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
1966
By 1966 the Australian government felt that Australia's involvement in the conflict should be both strong and identifiable. In March 1966 the government announced the dispatch of a taskforce to replace 1RAR, consisting of two battalions and support services (including a RAAF squadron of Iroquois helicopters), to be based at Nui Dat, Phuoc Tuy province. Unlike 1RAR, the taskforce was assigned its own area of operations and included conscripts who had been called up under the National Service Scheme. In August 1966 a company of 6RAR was engaged in one of Australia's heaviest actions of the war, in a rubber plantation near Long Tan. The 108 soldiers of D Coy held off an enemy force, estimated at over 2000, for four hours in the middle of a tropical downpour. They were greatly assisted by a timely ammunition resupply by RAAF helicopters, close fire support from Australian artillery, and the arrival of reinforcements in APCs as night fell. Seventeen Australians were killed and 25 wounded, with one dying of wounds several days later. In June, Prime Minister, Harold Holt visits the United States to discuss the war with US President Lyndon B. Johnson. Holt confirms Australian full support for the United States Vietnam policy - 'All the way with LBJ'.
1967 A third RAAF squadron (Canberra jet bombers) was also committed in 1967, and destroyers of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) joined US patrols off the North Vietnamese coast. The RAN also contributed a clearance diving team and an assault helicopter detachment that operated with the US Army from October 1967. In April another AATTV advisor, Major Peter Badcoe is killed in action. He is posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery, conspicuous gallantry and leadership. In August ‘A ’Company, 7 RAR was involved in heavy fighting during the Battle of Suoi Chau Pha. Australian casualties were heavy with five killed, one died of wounds and 19 wounded.
1968
The year 1968 began with a major offensive by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army, launched during the Vietnamese lunar new year holiday period, known as ‘Tet’. The offensive ultimately ended in military defeat for the communists, it was however a propaganda victory. US military planners began to question if a decisive victory could ever be achieved and the US public opposition to the war gained momentum. In February Prime Minister, John Gorton, announces that Australia will not increase its commitment to Vietnam. In May the Battle of Coral–Balmoral takes place and becomes the bloodiest engagement for Australians in Vietnam when 25 Australians are killed and nearly 100 wounded during 26 days of fighting. Back home in Australia the National Service Act is controversially amended to impose a two-year civil jail term for draft resisters. In October John Zarb is the first person to be found guilty of having failed to comply with his call up notice during the Vietnam War. He is convicted in Melbourne and sentenced to two years jail. He is released on compassionate grounds in August1969 after serving 10 months and seven days in Pentridge Prison.
1969 By 1969 anti-war protests were gathering momentum in Australia. Opposition to conscription mounted, protests grew violent. The US government began a gradual withdrawal of US forces that would leave the war in the hands of the South Vietnamese. The emphasis of the activities of the Australians in Phuoc Tuy province, shifted to the provision of training to the South Vietnamese Forces. In Vietnam during May another two AATTV advisors are awarded the Victoria Cross. Warrant Officer Class Two Rayene Stewart Simpson rescues a wounded fellow warrant officer and carries out an unsuccessful attack on a strong enemy position. He fights alone against heavy odds to cover the evacuation of casualties. At Ben Het, Kon Tum Province in Vietnam, Warrant Officer Class Two Keith Payne shows outstanding courage and leadership in saving the lives of many of the soldiers under his command, leading his men to safety under most difficult circumstances after an attack by the enemy in superior strength. In June Australian forces destroy a large communist force in heavy house-to-house fighting during the battle of Binh Ba. In July at Da Nang, civilian pop entertainer, Cathy Wayne, becomes the first Australian woman killed during the Vietnam War. She was shot accidentally by a US soldier who was attempting to kill his commanding officer.
1970 At the end of April 1970 U.S. and South Vietnamese troops were ordered to cross the border into Cambodia. While the invasion succeeded in capturing large quantities of North Vietnamese arms, destroying bunkers and sanctuaries, and killing enemy soldiers, it ultimately proved disastrous. Bringing combat into Cambodia, led to the rise of the Khmer Rouge, irreparably weakening the Cambodian government and resulted in the cruel deaths of several million Cambodians. This extension of the war into a sovereign state inflamed anti-war sentiment in the United States and Australia. In the well-known moratorium marches of 1970 and 1971, more than 200,000 people gathered to protest against the war in Australia.
1971 By late 1970 Australia had also begun to wind down its military effort in Vietnam. The 8th Battalion departed in November, however, to make up for the decrease in troop numbers, the AATV’s strength was increased, and its efforts became concentrated in Phuoc Tuy province. The withdrawal of troops and all air units continued throughout 1971, the last Infantry Battalion left Nui Dat on 7 November, while a handful of advisers belonging to the Team remained in Vietnam until the following year.
1972 In December 1972 the AATTV became the last Australian combat troops to come home, with their unit having seen continuous service in South Vietnam for ten and a half years.
1973 Australia's participation in the war was formally declared at an end when the Governor-General issued a proclamation on 11 January 1973.The only troops remaining in Vietnam were a platoon guarding the Australian embassy in Saigon (this was withdrawn in June 1973).
1975 In early 1975 the communists launched a major offensive in the north of South Vietnam, resulting in the fall of Saigon on 30 April. During April a RAAF detachment of 7–8 Hercules transports flew humanitarian missions to aid civilian refugees displaced by the fighting and carried out the evacuation of Vietnamese orphans (Operation Baby lift), before finally taking out embassy staff on 25 April.
The Cost Approximately 60,000 Australians served in the Vietnam war; 521 were killed and more than 3,000 were wounded. Around 100 ‘Collie Boys’ served during the war and two were killed in action. The Vietnam War was the first war where deceased soldiers were returned home to be buried by their loved ones.
‘ Lest we Forget’